Oh Discipline, you old Dear.

I have a fabulous time of spa treatments booked for tomorrow, and so as to make the most of my relaxed and revitalized state, I'm cleaning and doing all my chores now.

Dogs on a Train

 

How perfect is this dog on my train to my sister's for Christmas??!!



The answer is SO PERFECT!!! He's even a pirate!!
Oh lovely train: ton's of leg-room, a bloody mary for dinner whipped up by the gentleman in the dining car, and all the romance of travel when travel was glamorous. Where else shall we go?

Merry Christmas!

Ten Things That Make Me Happy

1. Christian Louboutain's "Claudia" stilettos in smokin' hot pink.
2. Running my first Half Marathon [and beating my goal timae by 8 minutes]!
3. Finally hemming a pair of jeans after wearing them turned under for over a year.
4. Nordstrom At Home towels --so soft and fluffy, the mornings they are in the wash are not nearly as nice as mornings one waits for me outside my tub.
5. Big ladylike gems and baubles
6. Liberty prints
7. Mustard yellow --will I ever get tired of this perfect color? I almost fear the day.
8. The cities of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and
9. Princeton, New Jersey!
10. Fun! (Well done Nate, delightful as usual, thank you very much.) Here, have a listen and see for yourself.

this time we gnew where we were headed.

Gnomes for Halloween. Last time was not for Halloween, and this time we were traveling gnomes, with pictures of our family, and Andy's pet fox.

Top 5 Records

Happy Birthday! Top five records of all time (in no particular order):

Radiohead: OK Computer
Simon & Garfunkel: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme
The Shins: Chutes Too Narrow
The Beatles: White Album
Ryan Adams: Heartbreaker

Hello New Jersey!!

Princeton: Days three and four!

We left Philadelphia with love in our hearts for our fabulous hosts, The Krazewski's, after a lazy, chatty morning and nutritious breakfast. We packed up our Kia Rio and got on the Turnpike, Princeton bound.
(these sunglasses came with the car --sweet extra 'eh??)
The rain had lightened up a little, affording us a scenic drive through beautiful fall leaves, and we made it to town by about 2. I'll just say right now, Princeton wooed my romantic heart, and I can't believe that this is what some people know of their "college years." The University is amazingly gorgeous, old, charming, full of towering, heavy architecture in stone and brick and everything you see in movies and on TV.


We strolled the ivy-covered campus, pretending to be dashing co-eds with parent's weekend on our mind, and then headed over to Small World Coffee for cups of apple cider and hot chocolate. We continued our stroll around the town's high streets and did a little shopping (of course) before heading back for a run and a shower and a dip in the hot tub (ahh, resort living). Dinner at the recommended Triumph Brewery, where we each had a sampler of 7 exceptionally tasty 5oz beers, and a delicious dinner.


Tired travelers and recent Phillies fans, we watched the Phillies game and went to sleep, ready for wedding festivities.
Sunday = Jimmy and Nina's wedding day! Chilly and rainy, I still think the Mountain Lakes House where they got married was the most charmingly romantic place, set in the woods, full of fall leaves and on a lovely lake. We celebrated, drank warm apple cider, and awed over Nina's bridal beauty.



I pretty much love Princeton, and would like to visit again. Someone should move there so I have reason, or else, I might just push my kids to live what I couldn't and go to the University (on scholarship of course, that it ridiculous kinds of cash).
On the way to the airport the next morning, we stopped at Dunkin' Doughnuts, (since it was open at 4:30am, why not?) and I have to say: not impressed. That was NOT good coffee, but for the morning Andy and Kerry ran on Dunkin'.
Andy got on a train to Maryland, I flew out of Newark alone, and said goodbye to the East Coast's seasonal charm, to our Kia Rio, and to vacation-living.
Until next time, Mid-Atlantic, thanks for the memories.

It's never sunny in Philadelphia

Philadelphia, day's one-point-five and two!!

