It's always hard coming back from a long vacation, but I have to say it was a relief to unpack our bags one final time. We were gone for 18 days and in that time, we transported 4 suitcases, plus carry-on luggage, on 6 flights (add two more for me but since it was a day trip, I only brought a carry-on) and stayed in a total of 8 different accommodations including condos, hotels, parents' house and friends' houses. Thank goodness we stayed in the same condo for the full week in Florida or it would really have gotten ridiculous.

There's no good way to pack when you'll be gone for such a long time, plus traveling to two different climates. That takes away any chance of just washing and re-wearing stuff throughout the trip. Add Christmas presents and chocolates to the mix and trade that out for all the gifts and things that we want to bring back from the US and luckily we just made the weight limit.

But now that all the laundry has been done and the suitcases have been stowed away, we can slowly get over the jet-lag -- or lie awake at 4am -- thinking about the great time we spent with friends and family over the holidays. I want to thank everyone for making such an effort to see us, I feel like this time wasn't as rushed (maybe because I wasn't running all over San Francisco trying to change my last name on my driver's license, social security card and passport, in the span of a few days, like I was last year).

We started in Florida with Dave's family and while we had many great dinners out, I don't think anything beats Christmas on the beach with Don's now-famous lasagna. Although the weather was a bit iffy that morning, the sun came out just in time for dinner. Since last year's Christmas, this is the only lasagna I'll make now.


We had so much fun catching up with Dave's parents and Aunt and Uncle, seeing movies, reading books on the beach and of course checking off some of our US must-eats, Mexican and sushi.



Next stop was the big New Year's party in San Francisco. Our flight was scheduled to get in at 5:45pm, but as it was routed through Chicago, I wasn't holding my breath to arrive on time. Thankfully we had no problems and Dave and I were cracking a bottle of champagne at the hotel by 7:30. What a great night out with the gang.


The next day we were moving slowly, but finally made it up to Napa where I caught dinner at Rutherford Grill with Stacey. Always fun and the food is always good!

Saturday was the big Geilhufe family reunion in Windsor, near Santa Rosa where we met up with my dad's side of the family, plus my immediate family, including my sister and her family (and 3 nephews!). After the country club luncheon and professional family photo (sorry, no proofs yet...), we headed back to the condos for a night of swimming (yes, outdoors! only in California in winter!) with the boys.


After hanging with the family a bit more the next day, Dave headed back to Sunnyvale where he stayed most of the next week to work and I went back to the East Bay with my mom. We stopped to see Up in the Air on the way home and then I headed over for Lobster Risotto at the Pytlewski's. Always so much fun to catch up with Stacey's family and Betty never disappoints in the kitchen!

While spending a few nights at home with my parents, I met up with Annie for dinner at CPK (yum! although the third menu they now share with all the nutrition info of each pizza is unnecessary...) and then back to her place for the premier of the Bachelor. So much fun!

My mom took the day off work on Tuesday to hang out with me, which started with massages and facials at my favorite Danville salon. Mom was a bit nervous about her Christmas present (first massage ever!) but as expected, she loved every minute. After a few more appointments and a trusty Costco hot dog for lunch, we headed into the city for more shopping and then dinner with my brother and sister-in-last that night. After so much greasy food, a huge bowl of Pho tasted so good. I said good-bye to my mom that night and stayed with my brother, after seeing his new place that should be closing any day now.

Wednesday started with me lugging a 50-lb suitcase and my old-standby Coach carry-on, plus a bag of Christmas presents for friends, down several SF hills to the muni train, which unfortunately above ground means several steep steps to get on. I did get chased from the train by a girl shouting I'd forgotten my suitcase... duh, I'm really forgetting a massive suitcase right there? nope, just couldn't get everything off all at once. But I did make it to my old mani-pedi place and they totally remembered me, of course saying, 'You don't come long time!'. One more trip on muni, this time with red nails and toes and I made it to the Four Seasons to finally leave my bags (gotta love the Lyngs!). I was so glad to get rid of all that baggage before heading to lunch with a few Zooers in the Financial. Always good to catch up and see what's going on on this side of the pond. Shopping and fortunately or unfortunately, not finding anything really, Megan and I picked up the bags and headed to Ashleigh's for a dinner party that night.


