Monday, February 25, 2008

Monday Brings: the return of nail clippers at work!

Oh, I really didn't want to bring it up again. But, last week as I was waiting for the train, a lady was full on clipping her nails--the snip snip flying everywhere on the floor. Embedding in peoples' shoes as they stepped over them. Gross.

Today at work, someone I considered a friend...oh man. I hear the snip, snip, clink, snip, snip, clink. I even have on my headphones and am listening to music. I turn up my headphones. Music is blaring, pounding my eardrums. No! How can this be happening? We're friends! But alas, not good enough friends where I can tell him the truth.

Part of the gross sound at the very end was of his hand brushing the desk and sweeping it all into the trash can. Swish, swish, clink, clink, clink. I sneak over to his cubicle when he's gone and check things out.

What do I find at his desk? That nail clippers are a permanent part of its landscape! They're in his pencil holder! ARGH!
Also today, Ian finished his new hire orientation and stopped by work to bring me flowers. Hooray! I took a picture of my desk with the flowers proudly displayed. Someone at work refers to my type of desk as a "viewbicle" which is aptly named to replace the "cubicle." I do have quite the view.

Finally, Ian and I dined at Belden Place--this really fun alley with about 8 different restaurants--to celebrate his first official day on the job (and because I'm leaving town on Wednesday until Sunday).
We had Spanish cuisine--mm mm mm. Paella and ceviche. And for dessert, I had a crazy unique chocolate mousse with olive oil and sea salt, and Ian had churritos. Delice.
A good start to the week.
If I were an alarm clock, my name would be Gordon.

Weekend--mainly Saturday

Friday night was movie night--we went to see Definitely, Maybe for some good, light entertainment. It was better than we both expected, which is always good. Best to go without expectation, I suppose, for best results.

Saturday we went to Berkeley for brunch. It was our first time in Berkeley, and we didn't see much of the town because it was rainy drizzly yucky outside. We did, however, make it to La Note for brunch, which repeatedly has the highest brunch reviews in the lovely college town.
We waited for an hour (longer than we were told), but I have to admit it was worth it. We went a little crazy: combined we demolished ginger lemon pancakes with poached pears and blueberries, french toast, chicken apple sausage, spicy sausage, and rosemary home fries. Ridiculously tasty.

We had just enough time to go home and relax for a bit before meeting friends (10 to be exact) for sushi in the Tender Nob and then proceeding to a play called The Heavy Hand, of which one of my co-workers was acting in.

Dinner was nice, the play was really enjoyable. Partly because I haven't been to a play in a long time, but the theatre was nice and intimate. A little too intimate, I guess, because the couple in front of us made out incessantly, noisily, and with expectation that we would watch them and not the play. Ew. Especially since the dude was wearing leather pants. Ew ew.

Afterwards, about half of us went for a drink, and the evening ended.

Sunday, I never got out of my pajamas. I read, snoozed, watched a movie, watched Ian play guitar in Rock Band, ate food. It was nice. And so, another exciting weekend in SF.

If I were a guitar, my name would be Larry.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Jay Peak Adventure (the other side of the coin)

Now that I'm finally back, settled, and have caught up on all the put off work, I can fill you in on my side of the story. If you haven't caught side one, have a look here :

Micah's side of the tale

Okay, get all comfortable. It's time for a ride.

Foreshadowing:

"Hello. American Airlines? Yes hi. yada yada yada. Change my ticket. yada yada yada. Yes one more day. yada some more. 100 dollars? Sure, sounds great. Yes. Boston. Same airport. Tuesday. Thanks"

Thursday:

I can't believe I'm finally heading out. Kirsten (one of Lori's and now my good friends. see below) shows up and we have a wonderful dinner of homemade manicotti. Lori is great at baked Italian dishes. Pack. double check. pack some more. Bye Kirsten. Lori walks me out until I flag an empty taxi. I'm on my way.

arrive at SFO airport. actually one of my favorites as far as things going right. checking in takes seconds. going through security is swift. There really aren't many people around. Must be that Valentines day isn't really a fly day. I have about an hour before boarding. I grab a seat and decide to read some of my autobiography of Johnny Cash.

I learn that he killed a 560 pound crocodile in 1976. It was named One-Eyed Jack and was terrorizing the area. Johnny hasn't killed anything since because he doesn't want to.

I board and I get a window seat. The best for a red eye flight. I try to read some more, but I decide to try sleep. I usually never sleep on planes, but I do. I wake up when the pilot starts to go one about preparing for landing. easiest 5 hour flight ever.

Friday:

Technically, the day changes while I'm somewhere over Colorado, but we'll use the touch down time as the beginning of this day. Things go well in Logan. some genius decided to put a Starbucks right out side my gate. high-five to that guy. I have both my bags and I'm in a taxi on my way before I've even halfway finished my grande coffee.

he fun begins.

As stated in Micah's post, the same street name and number are in both Cambridge and Somerville. I go to Cambridge, Micah is in Somerville. only a tad over 2 miles away.

"Micah. Hey! I'm outside!"
"Really?! .... um.... no you're not. You're in Cambridge."
"drat"
"coming to get you"

Micah picks me up, still in his pajamas, and we get on our way. By the time We grab Scott, we have knocked out brunch, getting the rental car, dropping Micah's roommate off at the airport, exploring a tiny section of Boston which included that amazing show store, and a few high-fives.


While waiting for Scott at the top of the T, I buy a scarf.

One of the smartest buys ever number 1

The three of us carry Scott's gear and ourselves to a sandwich shop for lunch. I also get a giant cupcake that looks better then it tastes. I love cupcakes. I give it the ole Harvard try. I get through about 1/4 of it.

We make it back to Micah's. Pack the car. Go to the spot where we meet the rest of our crew.

Hello everyone!

Here is where there are different sides to the story.

In my car. I get Marianna and Kay. we are carrying the gear, so three is all that will fit in the Malibu. We have a great time in the car catching up on things and playing the name game. Kay loses the name game. She's also not competitive at all.

We are hungry and call Micah ahead of us to say so.

"well, Scott has to use the bathroom as always, so this stop."

We stop at a gas station and take advantage of the bathroom and the random snacks inside. there is also a subway. I decide to buy a 6 inch turkey with double the meat.

One of the smartest buys ever number 2

Micah is dying to get to Jay so we don't go anywhere else.

After some pretty sweet driving which includes a moment where Micah slows quickly, I almost hit him and I do this fun fish tail thing, we make it to the Jay lodge. Yep, no food for you.

We go to the condo and lay out all our edible things. we eat what we can (the sandwich is split 5 ways i believe) and drink beer while playing dominoes. almost 12... off to bed. An exciting first day for sure.



Saturday:

Holy crap. Can you believe how amazing it is? Blue skies and powder everywhere. We suit up and head to the lodge area. Scott and I got to the proshop. We both buy a face cover thing.