Took a little trip to the East-- coast that is, and spent the first two days in Philadelphia. We left San Francisco on a twice-delayed red-eye Wednesday night, flew into Newark and landed at 7:30 am. Adventurous and thrifty souls that we are, we decided to take the bus to a rental-car site a little ways away, rather than rent at the airport and pay lots more. So one grande and one vente drip to-go, (no pastry because we were heart-set on build-your-own Grand Slams in the future) and we made our way to the NJ Transit stop to catch the 8:30am, #72 Bus to Woodbridge Shopping Center. This was a local bus, and lead us on an hour and a half scenic tour of residential Newark. We finally got in the car and on the road at about 11am, and began the Yelp quest for a near-by Denny's. Oh what a breakfast! Then: welcome to Pennsylvania.




We took the Turnpike's --NJ to Penna, for my first turnpike experience. BTW, for those of you who don't know --it's just a freeway that's a toll road, and they have little truck-stop-like fast-food malls along the way. Can I just say, what is with the abreviations on the road signs?? NJ, Phila, Penna?? Can't you write the whole name? Arrived in front of our lovely host's, Troy and Caitlin's darling Chestnut Hill, PA victorian flat about 2pm, and I tell you, I was ready for a nap. So much for seeing the city, we napped and then spent the evening with The Krezouwski's at their small group for dinner and Bible study. A fantastically spent evening of fellowship.



After a weak run in the AM, we headed in to Philly to meet Scott Ritter for lunch, and a walk around UPenn, where Scott is starting med-school. Cold and rainy but, Penn is beautiful, and all full of old brick buildings and iron staircases in old libraries. Thank you Scott Ritter for a delicous lunch and an excellent campus tour.




After UPenn, we took the car and drove over to Rittenburg Square where we delighted in Belgian beer, mussels, and fries and got out of the rain, at Monk's (I yelped it here). Next up: rico suave. We walked down the street and around the corner for happy hour mojitos at the recommended Alma De Cuba. So swanky, it makes you want to out on a slinky top, sit in their low, low mid-century-modern club chairs, lean over the table and whisper to your date about that time when you were in Cuba and the heat...
The only things we knew we wanted to see and do in Philly were the art museum and cheesesteaks, so we drove to The Philadelphia Museum of Art for their Friday night happening, which is similar to what the Academy of Science does here, but geared for the older Philly crowd-- 5-9pm, cocktails and snacks, and a live jazz band. All we really wanted was the Duchamp exhibit based around his last work Etant Donnes. Amazing.
We had to be kicked out. So we left, pretended to be Rocky, and went for steaks at Jim's. This vegitarian ate a little, she ordered: Wiz, with, and could you please make it 1/2 steak and 1/2 veggies? I have to say, yum. I was a little freaked out, our Nutritionist hostess, Caitlin, told me that if you haven't had meat in a long period of time, your body no longer has the digestive enzymes to break it down, and you can get very sick-- so I only ate a little of the steak side, and my body was a champ. Don't worry, it's not a perminant step to meat-eating.







It took us two hours to get home, as we got very lost, but got to see the beautiful bridge, and boathouse row, and feel near the liberty bell at one point, and excercise locking our doors before finally finding our way back to Chestnut Hill and passing out exhausted, in love with Philadelphia, but ready for Princeton.

The grass is bluer on the other stage

I love San Francisco and it's love of festivals, and I especially love The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. I think it's my favorite all year, and this year was no exception.

Dr. Dog

Bluegrass Bikes!

We skipped out of church a few minutes early to make it to see Dr. Dog, and they did not disappoint. Over to Billy Brag, who is nothing good outside of Wilco and Jeff Tweedy. Please do not bring your politics into my bluegrass festival, no thank you very much. Scored an excellent spot to stick around for Old Crow Medicine Show, and in the meantime, boogied to the likes of Mavis somebody and to The Knitters. A very chilly evening, but with very warmed souls, thanks to fried chicken, mac and cheese, new wine in a new wineskin, backyard bbq chips, and plenty of Boddingtons. Then came OCMS and you rocked us well, young men, you rocked us well.

