25 things about my 29 years

this "25 random things about me" questionnaire is sweeping through facebook like the rhinovirus at work. basically, you waste 30 minutes trying to come with random things about yourself out of thin air. it's hard, and my brain suffered from it.

twenty-five random things about me

25. My favorite number is 8. Anytime I pull a number out of my butt, like “I spent x minutes waiting for the bus” or “I read this paper x times today, and it still doesn’t make any sense,” I round up to the nearest 8. like 18. or 18,000, or 780. The number 8 makes me feel better, maybe because it’s a continuous loop. and i am quite loopy.

24. I love medium to big dogs, but can’t stand tiny ones. Sorry, but if my cat can beat up your pooch, we’ve got a problem.

23. Up until about a year ago, when I invested in 4 pairs of great sneakers, my shoe collection consisted of 90% black shoes.

22. I’ve broken 3 bones in my body: my left arm in kindergarten (some boy didn’t want me to be the first to climb the ladder and get into the playground house, so he used his 5-year-old manpower and heaved me over the side), my nose (either from a superman bicycle accident or from police in riot gear at a protest against the US’s invasion of Iraq), and my kneecap (freak pothole incident two+ years ago).

21. I’m a vegetarian for animal rights reasons.

20. My hair is naturally curly, and I wear it this way 3 days or so of each week. But almost every time, without fail, at least one colleague exclaims, “You got a perm! How cuuuuuuuuute!”

19. I worked in a music library for a summer, and couldn’t go a day without sneezing uncontrollably. It was then I realized sheet music and I don’t mix. But it gave me great reasons to yell, "oh sheet!"

18. Around age 12, I begged my parents to let me go to a dance camp in upstate New York for the summer. I then bawled my eyes out for 6 weeks straight. This is the same girl that happily moved across the country upon college graduation.

17. I’ve never cut myself with a knife, but this past weekend I sliced my finger with frozen spaghetti squash.

16. Back in elementary school, I was a huge Star Trek: The Next Generation fan. So big in fact, that I can now watch about 2 minutes of any episode and tell you exactly what that episode is about.

15. I bake for professional baseball players.

14. I have never visited Tahoe or Yosemite.

13. I haven’t ridden a bicycle since accident in #22.

12. I’ve been taking public transportation for 7 ½ years. The only time I drive is when traveling for work or going home to Florida, and I don’t miss it one bit. Well, except for the drive up/down A1A where you can put your windows down, poke your head out like a dog, and smell the salty ocean.

11. I could spend a whole week reading books and be very, very happy.

10. I have never stolen anything.

9. In grad school, I subtly threatened to sue the university for non-delivery of advertised master's program.

8. I have worked for two major ballet companies (Boston Ballet and San Francisco Ballet).

7. I’m running out of non-interesting things about me. fine. i went to space camp. and besides the underwater base camp building exercise, i loved it.

6. I carried a teal green beeper in high school.

5. My first car was a teal green mustang (to match the beeper, of course).

4. I can’t drink caffeinated coffee anymore without getting shakes. Back when I worked 12-hour days in Boston for a summer, I drank two large Dunkin’ Donuts iced coffees (with hazelnut syrup) every day. Then Todd made me stop because I was way to focused and “on crack.” Ever since, whenever I try and drink just a little bit, I get shakes and heart palpitations like crazy. It’s decaf or nothing for me now.

3. I can’t file things for the life of me; piles or one giant inbox are the way to go.

2. I hate crosswords, scrabble, and word games. I’m really more of an analytic type of girl. My GRE scores confirmed this.

1. I’m practical, yet idealistic. I love to hug trees, and one day one will hug me back.

list this

my mom and kev-friend are in the city for a month, and ever since their first few visits, i’ve been keeping a mental list of things they might like to do, places they may want to visit, etc. a few years back, i started with this list. since then, they’ve become semi-regular sf visitors, so the usual golden gate bridge and coit tower tour are sort of been-there, done-that. we also only hit four places on the entire list, so i know it's more of a wish list than anything else.

semi-off-topic: i don't know where i get my list craziness from, but no one else in my family seems to keep lists. or plan more than a week or so in advance. i think it's a regressive trait like blue eyes and blond hair or webbed toes. funny enough, i'm a list-maker and a procrastinator; just because i make lists doesn't mean i follow through on them in a timely manner!

but just like slim shady, mommy's back. back again. i’ve revamped the list, tailoring it towards things i’d like to show her and kevin. my outlook is rosy; if i knock two off of my to-do's, i'll be very, very impressed. plus, todd's mom is visiting sometime in september, so perhaps my list can do double-duty.

