Monday was St. Patrick’s Day, which we’d totally forgotten about until Mr. W and I wandered the 1.3 miles over to downtown Sunnyvale from Diana’s pad and saw Murphy Avenue completely decked out in green. It was only noon, and there were patrons in green wigs, green plastic bead necklaces, green shamrock sunglasses, green clothing, sitting outside this restaurant- and bar-lined street enjoying the day. It seemed like every bar there was an Irish pub, and most restaurants Indian.

We selected Scruffy Murphy’s Irish Pub & Restaurant, and walked into the very crowded parlor. We opted to eat upstairs where there were less people, and ordered off their special St. Patrick’s Day menu. I had corned beef and cabbage (delicious) and Mr. W had a lamb stew. He also had a green beer (Harps Lager) and I wasn’t as daring with my Bailey’s Irish Cream on the rocks. We put on our green beads and shamrock sunglasses and walked back to Diana’s, where we took a nap. (She was at work.) Then we got up and drove out to the beautiful Hakone Gardens in nearby Saratoga. (One of the funny things about NorCal is that we think everything’s really close, within 10 miles away from Diana’s, but to people who live there, we went far.) A few scenes from the cinematographically-acclaimed film “Memoirs of a Geisha” were filmed there. I loved that garden. I thought it kicked our wedding venue Japanese garden’s ass, and one of my favorite things about this garden, aside from its beauty from every angle, is that it allows visitors to go on each footpath and go exploring. I found some discreet sights of bamboo, flowers, zen gardens and hidden seats, stunning views that continued to take my breath away as I turned angles. Mr. W took some photos, but I was disappointed how the photos could not come close to doing the sights justice.

Aside from attending Jimmy’s wedding, the other thing I absolutely HAD to do on this trip was to visit Mel’s frozen yogurt shop, a new business venture of hers. We made plans to meet up with Dardy on the same street (which is like Restaurant Row), parked at the start of Castro St. in Mountain View (yes, 10 minutes away). Mr. W and I wandered by the shop first, saw Mel and chatted with her a few minutes, I sampled a couple flavors, and we walked off to meet Dardy for ramen at Maru Ichi restaurant. I kept feeling like I was having celebrity sightings this whole trip, as we’d drive by places I read about on my NorCal friends’ blogs but had never visited myself. I got all stupidly excited when I spotted HC Dumpling, too, one of Dardy’s other favorites. I thoroughly enjoyed my miso ramen (dude, that ramen’s messy! it’s impossible to eat the stuff without spraying droplets of soup everywhere unless you painstakingly wind noodles onto the soup spoon and then put the whole spoon in your mouth, which I did for awhile until I got too hungry for the slow process.), and then we walked to Mel’s shop, Yogurt Fantasy.

I’d heard that her yogurt texture is different from PinkBerry or other yogurt places, and it’s true! Her yogurt is sooo creamy and rich tasting. It doesn’t just liquify and dissolve right away. Her flavors are also very true to their name; my blueberry tart was very blueberry-y, and paired with the chocolate, I felt like I was in taste bud heaven. It was the perfect nightcap before we returned to Diana’s place where she was again back at her dining table working away (impending deadline). She’d passed on dinner to stay at home and work, opting to eat Jimmy’s banquet leftovers with Jen who was due to arrive after work. She worked late into the night while I stayed and chatted with her a bit until I felt too guilty for stealing her time and went off to bed myself. Her boyfriend also stopped by late to visit, having just left the office himself. Lawyers!