Four weeks and counting.

This is what seven miles looked like tonight:

I now run past the bridge, and to the ballpark before turning around. I''m also developing a relationship with Icy Hot.

Thursday nights are for lovers (of art, music, and each other)

Dear David Bazan,
Thank you for starting your tour in my fair city, and for doing such a great job at it. So nice of you to bring our friends too, what a fun surprise it was to walk into The Independent and be greeted with people we love but did expect to see! You bring out the best, well done.

Sincerely,

Team Kerry and Co.

Before that, we went to a special (to us) Anniversary edition of First Thursdays, and saw (among others) and loved this Michael Gregory show at the John Berggruen Gallery. It struck such a chord in my wanderlustful heart, and makes me want to be on a long road trip in the heartland. (I wish I could add an image here, especially of my favorite from Western Constructs, "The Way Things Dissolve" but I think they are protected, and rightfully so, I guess.)

Go see it, I know you'll love it.

John Berggruen Gallery

228 Grant Avenue

San Francisco, CA 94108
Hours: 9:30am - 5:30pm Monday through Friday

10:30am - 5:00pm Saturday

so my darling I'll succumb

sometimes I want to pretend I can fit in, when I realize they invite me because they just don't know; but inevitably:
-I drink gin, not vodka; Trappist beer, not Bud Lite.
-I wear bangs, not eye-makeup; cardigans, not date tops.
-I listen to bands you've maybe never heard of, not top 40.
-I go to church, not brunch.

and I like it.

Ten Things That Make Me Happy

1. Nights with my best girls and their best men
2. Packing for five days and bringing four sundresses
3. Peacock feathers everwhere for fall, especially in this new scarf, and in Milly's fall collection.
4. Summer rain storms
5. Chicken Foot dominoes with The Folks
6. Bottle of 2004 Amante from Faulkner Winery in Temecula
7. Throwing horseshoes
8. Jonathan Wright (printed letterpress by hand on a hundred-year-old Chandler and Price platen press)
9. Seawolf and homemade pizza for my one-year anniversary with my favorite boy.
10. Stone Brewery's outdoor beer garden in Escondido, CA

smoking lips and owls

I never thought I'd be so into Kate Spade , but I am now. Her new clothing line is adorably on key; there are great jewels, some cute flats and I'm even actually loving a bag. I think she is coming out of the suburbs and into the city; off of the housewife and onto the young, hip, professional.

I'm so in love with this owl bag, which even has little gold leather feet poking out of the bottom, and there is a coin purse that makes me wish I live where it is a more a coin-based currency.

This is a Kate Spade I can get behind. Hello Fall!

Ten Things That Make Me Happy

1. Scarface --not what I thought it was going to be, (thanks Alcatraz tour guide) and a few [too] bloody parts, but overall, and unbelievable win of a film.
2. Francis Ford Copola Winery, and wine --who's wine club we joined and are thilled to no end with
3. Swimming in rivers and Healdsburg [which, you COULD say, is for lovers]
4. Opi "No Spain, No Gain" --the perfect transition color for pre-fall, and my new constant color
5. Lake Tahoe! That thing really is so blue it's unreal. Like Disneyland water blue.
6. Figs
7. Andrew Bird, Bon Iver, and Fleet Foxes
8. Pedro Garcia flats, with a hidden platform in the heel similar to Lanvin, but for less... and, they're hecho en Espana.
9. headbands, which keep my out-growing, messy hair under wraps
10. Public access to private property, such as the public walking trails at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay

Frank on beauty.

“The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes. If you foolishly ignore beauty, you will soon find yourself without it. Your life will be impoverished. But if you invest in beauty, it will remain with you all the days of your life.”

- Frank Lloyd
Wright

Hello Pre-Fall, my you are lovely.

