Tim took the train and got here this afternoon. We played a quick game of Quiddler and I totally won. Yahoo. _

When Kimi, Justin and Jason returned from their outings it brought our Cloud Ninth numbers to six people—which is awesome. I love when so many friends have the opportunity to come together. We ate some croquets and then trooped over to the re-opening party for our neighborhood library. We were really hoping for cupcakes, but they did not deliver. I will have to make some this weekend. We have loose plans for the days ahead and have talked about going to Japantown again, but whatever we do I am sure that it will be fun.

Tim visited us in Berkeley at Cloud Ninth this weekend. It was so awesome! I love when people visit because so many fun things happen.

Friday we took a cogmotive field trip to Japantown. It was quite an adventure and required so much walking that I didn’t feel at all the guilty indulging in decadent eclairs and cream puffs for dessert. We did some shopping and stocked up on stickers, notebooks, and other cute finds at the Kinokuniya stationary store. Also at the grocery store I picked up some melon pan and strawberry pocky.

Saturday night we played Magic: The Gathering. Tim and Jason to decided to buy liquor colored red, blue, green, white, and black to correspond with the different colored cards so that when you were attacked you would lose life and have to take a shot. Luckily they didn’t pick up anything too gross. Out of everyone at Cloud Ninth I have the least knowledge and experience of the game so I usually do not participate when they play. However, with Tim here I felt like it was a good time to jump in since he was not as acclimated either. I actually ended up doing really well and stayed alive the longest. I used Jason’s green and white deck and it was so cool. The funny part was that I dreamt about playing it all night because I was so excited. I am such a geek.

Sunday, Justin and I made a veggie stew for dinner. It was great collaborating with him because he contributed so much in terms of spices and such. I have to admit that when I cook I make it up as I go along and I love input from others so that I can tweak with the “recipe.” Our stew this time had onions, garlic, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, 2 kinds of squash and tofu. It came out delicious. I was glad that Tim could be here for a soup night. Later we walked to Andronico’s for cake.

So I guess that I like when guests are around because everyone eats together and there is always dessert. With five people in our house everyone eats at different times. The weekend days seem to be the best times for us to all come together for a meal. Before at the Hanover Studio I made soup on random Sunday nights. It was a favorite tradition of ours that of course had to be carried on here as well. Justin and I both love to cook and enjoy creating fabulous new vegan meals.