San Diego

On April 26 my sister Claire picked us up at the San Diego airport in her shinny silver Passat with her friend Krissy in the passenger seat. The wind was brisk and the skies were metallic blue. Anytime I step off the plane in San Diego I crave fresh fish tacos and Claire was right on que with delivering the best that SD had to offer. We went to a fish market and devoured a couple of tacos each. With full bellies we drove a half an hour north to Oceanside to Claire's new digs. Zoey the jumping jelly bean of a dog greeted us with leaps and bounds. Claire's house is as big as it is comfortable and we felt right at home in the Granny room.

Our visit to San Diego was to see our friends, Pete & Jenny, tie the knot and to spend time with Claire and her beau PJ. Pete had rented a couple of beach pads in Pacific Beach for the wedding so on Wednesday night Matt and I borrowed Claire's ride and drove down to spend some quality time with the bride and groom before the madness of wedding took reign over everything else. We spent a couple of hours reconnecting and then drove back up to Oceanside. Claire had the fire pit blazing in the backyard complete with Tiki torches. We lounged comfortably next to the fire with vino. Our second night in town a hold'em tourney was arranged by PJ with some of his buddies. Neither of us were able to go the distance to claim the pot. Besides we didn't want to be rude and take money from our hosts.

My old college roommates and good friends, Eric & Nina, drove down from Santa Monica with little Isaiah, our godson, to crash with us for the wedding. Isaiah is a gorgeously smart boy with endless energy to play sports. He's as imaginative as he is adorable. From little Orphan Annie to PJ to a baby squirrel to a hockey player and to a surfer on the beach he loves to pretend he's anyone and everyone. Pete and Jenny's wedding was on the bay side of the beach in Pacific Beach. The clouds parted just in time to illuminate the bare footed couple during their vows. The simple ceremony was still powerful enough to evoke tears from me. True to form Pete and Jenny knew had to throw a party and everything from the beer to the Mexican buffet was rocking.

Because we can't hang with the late night party scene like we used to we cut out alittle early. A 5:30 am wake up call beckoned us for a flight back to Oakland for wedding #2 of the weekend. When it rains it pours hearts of gooey love because people around us get sick with love constantly and tie the knot like its going out of style.