One of the smartest buys ever number 3

I also purchase wrist guards and a helmet. Not a bit of my skin is exposed. I look like a cold ninja.

next we all get tickets and such, and hit the slopes. We pretty much form two teams. Scott, Micah, Kay, and I on one team with Dave, Sara, and Marianna on the other. We divide and conquer. tearing up the mountain. This place is huge and the snow is perfect. The dry erase board at the bottom of the first left says this:

"what city still had not paid off it's Olympic debt of 12 years as of 1998?"
some fun fact/question about Uma Thurman.
"temp at the top of the mountain is 0 with a wind chill of -30"

The -30 becomes apparent on the way up the lift. You find yourself thinking "make it stop" and you start to sympathize with people who climb Everest. The trees up here look sad. They all look like they are made of thick styrofoam.

Off the lift and we we go to town. I don't take as many pictures as i would like. mainly because i don't want to take off my gloves. It's hard to put them back on with the wrist guards underneath.



Other than the bone chilling wind, good times are had for sure.


we stop at 12 something for lunch.

this place is over packed. somehow we manage to grab a table, and have lunch. I have a cheeseburger and mac n cheese. I eat too much. I know I'll be too full to be comfortable.

We get back out there. yep. I was right

After a few more runs, we call it a day. We get back to the house and decide to make a trip to the store in the next town. We buy things for spaghetti and also breakfast for the morning. The night is spent eating, laughing, playing dominoes and drinking beer and wine. Micah won. Sara did not.

Sunday:

Another beautiful day. After packing, we decide to make our way to the tram that takes you to the top. The view is amazing and so is the wind that blows the powder in your face. We snap a few pictures and make our way down. After learning that Canada has a brand new holiday, we decide that is why it's so busy in comparison to the day before. Also, due to the wind blowing all the fresh powder from the base, windward slopes are very icy, so everyone sticks to one side of the mountain. The lift lines start to grow. After making a few snow beards, we decide to start wrapping for the day and begin the trek back to Beantown.



Micah and I make our way to the cars.

We make it to the parking lot and things become interesting.

"I can't find my car key"

We decide to retrace our steps. I can tell Micah doing some serious thinking. I'm not going to even try joking around to lighten the mood. instead, we formulate a plan that involves a tow truck and a bit more time in the car.

We break up and search our last steps. no key

after getting someone to break into Micah's car and then putting it on a tow truck. we break up again and start the journey back to MA. Kay, Scott, and I take the Malibu to get Micah's other key. Micah and the rest go with his inoperable car to a wal-mart in NH. It's a tad after 4 pm.



We have a pretty good time making it back to Boston. the roads are fine. The weather looks great. we are having a great talk. We decide to stop at McDonald's. we have shakes and things. My hat decides to go on it's on adventure. (no worries Kay. I'm sure he's happy wherever he is)

We make it back and drop off Scott for his trip to NY. From what we hear, he makes a 8pm bus. it took us less then 3 hours to get home.

we go to Micah's and get the key. Now to go back the other way. just 100 miles this time.

It starts raining. at some point we realize it's raining and it's 32 outside. not a great mix and we've slowed down a bit. We stop at the same McDonald's to make sure my hat is having a good time. We can't find him and wish him the best, back on the road.

It's getting terrible out now. I believe Kay and I are doing about 30 on the highway and I sort of feel like that's too fast. Some how we make it to the wal-mart and do the 180 back to boston.

The roads have gotten good and icy now and it takes a fair amount of concentration to make it back safely. luckily we all do get back safe and sound and after dropping everyone off, we're back at Micah's do make a 2 am pizza.

Sleep.

Monday:

We sleep in. Nice. The weather isn't up for a day of boarding, so we decide to walk the freedom trail. We grab Micah's tall buddy Kyle and then brunch. It was soooo good minus the coffee. Micah even said no to a refill. wow.

The freedom trail was really fun. I love history. I kept thinking about the term "forefathers" and how funny it sounds. I keep this to myself. Also, at some point I text Cliff about how I'm walking through his old neighborhood. We have a hilarious back and forth via text. That dude is hilarious at all times.

Next up, movie and dinner.

We go see There Will Be Blood which was great and then it's Mexican for dinner. I can't remember the name of the joint, but you should get the fish tacos.

We drop of Marianna and Micah, Kyle, and I head to Micah's for scotch and bed. The orange couch is way more comfortable then the gray one.

Tuesday:

up at five. We say goodbye and then kyle and I share a 5:30 cab to the airport. I supposedly have a 7:30 flight. I try the self check in for a bit before it tells me to go to customer service. The foreshadowing kicks in. Seems that somewhere along the line, my return trip is for March 19th and not Feb 19th. Well that's not going to work. Also what's really nice is it's going to cost me $1000 to get on the flight i was supposed to be on. American says it's Expedia's fault. Expedia says it's American's fault. I don't have the for a finger pointing battle. I just want to get home to Lori. this is where the iPhone saves the day.

for some reason, I am able to keep my cool after the lady has said for the 3rd time that my flight is scheduled for March and not Feb. I guess she deals with dumb all day. Dumb needs things repeated a lot. I get on Cheaptickets while she is saying things over and over and I find the cheapest flight I can that leaves soon. I bid the woman good day and I run over to US airways where I hold up my phone and ask the girl if I can get this flight at this price. Yes she says. amazing. I leave in an hour and a half. instead of a direct flight, I've got a lay over in Phoenix.

I use my new hour to have breakfast, coffee, and read some more of my book.

The idea for Elvis' Blue Suede Shoes came from an experience Johnny had in Germany. He told Carl Perkins, who first recorded the tune, the story and thought there was a tune in there somewhere. Unfortunately, Carl was injured in a car accident not long after recording the track and gaining a bit of acclaim for the song. Elvis records it at this time and builds on Carl's success. It becomes a huge "what if"

My flight to Phoenix was nice. I read more and watch a movie.

The Phoenix airport is not bad. I was hungry and the airport is filled with mexican food. I have a burrito.

my flight is supposed to leave at 2:49. Nope. it gets pushed back. I end up leaving at 5 something. I actually sit next to a really nice guy who happens to be a game developer. We talk the whole time. Nice guy.

I finally make it back to SF and back home sometime around 7. I was supposed to be back at 10am. Lori and I have dinner at Mission Beach (of course) and then bed. I'm exhausted.

Despite the hiccups along the way, I had a great time. I really miss my friends and Micah and Marianna are at the tip top of that list. I would do it again if it meant I got to hang out with everyone. Regardless of the things that happened, the only thing I would change is the plane thing because that didn't involve hanging out. just a lot of waiting. The rest just makes for a fun (and long) story.

If you've made it here, I congratulate you for reading my novel. sorry it's so long. I had the time and wanted to take advantage of it. This will for sure be my longest posting.

Have a great day everyone!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Sticky the Swordfish Who Lives Under the Bed

There hasn’t been much to report lately. I’m so happy that Ian is home safe and sound, and I already feel the differences of my routine now that he’s back.

I’ve had a few semi-glorious days at work, simply because it has slowed down considerably from the past few weeks. I am actually able to maintain other side projects, and manage my seemingly un-manageable inbox.

