Category Archives: san jose

Bicycle Safety

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And no, I’m not talking about your safety while riding a bicycle. I’m talking about the safety of your bicycle. 

I just opened our resident portal here in California to report that my kitchen light is flickering when I saw a note that two bikes had been stolen from our supposedly secure parking garage. Having had one of our vehicles broken into already and seen people in the garbage dumpsters who I’m pretty sure don’t live here, I have never considered leaving my bike in the garage. 

Instead, when I’m not riding it, my bike lives in the entry way,

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or next to the stairs (both of which David hates, but I get busy you know),

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or on the balcony which really makes the most sense to me.

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There are lots of bike riders in San Jose. When you ride around you see bikes locked up but that’s clearly not enough because, additionally, you’ll see they have a wheel or the seat removed for extra safety.

It was really interesting when I was home in Tulsa last week. I was getting into my car after picking up my pizza (vegan) and noticed a family ride up on bikes. Well, maybe it was a family with a lot of kids or a family with their kids and their kids friends. But in any case, there were at least eight people and eight bikes. 

Do you know what they did when they got to the front of the restaurant? They got off of their bikes, parked them and went in the door to eat. There wasn’t a lock among them. All the seats stayed in place as well as the wheels. 

I reflected about the bikes here in San Jose and came to the conclusion that bikes are much safer in Oklahoma. 

I’m not sure if this is a good thing or not, though. Does it mean Oklahoma has less thieves? Less active people? Better things to steal? 

As I ponder this, I’ll continue to ride my bike and keep it safe. In the living room. I mean on the balcony. 😉

Promised Post Pageant Donut

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We stumbled upon Psycho Donuts on one of our morning walks a month or so ago. I loved how the outside was decorated. We didn’t go in but when I got home, I investigated a little further and decided that after the pageant, I was going to Psycho Donuts and have a donut. 

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This morning, in a radical departure from my normally ultra healthy diet, we indulged.  It was truly difficult to decide which one of these amazing donuts I wanted to try. I asked the man in front of me if I could take a photo of his box and he said, “Sure”. 

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After we ordered, he ordered 6 more! It really is a tough decision.

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We decided on the Rocky Road (David) and the S’Mores (me)

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They were served up by this very pleasant health care provider. 🙂

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We also had a cup of coffee. I had the dark roast which was excellent and David had the lighter roast. 

Oh yum!!!!

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We grabbed some napkins for the sticky deliciosity.

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Sat at a cute table. 

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It was amazing. Afterwards, I was buzzed to the max, ready to walk another 1397 miles. David just wanted to sleep. 🙂 

Although it’s not in my usual repertoire of food choices, I’m glad we tried Psycho Donuts. It was awesome! 😀

V is for Vero’s Coffee Bar

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Today we wandered down to SoFA (South First Area District) to have coffee at Vero’s Coffee Bar.

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 Vero’s is located in the SoFA Market. Accoriding to the folks at Vero’s, the SoFA Market is going to be similar to San Pedro Square, offering many of the same vendors.

They have a nice selection of coffees to chose from and several ways to have it made. They also have coffee you can purchase to make at home. 

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It was a tasty cup of coffee! They have a small variety of treats but we decided to take a pass on that, today.

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We’ll definitely wander down this way again. The coffee was delish, the folks at Vero’s were super nice and it will be interesting to see how the SoFA Market progresses! 🙂

U is for US Post Office

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I love architecture. Buildings of all sorts. Two of my favorite buildings are the Devon Tower in Oklahoma City which is new, 

and the Petronis Towers in Kuala Lumpur which are relatively new (opened in 1996)

compared to the Downtown San Jose Post Office. 

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This beautiful building was built to be the main post office for San Jose in 1933 by Ralph Wykoff. It’s a gorgeous example of Depression Era federal construction. The main post office has since been moved but the building still serves as the Downtown Branch.

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Older buildings are charming in a way that newer ones simply can’t be. The level of detail on both the interior and exterior of the building is remarkable.

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Although I’ve been in the post office several times to mail packages, I never looked up until I was there earlier this week. As in all old post offices, there are the banks of brass post office boxes and teller windows that look like something out of an old western. I love those things. But when I was asking permission to take photos, I told him I wanted to take photos of the marble, the lights, the ceiling. 

Oh the lights!

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Oh the ceiling!

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Aren’t they awesome?

This is inside the lobby and brings to mind the song You Can Call Me Al by Paul Simon. 

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I look around, around, I see angels in the architecture. – Paul Simon

The outside is spectacular. The entrances are castle-like.

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And the corners are equally beautiful. 

usps_sanjose_cornerI truly love this building. I marvel at it’s beauty and detail every time I go in or even walk by. It’s my favorite building in San Jose. 😀

S is for Steak

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As I eluded to in yesterday’s post, we celebrated our 36th wedding anniversary with dinner at Morton’s The Steakhouse last night. 

I was excited when I made the reservation a few weeks ago because I’ve been excited about our anniversary. 36 years just seems so much longer than 35 years for some reason and it seemed like such a huge accomplishment. But more than that, I’m looking for 36 more and, after that? Another 36. David and I have so much fun! 😀

Earlier in the day, Heather called from Morton’s to confirm our reservation. She also wanted to know David’s name so they could personalize our menu. I thought that was a nice extra touch and I loved seeing it when they gave us the menus. Of course, you know how I can get, going on and on, Heather knew it was our 36th anniversary and she included that as well. Nice!

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We were greeted with Happy Anniversary when we approached the host to be seated which was awesome. He took us to our table and told us our server, April, would be right with us. April arrived and also wished us happy anniversary. Then she said she always likes to ask couples what their advice would be to a newly married couple.

I told her that I would tell the bride she should always put her husband first. It can get hard, when kids come. They need so much and pull you in so many different directions. But if you put your husband first, you will have an ally and helper when it comes time to going in all those directions and it makes everything easier and the marriage stronger. 

David, man of few words, said, “Laugh.” 

Well alrighty then! And here I thought he found me utterly entertaining all these years. 😉

We ordered our appetizers and it wasn’t until she took the wine list and cocktail menu that I noticed there was anniversary confetti on the table! 

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We had a cocktail to start. David had an Amstel Light and I had a martini. I was so excited to learn that Morton’s has Beefeater Gin, which is my favorite. So many places don’t have it anymore. 

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April brought us onion bread and soft butter. Mmmm. Yum!

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Then, a gal came by and asked if we wanted to have a photo to mark the occasion and we said yes. So nice! 

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I got the Broiled Sea Scallops for my appetizer. They were wrapped in bacon and came with apricot chutney and the whole dish was amazing! David got the short rib tacos which he said were good but he ate them before I got a chance to take a photo. Gotta be quick with that guy. 😉

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We ordered steaks for dinner because, well, it seems like the thing to do at a steakhouse. I got the 8 oz. filet .

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David got the center prime ribeye.

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We decided on Brussels sprouts and 

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Au Gratin potatoes to share. 

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It was all so delicious!

Of course we had to have dessert. I mentioned I might have a couple of bites of cake and I did. We ordered Morton’s Legendary Hot Chocolate Cake and it was gooey and warm and came with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Just the right size to share after a fabulous dinner. And I got to eat all the raspberries because David doesn’t like them. 😀

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All in all, we had a wonderful night celebrating a wonderful event. Morton’s went out of their way to make us feel even more special with the little touches acknowledging our anniversary and we are so appreciative. 😀