Fabulous on So Many Levels

describes my three days visiting Charlie this weekend. From the moment he picked me up in his Porsche Boxster with the top down to the moment he dropped me off at the airport in his Toyota Prius (company car), I felt so happy to spend time with him. We ate and talked, ate and talked, laughed, cried a bit, and just felt comfortable together. We ate two meals at a local neighborhood place called Max's Diner. At Max's Diner, I was introduced to this:

That, my friends, is Cornflake French Toast. It's absolutely divine! I can't wait to go back and have more. That was brunch on Sunday. After that, we enjoyed a leisurely drive into San Francisco in the Porsche. It was a glorious, sunny day for a drive. We visited ImagiKnit of San Francisco and I splurged on this gorgeous sock yarn:After that, we had tea in this speciality tea shop. I don't remember the exact name of this tea, but it was a citrusy flavor and was quite good. Since it was a bit warm out, I went for the chilled tea:I didn't take any photos of the San Francisco area. I wasn't too much into doing touristy things. We did go to City Lights Books to get my son, Joe, a t-shirt. Monday we stayed in his neighborhood and went to lunch at a local pasta place and then had ice cream at Foster's Freeze. Yummy! On the way home, we went to the market where we picked up the ingredients for me to cook Lemon Chicken Stir-fry for dinner. He's got a beautiful kitchen and I was anxious to treat him to a homecooked meal. He put on the latest Seal CD and I cooked away to my heart's content, enjoying the music coming through the speakers in the kitchen. I have major kitchen "envy". LOL Charlie set the table on the deck, and we enjoyed a leisurely dinner outdoors. He was most appreciative of the meal. Afterwards, he got things ready for work on Tuesday and I knit while watching TV. One of the highlights of the trip was getting to know his dog, Boomer. He is definitely Charlie's "best friend" (other than me!) and gets lots of love and attention. Charlie takes Boomer out to a nearby park twice a day to get his exercise and to chase his favorite balls. On Monday afternoon, I went along with my camera. This is one of my favorite shots. Tuesday morning we left his house by 6:30 and headed out to the airport. I had set the coffeemaker the night before, but he got up early and surprised me with a full pot of coffee and a beautiful crystal bowl with sliced strawberries for my breakfast. A very thoughtful friend! This is the photo I took from his deck right before we left for the airport:

I hope to go back again before the end of the year. Hopefully, Jose can go with me next time. However, this time it was great to be just the two of us--old friends who had three days to catch up, reminisce, and recommit to being friends for the rest of our lives. When I snapped this photo of the sunrise, I whispered a silent prayer of gratitude to God--for the opportunity to spend time with my friend, for the gift of Charlie in my life, for the beautiful sunrise, for three days of rest, relaxation, and peacefulness...for this life that I am living. Life is good!