Allison is staying with us right now, which is as usual, great. Yesterday she introduced me to an awesome coffee treat: ordering a shot of espresso over ice. Reminded me instantly of being in France.

It has been very hot here in SF for the past few days. Probably up to 80 right now but I haven’t left the office yet. Yesterday I went downtown to run errands and have lunch with some friends, then met up with Allison at my place. We went to get aforementioned espresso, then got groceries from the Farmers Market Produce store by my house. The whole bag of food for dinner came to under $5. Love that place.

We made cous cous (cooked with vegetable broth and raisins and then seasoned with lemon zest and juice, sherry vinegar, and green onions), roasted vegetables and chickpeas, and toasted pine nuts and chopped almonds. Also a green salad made only of green things. It was so good. Dessert was simple: fresh picked strawberries bought cheap from a roadside farm stand. It was all complemented by a glass of chardonnay and good times with Allison and her pal Ursula.

Allison brought homemade cat toys along for Simon and Sasha: catnip stuffed fabric made to look like sushi rolls. So far they like them, though I also gave Sasha the cork from the wine bottle, which he of course batted under the couch. She also brought along the usual half pound of Anodyne coffee beans fresh from Milwaukee’s greatest coffee shop.

Tonight we are going out for Ethiopian food in my neighborhood, tomorrow morning we’ll go to the DeYoung Museum. Summer!