Very dangerously in love with this year's Pre-Fall collections, and most tangibly with J. Crew's. Excellent work J. Crew, simply lovely. Cardigans and blouses, and the JEWELS. oh man. Simply lovely.
shop my fancy.

Ten Things That Make Me Happy

1. My new living room makeover
2. Farm Fresh To Me box!
3. A quick visit to my hometown and catching up with the dearest friends who made time for me.
4. A weekend in AZ with my grandfolks, with my grandfather doing much better, praise the Lord, and telling me about his younger years: the war, flying army planes made out of canvas they'd build themselves, hunting Gustav, and the beginning of his legacy, meeting and marrying my grandmother.
5. Amazing pedicure I got while in SoCal, where great pedicures are standard, inexpensive and available on every block, unlike in SF where they are harder to find and expensive when found.
6. Cucumber Mint Lemonade!
7. Red Hawk cheese from Cowgirl Creamery
8. 4th of July!! my favorite holiday, and it felt like it should, bbq, Taboo! decent weather (or just enough sweaters and blankets), sitting on the marina lawn and actually seeing the fireworks, margaritas, and great friends.
9. My mom, who loves me, and wants the best for me, but lets me be me.
10. Thursday morning farmers market at the ferry building (and especially THIS thursday's visit and morning with the amazing C-star Green.)

Little Green Boxes

I finally joined a crop share! Farm Fresh To You is now sending me a "small box" of organic fruits and vegetables from their local farms every two weeks. I got my first box yesterday, just in time to use some of the things in my Vegetable Stout Pie. I'm so excited for Wednesdays!! Every other one brings me a new fresh box of surprises!
This weeks box consisted of:
4 Japanese eggplant
4 nectarines
1 cantaloupe
3 large heirloom tomatoes
3 yellow summer squash
1 bunch of Italian basil
4 peppers

Sign yourself up, and tell them I recommended you and I'll get a free shipment!

Happy Birthday Chief

Andy's 26th Birthday was celebrated with a small dinner party that bled beer when pricked.



Way to go Champ, Way. To. Go.


Beer-Steamed Mussels --Fantastically easy, and looks fabulous. I found my mussels at Whole Foods for $4.99/lb, and used Stella Artois for the broth.

Beef and Stout Pie --I also made roughly a third of this recipe for two little meatless pots and substituted a Japanese eggplant, two small summer squashes, 4 ounces of white mushrooms and a handful of baby portabellas and criminis (I think? from my mixed mushroom bucket Ferry Building score) for the beef. I also used an extra 1/2 C of Guiness to replace the pot gleanings. --however, I think I only halved the recipe for the stilton pastry, which next time, I would use a little less of for individual pots.

Green Beans (sauteed in the leftover Stella)
Birthday Peach Cobbler (my cobbler didn't rise properly, but still tasted yum, with vanilla ice cream and sweetened whipped cream)

Thanks Sportsfans, it was a fun night.

Summertime is for Lemonades

I found this recipe in People of all places, while getting a pedicure last weekend! I made it and served it for some of my favorite ladies, and think it's DELICIOUS and refreshing. I'm betting it would also be excellent spiked with gin.

Cucumber Mint Lemonade

1 cucumber
hand full of fresh mint
1 C lemon juice (about 6 or 8 lemons?) plus one lemon for garnish
1 C sugar
1 Cup boiling water
4-6 Cups cold water (depending on how sweet/strong you like your lemonade)

peel and dice the cucumber, saving a small hunk at the end to slice for garnish. coarsely chop the mint. Make simple syrup by adding the sugar to the boiling water. In blender, blend cucumber chunks and mint leaves with a little of the lemon juice, until pureed. In lemonade pitcher, combine lemon juice, and simple syrup. Strain cucumber puree into pitcher through a mesh sieve and add water. Add slices of lemon, cucumber and a few sprigs of mint for garnish. Chill. Pour into glasses and sip on a patio, or poolside...