Last night, Ian and I enjoyed a long overdue TV night. We caught up on about 5 shows, had a delicious Ian-prepared dinner, and just plain relaxed.

Ian fell asleep towards the end of the night on the couch. Now he knows how I feel. I think it was largely owing to the fact that for the first time in ages, he was actually laying on the couch with his head in my lap. It’s usually the opposite.

Anyway, he walked the walk of delirium to bed (which is normally what I do). And he’s just so funny. Especially when he’s sleepy.

I lit a candle because the bedroom smelled a little fishy (we had salmon and shrimp for dinner). He asked why I was lighting it…I told him, and he said:

“That’s not the reason it’s fishy.”
“It’s not?”
“No,” he said.
“Why does it smell like fish then?”
“Because of our new pet.”
“We have a new pet?”
“Yes,” Ian says. He’s smiling sleepily and crawling into bed.
“What is it?”
“A swordfish.”
“Oh yeah?” Where is he now?”
“Under the bed.”
“He is? Is he in water?”
“Yes.”
“Under the bed?”
“Yes.”
“In a tank or something?”“No. There’s just a little water under there.”
“Oh, like a puddle?”
“No,” he laughs, “he has a water bottle and it pours it on himself sometimes.”
“Oh. What’s his name?”
“You don’t know his name and he’s our pet? I can’t believe it!”

After the back and forth of “I can’t believe you don’t know his name and he’s our pet,” I finally got it out of him. His name is Sticky.

Sticky the swordfish. Ian fell asleep fast.

Thinking about Sticky this morning, I thought of if / when we have children, they will have the most robust imaginations available. Between me, my family, and Ian—well, creativity is covered.

If I personally were a swordfish, my name would be Louie.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Girl's weekend Feb 2008

Well hello there! Happy Sunday. I'm just sitting by the fireplace in comfy clothes, watching an America's Next Top Model marathon. It's such a trap...

Friday was really fun--my friend Kirsten (hereafter in the blog referred to as K-Dawg), came from NYC Thursday evening. Friday, we woke up and ran over to Mission Beach Cafe for coffee and a pastry. It was nice for once to be able to sit and enjoy coffee during a work day, and not feel rushed or late. Lovely.

Friday can really be summed up as walking, walking, walking. We wandered down Valencia and Guerrero, and Church, popping in and out of boutiques. It's fun to go with K-Dawg because she works as an Assistant Decorating Editor for a magazine, so she knows a lot of the artists and designers featured in these stores. We had lunch at Fritjz--crepes and great Belgian fries with dipping sauce.

We decided to get a pedicure, and were able to get an appointment--to kill time in the interim, we stopped at Duboce Park. It was such a gorgeous day.


We then ran to our pedicure, and made the hike home to get ready for dinner.

Dinner was at delicious Luna Park. We started off with Mojito's, then the grilled artichoke (very yummy). A bottle of Viognier and sea bass and ravioli...mm mm mm.

Here's a really dark obviously self-taken picture of us at dinner.




After dinner, we decided to go dancing. It was pretty amusing, especially since I have no idea where to go out since we've been here--Ian and I have yet to go "out" to a club or something (aside from the periodic happy hour situation with my co-workers).

We walked down Market toward the Castro, and settled on the best gay bar that we could tell had music we might enjoy. I just can't get into dancing to trance / techno. So, we popped in a bar (I have no idea what it's called), but there were of course the sculpted men dancing ini their briefs and boots on the bar, on risers, etc. We got a couple of drinks and headed to the dance floor. It was highly entertaining and fun, but eventually (within the hour) turned into a crazy place. DIfferent racial, cultural, socio-economic groups moved in and fought for dance real estate. It was just getting rougher out there, which wasn't fun. It was when there was a near all-out brawl between a group of outspoken African-American women, and gay men that I pulled K-Dawg aside and said, "now is a good time to go." It was good timing. As we were leaving we were witness to a man running at full force to get into the club, and running smack into the closed door / wall. He didn't even put up protest when the bouncer told him he wasn't allowed in. Poor drunk guy just stood there sullenly.

Saturday morning, neither K-Dawg or I felt amazing. Something had upset our stomachs at dinner, unfortunately, and we both woke up with headaches. We had brunch at Andalu. We wish we had gotten a picture in retrospect, but K-Dawg ordered a mexican scramble that actually looked like orange throw-up. It was yucky looking, and we dubbed it Barfy Brunch for the rest of the day (as it took K a few hours to recover from it).

We headed to Union Square, and took it easy--went into a few shops, sat in Union Square (where we were assaulted by pigeons, and K sat in pigeon poop--her outfit then known as Doo Doo Dress).

We made a couple more pit stops at in Lower Haight and back in my hood before heading over to Foreign Cinema for dinner.



The food was amazing, the atmosphere was amazing--La Vie en Rose was playing. I loved it.

Finally, we walked home, started a fire, made some hot tea and got a perfect guilty pleasure on Demand: The Nanny Diaries. You might think this is a light fluffy movie, but it's actually very sad, mainly from its realistic social commentary. I forgot Laura Linney was in the movie (or maybe I never knew it at all), but she played a very different character from what I'm used to seeing her in.

We watched a bit more TV, and ended up in bed.

I took K-Dawg to the airport bright and early in the morning. It was good to get up, and now I'm here, reading emails, catching up on work. I have no idea what I want to do today. It's cloudy and colder. I want to do something fun, but I'm just tired and want to veg a little bit. I started to read Love in the TIme of Cholera Thursday, and would love to get deeper.

I miss Ian. Glad he's having a fun time. Can't wait to see him Tuesday.

If I were a pillow, my name would be Andy.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Here, LA, here again (hello weekend)

On Monday, I received an IM at work. It went like this:

Michelle: Can you travel tomorrow?
Me: haha
MIchelle: [silence]
Me: Are you serious?
Michelle: Yes
Me: OK, I guess so.

So it was done. Tuesday morning, I woke up earlier, and Ian drove me to the airport. The flight was at least on time (it hasn't been at all lately), but there were two annoying things:

1. The older couple in front of me insisted on making out the whole time. This wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the seating arrangement. Because I was in the last row, there was only one other seat besides mine, so we were a little moved over from the row of 3 in front of us--this meant that I was situated in between the two seats in front of me, rather than directly behind one seat and had a full view of the lovey doveyness. I got a picture of it, but I can't get the picture off my phone since they're not synced up. Kind of why I waitied to post (to see if I could show the picture). When I saw older, they were one of those 40 / 50 somethings that the woman dies her hair blond and thinks she's still 23. Especially gross.

2. The lady next to me was working on a powerpoint presentation, and talked to herself the whole time. I think she talked through everything: figuring out what to put in, and then practicing.

Thank god the flight to LA is only 1 hour.

We had lunch with clients, and then I was able to relax back in the hotel--by relax, I mean I worked for the rest of the day from the hotel, but was happy that I was in my pj's. Then, Michelle and I went to Venice Beach and had dinner at a place called Joe's, which was pretty tasty. I'm just happy it was on the company bill, and my 3 scallops were $31.

