We Know How to Do Fridays

Summer is officially in the air, and what perfect timing, as it seems to reflect my sunny disposition, a result of my excitement for Cal Day, my mom and sister's arrival, and Mom's Tea this Sunday. 

Friday's weather (dear Lord, I'm about to talk about the weather) was absolutely perfect adventure-weather. I am so proud to say that in just this one day I crossed many things off of my bucket list.

 To begin what ended as an amazing day, a few good friends and I went THRIFTING. By 1pm, all those bargains aroused in each of us a hunger that could only be satiated by fried chicken sandwiches from Bakesale Bette's (accompanied by lemon ices of course). We even skipped the mainstream method of eating our meal at a table and enjoyed our food in the cool shade of a tree. 

After enjoying our savory snack, we journeyed into Scream, an amazing neighboring sorbet shop whose White Guava ice cream is a flavor to rival Ici's entire uniquely-crafted menu. Scream had some very intriguing flavors, but since I tried the White Guava first, I didn't really feel the need to venture out and try all of them. Those that I did try just couldn't compete with the lingering light and fruity sweetness of the former.  

 I was extremely sad to learn that this flavor is to be discontinued sometime in the next few weeks. 

WHY, CRUEL WORLD??

 After our dessert, we meandered down the nearby street to a used craft store. Once our food had settled and our purchases made, we dropped off our friend Mel and headed to the Gourmet Ghetto of Berkeley to indulge in some chocolate tasting. The tasting featured a little history course on the chocolate we were eating, but in all honesty, I just wanted to eat!

Oh boy, did we eat! I guess I make this claim with the thought of quality and not quantity in mind since we didn't really eat that much. I really enjoyed the 73 1/2 dark chocolate with nibs. The cacao/sugar ratio was perfect and the slight crunch of each bite was a pleasant surprise. 

As if we needed any more sugar, we then headed to Masse's Pastries and treated ourselves to some delectable macarons. I tried the cassis and the yuzu. I personally think the yuzu tasted like sugar-coated grass, but the fact that I associated it with grass at all mystifies me more than the flavor. (I don't eat grass, I promise.)

Finally leaving the ever-tempting gourmet ghetto behind, we rejoined Mel and headed to Berkeley Marina to enjoy the sunshine and the scenery. It was so beautiful.  

I especially loved seeing the sailboats drifting along in the wind. But the wind got to be too much and we decided to pack up our glitter nail polish and red curtain (we used it as a makeshift blanket, see?) and headed to Vik's Chaat for some more food and good conversation, the perfect way to wind down from a busy but fun afternoon.