Ten Things That Make Me Happy

1. Friends visiting San Francisco!!! (The Heidens, The Souza's, and my cousin Rachel and her boyfriend who will be here tonight and tomorrow.) (We have a GUESTROOM in our little flat and it is **usually** open...)
2. Knowing I've still got my flower skillz, and using them for my dear friend Jessika's wedding.
3. Andy's new Versace suit. (HOT.)
4. Selling on ebay! Cleaning out my closet and making some extra cash.
5. Oregon. I fell a little bit in love with the green state of OR this weekend.
6. My espresso machine which finally moved it's way up to SF from SD (courtesy of my dad and sister) and learning how to make it work properly.
7. Basil Lime [gin] Gimlets
8. New Jimmy Choos for 60% off PLUS my discount --I love designer finale.
9. Dritz Easy Hem, ahhh, my sewing life is about to get easier again.
10. Gustav --the deer head of the household who has safely made his way from Seattle to my home (courtesy of the Coughlin men).

our ideas held no water but we used them like a damn

I'm sitting in bed, drinking coffee, procrastinating my pre-church shower. In 45 minutes, I will need to leave the house and ride the cable car downtown, switch to the streetcar or the number 6 bus to arrive at church. This morning I am loving life in the City and almost hinting my thoughts at wishing I lived in New York. Almost. It's because I read Apartment Therapy while searching for Jessika's wedding website. If I don't get the evite out today for her Hen Night this Thursday, I fail. I'm already a week over my evite due-date. I still have no straight idea of where I'm inviting people.

I was going to have a little breakfast cheese. I am usually a HUGE fan of anything "light," and skinny, becuase I think it usually tastes good, and I care a lot about how much fat is in my diet. This morning I decided that some things must just need the fat, and brie is one of them. The texture is off, the taste isn't right, and it is not good.

I dream of a fabulous life that is glam but humble, cozy, full but not exhausting, exciting but calm. I dream of a life with a fantasticly arcitechtural home, well designed and lit, with warm summers and dinner parties both inside and out, crossword puzzles on saturday morning with coffee and my husband in bed. I dream of this artistic yet cerebral life that makes me not think about the weight of staying still for 30 years, because my life would be moving.

Baby I'm a Working Girl.

I have an Etsy site now. Perhaps one day I will be able to call it more, for now, I'm excited just at the idea of calling myself an artist, and at the hope that someone else will like my things as much as I do.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7503833

Here's to the working women.

Ten Things That Make Me Happy

1. My new little niece, Hannah Jeanne Stensler. Born May 11.

2. The apron my mom [and I] made me for Christmas.

3. Lanvin flats, with their hidden wedge in the heel which make them both comfortable and gorgeous, and make me want to wear no other designer's flats ever.

4. Fabulous interesting documentary films like Helvetica, Bomb It, and Man on Wire that get me so excited.

5. Having a job, I am repeatedly reminded of how thankful I need to be for that.

6. Taking the Alcatraz night tour and seeing a gull get protective of the egg she was sitting on (!!!) a few feet from us.

7. Eight bars of my sister's soap as a late Birthday gift.

8. Spur of the moment swimming in the **Russian** River on Memorial Day.

9. Dior Skinflash Radience Booster Pen: concealer with an ingredient to help relieve my undereye circles and puffiness as it covers them.

10. Fondest memories of my grandfather, a man of most character, integrity, strength, wisdom, and joy.

Helvetica

Brilliant and exhillilrating. My favorite kind of documentary film.

Calling all pirates, bandits & rebels!

Ten Things That Make Me Happy

1. Heat waves and warm nights that don't require a sweater

2. This John Varvatos pirate tie:

3. Jersey dresses that feel like pajamas

4. Special K Red Berries

5. Goat Hill Pizza's all you can eat Monday nights

6. When dogs howl at sirens

7. Hymns

8. Aquariums, especially the Monterey Bay Aquarium

9. Big Chunky statement jewelry

10. The posters for SMUIN Ballet: (located on Haight St on the side of Andy's builing)

Wild About Otters!