We attended the Interactive Mixer Burlesque Show--yes, crazy. It was actually not bad. The first LA event I attended wasn't as fun, because the territory was new for me, and I didn't know anyone. Now that it's been my third, it was fun seeing the same people, and being able to talk and mingle without feeling awkward.

Back to the hotel at 11:30, shower, check email, hop in bed. Up at 6:30 to catch my flight...then it was directly to work.

Not a big fan of Valentine's day, but when I got home Wednesday night, he had made a nice dinner, and gave me a beautiful vase and plant. Very sweet.

And now it's Friday. Here, Ian and I are going to branch off which is kind of fun (and maybe more interesting for you guys). Ian took the red-eye last night to Boston, where he's meeting up with our friends from the agency. They're snowboarding all weekend in Vermont.

I, on the other hand, have a girls' weekend planned with my friend Kirsten (aka K-Dawg). She was in Anaheim on business (she lives in NYC) and flew up here for the weekend. So, she arrived last night, we made dinner and had winie and chatted. Then Ian took off. This morning, we've already been to Mission Beach for coffee and a pastry. She's showering, and I think we'll walk around the hood today. It's another gorgeous day, and I'm very happy for that.

I guess that's the limit. I can't write more without pictures. How boring.

I am a little angry with myself for forgetting to sign off with my new names. I think I'll go back and fill in the blanks where I left off.

But for now:

If I were a table runner, my name would be Susanna.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

filling in the gaps

Since Lori and I haven't posted in a few days AND because so much has happened in those days, we've decided to split up topics and pictures. Yes this means a mass of posts. So what do I talk about first? How about I fill in the gaps of our Saturday and Sunday?

Saturday:
I woke up before Lori. She would say I left her sleep, but we all no that even if I tried, nothing's getting her up until she's ready. that girl loves to sleep. Basically, she's a bear. Only the sleeping kind.

We had breakfast at home and then decided to run some errands in union square. After doing some walking around, we decided to look for somewhere outside to eat. We found a café on maiden lane, and had some pretty great food. Minus the nail clipping dude, it was really nice. There was a HILARIOUS moment at lunch. Oh, by the way, many of these pictures on this blog are form the ole iPhone which. Takes pretty good pictures. Just like this one. :)

This lady next to us (pictured behind Lori) had three dogs in two bags. She was in a semi heated talk with her orange husband who was wearing a leather jacket that looked like dragon hide or Basilisk or something. He looked ridiculous. He was in his late 60s and past the tanning bed and leather jacket age anyway. You know, I guess he would have looked silly regardless just being orange. It really doesn't matter what fictitious animal his jacket may be made out of. I'm straying from my picture topic.

So, Lori was sitting there, minding her own biscuits (biscuits = business in our language) while I was aiming my phone at her to take a picture. Right when I hit the picture button, The dogs went CRAZY. you HAVE to click on this picture to see it up close. look at Lori's eyes behind her sunglasses. HA HA. Almost as funny as the expression caught on tape from her surprise at her surprise party. (that will come in a future post for sure) You can see the woman just starting to calm down one of the three dogs. "I swear they can smell a dog a mile away." she said. Lori's money is on the fact that the dog walking by had tiny bells on it or something. We decided not to point out that other dogs had made their way past without distraction. It was best to let her keep thinking her tiny dogs had super sonic noses. I mean, her husband was orange and wearing improbable clothes. We needed to do something to brighten her day.

Sunday:
As you know from below, we made Sunday a Zoo trip. I think we've both been meaning to go for a while. I think about it every time I see the L train. Since it ends at the Zoo, it always says "L SF Zoo" on it. Direction / Advertising all in one. brilliant.

Anyway, prior to our decision to see some animals, we... woke up. We slept in for a bit. Until about 10. Then we both decided we were hungry and that Mission Beach Café should be the place to feed the beasts. We threw on the closest things to us and were sitting down within 15 minutes.

"Two amazing coffees please. Also, we would like a super delicious egg sandwich and falbulous pancakes. Can we round that out with a side of super tasty chicken apple sausage? yes? done. Bring it out!" Man we love that place.

Random fact (sort of):
Almost everywhere in SF seems to start serving brunch at 10. I don't think anyone gets up before 9 or something so if you want to have a great brunch and no waiting, get there between 10 and 11. after that, you're probably going to do some waiting.


The decision to go to the zoo was made over our meal, so after we finished our brunch, it was a run back to the house change shoes and grab a camera. (I love that we can get up with no plans, but end up at the zoo) A quick walk to the MUNI and away we go. the second train to come was the L which drops you off almost at the front of the zoo. It's weird to think that we can walk for 5 minutes, get on public transportation, and then not get out of our seat until we are at the zoo. The walk to the grocery store is further than the zoo.)

This is where Lori's story fills in the zoo gap. She didn't mention how we didn't get to see any big cats except for one tiger who seemed to be in some make-shift cage. Unfortunately, due to the incident a few months ago. the large cat area is closed for a while. Oh and I should totally telling you that we both had hot dogs. Shared some fries. Took pictures in one of those photo booth things. Lori had cotton candy (pink of course) and I had some dippin' dots.

After the zoo (and Lori was done trying to hug every large stuffed animal in the gift shop) we walked over to the beach. Wait, I need to talk more about Lori and things that are filled with fluff. She absolutely LOVES stuffed animals. The bigger the better. I have no idea where we would put them, but she wants them all. I stick by my guns on this one. If we ever have kids, she will use that as an excuse to buy huge furry things. There will probably be a bear boarding on obscenely large.

So, the beach. Look! The pacific! It's weird to think we live at the beach.

After a quick walk by the water, we got back on the train and headed home. Stopped by the store for some veggies and milk on the way, and then we were back. Lori worked for a bit and then wrote her blog. I played a little XBOX and made us dinner. The last part of our day was spent watching something called the 50 funniest moments on TV or something and now here I am to ramble on and write something that is too long.

So, that was the wrap on the rest of the weekend. Pretty great weekend I'd have to say. I don't think I could give you a number one moment, but I will tell you that it was magical to walk by the theater at 9:42 and see that one of your favorite movies of all time is playing in 3 minutes. It was amazing to see it on the big screen.

Well, I better stop going on. If you've made it this far, I'm proud of you.

Come back soon. There will be more to say for sure. :)

I like Scrabble. And people who like Scrabble.

Check out this very cute man we spied on the BART Saturday (OK, they're both pretty nifty).

Note one of the books in his hand is actually the Official Scrabble Player's Dictionary.

Now Carmen, aren't you sad we never went to Saladelia in Durham on Sundays to play?

What We've Been Up To

Ian and I have had some fun few days here--the weather has been just lovely. Thursday, Ian accepted a new job. Hooray for him! So, I took him to Home for dinner to celebrate his new job. I think it speaks for itself, and if you know Ian, you'll know how much he loves dessert. "Can we have the homemade S'mores for dessert, please?" he asks me sheepishly, as if I'll say no.

