Sean arrives!

You're right. That's not Sean. It's a pair of shoes.

When I friended Val on FB, her profile picture was of her feet in these divine shoes (Jessica Simpson "Brinna", to be exact). I was smitten (with the shoes, that is).

So why am I posting about shoes when the subject is all about the arrival of my lovely husband?

Well, it's all a matter of priorities.......

Only kidding. Sean didn't arrive until Saturday afternoon. On Saturday morning, Val and I went and had pedicures (do you like my super awesome gladiators? Not new, but tres groovy):

We had then (naturally) aimed on doing a stint of shoe shopping, but after a yummy lunch at Asana I had to rush to get on the road up to San Francisco, to collect a surely shattered young Sean. When I arrived, I had managed to catch one of the last direct Sydney-San Francisco flights. Qantas have since discontinued this route, so Sean got to enjoy a 5 hour layover in Los Angeles. Luckily for him, my Qantas Frequent Flier renewal arrived in my absence, along with a single guest pass. So Sean at least got to use this, and spent most of his time in the Admiral's Lounge. But by the time he arrived in SF, he'd been awake for close to 30 hours.

What with having to leave the freeway to refuel the car in Scotts Valley, getting lured into an incorrect freeway exit near San Jose (was v cross, since I made the exact same mistake when collecting Sean last year), and getting stuck in traffic near SF, I was late getting to the airport. And then I mistakenly got on the AirTrain, at which point I realised I'd parked at the correct terminal in the first place. And when I got to the right terminal, I saw that Sean's flight had arrived early.

It was not a good feeling having an entire international airport in which to locate one Sean, but just as I was organising to have him paged, he showed up. RELIEF.

Although a bit sleepy, he was in good form, so I took him straight to The Penny Ice Creamery for a reviver. Yay! Here's Sean, looking none the worse for wear:

Their ever-changing flavour list:

Home made flavours in the freezer. Seriously the BEST ice cream I have ever tasted. Heart.

Sean feels better!!

Then we wandered down Pacific Ave, and lo and behold, it was Happy Hour Prices on food at Aqua Bleu, one of our favourite spots from last year. This is the view out of the window from our table.

And the view of the restaurant from our table:

Sean lost no time in nailing a burger. It doesn't take much to get him into the American groove: 

I had a delicious sushi with four different kinds of fish:

Getting amongst the ketchup:

And just to round off the gastronomic welcome, the following Tuesday we went to the Seabright Brewery.

There was an ice hockey final in progress: San Jose vs Vancouver. The Sharks fans were staking out the multiple big screens at the brewery, dressed to the nines in their aqua kit. They are a fanatical crowd. From the outside, it sounded as though a brawl was taking place. I wondered what it would be like when San Jose scored. It didn't take me long to find out, although I had to put my fingers in my ears! I was kind of glad we left before the Sharks lost in extra time.

Anyway, I was very taken with this surfboard above the bar:

Luckily we didn't have to wait long for a table, and we got stuck in to the Tuesday special of fish tacos.

Sean sampling his second Seabright specialty:

I think he's happy to be here!