Andy took the day off Thursday and we drove down to Monterey to go to the Aquarium and have a fun Whole Day. We started with a coffee and a croissant from "No Mas Pan" (which is really the Italian French Baking Company on Grant and Union) (how ALL Whole Days start) and headed out of town.

We made it to the aquarium too late for the penguin feeding, but just in time for the otter show, which isn't a show WITH otters, but ABOUT otters. Andy didn't get picked to play on stage, and thus did NOT win an energy-saving light bulb, but we DID have a GREAT day at the aquarium, and DID write to the Govenator to communicate our support for coastal marineland protection, and that we vote.

Aquarium highlights include:
-those four little otter gals are a riot of good times, I think I'd like to have one.

-a harbor seal out in the real water, swimming around in the cove!

-seahorses galore

-a private q&a session with a docent whose time we monopolized

-asian otters who act kind of like cats (andy liked, me: ehh)

-penguins!! even if they weren't emperor penguins, or swimming.

-reading the best chapter of Cannery Row ON Cannery Row (concerning the gopher in the vacant lot)

-LOTS of schooling fish (I love it when they school)

-the Archer Fish, which spits a spout of water at a bug to make it fall into the water to eat it!

-the only albatross in captivity (who looks interestingly similar to a seagull...)

-scuba-diving window-washers / aquarium maintainers

-amazing jellyfish

Then we ate our packed picnic lunch of quiche and salad with lemonade and champagne in the back of Andy's car. We strolled through Cannery Row, took our own walking tour through all Steinbeck's spots, watched an otter who was right offshore, and walked along the Monteray coast for the afternoon, before heading back up north. We stopped at the beach on the way home for a nice long walk, and then for late-night tacos in Capitola, before making our way back to the city.

I crawled into my bed a tired, happy girl.

Happy Easter!

We dyed eggs on Easter Sunday!! Sold out of Paas, we used this "tie-dye" system from Andy's aunt, that wasn't as romantic as the old school hot vinegar and tablets with copper dipper, but it made pretty eggs! I love holiday cheer.

Don't Cry Over Spilt Wine: PART TWO (in which I become zen master of cleaning.)

I realized, this is the time in our lives when we learn how to treat red wine stains. There is no time in lives like the present, when we have parties with high occurance of over-service, when we are drinking wine instead of mixed drinks, when we are careless and accident prone with our wine, which is why, when I shared with the girls in my cab, that I spilled an entire glass of red wine on my carpet and bedding, they each had a[n amazingly accurate] remedy.

Here follows, my successful recipe for removing the set red wine stain from my light blue carpet:

Immediately at spill: blotted stain and dumped as much salt as I had on hand on it. (This sucks up the wine, pulling it out of the carpet.) Left it for two days (not the best idea, I readily admit, but did not have time (what?!!) before now to deal).

Tonight:
-cleaned up the salt, scraped it up and tossed it.
-Vaccummed everything else up, super well.
-Consulted How To Clean Practically Anything (4th ed./updated, Comsumer Reports Books, Kippel; Appendix B, pg 198.)
-found an old opened bottle of white wine in the back of the fridge, and grabbed a clean white rag towel.
-turned on some MGMT.
-poured the white wine onto the red wine stain, and blotted, pushed around the pile to agitate only a little and soak up as much as possible. repeated (maybe even two or three times).
-back to the kitchen, I made a solution of Detergent*, put a kettle of water on to boil, and turned an old white skirt into a new clean white rag.
-I poured the soap-water onto the stain, let it sit for a sec and then began firmly but with not much action to agitate the pile, and almost scrub, alternating with soaking up the stain and soap-water. Again, repeated, maybe even twice.
-poured hot water onto the stain to "rinse" out the detergent and abolish any remaining stain and blotted like crazy with a pair of old white and blue seer-sucker pants I'll not wear again turned blotting rag. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

It still needs to fully dry out, but looks awesome. (I definitely worry I didn't get enough detergent out and it's going to soil again quickly... we'll find out!)

