Home for the Holidays Two-a-day

12/20/12

Thursday in Nor Cal started nice and lazy…for me.  Kyle was up and off to San Jose for a business meeting at 7 am after only 5 hours of sleep.  I didn’t have anything to do until a 1 pm date at the Walnut Creek Police Department.  No, I didn’t get in trouble for anything.  I figured (and was definitely correct) that it would be far easier to get an appointment to have our car seat installation checked in the suburbs of the Bay Area than Los Angeles. 

In continuing the two-a-day challenge, here’s a photo of the car seat installation process. 

It took a little time for us to figure it out, but we got it squared away pretty quickly once we found the latch thingies in the car. 

The police woman who checked the car was really impressed, so either she normally deals with a bunch of idiots or we are geniuses (aaand, since I just spelled genius wrong, I’m guessing it’s the first thing).  But seriously, I got mad props for the cleanliness of our CVR and she went through her (very long) checklist without making a single change to our set up.  Apparently getting your seat checked before you are discharged from the hospital is a new requirement (a lot of people from older generations seem confused when we mention this process). 

Anyway, Kyle and I both got home around the same time.  He went to Casa for lunch but I had my OCC leftovers. 

Then, since the weather was still holding out, we went for a stroll around town.

For dinner we went into Oakland to meet some of Kyle’s family members at  Mua.

From the outside I’d never know what kind of place this was, but then you get inside and it’s a huge space!  After you pass the long bar in the front. the back opens up into a huge warehouse-like scene with seating on two floors.  It’s funky and noisy and lively in a good way. 

They have a large menu, full of diverse options that could satisfy any diner (like butternut squash mac ‘n cheese, roasted brussels, vegetable ragout, and beef bone marrow).  Naturally I’d already scoped it all out online, including the separate menu for those with food allergies (gluten free, vegetarian, and vegan dietary substitutions all noted).

I was tempted by a few of the small dishes (crispy tofu!), but ended up ordering the CBQ burger (chickpea / bulgur / quinoa), which came on a fluffy bun with aïoli, tomato, lettuce, & onion and a hefty side of fries.  The burger was fantastic – it smelled insane and tasted even better – with a crispy outside and soft center.  As the name implies, the main components of the burger were chickpeas, bulgur, and quinoa, but it also had walnuts which gave it a hearty quality.  And it was seasoned beautifully.  Definitely a winner.

I highly recommend Mua for anyone in the Bay Area. 

By the time we got home Kyle and I were ready to zonk out.  It’s rough being on vacation.