• the pirate store aka 826 valencia. because everyone loves pirates, trap doors, and laaaard. aaaargh, matey.
• tartine bakery
• opera in the park is coming up! i’ve never been to an opera, but there’s a right time for everything, right?
  
• the annual chocolate festival, featuring… pizza.
• tidepooling in pescadero or half moon bay. i think they’ve been, but i don’t care. let’s pet some sea anemones and stroke a starfish.
  
• buying tons of mochi at benkyodo and sharing each piece four ways.
• tracking down the wild parrots of telegraph hill. squawk.
• hot cookie, making a repeat performance from the original list. no one else makes macaroon boob cookies quite like hot cookie. plus, you can tell everyone you nibbled your boob today. very, very san francisco. and if anyone cares, em split a butch bar with todd last year.
  
• the cal academy of sciences reopens at the end of next month. family outing!
• the best place to get vegan moon cakes and a perplexed look of confusion- the autumn moon festival!

work it

5 things to do when you belong to the same gym as your coworkers

1. dress to impress: wear a thong under your sportswear. panty lines at work are a no-no, so the same goes when you're lowering into warrior I next to your cube mate. and better yet, try that new water bra for a natural yet perky downward facing dog.

2. always outdo that tanorexic guy from the 4th floor. show 'em you'll never, ever quit.

3. invite your team to 6AM group spinning. the one with the least sweat at the 30-minute mark buys the first round of vitamin water.

4. get stretched by a trainer smack dab in the middle of the free weight area. if wearing shorts, please exchange thong (see above) for boyshorts, granny panties, or a full-coverage banana hammock.

5. run around the locker room naked. and better yet, show your dedication to your job by talking to your project manager while in adjacent shower stalls. but whatever you do, don't share the suds.

you can call me lemon drop.

american gladiators is back after a multi-year (what, like 15-20?) year hiatus. watching last week, i came to some conclusions.

1. before applying, make sure you have adequate health insurance. remember, those flimsy hard hats don't do much except give you helmet head. also, make water, fire, and hellga insurance a priority.
2. instill fear in your opponents with your abs of steel. if you don't have abs, have them sprayed on. remember, mind over matter.
3. wolf isn't a smart puppy. hoooooooooooooowl!
4. this show is a step up for hulk hogan. no annoying family or animals to distract him from his most manly mission ever: to encourage all over-age men to straighten and dye their hair to the point of resembling dry straw. he's bringing sexy back!
   
5. pick out a positive and powerful name for yourself. and one that doesn't bring to mind boys running around cow-tipping in their overalls while chewing hulk's hair straw for an afternoon snack (like "big country").
6. the lines, lighting, audience, host, gladiators, background stories.... everything, really, is cheesy. it's 100% american. american gladiators, that is.
   

i kid you not.

reasons why todd and i haven’t popped out kids yet

1. alphie would be jealous.

2. i bribe todd to carry watermelon home from trader joe’s, so how could i lug one around in my belly for 9 months and then push it out of my vajayjay?

3. we’ve taken a vow of celibacy celery. no ants on a log or cool relief from morningstar “buffalo wings” for us.

4. our kid could never compare to oren (cuteness-wise, at least. see above.).

5. todd’s still got hope that gisele bundchen, heidi klum, or natalie portman will run away with him.

6. we're not married yet. or at all. (see #5)

7. it would interfere with my drinking problem. *hiccup*

the bee's knees

i'm approaching my first full day of recovery following knee surgery, and it sounds like it went well. a little trimmed meniscus here, a little tissue issue over there. i'm all situated on the couch, ready to drift off into some kind of hazy sleep. i vicodined last night, and it helped, but i woke up all fuzzy feeling, although that may have been since alphie slept under my chin most of the night. some challenges associated with post-surgery recovery:

1. no full showers until the middle of next week. this will lead me to having to contort 2/3's of my body in the shower while todd holds onto my left leg outside of the tub.
2. if i drop something, i'm screwed, unless the dropped something is big. then i can use my crutches like chopsticks.
3. vh1 actually shows videos in the early AM. great! but thumbs down: they're showing robin thicke, who sports the same pumpkin head as his dad, alan. ack! and did i mention that he croons like a girl? dude, get some balls.
4. dizziness and nausea. my sister forewarned me of this, so i'm making sure to wear running shorts (not that i can run 'cuz i can't. but i can hobble!), and i put my cell phone in the pocket whenever i get up. just in case i collapse in the closet. then i can call to alphie, and he can drag me to safety. or at least nibble my toes until i wake up in a puddle of my own drool.
5. i now have 3 separate pairs of crutches. one from spraining my ankle in august of 2002, one from knee incident september 2006, and now one from arthroscopic adventure 2007. maybe if i get artistic in a vicodin/keflex/aspirin/ginger ale haze, i can create some kind of unique crutch art, complete with ace bandages, empty pill bottles, and blue painter's tape (since this stuff can fix anything, even my ethernet cable).