-poured myself a tall glass of red wine to celebrate.

If only the girl in Can't Buy Me Love had my cleaning abilities, she'd never have fallen in love, but our hero could have had a new $1000 telescope.

*Detergent (From HTCPA's Spot Removal Kit, Appendix B, pg 182) (mild) Mix one teaspoon of a clear (not colored) hand dishwashing liquid per one cup of lukewarm water. Hand dishwashing liquid residues can cause rapid resoiling, so rinse thoroughly after using. Never use laundry detergents on upholstery or carpets because they contain optical brighteners that may discolor the fibers or afffect light and white colors.

Don't Cry Over Spilt Wine, Part ONE: (the boring set-up)

6:10pm Saturday night: arrive home from work via Cable with Ali, and have only 20 minutes to change and become fabulous (without having shopped for over 40 days) for dinner with nine gorgeous girls at Luella, followed by a night of dancing and cocktails at Le Colonial to celebrate Ali's 26th Birthday. Also vying for time in that 20 minutes is changing the sheets on my bed, which desperately need refreshing, a swift clean-up, and planning something brunch-ish to take to the next morning's book club meeting (this was originally make, or at least prep, a spinach quiche when I was planning on leaving work at 4:45 instead of 5:45). Get it started by pouring a tall glass of red wine to make the evening stay within my ever tightening budget, amongst a group of people without one.

Quick clean, begin stripping the bed. Duvet one over and off; duvet two toss (FLING?) too hard and mentally gasp as I see it cover the front top of my desk and pull things onto the floor, in slow-motion as I realize my glass of red wine, barely sipped from, is caught under the cream duvet, and has been spilled all over the carpet and soaking both duvets. EFF. eff. eff. eff.

There goes my twenty minutes, and any hope I had of puting on some makeup. Luckily I'm great in an emergency, and I immediately run to the kitchen and grab a dish towell and my carton of salt, mop up as much of the wine as I can, and pour the entire remaining contents of the salt onto the spot(s). Even luckier, Ali calls and also found it impossible to be ready in 20 mins, thank goodness for cabs, no thank goodness for 7pm reservations. I throw on my clothes, which incredibly looks as okay on as the idea did in my head, add a little makeup and grab (stupidly wrong, look awesome, after only two hours felt awful, so much that walking home even BAREFOOT, at the end of my night, hurt like heck) shoes and run outside to meet the girls' cab. Ready in five minutes, forget about the wine that just wrecked the carpet, two down comfortors, two duvets and my $800 deposit.

Overheard at Luella

To Chris and Chase during Ali's Birthday dinner Saturday night:

"My life is so understaffed right now, I have no time for anything! I realized I haven't talked to some of my best friends since January, and forget about laundry."

10 Things That Make Me Happy

1. St. Patty's Day!
2. That we are becoming pub quiz friends with Only One of Us Likes Girls.
3. Baking successfully!!
4. OPI Designer Series Top Coat (with the silver lid/cap) It's the amazing secret to a great polish, and while a little pricey at $12.50 a bottle, it's worth it's weight in gold.
5. King of Thai Noodle House on Geary (especially for a lunch date in Union Square)
6. Sundays
7. Maxi dresses; especially this one by Elizabeth and James, which I want to wear with big earings, no necklace, and either a big cuff or several chunky bangles.
8. Hippie Chic lines making gorgeously feminine and easy peices with a carefully carefree look, like Haute Hippie (I'm in love with everything they make) and Elizabeth and James.
9. Smallish dogs with wirey hair and nice faces, chubby or stalky who are also polite.
10. Peet's Coffee Major Dickinson's Blend. I'm not an overall fan of Peet's, but this blend takes the Sweet Storybook Cake. Black please.

