So, our networking was really interesting. We went to Sun (& got to hear interesting insights into the Oracle merger), VMWare, Chevron, Adobe (they’re undergoing some intense shifts right now, too), LinkedIn, and Ubisoft. The hiring market right now is tough, but I think our trip was helpful for inspiring my search.

Of course, it wasn’t all work. I got to see several friends and even squeezed in a trip to Napa! I’m posting a couple of photos from the week.

This was a storefront in Oakland. I still have no idea what kind of business this is, I just thought it was funny. My friends and I discovered it on our way home from an awesome dinner at Dona Tomas. Killer carnitas…highly recommended. This wasn’t the end of the oddness on the walk home, though…we also discovered some sort of nerdom medieval sword play going on in the Rockridge BART parking lot. Only in California!

And this is from Napa. It was an absolutely gorgeous day…the kind of day that makes you not want to leave! We had lunch at Mustards (good, but didn’t live up to the hype) and tasted at Cosentino, Sawyer, Elizabeth Spencer, and Alpha Omega (not including the link for that one, because it wasn’t good). I’d been to Sawyer before and it lived up to memory, but the other three were new to me. Had a great rose at Elizabeth Spencer, would’ve been tempted if it wasn’t so darn hard to get wine into Massachusetts. BUT, I did manage to pack two jars of my favorite jam into my luggage (strawberry chipotle jam from Tierra Vegetables at the SF Ferry Building Farmers Market). Yum!!

Just thinking about this week makes me miss California already. Good thing Thanksgiving is just around the corner!