2+1

last night, we headed to shangri-la for a buddhist/non-xmas/feeling sick dinner. after downing some yummy spinach and tofu soup and veggie "spareribs," we got our fortunes. todd's was all uplifting. "You have an active mind and a keen imagination. apply your ideas." Mine, however, not so much. "Your lucky number for this week is the number three." Gee. thanks, Buddha. or Confucius. or the fortune cookie factory. you sure know how to make a girl feel special.

things that come in threes
1. three meals in a day
2. three pomegranates for $1 (at the farmer's market)
3. three days before friday
4. triplets
5. the movie three kings
6. a tricycle has three tires...
7. lithium (3 is its atomic number)
8. shift + 3= # (I can play lots of tic tac toe)
9. small forwards
10. trilogies (or in star wars' case, 2 trilogies)

medal ceremony

the bullpen baker's end-of-season awards are posted!

ah, baseball season is over, but before you go and cry about it, let's celebrate with the first annual (can they be annual if they're the first?) bullpen baker awards!

best sportage of high socks
1st place: mark ellis
runner-up: danny haren on rootbeer float day (what a tease!)

best rootbeer float creation
1st place: the a's wives, girlfriends, and requisite blondes
runner-up: nick swisher

best bench warmer
1st place: bobby crosby
runner-up: jeremy brown AND antonio perez
2nd runner-up: adam melhuse

best attempt to be on the 25-man roster come April 2007
TIE
1st place: marco scutaro and chad gaudin

worst attempt to be on ANY 25-man roster come April 2007
1st place: d'angelo jimenez


for more, go here.

plane jane

we just got back from a quick weekend in and around la (from newport beach all the way to oxnard), and i have one note for frontier: when welcoming us onto the plane with grizwald, the big grizzly bear, on the tail, don't refer to the plane as "historic." why not put fear into our hearts some other way, like showing one of these movies or tv shows (on your fabulous yet abc-omitting direct tv) that should never, ever be shown on a plane?

1. snakes on a plane. duh.
2. airplane!
3. airforce one
4. repeats of lost
5. red eye
6. flightplan
7. donnie darko
8. any of the 9/11 movies
9. the opening of superman returns
10. final destination

aloha

the past few days, i've been mentally counting down the minutes until our vacation. originally, when we started semi-planning back in february or so, we were going to hit germany, amsterdam, and prague in the summer. then it got pushed to september, but airfares hadn't come down, so it turned into an october trip to hawaii. sure, it's not quite national lampoon's european vacation, but it only takes 5 hours to get there, there's no real language barrier, we'll drive on the right side of the road, and it'll be heaven. at least, if i believed in heaven because i'm sure it would include listening to the ocean as i fell asleep, clear bluish green water in front of our lanai, lots of waterfalls and dolphins, and fruity flavored drinks adorned with tiny paper umbrellas. but with only a week to finish planning, i've got to get cracking! remaining preparations and tasks include:

• create "maui in 7 days" waterproof binder, complete with fold-out play-doh molded topography maps and 3-D glasses.
• determine best concierge/guide on the island. prepare concierge-napping plan. pack duct tape.
• research which fish/sea creatures will harm/sting/burn/bite/chew/eat me. tattoo their pictures up and down my arms. but if i run out of room, i'm screwed.
• purchase coconuts and fashion homemade coconut bathing suit. collect neighbors' greenery for accompanying grass skirt.
• prepare volcano emergency kit, including lava hazard protection suit, N-95 respirators, goggles, and amazon.com's 800-number.
  
