Oysters anyone?

In honor of Shirley's birthday, we got to go to this really hip Thai restaurant. We had fresh grilled fish, great Thai food, and most important of all, we got to share these great raw oysters with everyone.

Although Eric and Julie are not great fans of raw oysters, these raw oysters were really good, especially with the vodka sorbet dressing. ^_^

Vulcan Death Grip Massage

Today, in compensation for working 90+ hours over six days last week, the firm hired a masseuse to give Eric (and colleagues) massages today... for 20 minutes each.

I was talking with the staff who sets these types of things up for us (person "A") and another high-ranking guy on the case (person "B").
A: So it's all set up.
B: It had better be a chick.
A: Fills in more of the details.
B: Seriously, it had better not be a dude.
A: Last bit of details.
B: I'm not joking around here. If it's a guy I will track you down where you live and murder you.
A: I talked to a lady on the phone so it should be okay.
B: ... (silence)

Later that day, I got a call from A: The masseuse is here. I'll show him to the room.
(him???)

Five minutes later "Lars" was ready to begin working on us. When my turn came around, I sat on the massage chair. "Any areas in particular you'd like me to focus on," he asked. My reply, "I guess my neck and shoulders." Last words I heard before he began "Okay. Let me know if it's too strong."

Everything was going swimmingly until 5 minutes in when the neck portion of the massage began. It was like Thai massage, but for my neck. Vulcan death grip to the left; Vulcan death grip 1 inch higher to the left; repeat; repeat; repeat. My thought process: (ouch!) Can't chicken (ouch) out, have to (ouch) hang tough (ouch). Just hang (ouch) tough .

After 20 minutes, I was relaxed and my mind was in a state of nirvana. It was hard to go back to work after really, fully relaxing.

Yellow lotion

While picking out facial lotion to get Eric ready for Ben's big day, Eric and Julie had an interesting conversation at Wal-Mart.
Julie: ok, we will just pick a good sun screen since the wedding is going to be outdoors
Eric: no... white sun screen lotion usually makes me look very pale
Julie: they usually rub on clear. I think it will be ok. Well... how about this one ( picking up Dove Natural Glow not knowing it is a self tanning lotion), this one comes out yellow.
Eric : I guess this will be ok.

Fast forward to the wedding day.
As Eric was about to walk down the isle
Andy ( Ben's brother): Eric, you look very tan today.
Eric : really?

Fast forward to the drive to Niagara falls.
Julie: Eric, why do you look "ORANGE"?
Eric: Really? I used some of that lotion this morning...

After being showered by the Niagara falls' water,
Eric had very interesting skin tones on his face ^_^


Unfortunately ( or fortunately) Eric and Julie accidentaly left the bottle of "natural glow" in the carry-on luggage and the lotion was taken away from them by TSA at the airport.

Small get away to Aurora, NY

Thanks to Ben and Romina's wedding, Eric and Julie got to travel cross country to visit a nice little town called Aurora in upstate New York.

The weather was beautiful and the flowers were blooming everywhere.

While Eric was busy being the groomsman, Julie got to play photographer ^_^

Ben and Romina's first dance^_^

After the wedding, Eric drove 3 hours (while Julie snoozed) to Buffalo, NY to see the Niagara fall and try out some buffalo wings in buffalo.

A talent we found in Ithaca, NY

Anniversary Dinner (Jeanty at Jack's)

Escargot

+ Puff-pastry tomato soup
+ garlic fries (I never associated these with France before)

= Happy (Wedding) Anniversary

Happy 2 years to us^_^~~ and many more

11th Annual Dating Anniversary

To celebrate our 11th dating anniversary, Julie and Eric decided to surprise each other. Having decided on our budget, we each went and thought about what would make the best gift (Julie says: I wanted to trump Eric's gift). Julie reserved a surprise and Eric purchased a gift.

We ate lunch today on Castro (where we were treated to a Portuguese parade celebrating the Holy Spirit).
While there, Julie gave Eric clues about where they would be going later that day.

Eric: Is there going to be a performance?
Julie: Maybe.
Eric: Would I enjoy the performance as much if I was blind (to see if it was a movie/show)?
Julie: Yes.
Eric: (not a movie/show... must be music) Would I enjoy the performance as much if I was deaf?
Julie: Yes.
Eric: (what could it possibly be) Is it in the city?
Julie: Yes.
Eric: (a fancy dinner) Is it by Union Square?
Julie: No.
Eric: (I'm stumped) ...
Julie: You might be giving a performance.
... after some time passes ...
Eric: Would this reflect part of our Honeymoon?
Julie: Yes (big smile)
Eric: I think we got each other the same gift (smile).

It turned out that Julie had reserved a Thai massage session at Suchada Thai Massage and Eric had purchased Julie gift certificates for Suchada Thai Massage. We laughed. And then Julie got to redeem her gift certificates right away. So we each gave the best gift!

Although painful (we felt like Kobe beef being tenderized), the feeling afterwards was wonderful. Julie's back cracked so much that her masseuse thought she broke her bones (but no harm done). Now everything is relaxed, and we are just getting ready to celebrate our 2nd annual wedding anniversary ^_^

Parking is Tough in SF

Parking in the city is tough. We saw this sign at the paid parking garage that we went to today. We weren't sure if our car would be okay, since we didn't have any of their "ass" cards, and we wondered if the weekend rats were better or worse than the daily rats, since our car didn't have any "asses."

(cheesy, we know; but funny, no?)