And how could I say no to this?


Friday night I didn't get home from work until about 8 (or after...) Ian ordered pizza, and we sat by the fire, ate our pizza, drank wine, and chatted about our days and all the new opportunities coming our way.

The weather was so nice, we decided to go for a walk. We walked all the way down Market to the Castro Theatre to see what was comi
ng up. Lo! and behold--one of Ian's all-time favorite movies was starting in 5 minutes! We bought tickets, and went in.

Can I say how much I love the Castro Theatre? We'
ve only been one other time--for Sing-A-Long Sound of Music, but it is a seriously magical place.

We chanced upon Say Anything. How much fun is that? Not only do they have a live organist (hail the Mighty Wurlitzer), but then a guy comes out and just chats and talks a bit--he's hilarious and personal and endearing. He's hand-selected the previews, and they're all old, old films of John Cusack. Previews sure have changed...

The Castro Theatre is fun because it's the only time people can yell things out and it's actually funny. It's like going to see a movie with a few hundred of your friends. Simply infectious.

So, it was a nice surprise, an
d made for a fun night.

Saturday, we did some shopping. In a handmade art store, I saw some familiar friends--or at least cousins of them. Yaz and Kimberly--this is a shout out to our Artique days. Can you guess the artist? Ridiculous that anyone would still be carrying these!

Then our friend CarrieCarrie came over for dinner. We cooked and ate and drank wine and talked. Then we rocked it out with Rock Band. Very fun, laid back night with a good friend.

Today, again--another gorgeous, gorgeous day. After eating brunch at Mission Beach, we headed over to the SF Zoo for the first time. I always love the zoo.






Some highlights of course are giraffes, and my favorite was actua
lly the new Grizzly Gulch. It is amazing to be so close to them!

The grizzlies were having a ball
playing. I especially love the one of the bear below, and want Ian to Photoshop him into a bathtub. He looks hilarious, and tiny, and what the heck is up with his prissy feet examining?




Lastly, we didn't know Francois was also a monkey species! He's been our brother-in-law for a whole year! How about that?

The SF Zoo is right next to the beach, so for the first time, Ian and I walked on the beach together in SF. Very good day indeed. I feel refreshed for tomorrow. *sigh* Oh, tomorrow.

If I were a holiday, my name would be Frank.


Two Myths Debunked

I have two myths to dispel today, and they all stem from my friend Kris's theories that I was reminded of this week, and they made me laugh once again.

1. Ripping something sticky off your body will grow hair in its place. My friend Kris would not participate in Face Mask night during slumber parties, because she insisted that when she peeled the face mask off, she would grow a "mustache" everywhere the mask had been.

This just isn't true.

2. Wearing face creams overnight sinks into your skin and maximizes the benefits. Kris would put Noxema all over her face, and then get in bed. She said that sleeping with the Noxema on helped it to sink into the skin and condition it.

My favorite part was her proof: "But the Noxema is all gone in the morning!"

The simple answer was because it was all over the pillow cases and sheets.

These are two myths debunked, and more proof of why I do love my friend Kris.


If I were a night cream, my name would be Julia.

PUBLIC NOTICE--PLEASE READ

I hate to have to bring this up here. I do. But something needs to be done on a greater scale.

When I was in college, I worked for a consulting firm. The COO was a bit of an arrogant man's man, and I thought his behavior was a little singular. But, come to think of it, he was from California. Please don't tell me this is a California thing (I don't think it is). But, the COO would sit on speaker phone, and actually clip his fingernails. He'd wave me in if I were at the door with files, be sitting there chatting, and clipping away--SNIP (clink--the sound of fingernail landing), SNIP (clink), SNIP (clink). GROSS!


And here, twice this weekend! In fact, twice in a 24-hour period, TWO different people clipping their fingernails in public.

People--I'm here to tell you. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. A lot of you reading the blog are friends and family, so I don't expect that this pertains to you. But help spread the word. If we were able to vote on a law banning this, I would be the first in line at the polls.

Saturday, at an outdoor cafe, a man was actually cutting his nails at the table during lunch! WHAT?!?! He thinks this is OK? The worst part about public clipping is that they aren't harnessing the cast-off nails anywhere. He's likely leaving them on the table! The chairs! One word for this: Ew.


No one should have to eat lunch to the sound of a strange man clipping his fingernails, and the light clink of the nail landing somewhere.

The second instance was on the MUNI today. Luckily, Ian had his trusty iPhone with him.


And we snapped a shot to prove it. The lady and her kid sitting next to us were also disgusted, and when the lady clipping her nails got off the train, the boy said, "Mommy, that lady finally got off!" Good thing SOMEONE is teaching our youth some common etiquette.


Work

Just a quick note about work:

I think I'm doing really well, and that makes me happy. What makes me happier is that I work for a company that believes strongly in praising when praise is due. Not only that, but they make it regular practice to let you know when you've done a job well, and they also communicate this to the highest ranks.

Imagine that. I have never worked for a place that does that. I'm surprised, and a little sheepish, and motivated.

And I actually have a call tomorrow with someone who is interested in possibly promoting me, which is really exciting.

That being said, this was such a hard week at work. Just very busy and stressful. Yikes.

If I were a napkin, my name would be Harold.



Thursday, February 7, 2008

Well.... Crap

Now I just seem like the "lazy" one. I say to Lori, "Hey, I started a blog. This is how you log in. Maybe you might want to write some as well?" Little did I know that girl would hit the ground running and take off like a horse with it's tail on fire. Like the post title says... well... crap. She's making me look bad.

I mean, not only does she destroy me with her perfect grammar and spelling, but she's way funnier than me and AND she's now got her own little sign off. names for her if she was an object! come on! I can't compete with that. I have a hard enough time with just the spelling part. I have to change what I'm saying sometimes because I can't think of how a word is spelled and I can't get close enough for spell check to give me a leg up. The grammar (I just misspelled grammar for the second time. twice I've tried "grammer") part goes without saying. you'll for sure get a mouth full of run-on sentences and so much more. oh, and I will end sentences with prepositions. probably a lot. just be ready.

So, this post seems to be a sort of "set the record straight" deal. Actually, it's more of a "I'm going to make tons of mistakes. if it's confusing. I'm sorry. Either way, you'll probably know what I mean and if not... Oops." oh! oh! ha ha! by the way. for all of you out there who want to know more about what Lori and I talk about when you're not around. here's a snip it for you all... oh and yes, it's inline with the content of this post.

What Lori didn't tell you about our Thai dinner tonight. by Ian

Now that we have this blog, we have a new thing to talk about sometimes. we talk about the blog. it's very exciting for us to have an outlet of sorts that we can pass on. It's great. i love it, but it also comes back on me. it brings out the above characteristics i was going on about. here. let me give you an example. I'll set the scene.

We've just sat down to a neighborhood Thai restaurant. nothing fancy or special. we've never been here. just wanted some noodles and it was close to home. we sat in the window seat on a sort of raised platform and there were one of those tiny curtains along the window. you know the ones that are maybe 5 inches long, very wavy, and are always hanging from brassish pipe? we both order a glass of wine, an appetizer of tofu, and our respective noodle dishes. we've been talking about my interview (more about that later) and generally just discussing our days.