Ash's place is so cute and of course perfectly decorated. Mariela and Alisa were coming for dinner that night too and we decided on salmon with a ginger/honey/soy sauce glaze, plus mixed veggies, wild rice and a salad with a similar dressing to the salmon and mandarian oranges. Although the satay peanut sauce to go with the shrimp appetizer didn't really stay in a sauce form, everything else turned out and the company was even better. What a fun night!

Next stop, a day trip to Portland. I couldn't miss seeing Jenn, Jon and Dominic, who I can't believe will already be 1 in just a few weeks! We had a great day and Dominic was all smiles the whole time. Even without a nap (he didn't want to miss the action), he was adorable and so much fun. We had an early dinner of Taco Soup which I've been wanting to try ever since Jenn told me about it and she even baked me a Lemon Meringue Pie! I left Jenn's with 2 Julie Child cookbooks so this will definitely be a busy year!


After arriving back from Portland Thursday night, I headed to the hotel to meet Dave for what would be our last accommodation of the trip (thank goodness!). Friday was a fairly relaxing day of dentist appointments, a haircut, lunch with Mariela, some shopping and I even managed to see Leap Year before heading back to the hotel to get ready for the big dinner. I've wanted to eat at Fleur de Lys for some time, but after watching Hubert Keller on Top Chef Masters, I made a point to reserve a table for when we were home.

Ashleigh and Ryan joined us and we each chose the 4-course menu and I dined on 'A Symphony of Choucroute Fondant with Cavier' including a foie gras & smoked duck 'burger', sesame beef tartare and golden panisse fries to start, followed by Wild Jumbo Prawns with Brioche Crust, sweet and sour radicchio, cannellini bean emulsion and crispy pork belly - one of my favorite parts. My meat course was seared filet mignon with a lobster truffled mac & cheese and finally I ended with a cheese plate.

Dave had a chilled dungeness crab salad with shavings of young vegetables, lobster infused vinaigrette and lobster fondant with cavier, followed by Maine scallops, toasted pinenuts, sliced potato marvles, sundried tomatoes, olive sauce and Banyuls reduction. For his meat course, Dave had an oven roasted venison chop with truffled baby bok choy accented with a rich cocoa nijb red wine reduction, Spanish chorizo and coco tuile. He finished with a chocolate souffle. And no, I didn't remember all these names, they sent us home with menus :)

The dining experience was great, not as formal as French Laundry, which I really liked. I love experiencing these restaurants as you get to try so many different ingredients and combinations that you wouldn't normally eat. I would say the most memorable part of the meal for me was the steak; it sounds simple enough, but it was cooked to perfection and it's a world of difference from other steaks I've had, even in high-end steak houses. It was also a stark contrast to the multi-course French dinners we've had in France. Fleur de Lys is much more California-French, lots of lighter, seemingly fresher ingredients and the smaller portions that are associated with multi-course meals in the US (at least in comparison to the Paul Bocuse dinner in Lyon). We left feeling that we had gotten a great taste of many different things, without feeling heavy from larger portions of rich sauces.


Also noteworthy was the sommelier. He was informative and attentive, with a great approachable personality (not at all snobby like some sommeliers can come across as). He almost seemed like our host for the night, not only checking on the wine but also the food.

Obviously the highlight of the night was when Hubert Keller came out and said hello! I had requested to meet him if he was working that night and it was no disappointment. He was so friendly and approachable and although I didn't get much out (I'm star-struck around chefs!), I managed to at least get a few greetings out in French.


This was a great end to the trip (although I agree French food shouldn't be my last meal in the US!), but to top it off, we had an hour to kill before heading to the airport on Saturday morning so we walked over to the Ferry Building Farmer's Market and had breakfast with my mom. As Dave most certainly knows, there's nothing I love more than a farmer's market. I love the local feel and although in San Francisco it's probably as trendy as a new wine bar opening on Chestnut Street, I try to overlook that.

Thanks to all the family and friends who took time out to see us over the past few weeks. I enjoyed each meal I had with every one of you.

But you know the trip is coming to an end when Dave says he can't wait to get back to 'Lo Food'. I lugged 3 very heavy cookbooks back with me so there will be plenty of new recipes to come in 2010.