I read Kara Goucher’s “Running For Women” while waiting for my mom at SFO’s fancy new terminal 2. So far, so good! Kara’s story is really inspiring and she has a truly positive outlook given all of the injuries she has had to overcome for her career. It’s a pretty quick and fun read for beginners and avid runners alike.
When my mom’s flight finally got in from JFK, we picked up our rental car, checked into the hotel and headed straight for dinner. Tanto is an authentic japanese restaurant in Sunnyvale, CA. It was so authentic that we were the only non-japanese diners. Matt and I once had dinner here in a weird jail cell-like stall. We sat side by side on a tiny bench eating from a the small countertop affixed in front of us. It was bizarre. It was like eating in a phone booth. I wanted to take a photo of it last night, but refrained so as not to disturb the people awkwardly seated there. Since then, I have dreamt of the melt in your mouth chilean sea bass and salmon onigiri. But, Matt isn’t a bone-in-the-meat eater, and his chicken teriyaki was certainly not boneless.
My mom and I started with a sashimi salad with a soy/sesame oil/yuzu (japanese citrus fruit) dressing. It was delicious. My mom isn’t much of a raw seafood person so she wasn’t too into it.
We then got a few variations of black cod… This was the one that was grilled in butter. I don’t typically eat super buttery dishes, but this was so worth it.
This morning, we skipped down to the hotel breakfast (figuratively for my mom, literally for me). I’m just so ecstatic to get some QT (quality time) with her 🙂
My mom had eggs, bacon, toast and coffee while catching up on emails.
I had a bowl of oatmeal with raisins and cinnamon, a lowfat yogurt, a banana and snuck out a grannysmith apple for later. And a cup of half coffee/half soy milk microwaved.
My favorite part of the breakfast was the make your own miso soup counter! Look at the cute “Tofu”, “Green Onion” and “Radish” packages! Once I put these freeze-dried (?) ingredients on top of the miso paste, I added boiling water. I swear I could move to Japan and eat miso, seaweed and fatty fish for breakfast. No big deal.
We checked out several new apartments (I am hoping to move closer to work) and car dealerships. We stopped at Sprout in Palo Alto for lunch. It is my all time favorite salad place. I think mathematically speaking, there are about 856,294,736 different combinations you can make with their extensive and fresh ingredient options.
My mom went with an arugula + grilled steak salad w/ watercress, grape tomatoes, toasted pumpkin seeds, feta cheese and avocado.
I rolled with a spinach salad w/ 2 servings of avocado, a hard boiled egg, edamame, watercress, broccoli and strawberries.
My mom has such a smaller appetite than I do. She ate half of her salad and was satiated. After I finished mine, I snacked on a big handful each of pumpkin seeds and almonds, a huge organic white peach and opened up this baby ❤
We are having dinner with my little cousin (who is actually only 9 months younger and 6′ 2″) Ian and his girlfriend. I’m so excited to meet her! Catch ya later.
Have you heard this song “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros? Check it out on their youtube page. It’s been one of my favorites for a long time now. It makes me miss home less because even though my home will always be New York City, home is really the people that make it so wonderful, not simply the city. I can be with Matt in San Francisco and be home. I can be with my cousin Jenn in LA and be home. Or with my mom reading and taking an afternoon nap in a hotel 🙂
What are some of your favorite nostalgic songs?
Until I found this little insect crawling on my kale. It looks a whole lot bigger than it was. It was itty-bitty and I’m sure it was harmless, but I couldn’t bear to possibly eat a living crawling insect (for my sake as well as theirs). So, I picked up every piece of ripped green leaf and thoroughly inspected it before it passed through my lips. I may have looked like a caveman but I had to do it. 
Ruthie's Runs and Recipes 