Revelation.

Our buddy Aaron Israel is a frequent visitor and hang-out buddy of ours in San Francisco. His family lives in RVA and his dad and step-mom are good friends of Chip's parents. It is nice to have someone out here who has lived in the City for years and can take us around and show us things we've yet to experience.

Plus, he has a car.


Oh...ok, sorry. But Aaron has taken on a "big brother" type of role for us. He's always willing to hang out, come eat with us, drink with us and discuss everything from religion to politics to pop culture to environmentalism. He's great and really has done a great job helping Chip and I acclimate to the City life.

You may ask, "big brother type? does that mean he watches your every move?"

Hardly. Aaron is like...the big brother that bought you beer when you were still underage. He lives only 6 blocks from us, so he'll pop on by at a moment's notice. We both tend to pick up the underground train at the same stop, so on lucky days I get to ride into work with him. He's been awesome about letting me use him as a pole so I don't fall over when the conductor decides to slam on the brakes and send passengers flying about (I'm too short to hold on to the overhead bars, and typically the vertical poles are not accessible because the trains is packed like a sardine can.) So, Aaron will hold on to the overhead pole and tell me to hold on to him.

See? Like a big brother. Other great Aaron moments was the day that he, Chip, Liz and I met up in Hayes Valley, and randomly decided to have a picnic in the park (Alamo Square) behind my apartment. It really does have one the best views in the city, even though our neighborhood is constantly bombarded with the tourist double decker buses (the six sisters almost share a back yard to Chip and I. See picture)

Nevertheless, the view is great, and we picked up about 60 dollars of munchies at the local market and 2 bottles of wine, went to the park and hung out. That's the great thing about this city. The random activity. No plans...just go with it. Well, a 1:30 picnic turned into a late night drinking fest. We probably polished off more wine than I care to discuss in this blog (since it would seriously make some family and friends worry about our drinking habits) and by 11:30 p.m. we were all passed out. (Chip is still surprised that I lasted 10 hours, considering 1 glass of wine will usually make me pass out).

But anyway...Chip and I cooked dinner last night (Tarragon Chicken with a side of sauteed spinach, chickpeas, mushrooms, and artichoke hearts and parmesan...TRUE!) and poor Aaron had called. He wanted to do something about dinner, but we had already started cooking. (Chip, by the way, did the chicken and the sauce...one of the best sauces he's done to date).

So I split my meal in half, told him to come over, and shared our good food with him. He thought it was "gourmet" and very very good. (Which, about sums our cooking up...we like to overdo it.) So, Aaron came over and shared our meal. We made a deal. We'll cook for him whenever he wants to be fed. He just has to share a part in the groceries and bring one bottle of wine. I think that is one fair deal - for a good, healthy, and very tasty meal.

Can you beat that? Plus, I always like to cook. Much like the little "party" we had on saturday where i (once again) over did it and made Moroccan style meatballs, Snow pea pods stuffed with crab, Hummus/pita/veggies, homemade green goddess dressing, spicy chicken bites, marinated olives and a guacamole-salsa dip. We had about 6 people over, and the only rule was everyone has to bring wine.

Chip says I'm becoming quite the "hostess." I think it's my new calling. Maybe I can quit my job and do this professionally for a living?

Well, I don't have much more to say other than my revelation is this:

Chip and I are here to make people feel loved, welcomed, invited and comfortable. This is probably why we always want to cook for others, have them over for a glass of wine and some hors d'oeuvres, and hang out and discuss things (and sometimes debate them). Perhaps this is our true nature: to love, feed, and heal - and in return expect nothing but your company.