The annual MS Walk is a very special tradition for my family. This year we woke up early, headed up to San Francisco and enjoyed a beautiful walk by the water with hundreds of other volunteers. It was a great day and we ended it by heading over to Dynamo Donuts for post-event treat!

 

Jen was so sweet and gave me an amazing day in San Francisco for my birthday. We started out with dim sum at Yank Sing (amazing!), went to a fortune cookie factory, visited an aquarium and finished out the day by getting some awesome deep dish pizza at North Beach. A great day, with an incredible girl.

This was a great afternoon up in San Rafael, a little town just north of San Francisco. The town hosts an Italian street painting festival each year, in support of the arts for local youth. As you can see from the photos, the event drew some amazingly talented chalk artists, representing a wide array of styles. We were a little surprised that there weren't many street food vendors at all (often times these events are all street vendors with a few artists sprinkled around). We were able to find some delicious cherry Italian sodas, so that made for a nice refreshment while walking around the event.

A few weekends back, we ventured out to Half Moon Bay to enjoy the great weather and beautiful scenery. It's great days like this one that really remind me of home and make me feel at ease being in California.

Still being relatively new to the Bay Area, I have made an ongoing effort to get out and explore all that Northern California has to offer. Here are a few snaps from a trip Jen and I took to the recently renovated Cal Academy of Sciences. We had a blast running around the museum, checking out all of the displays and exhibits. If you live in the area and haven't had a chance to go, I highly recommend it!

Here are photos of some cool birds from a recent trip home (South Florida).

Had a little break from work this week, so Jen and I decided to take a day trip up to Sonoma. It was a crisp, sunny day and we enjoyed touring a handful of wineries and grabbing some lunch in town. The trip was a lot of fun and a nice way to kick off the new year.

You've got to love Halloween - the wild costumes, the candy, the friends. Everyone is in a good mood because we all know Halloween is the official kick-off to the holiday season, and that there are two full months of good food, good times and friends/family to come. Whether it's a 70s detective, a hot dog or Super Mario, I really like that my co-workers have fun with their costumes.

The third and final installment in the Hyderabad series has arrived. As with all good things, the trip went by far too quickly: not enough time to savor everything, not enough photos to capture everything. I had a fantastic week in India and have much to keep with me going forward - the sounds, the smells, the time spent with good company. It just goes to show that, if you make an effort to step a little outside your comfort zone, you can experience some pretty amazing things.