• learn hawaiian. hopefully it's not as hard as canadian.

what's a girl to do?

todd comes back from dominica in just a little over 4 days, which means i have 4 days left to complete the rest of my "when the boyfriend's away, becca will play" list. this includes:

• finish "trying new things." therefore, dump girlfriend of just under 2 weeks. let her know it's not her, it's me, and i'm just not into that kind of thing. really. but hide ex-girlfriend in closet. you know, just in case.
• clean apartment to get rid of any trace of those wild, late-night parties while utilizing all of the method products i have yet to master. tape # for 1-800-keggers to fridge for later use.
• multi-task and save the environment: accumulate all of my laundry and do 1 load total, not 3 like when mr. man is here (how many shirts can one person wear in a week? the answer: at least 13). plus with one load, i can practice my ability to carry my clean clothes home in one hand while doing my nails, petting the neighbor's poodle, and finding a cure for chain-smoking colleagues with the other. bonus!
• hit the gym 25 more times with the hope of achieving that "honey, i must have just really, really missed you and forgotten to eat" look.
• cheer on the a's. finally turn to god (with the help of huston) in the hopes that rich harden's comeback (as opposed to liriano's) is successful. become girl of the book. for a month or so. and by book, i mean playbook.
  

top photo © me, emerald pool, dominica
bottom photo © me, bout sable beach, dominica

yo so hawt

this weekend was a scorcher, and so i've come to realize there a few things to be thankful for when living in the city by the bay on a 90+ degree weekend:

1. the n-judah: it's air conditioned. and with a bus pass, free.
2. friends with pools. sure, i don't swim, but when they conveniently throw an alumni event on a blistering hot weekend, my toes, ankles, and feet are very happy to take a dip.
3. the frozen food aisle at trader joe's. you can only stay so long, though, or you'll end up like all those chickens and cows and salmon.
4. dark window drapes. keep out the heat, keep off the clothes.
5. our lack of hot water. you'd never know it, but it's a blessing in disguise to be able to turn on a cold shower at full strength and cool off. thank you, ever-capable landlord.

5 things not to get your mom for her birthday

unless she asks for them.
and even then, you might want to avoid 'em.






1. a night out. at a strip club. wearing a tiara. with you.
perhaps for a bachelorette party, but your mom is no longer a bachelorette. trust me.

2. barry manilow cd's
she's not dead yet, either. (barry white is acceptable, though.)

3. botox
not so much because you'll make her feel bad, but because then you'll want some, too. and that stuff gets to be expensive!

4. an itsy bitsy teeny weenie yellow polka dot bikini
unless she's a size 0 like my mom. and still. this one's a no.

5. grandchildren
only if she's popping the kiddies out herself.

48 hours

after being interrogated repeatedly by the california employment office (both in-person and on the phone), applying to a multitude of jobs, and selling my soul on craigslist, i got a job! i'll be working for an educational research and development company here in san francisco, and i start wednesday. this leaves me 2 days to finish up my slumming and bumming.

things to do with my last 48 hours of freedom:

mission: charge the mp3 player. now that i have a two-bus commute twice a day, i'll need my tunes more than ever. who knows who could sit next to me?
revised mission: bring the music to all the people. purchase large boom box. practice carrying around on shoulder with nelly blasting loudly. or the dixie chicks. remember to safety pin slumping pants to underwear.

mission: camp out under the stars. although this would require a sleeping bag. and a camp. and some stars (thanks to our foggy june).
revised mission: remember that you've never been camping. check out stars at perezhilton.com instead.

mission: learn to ride a bike. any kind. even with training wheels.
revised mission: after recalling dreadful superman incident from 16 years ago, get self cape and tall red boots. go see superman instead. or watch justice league. then rethink bike school.

how not to interview someone

over the past 6 years, i've gone on countless interviews. some were calm and boring, while others the complete opposite. here's my top list of things not to do when interviewing a candidate:

1. don't continue to look at my resume when you can't remember my name. yes, sometimes 5 little letters can be tricky. if need be, stencil my name on my forehead beforehand. i won't notice it, but you sure will.
2. don't allow the security guard to interview me first. otherwise, he might just hire me without your consent.
3. don't curse every f^cking fourth word when f^cking interviewing me. for some f^cking odd reason, it just f^cking puts me off.
4. when giving a tour, do not include the secret room where you keep the superman costume and telephone booth. however, do introduce me to clark kent.
5. don't mention you've somehow managed to run through 4 temps in 5 months. your business might be stable, but i may question your mental stability.
6. don't ask me to handwrite my employment information onto your own application. really, you're asking for trouble. this is the girl who never officially graduated from handwriting class in 5th grade and was forced to use pencil for the remainder of the year. but if you really want me to scribble my job history for you, at least leave enough room. a 1/2"x1/2" box isn't big enough to detail my underwear preference, much less my job title, responsibilities, and achievements.
7. if you're a placement agency, and you have no positions that i might be remotely eligible for, yet you encourage me to come in for an exciting interview that could change my future, be prepared to receive a dry cleaning bill within the week. remember, every trip on muni presents a 50/50 chance of me ruining my one and only suit. and i really. like. my. suit.
8. i don't want to sell insurance. or newspapers. or children from peru. or be an enterprise rent-a-car store manager. so stop spamming me.
9. and if you really like me, don't go searching for my blog. and if you find it, keep it on the down low. and if you want to live a long, healthy, organic life, don't tell my references about it.

