Over the weekend, I got spend time with an old friend of mine in San Francisco's Chinatown. As we wove our way through the crowds of pink thank-you bags and cars zooming by, it dawned on me how awesome it is be close enough to the melting pot that is the City. Sunshine beamed down on the local park, as we chose a bench to sit down at and chow down on the shrimp and veggie dumplings while catching up on life.

In the whirlwind of life and schedules, I sometimes forget how satisfying it is to slow down, enjoy the warmth of a sunshine-filled day in San Francisco, and take time to connect with a friend over some great grub. Because my friend and I have "vintage" phones (ahem), we weren't connected to the constant ping of emails that Internet connection allows or tethered by the notifications or status updates on Facebook. Get this...we actually talked, listened, and laughed, observing the activity around us versus the activity on our phones. (Good thing, too, because I swear that city pigeon was planning a ninja attack on my lunch. Had I been distracted, I would have made the news as the girl who beat down a bird over a shrimp dumpling.)

Conversation and good times with friends over great grub never gets old - even if it means fighting off ninja pigeons.

Happy Monday!