"how was your day?"
"how was yours?"

I can't remember everything that lead up to the blog talk, but this is what usually results in a blog discussion.

This is seriously almost verbatim. watch how quickly things turn on me.

Ian - "Did you see where Micah and Marianna posted a comment?"
Lori - "I sure did. Very exciting. Our first comment"
Ian - "Did you see my response?"
Lori - "Yep. There were so many spelling mistakes in there"
Ian - "no way! what did I misspell?"
Lori - "you misspelled "chalk". "
Ian - "no way did I misspell "chalk"! I know I did at first, but then I fixed it. First I think I had an "e" in there somewhere."
Lori - "maybe you're right. maybe you didn't misspelled it. Maybe you just used the wrong word somewhere or forgot a word or something."

(no benefit of the doubt. there has to be something wrong there.)

of course, she was right. i was talking about the dishwasher, and I said "upload" instead of "unload" hmph double hmph. hmph hmph.

well, so you all know, that's just one of the reasons why I love her. She completes me by being my portable English class. Not the one where you sit in the back of the classroom and draw the back of people's heads and get Fs on all the quizzes. No. I'm talking about the one where you sit in the back and draw the back of people's heads and get an A on all the quizzes because the hottie sitting across from you keeps whispering the answers.

Well, I should get going. Sleep calls. Have a wonderful day everyone!

(this space is to designate where my super cool sign off is going to be.)

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Mistaken + Hump Day + Corrections


Mistaken
I renamed yesterday Mistaken. If I titled all my days, that would have been yesterday. It's not as fresh in my mind anymore (as I walked around all day yesterday, I cataloged all the reasons in my head it would have been called Mistaken), but I can recap a few things:



1. First thing in the morning, I was on the phone with my most important client. There had been a huge miscommunication. Unfortunately, I distinctly remembered my side of the conversation, and was confused why he remembered me saying something completely different. I had one of those miserable pangs in my stomach and the heaviness of the heart that just wouldn't leave. Not the best way to start my day. It somewhat improved when I found an email containing what I had remembered telling him, but I feel somehow I still lost some credibility. No sense in arguing at all in these situations ("I remember this..."; "I thought I said this...").

2. All day I had the feeling of being a complete klutz, and was over-cautious with everything. Holding on tightly in the Muni (underground), I felt myself sway back and forth, unsure of my footing.

3. Getting out of the elevator at work, I went the wrong way. Twice.

4. I IM'ed a colleague who's in Seattle--a really professional guy (meaning, he'd never overstep his boundaries)--I think my IM said: "hi! quick question re: technology / publishers..." his response was "Hi honey." I was taken aback. I have to say that we ended up getting a great laugh out of this, because he truly was mistaken, and not only that but completely embarrassed. It is way out of his character to cross the line like that. That ended up being the funniest part of my day, but another case of mistaken-ness.

5. I felt like if I said something, other people regurgitated what I had said in the wrong way. I suppose I just was a mis-communicator or something (although I feel as though what I communicated was clear).

To sum it all up: Mistaken. Mis-taken.

It was a rough day yesterday. But it was lovely to come home, and after putting my bag down, Ian directing me to my reading room to sit down. Dinner was being prepared, and at my chair was a purple hyacinth plant and a large glass of wine. I have such a sweet husband.

Hump Day
Today was Hump Day. It was more like Hmph Day. Not altogether bad, but another rough one at work. Issues upon issues upon issues piling in. When I was a client of the company I now work for, I was a good one. I attempted to investigate and solve all issues on my own before ever reaching out for help. I feel like it's not the case with some of my clients. I feel like they instantly go to me first, and don't try to learn or discover for themselves. It's a little disheartening, but in the end they're only shortchanging themselves and their own growth (or so I tell myself).

I am also sad that I haven't made a close friend at work yet (and don't feel as though I will). Every job I've ever had, there was at least one (but so many more than one) person that I had a deep connection with. And if anything, at this one, there are more people that I absolutely know I don't even want to be friends with. It's not a fun realization, because I think work should be a fun, supportive environment. My favorite person there is my supervisor, and that can only go so far because of politics. I miss having someone around who understands me, and that I can have a good laugh with. *sigh*

The highlight of my day today was that Ian had off (he actually had a super successful interview this morning, but more about that in later posts I hope!). After his interview, he headed my way in the Financial District and we had lunch. He completely brightened my day! We never get to see each other during the day anymore. In NC, we worked together for a long time. I really miss being able to pal around with him during the day, grabbing a coffee or a bite when we wanted.

So, that was great. We had lunch at one of my favorite spots (Seller's Market), and then walked up to Amici for some coffee (and of course Ian had a cupcake). It was a great break in my day, and I went back renewed and a little taller.

After eating at a local Thai restaurant for dinner, Ian and I came home---he, to freelance work. Me, to a few rounds of my Solo tour playing guitar in Rock Band. haha. I did pretty well, if I do say so myself.

Corrections
You know how in print when something is published, and then someone corrects the editor / writer, and they have to publish corrections? Here are mine from the last post:

1. I left out one cat in particular of the list of why I don't like cats. Yazzy pointed out a story that I probably blocked from my mind. In her words (from the email she sent): "Lori, I can't believe you didn't mention the time that Arkadin lunged at your hair when you guys visited me in Chicago as another reason you don't like cats! I swear it was so weird because he's really affectionate and friendly with everyone." More and more proof. Arkadin is normally a sweet cat (maybe that's why I didn't mention it?), but sure enough--he totally went after me. Sheesh.

2. The cat referred to as Oscar was actually named Simon. Mind you, Steph didn't remember his correct name (I did)--she just pointed out that she didn't think it was Oscar. Another thing I want to mention about Simon was that in front of other people, he was really nice to me. But HONESTLY, as soon as everyone else left the room, he was vicious. He tried to make everyone else think it was just me. In fact, I somewhat remember us setting up a trap of some sort so that they could catch him in the act of torturing me, but I don't remember the logistics.

I think those are all the corrections. I fear tomorrow will also be a scary day at work, and that makes me sad / apprehensive. But the week will soon be over, and I have SO much to look forward to! Kind of makes the rough patches all better.

Oh, and if you want to send me distorted pictures of yourself, I'd be happy to make celebrity comparisons and post them, like I did on Monday. I just hope they don't ALL look like Eric Stoltz from Mask.

Maybe I'll end each post with something new. For example, Steph and I play a game where we decide what our name would be if we were an object. I think I'm really good at coming up with names, by the way. So, at the end of each post, I will end with naming myself something.

Today it's: If I were a table, my name would be Douglas.















Monday, February 4, 2008

Cats and Look-Alikes. Happy Monday!

Ian and I were chatting, and decided that this blog is fun for us because we get to check out new postings, as well. It's yet another way we continue dialogue as a (happily) married pair.

