Foodie revisited

I said it before. I'll say it again. I. Love. Food.

Mostly, I love all the stuff that's bad for me, but I enjoy salads and fruits & vegetables, too. 

That being said, I was a BAD girl on vacation. Having never visited California before, I wanted to take in as many of the new foods as I could. I knew I'd work it all off either climbing the hills in SF or working out (if I didn't feel I got the exercise I needed during the day).

When I got into San Francisco Friday night, the first thing we did was go to In n' Out (Damn you, Harry Snyder!). Upon the recommendation from one of my followers (ahem, totally calling you out, @MichaelTimmons!), I ordered the #1 with animal-style fries and a chocolate shake. This thing was AMAZING. The burgers are all made fresh, as are the fries. The shake was to die for and I appreciated every artery-clogging bite of my meal. YUM. MY!

That night, Tracy, DawnL and I sat around and had some wine. This wine was the sweetest, most flavorful wine I've ever tasted. (Shameless plug for Fantasia from Castello di Amorosa in Napa.) Again - definitely not on the diet. But oh so good!

On Friday, Tara, Tracy and I headed to the Wharf. We bypassed the Ben & Jerry's shop and the pretzel & cotton candy stand (much to my dismay), but had a delicious dinner at the Pier Market. While I should've probably avoided the creamy chowder, I didn't. I did however avoid the fish and chips (save for a couple small bites Tracy shared with me - that stuff was amazing!). I had the New England clam chowder and a salad instead (and a delicious cocktail). I won't think about the number of empty calories in any of it.

Fortunately, this dietary wrist-slit was counteracted by the miles we walked around at the Wharf and up and down Lombard Street that day. I don't feel too guilty about it. I also didn't buy anything at Ghiradelli Square, so there's that. (Does the single square of chocolate they gave us as a sample count? I don't think so.) 

We joined DawnL later that night for dinner at The Silk Road. I skipped the liquor and had water instead (go me!). They brought us a killer appetizer of flat bread and some Mediterranean salsa thing (balsamic vinegar & olive oil based. Need I say more?).

For dinner, I debated between the ravioli and the lamb shank. Committed to trying new things, I opted for the lamb. I wasn't disappointed. It was DELICIOUS! It was served in a unique tomato sauce, garlic mashed potatoes and steamed veggies. 

Saturday brought me a few handfuls of movie popcorn (shameless plug for MacGruber. Go see it!) and some Sour Patch Kids. It also brought me a corndog late in the afternoon from Dairy Queen (hey, I bypassed the Blizzard. Gimme some credit.) and another late night visit to In n' Out. I skipped the cheese on my double burger and ate my fries with just the special sauce instead of animal-style. Obviously I should've skipped the whole damn place, but I did all right with what I could. We rounded out the night at home with some more wine (Yes, I drank the entire bottle of Moscato while I was there, so sue me).

Sunday, I had lunch with an old classmate and we went to Pasta Pomodoro. I ordered the Conchiglie Gamberi and like everything else this weekend, it wasn't healthy. It was pasta shells with asparagus, tomatoes and shrimp with a cream & shrimp stock sauce. De. Lish.

Sunday night we finished out our weekend with a decandent dinner at Bruno's on Fillmore. The girls opted for cheesy garlic bread, but I chose the calamari at our waiter's suggestion. It was good, but nothing special. The lasagna and salad, though. HOLY COW! Good stuff!!!

What's the point of this (very tempting) blog? The point is, you can be human. You can have a weekend of selfish indulgence. You can "cheat" from time to time. Just don't make a habit of it. I put on 3-4lbs this weekend, but I'll work it back off. I have realistic expectations of myself and I'm willing to deal with the consequences of my actions. A weekend like this will mean more time on the treadmill, but it was worth it. I got to try new things and not worry about the shouldn't do's.