new daily schedule

6AM: wake up to sounds of cat howling. damn sun. put cat under arm, spoon, sleep, drool. repeat every 5 minutes.
7:12AM: groggily walk to kitchen. throw can opener and can of cat food at cat. fall fast asleep on hallway rug.
7:16AM: wake up to shrimp and lobster-scented face bath. enjoy exfoliation, but recognize that this is. not. normal. rinse skin and hop back in bed.
7:31AM: kqed officially announces it's time to wake up. for todd, that is. steal his pillow and return to dream state.
7:55AM: toes are not a second meal for furballs. roll counterclockwise out of bed. refill cat water (with brita, of course). rinse toes.
8:00AM: normal morning routine: brush teeth, wash face, apply 4-inch fake eyelashes, check-in with personal assistant (i.e. whatever i wrote on back of hand yesterday), breakfast, email, perezhilton.com, fantasy baseball.
9:00AM: Dawson's Creek
10:00AM: some kind of housework (vacuuming, ironing, pillow fluffing, spider smushing)
11:12AM: bodywork: gym, PT, yoga dvd, crunches, stretching, pedicure, scrubbing notes off hand, temporary tattoos
12:28PM: lunch (mac & cheese, potato & green chile burrito, toast, salad, grapes, chocolate chips and wheat thins)
1:30PM: job searching. check all sites (craigslist, opportunityknocks, ynpn, idealist, hotjobs, careerbuilder, chronicle of philanthropy, northern california grantmakers, foundation center, sfgate, monster, oakland a's, poledancersrus, etc.) at least three times.
4:00PM: wow. the cat used a can opener. try to teach cat new tricks, like smushing spiders or fetching cheese. fail at spider task. guess they don't taste good. run out of cheese. cat posts ad on craigslist for new owner, preferably one who works at cowgirl creamery. receives 28 responses in 7 minutes.
4:12PM: phone rings! yes, they want to hire me! no, they want me to give them money. pout and stomp feet.
4:15PM: think about dinner and what i can make with broccoli, strawberries, flour tortillas, quinoa, and hummus.
5:00PM: call Rotee.
5:45PM: todd arrives home. confirm i got lots accomplished. hurridly place paneer tikka masala in front of his nose before he asks more questions.
7:00PM: vow to go to grocery tomorrow. and make go kit. and search and apply for more jobs. and visit laundraumat. and get cheese.

new hobbies for me, pt. 2

now that i have random spurts of free time, i.e. not sitting on my butt waiting for someone to tell me that she brought her sleeping bag to work, spent the entire weekend "looking ahead," and peetered away her sunday completing 6 of MY 10 projects for the week while using the yellow stairs as her own private stairmaster, i'm finding myself slightly bored and unfocused. here are several ways for me to get back on track:

1. move furniture around. suggested layout: fridge to living room, bed to living room, computer to living room, wine rack to living room. record macro for later use.

2. after intro classes at mission cliffs, feel like spider-woman. return home, throw on yellow rubber spider-like gloves, strap on window cleaner and scrubbie, and cling to fire escape in attempt to wash windows from the outside. hope that tobey maguire is nearby, just in case.

3. reorganize fridge contents by type. or color. or weight. somehow, decrease access to the cheese while promoting leafy greans, apples, and ketchup. call in to npr's cartalk, asking where the chocolate belongs (sure, it's not a car question, but those dudes are just too funny!).

4. create trip planner that actually works. and is woman-friendly. factor in hills, 6th/7th streets and Market, puppy sightings, martini bars, and hot straight men. patent and sell to muni for a bundle of money. oh, and name it wo-muni.

new hobbies for me, pt.1

so now that i'm sitting at my computer at work and not doing much else except nodding my head, applying to jobs, and scratching my a$$, i figure i need some new hobbies. for example, today i can:

1) make a map of all SF ben and jerry's for your free cone-nibbling pleasure, complete with satellite images of length of lines and size of scoopage report. note that the haight-ashbury shop is being very generous.