You can imagine my surprise when I stole a few minutes at work today to read his post from last night--that he likened me to a big cat!

I can see what he means--I love to sleep (he calls me a Comfort Professional), and I might fight you for the spot on the floor where the sun filters through the window. Aside from that...well, no way.

I hate cats. Let me preface my reasons by making sure you understand that I am, indeed, an animal lover. I wanted to be a vet forever, and in 8th grade I bought a PETA book and became a vegetarian. I even once started to flush a tiny bug down the toilet, and felt guilty and rescued him. I kept a journal and "nursed" him back to health.

But the two animals I really don't like are birds and cats. Here are some reasons I dislike cats:

1. My Gran had a cat named Angus. A nice enough cat. In 5th grade, I was sitting at his kitchen table doing my homework, Angus sleeping peacefully in my lap. Well, he lapsed too much into sleep and dug his back nails into my pants. When I realized the piercing pain, I stood up. The cat stood with me. I had to extract the claws from my pants. Not only were there holes in my pants, but my Gran used rubbing alcohol to disinfect. Ouch. See? Even a nice cat can hurt you.

2. In 6th grade, I was at my friend Whitney's house. She had a cat named Buster. Buster was sweet and I was petting him. Without warning, Buster reached out a long paw and clawed my arm, drawing some serious blood. You just can't trust them.

3. In high school, I was spending the night at Stephanie's parents' house. In the middle of the night, I was in the kitchen, when I noticed a large creature. It turned out to be Oscar, their lion-sized cat. Basically, he had me cornered in the kitchen for what seemed hours. It was miserable.

4. I was cat-sitting for my friend Kris once, and her two cats, Cappy and Monty, actually chased me out of the house. My last memory of them as I was hightailing was that they were actually stuck to the screen doors--claws out, hanging mid-door and hissing. Scary.

5. And one more example: continuing on with Steph, she currently has a horror of a cat named Cleo. Cleo brings tiny helpless animals into the house, and kills them. Or just mutilates them. She is also vicious--can lash out at any minute.

Anyway, this is a segue into my funniest moment of the day: Stephanie IM'ed me at work today. To my absolute terror, she changed her IM icon into a picture of a cat which seemed as though it was peering at me. I hated it. So, she decided to change the icon, by using her mac to take pictures of herself. She barraged me with various poses and pictures of items in her office (this was funny in and of itself). Finally, she used a program called Photo Booth on her mac, which allowed her to distort her image.

The end product was horrifying. And hilarious. And looked nothing like her. I couldn't believe it. At first, I told her to take it away immediately, and then I said: "You look just like Eric Stoltz in Mask!"

She denied it vehemently. "No, I don't!" So, I had to do the side-by-side look alike. And the results are amazing (I was actually crying at work, it's so funny and uncanny). Once I sent it on, she had to agree.


I'll let you all decide. Guess who is who?

Anyway, on a side note, it was a beautiful day today. Not a raindrop in sight. Work was fine. Nothing exciting to report. I did distribute this link around to some friends and family, though, and was happy to hear from Kimberly that she enjoyed it. It was my hope to attempt to share more of our life here with all of those we miss and love so much. It makes me really happy to know it worked (at least once). Nighty-night.

ps--to be fair, a list of cats I like:

1. Cooper (yes, Yaz, Gregg's cat Cooper has big green eyes...)
2. Pokey
3. Winston
4. Fictional cats--like the Cheshire cat. Or Morris. Or the Aristocats (certain ones)

5. Toa (Steph has had one cat that meets my approval)

Sunday, February 3, 2008

the weekend wrap

Well, we are off and running with this whole blog thing. I leave for a bit and come back to find Lori has already posted about our day. Well, I'll show her, I'll talk about yesternight. (we watched Hamlet the other day, and they kept saying "yesternight" so I'm going to try it on for a bit. It's way easier than saying "yesterday evening". So many more letters.)

I'll just come out with it. Last night, Lori and I went to a Foo Fighters concert. It's actually our first show since we've been here which is sort of crazy since we aren't really huge Foo Fighters fans. Although, I will have to admit that I did enjoy cow centric songs and the mentos parody when they first hit the scene. Also, Everlong is a great tune. Anyway, like many things, I just sort of lost touch with these dudes and I actually wasn't aware there was a new album out. Let alone a multiple grammy nominated one. So what pushed us over the top and had us go to the show last night? Well, none other then my lovely sister. She and Francois surprised us with tickets for Christmas. A very great gift. Something we would never have thought of for ourselves and I'm so glad she made the move for us. (thanks toot) It was a pretty great show with everything from hard pumping rock to guitars and cellos. very cool.

As you can put together from Lori's post and now mine, this means we've had a pretty full weekend. All that's left is bedtime which is swiftly approaching. I'm not really excited about my up-and-coming Monday, but I guess the new hoodie I picked up today will help at least make the day more comfortable.

Okay, I'm off to get ready for bed. I hear the TV and no movement, so my guess is Lori is asleep on the couch. She has all the traits of a giant cat, but, you know, without the claws and the pooping in sand thing.

Have a great night/day and more pictures to come!

Oh, and just for those of you who are interested. If you have this strong urge to buy show tickets and not for yourselves, but possibly for someone maybe, I don't know, the Bay area, here are some acts that would make us smile.

(1.) The Decemberists (first you need to convince them to tour this year. It may require a bit of arm twisting)
(2.) Wilco
(3.) Springsteen (that's for me)
(4.) Belle & Sebastian
(5.) Rilo Kiley

there are tons more and Lori (who knows way more than I do about what is good music) would probably put different people in t hose 5, but those are the first few that came to me. hee hee.

Superbowl Sunday is the new Black Friday

Ian let me sleep in today. Ever since we've been here (and have not had our dog Howard with us), I have fallen back into my older ways of sleeping in. I secretly love it (because I've always loved sleeping in), although it's not met without some feelings of guilt creeping in along with the sunlight.

Ian finally opened curtains wide to show me that today was not a rainy day (at least, it wasn't in the morning). We had a lazy morning of cereal and TV, and went off to Union Square for a bit of lunch and shopping.

We stopped first for deem sum at Yank Sing, near my office. That place is wonderful. Not as fun for two people, as the propensity to stuff yourself is higher (hence the ability to try different things lower). But you have to love a place that you barely have your jacket off and a tray of food is in front of you. The service is so friendly, and the food is great. Basically, there isn't a menu. They just bring by carts and carts of food, and you point at what you want. Then, they give you a stamp on your card to indicate how much your total will be in the end. It's lovely.

Directly afterwards, it was off shopping. And shopping did we do. Man. Union Square was refreshingly sparse (at least, as sparse as it gets). No battling crowds of lost tourists, or people who make last minute decisions and dead stop in the sidewalk, letting you run right into their heels.

We hit A.G. (I still just love stores that offer bottled water while you shop), Anthropologie, French Connection, North Face, etc...hitting all the amazing sales everyone seemed to have. I have declared Super Bowl Sunday the new Black Friday. Not only was it not crowded, however, but everyone is getting in their Spring Collections, and putting their winter on final clearance.

