Blog

This week, I’m spending a few days working in Denver. I’m staying at a Hyatt Place…a simple-but-hip entry into the business class of hotels. The rooms are as if a W Hotel and a Courtyard by Marriott had a tawdry fling.

Today being Cinco de Mayo, my coworkers and I had dinner at a popular Tex-Mex joint downtown. The margaritas did not disappoint 🙂

But the true highlight of the evening was an amazing desert–Sticky Toffee Pudding–from the cozy Vesta Dipping Grill. The photo below doesn’t do the dish justice. It was warm and gooey and rich, with a complex flavor…I swore I could taste layers of fig and butter…but nobody was telling. Big kudos to my dear friend Sarah for letting us in on her little secret.

We took a 15 minute tour of the SFO tarmac this morning. It seems that we have something “special” in the cargo hold that requires “special” paperwork that must be held in the cockpit. That paperwork was left at the gate, so we had to turn around.

They have computers and printers and data connections up there…can’t someone send an email or a fax?

Makes you wonder what’s down in cargo!

I stopped at a Chevron this afternoon for my bi-weekly charitable donation to OPEC. At my feet when I stepped up to the gas pump? Barbie…naked…with her head in a plastic bag. SOMEONE had quite the party with Ken last night!!

This week finished with a few meeting-packed days and team-filled evenings in Seattle…all glued together by conference calls in the free moments. Certainly a good visit…but it felt incomplete without a visit with dear ol’ Jeffrey…next time I promise. (Photos are from my room in the Seattle Grand Hyatt…my first stay.)

Still, no worries about good food and great espresso. Wednesday lunch at the hidden Dish Cafe in the Nordstrom corporate HQ building. Dinner at a Brazilian steakhouse with my team…a never-ending flow of meat on skewers…the name escapes me. Thursday morning…a meeting at local-favorite Top Pot donuts…a rich latte on the side. Lunch at the downtown Icon Grill. An afternoon latte near the office. Dinner at the cozy, flavorful Dhalia Lounge. Breakfast pastries from the simply amazing Belle Epicurean…those to-die-for pecan buns and spicy corn fritters. Lunch with the team at Two Bells Tavern…a Jeff classic that kept running on about…a toast to Jeff for introducing me to this gem.

I swear, we also got work done on this trip as well.

United flight 1200 left from its SFO gate promptly at 6:46am this morning bound for Seattle. I was about halfway through my morning latte–Peet’s with a dusting of Splenda–and slowly emerging from the fog of my early rise.

Early flights are just rough, but as the plane lifted from a routine north-bound runway, I got the payoff I needed to lift my spirits.

The pilot kindly banked around the City on a breathtaking route that revealed a City waking up with the dramatic first rays of sun. It felt as if the pilot was sightseeing with us as we passed one celebrated landmark after another…each one worth a vacation.

Low, early light truly sets off San Francisco…revealing the famous undulations of the terrain that are normally masked by rows of houses. From above, the City looks small and intimate…a tiny peninsula isolated from the rest of the world.

What a fantastic (and unexpected) reminder of what makes San Francisco special.

Still…I’m not saying I couldn’t have used another hour of sleep. 🙂