10 Things That Make Me Happy, 100th Post Edition!

1. This is my 100th post!
2. Cross-country skiing --especially somewhere beautiful with someone wonderful.
3. Crossword puzzles
4. Girl Scout cookies. Thank you Little Brownie Bakers and Rose Vogt who's daughter is a scout, I'll take two boxes of Thin Mints please!
5. The bow tie I made Andy for Valentine's Day
6. Deschutes Brewing Company and their delicious craft brews.
7. Nicholas Kirkwood shoes: funky, hot, amazingly gorgeous, what fashion is and needs right now.
8. Risotto, especially this mushroom recipe I made last week.
9. Wearig boots when it's cold, rainy, snowy, and feeling so secure cause I'm warm and dry, like anything could happen, and I could take it.
10. San Francisco's fantastic events, like the pillow fight on Valentine's Day, the Grilled Cheese Invitational, and next week's Pie Fight.

Good luck Peter!

It's things like this that make San Francisco the best city in America.

2nd Annual Northern California Regional Grilled Cheese Invitational

I wish I didn't work Saturday's so I could play and eat and help Peter win, all in my favorite park.

Americans in Paris

"An experienced traveler could have told by looking at my shoes that I wasn't French. And even if I were French, it's not as if English is some mysterious tribal dialect spoken only by anthropologists and a small population of cannibals. They happen to teach English in schools all over the world. There are no eligibility requirements. Anyone can learn it. Even people who reportedly smell bad despite the fact that they've just taken a bath and are wearing clean clothes.

Because they had used the tiresome word froggy and complained about my odor, I was now licensed to hate this couple as much as I wanted. This made me happy, as I'd wanted to hate them from the moment I'd entered the subway car and seen them hugging the pole. Unleashed by their insults, I was now free to criticize Martin's clothing: the pleated denim shorts, the baseball cap, the T-shirt advertising a San Diego pizza restaurant. Sunglasses hung from his neck on a fluorescent cable, and the couple's bright new his-and-her sneakers suggested that they might be headed somwhere dressy for dinner. Comfort has its place, but it seems rude to visit another country dressed as if you've come to mow its lawns."

-David Sedaris, Me Talk Pretty One Day

Ten Things That Make Me Happy

1. Tissue-weight cashmere scarfs in gorgeous colors
2. Whole Days and date nights
3. Pub quiz at Elixer
4. The Grandfather cardigan
5. Slumdog Millionaire and brilliant films that make me ache to impact the world more powerfully
6. Thick dark porter stouts in clear pint glasses
7. YSL Nail Lacquer in Black Tulipe, rediscovered in my polish box
8. My Mom and a weekend with the whole fam together
9. Kettle Corn, made in the microwave, a sweet and delicious snack for anytime
10. Longchamp 'Le Pliage' totes and weekenders: posh, resiliant, classic

Slumdog Millionaire

Phenomenal.
Gorgeous, heart-breaking, inspiring; left me weeping. This is what film is meant to be.

And she wore Isabel Toledo

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

-President Barack Obama from his Inaugural Address

Dress Code: Retro Chic

Andy's Holiday Party (after the holidays) was a night out at Teatro ZinZanni. Having heard of it for so long, and seen all the ads and the tent itself on Pier 29, we were excited but unsure of what to expect, but I was thrilled at the chance to wear my little black Valentino (LBV) again. Can't beleive we didn't take any pictures of us looking all smanch, boo.

FABULOUS!!

Incredible 5-course meal, and a super awesome-fun show, loved every minute. They do a terrific job at the night.

Girl in Da Hood version 1.09

Home to Escondido for Mom's 60th Birthday Weekend Extravaganza.


How I love it when there's lots of family together. I wish we all lived closer and could play more often.

Can we just talk about the 80 degree weather in January? Oh San Diego, you hot cookie, teasing me with your perfect weather and sunshine days.

And just LOOK at this pregnant girl!