= Such Stupid Things =

Egads! Yesterday was Marie and my fourth anniversary. We celebrated by playing hookie and spent the day putzing around San Francisco. We went to the de Young to see the Quilts of Gee's Bend, which Marie's quilting buddies have been talking up for some time. From there we wandered around Golden Gate Park and saw the Blue Angels flying all over the place, practicing for their Fleet Week performance this weekend. We finsihed off the day with a monster of a dinner at Jardiniere. Devotees will recall the head chef, Tracy des Jardins beating Mario Batali on Iron Chef America. Needless to say, that got my attention. I had the six-course tasting menu, Marie had a few dishes here and there. The meal took three hours from start to finish, featured meats from nine different animals, and had the gourmet triumverate of fois gras, truffles and caviar. The only thing missing, perhaps, was shark fin soup. Or something endangered. We may have broke the bank a tad, but it was worth it - the food was fantastic, service and atmosphere were top-notch, and Marie assures me that our waiter was "super hot". Afterwards, we went home and watched a couple episodes of Arrested Development. It was pretty much a perfect day.