2) listen to the weekly potter-cast compliments of mugglenet.

3) read danny haren's blog. he loves lost. what could be better?

4) research individual health plans. determine, in the event of an emergency or freak cookie-baking incident, who is likely to screw up the least. apply.

5) rearrange all my files so my soon-to-be ex-boss can't find anything. at all. except haight street lunch menus and avery 5160 labels.

20 grand

i'm normally a pretty timely person (not including all of that procrastination up until a deadline). in fact, when i have appointments or meetings, i'm more likely early than on time. as of last week, i hadn't gotten a bill for my timely gallbladder removal process, so i decided to call and see what the hold up was. it'd been a month, and while true that february was indeed a shorter month than all other months, i felt that if i needed to refinance my lack of finances, i should do so sooner rather than later. now before the surgery, my hmo had told me i would only have to pay a $300 co-pay, which was relief to my ears. but what do you know. the happy go-lucky finance woman called me back on friday (as i had to call a main number, get transferred to the special finance number, then pick from numbers 1-4 based on the first initial of my last name, then i had to do the hokey pokey and turn myself around....aagh.), she happily told me she was sending me an itemized bill. for $19,500! was my gallbladder really worth that? because really, it wasn't functioning and had no use anymore, so i'd assign it a big whopping $0. but no. all those friendly, cuddly nurses, smiling docs, funny head bonnet, and sleepy medicine all added up to almost $20K. if i had that money, i doubt i'd spend it on a failing organ. instead, i could:

• get 2/3 of a mini cooper.
• go back to school (even waste it on that masters in some-kind-of-history degree i've always wanted).
• have a's season tickets for life. in the bullpen. right next to huston.
  
• quit my job and work for an animal rescue organization (for a year or so) while living in a tiny box equipped with a security system somewhere near 6th and market.
• travel around the world. clockwise. and counterclockwise.
• laser off all that unwanted hair.
  
• buy numbing cream to accompany the lasering.
  
• reapply the hair when the earth starts to freeze over and all hell breaks loose.

we'd like to check-in, please.

my mom and her significant other (kevin's past the acquaintance, boytoy, and boyfriend stages, so i guess he's significant other now!) might visit in june, and i realized i only have 4 1/2 months to plan! i love planning for guests- not sure why exactly, but i enjoy thinking about all the great restaurants to take them to and all the wonderful views to show them and which shops to poke around in... and now i need to create a list separate from the july list for potential sister visit. (i know a few things not to include like riding the westin "outdoor" elevators straight to the top--mom almost blew chunks!--and driving up and then down the fillmore hill. heights, especially those that creep up on you quickly, are not a good idea.) so far, motherly list includes:

potential restaurants

• kokkari - love love love. veggies options plus non-veggie. big, airy, modern architecture with definite greek/med influences. impeccable service.
• minako - duh. inventive sushi and an experience not to miss.
• golden era - all veggie vietnamese in the tenderloin. now, yes, i take my mom to the tenderloin. in fact, we've been before, and 4 years laters, she's still raving about it! a few years ago, two of her friends were in town, and they insisted we go, too, so it's catching on:)
• mescolanza - perfect traditional italian in the richmond. really, the best italian is not in in north beach. i promise.
• the richmond - a new bistro and wine bar on balboa. it's a locals' secret, but the word's getting out. great wine list, plus the chef really goes the extra mile in service and presentation. yum.
• sociale - we've been to sociale before, but it's always an option again. sitting outside is the best, under the stars. great heating lamps and cobblestone patio. one of the best wine lists in the city.
• feel real cafe - the food's good, and it's all dairy-free so the kevster will be safe, plus we can walk to the beach afterwards (or before. or both)! because when you're not living on the beach in florida, you should visit all other beaches.
  

places to go and see

• golden gate bridge - it took me 5 years to walk it, but it was beautiful, and i wish i'd done it sooner.
• hot cookie - over on castro. where else can you get a penis cookie covered in chocolate and boob ones with sprinkles? i said boob. hehehehehe!
• saturday farmers' market at the ferry building - we went before and it was fun. lots of samples, plus seeing real tomatoes. sigh.
• views - land's end, baker beach, randall museum, crissy field.
• wine tasting - especially at the little known wineries. mmm. lush.