Anyway, Ian and I spent a good amount of money and I wiped out my gift cards from Christmas. It was satisfying and productive and just plain good times.

As soon as we got home and unloaded, Ian left to meet an old colleague from N.C. for dinner, and I thought that I would eat at Mission Beach instead of home.

I felt guilty when I sat down at Mission Beach and learned that they had a seafood risotto special (because Ian loves it so). I had that (and it was fantastic), and my fave glass of wine there. I read a little of my book, and watched the world go by. The best part is that I got two of our favorite desserts to go, and when Ian gets home we can have dessert together and chat about our respective nights.

We're back to work tomorrow. Oh, Mondays. But at least we have new clothes to wear. That's always fun.

'til next time.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

My first entry

Wow. We've been here 5 months now (almost 6). In a lot of ways, it seems longer. It's sort of an odd time to start a blog: we're still new enough to where it might be interesting--you'll be discovering things as we are; but, a lot has happened in these past few months that regretfully we won't go back to revisit. I think soon we'll do a flashback of the highlights to catch you all up.

It's Saturday night. Ian has settled into his brand new painting studio (3 floors down, in the garage's bonus room). If he hasn't said it already, we love our place. I think we never thought we'd find something to rival the home we had made in North Carolina--it was beautiful, and seemed built for us and our lifestyle. But, I have to admit that this is right there with it: we have tons of room, the place has undeniable character, and I learn new things to love
about it just about every day.

For Christmas, I decided I'd start Ian back into painting. He hasn't had a place to paint really since we've been together, and that's sad. But our apartment has a wonderful shared bonus room (which the flat owner downstairs doesn't use). It's actually built up to function as a bar, complete with sink, and the little brass footrest along the base of the bar counter. So, I bought Ian
all the necessaries at the local art store: easel, paints, canvases, charcoals, palettes, brushes...you name it, and arranged it in the bar / bonus room. And today he's decided to jump right in.



Our Saturday today has been: sleep in. Ahhh--I had literally been waiting for this day all week long (I've been really busy at work). Secondly, we went to the art store to pick up some more stuff, we went to brunch at Chow (which was yummy), and came home. It's been raining and drizzly and gray all day. When Ian went to meet a friend for coffee in the early afternoon, I started a fire in the fireplace, and put on Masterpiece Theatre's Northanger Abbey (Jane Austen).

One of my favorite guilty pleasures are period films and novels. I suppose they're not actually guilty pleasu
res in the true sense, because I don't feel so guilty about them. My real guilty pleasure might be (and yes, I can't believe I'm admitting it, either) good teenage cheesy flicks, like Olsen sister movies. Like the one when they went to Australia, or learned to drive going to Utah. Good stuff. Anyway, I do love period films and novels, so I think this has been the most delightful afternoon. Northanger Abbey has to be one of the more interesting, simply because it was Austen's first novel (published posthumously), and while wonderful in all senses of a period film, still has an immaturity about it, and somewhat less cynicism and wit that Austen later adopted.

I digress...now, Ian is downstairs painting, and I'm up here attempting to contribute to the blog, and enjoying a large glass of Cabernet.

I wanted to start maybe by catching you all up with a quick Top 5 / Low 5 so far of San Francisco:

Top Five (in random order)

1. Mission Beach Cafe--it's really close to our apartment, and we love it. It has such a great community / local feel, and everyone that works there seems genuinely nice, down-to-earth. The food is excellent (haven't gotten something I didn't like). They have amazing coffee, and wonderful ginger blueberry muffins. Come to think of it, I think Ian already mentioned it in his post, but didn't call it by name.

Have you ever moved around a bit? City to city? I have. And in the later years, I think to myself: Self, what will you miss about this place when you've left? I already consider these things, and ginger blueberry muffins from Mission Beach Cafe ranks as one of the highest. I know in years to come, I will crave them still (as I crave Chocolate Empanadas from Ed and Fred's in Lexington, KY).

2. Closeness--I love being within simple blocks of so many wonderful, and needed things. Like groceries (which I also love that they deliver groceries here). Or wine. Or a good boutique fix. Or hardware stores. Or bookstores. Anything I want is a healthy walk away.

3. Flower stands--Can I say how much I love them? How much I love when I pass people on the train or on the sid
ewalk carrying a large, bursting bouquet of flowers? I love it love it love it. Puts a smile on my face everytime. Makes me think Robert Doisneau, or Henri Cartier Bresson. It's just plain beautiful and happy.

4. Not driving--I guess along the same vein as closeness, I like walking a whole lot. It's good thinking time, and I love to pass people on sidewalks and invent all sorts of stories about them in my head. Ian and I went to a German restaurant for dinner last night, stuffing ourselves with Schnitzel and Spaetzle (eat your heart out, Neffnie), and felt much better after a cool, brisk walk home.

5. Shopping and food--OK, I cheated on this one by combining them. I like to shop. I won't lie. And I love the stores here. I love how many there are. I like the well-known ones and the unknown ones. I also have a strong affinity to specialty stores / food: I like stores where all they sell is loose leaf tea. Hundreds of varieties I've never heard of. Or all they sell are enormous cream puffs they make to order. A store that sells tiny replacement Monopoly pieces. It's curious, and just plain fun.

Low Five (in almost random order)

1. Pigeons--I am afraid of birds. And I just really dislike pigeons. Bert from Sesame Street loves them. I'm not sure how (I try to understand this daily). I am that person who avoids them on the sidewalk. Who ducks unnecessarily as one flies what I deem to be too low. I am one of the few people that tiny pigeons freeze in their tracks because I think if I startle them, they'll fly at my face. They're dirty and carry disease. They're fat and they eat anything. They laugh at me when I duck. I hate it. And there are way too many of them.

2. People coming at you--by this, I mean everyone is asking for something on the streets. Money, or alcohol, or giving away pamphlets, or something. I hate having to desensitize myself and focus straight ahead. I wish I could feel comfy enough to look absolutely everyone in the eye, and not feel like they want something from me in return.

3. Parking--Sometimes, it's hard for us to get in and out of our garage because someone thinks their tank of a car can fit in a space where only a Mini can go. Troublesome.

4. Bus system--I don't get it. The maps they provide are terrible, and so I just never take the bus. I take the Muni to work (underground). In and of itself, this is a pain. It is so incredibly crowded in the morning, people grab hold of the bars inside to try to pull themselves in enough so the doors will close. Yesterday, I waited through 4 trains before I could fit on. I am not someone who forces everyone else to be uncomfortable. I wait.

5. Rain--it has been raining without mercy. For days and days and days, and I'm just tired of it. I am ready for some sunny, warmer weather, so Ian and I can begin exploring on foot again. Although I won't complain about warming up next to a good fire.

All in all, the good absolutely outweighs the bad. I think Ian and I are just looking now for some good friends to make. We miss our friends. We miss people that will challenge us (outside of each other).

OK, well I believe that's all for my first post. Hope I wrote enough....haha.