Bike Forums - Upgrades to make my commuter a competent road bike

So I'm moving into a smaller place soon and I'm considering getting rid of my road bike, a 1999 Bianchi Veloce, whose shifting has gotten pretty bad lately (it's got about 13k+ miles on the group). I need the space, plus I just bought a motorcycle, so I just don't need that many things with two wheels...

Anyway, here is my commuter, a 2010 Masi Cafe Solo. I love it, but when I have taken it road riding, I can feel worse performance on the hills compared to my Bianchi.

So my question is: What would I upgrade to get a little more out of this bike on road rides, while keeping in mind I would still haul some groceries every once and a while? I typically go 30-40 miles a couple times a week on top of my commute, with slightly longer rides on the weekends.

I was thinking starting with an Ultegra crankset and external BB. Also, I know some better wheels would make a difference, but I don't really know where to start for wheels. Any suggestions? Would the crankset make a difference? Best I can tell, I would lose about 300-400 grams on that.

My budget is such that I can't do this all at once, but I'm patient enough to build it up over time. That being said, I wouldn't want to make upgrades that would end up costing as much as a decent new road bike.

Thanks in advance! I hope the upgrade questions don't get old.:twitchy: