Footloose and...Appendix Free

I planned to write a post this past weekend about my fabulous celebration dinner with husband. We went up to San Francisco and enjoyed a dinner at the hip Absinthe Brasserie & Bar--much fancier than our usual fare. I even took pictures to share. However, that evening I developed a stomachache, which progressed as the weekend went on, until I ended up in the ER Sunday afternoon. Appendicitis. Eight hours later and I finally made it into the OR for an emergency appendectomy. Needless to say, I haven't gotten around to uploading my pictures!

I'm at home now, recovering. I was planning to finish my last tweaks to the final draft over the next two weeks before I head home--I have a little niece on the way--but I think that will be delayed another week now.

In other news, I finally sent out my Pay It Forward gifts after a very long delay. I really enjoyed participating and hope everyone else has fun as it goes forward.

Thanks for all the comments over on Facebook. You are all lovely!

Summer in the City

We celebrated our anniversary with a day in the city, and the old adage proved true: "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."
Luckily, I've lived here long enough to know to be prepared. I started off with a lovely new summer dress and strappy sandals and ended covering up with a sweater and boots.
I took a few pictures for lovely Caroline's competition, but the Golden Gate Bridge did not cooperate and kept hiding in the fog. Ah well, I suppose it's a more accurate portrayal of San Francisco in August. A friend pointed out that the wind gave me "cartoon hair" in that picture, and I admit I was impressed with the volume and curl since I left home with straight hair.
Since there was a good chill in the air, we were able to enjoy clam chowder bread bowls at the touristy Pier 39 before ending the night at a hilarious local musical, Insignificant Others, which is about a group of midwesterners who move to the city and embark on amorous adventures there. If you're ever in San Francisco, I highly recommend it.
All in all, it was an excellent celebration.

Silly

I'm sitting at a sunny sidewalk cafe in San Francisco, taking a lunch break from my research at the Holocaust Center.

This morning I took the train up to the city. I worried about it all day yesterday because (*whispers*) I've never taken the train up here before. It takes about 30 minutes longer than driving and that's if you don't have many transportation transfers within the city. Luckily I only had one. Anyway, I planned for an early train, but had a backup because I'm almost always late for everything. I arrived in time for the backup, but after I bought my ticket, I ran to put the parking permit in my car window. When I was halfway to my car I noticed that I was supposed to keep the ticket with me. The train arrived, so I turned and ran to it. I was there in time, but they shut the door in my face, so I had to wait 30 minutes for the next train! At this point I regretted leaving my book at home in order to lighten my load (and to assure that I did my homework on the train). Nevertheless, I arrived here without further incident and the sun is shining, so I can't complain.

Husband thought my nervousness yesterday was silly, especially considering I took trains and buses (buses are so much scarier!) alone in Prague and Munich, with only a few phrases of Czech and German at my disposal. I guess it's easier to step outside your comfort zone when you're forced to.

Grace

I may have mentioned before that I'm a bit clumsy. (Thus the nickname Grace in high school.) I'm actually quite good at it though. I trip so often that I rarely ever fall. The last time I actually fell, I was back home, hiking here: Sadly, the picture makes my fall look much more dignified than it was. I didn't fall on one of the steep grades--though I tripped there as well--no, I fell on a flat gravel trail, right around here: After taking some pictures, I ran to catch up with my friends, and as usual I wasn't looking where I was going. I ripped my favorite jeans, but by sleight of hand, I did save our brand new camera, at the expense of my forearm.

So back to the present. Friday evening I'm in San Francisco celebrating with a friend. We're walking and chatting, and naturally I'm not watching where I'm going, which is dangerous enough given the state of the pavement there, but worse considering the 4" wedges I was wearing. I began crossing the street and in mid-sentence, before I can even finish saying Victori--BAM! I'm on the ground, in the middle of the street, in front of a car. *sigh* At least I saved my brand new jeans this time.

Happy Fourth!

An old friend is in town so we're heading up to San Fran to celebrate her birthday with dinner and the traditional 4th of July fireworks over the bay. Should be brilliant. Enjoy the holiday.

Giants and Packages

(Not to be confused with Giant Packages, you understand.)

AT&T Park is one of my favorite stadiums with its bayview setting.

Here's the lovely view from the ramp as we walked up, up, up to the tippy top. That's the bay bridge in the background.







The view from the nosebleed section was fantastic
...even if the Giants allowed five runs in the first five innings, followed by a grand slam. Good thing I merely root for the Giants, and I'm really a Red Sox girl. (Although they're quite good at breaking your heart too. I lived in Boston during the 2003 season when Boston lost to NY--who else--in game 7 of the American League Championship. *sob*)

Yesterday I was tired and moving slowly through my tasks, but I received this in the mail, which perked me up. There's a present for someone special (obscured from view), a new book by Husband's uncle, who is a martial arts expert and corrections officer at a prison in Oregon, and my cave-in purchase of Garden Spells. I had to buy it or I would've lost the free shipping offer. (I've been dying to buy this book for ages but resisted forever because my tbr pile is ridiculously huge, but I am weak.)

Hope everyone is enjoying Wimbledon. It's so much easier to watch now that we have Tivo!

Nicked meme about me

This meme has been bouncing around blogland, and while I haven't been tagged (sob!), I decided to do it anyway since I've enjoyed reading everyone's answers.

What were you doing 10 years ago?
I had just finished my junior year of high school and was preparing for my last year. Husband--then Boyfriend--and I broke up for the second time(!) as he prepared to leave for university.

Five things on your to-do list for today:
Write 100 words
Type more pages of chapter six
Read student submissions for writing course
Pick up friends at 5pm
Go to the Giants game (Yay!)

What are three of your bad habits?
Spending too much time online
Procrastination (same as above?)
Picking at my cuticles

What would you do if you were a billionaire?
I would write full-time, but I would be doing it in a room of my own in our gorgeous Victorian house, which would have a library with one of those wheelie ladders (obv). I'd be driving my mini, and Husband would have his garden. I'd also buy my mom's house for her and help the in-laws pay off their mortgages.
Oh, and I'd buy an apartment in central London and visit as much as possible. (Did you really think I'd forget that?)

What are some snacks you enjoy?
Tortilla chips and salsa
Chocolate chip cookies
Cheese

What were the last five books you read?
In Search of Adam by Caroline Smailes
Triumph of Hope by Ruth Elias
The Courage to Write by Ralph Keyes
Any Way You Want Me by Lucy Diamond
Petite Anglaise by Catherine Sanderson

What are five jobs you have had?
Assistant Editor
Editorial and Marketing Assistant
Office Assistant
Barista
Resident Assistant

Five places that you have lived?
Bend, OR
Corvallis, OR
London, UK
Boston, MA
San Jose/Campbell, CA


Right then, hope I didn't bore anyone to tears. I better finish that list because in one hour, we're off to see the Giants play the Cubs. Hurrah! I'll try to take some pictures because we're behind home plate--albeit very high above home plate--and we'll have a perfect view of the bay. I love Giants' Stadium.

Elevated

The temperature rose from a high of 70 degrees on Monday to a boiling 100 degrees today. I could barely sleep last night--and I'm a hot sleeper. I finally gave up and got up slightly early this morning because it was already 70 degrees at 7am. I spent the morning at the library doing more research, then edited a short story in the afternoon, which I'm hoping to send off soon.

Normally, I don't let the heat stop me from enjoying my evening tea, but with my system in shock, I caved in and dragged Husband for a walk to pick up cold drinks. The heat felt nice without the sun beating down, like a sultry July evening when the air is thick and soupy, but even now, at 11:45pm, it's 79 degrees.

I suppose I better get used to scorching steering wheels and my legs sticking to seats if this was caused by global warming. On the plus side, I won't have problems getting up earlier, though I may fall short on sleep.

In other news, California's Supreme Court overturned the ban on gay marriage. All in all it was a productive, smoking hot day in California.

On the streets of San Francisco yesterday

Bits of funniness overheard--

A man in Union Square preaching "love" and "christianity" to all the shoppers, though actually shouting at all the people waiting at the intersection to cross the street:

"Sex is for a man and a woman only. Women and men should only have sex within marriage. A woman who has sex outside of marriage is a whore. A man who has sex outside of marriage..."(the mumbling became indistinct at this point, though I was very curious if the man was a whore too.)

And then, I kid you not:

"Nobody wants sloppy seconds. You should be fresh."

I was trying not to look at him the whole time, not wanting to encourage the craziness, but I burst into uncontrollable giggles at this point.


Later, a crazy old woman walking behind us on the street talking very loudly to herself:

"I'm going to go find my wife, Abraham Lincoln, he's here somewhere."

I wish I could use all the amusing things I overhear for stories, but some things are too weird for fiction.
--
Incidentally, I was a very bad girl and spent more money shopping. *sigh* I've been trying to be so good not spending money on clothes, but whenever I'm good for a few months, it makes me want to splurge after awhile. I did mostly buy clothes for husband, who never buys his own clothes and would wear them threadbare if I weren't around, but I also bought myself a wicked cute blazer (on sale!), a blue hoodie (my writer's "suit"), and a plain long-sleeved tee. Nothing too extravagant. Bought husband some corduroys, khakis, two polos (his new job is very business casual since he's out on the floor most of the day), and a pair of very cute H&M jeans. Those were for me, in a way.

Six Years

I have a tendency to use this blog to whine about things, so with the sixth anniversary of 9/11 in mind, I thought I would make a list of six things that have made me happy and thankful lately:

1. Going out in San Francisco - Saturday we celebrated a good friend's birthday by feasting on yummy authentic Italian food and going to a concert. A Fine Frenzy opened for Brandi Carlile at the Filmore, and it was amazing to watch two talented women sing their hearts out in that legendary musical place.

2. The local farmer's market - I used to live down the street from the market and would walk down nearly every Sunday, but since we moved I haven't gone. It was really nice to go over there again and browse the local stalls of fruit and veg and breads and everything tasty. One of the best things about living in California is that the farmer's market is year-round because the weather is so mild and there's always something growing locally.

3. Hobee's - A small local chain of restaurants offering really healthy and organic options, while also earning the award for the best breakfast.

4. Reading Marie Phillip's (of Struggling Author fame) very entertaining 'Gods Behaving Badly' - I enjoyed it not only for the wonderfully amusing story, but also because having read her blog and seeing how much time and effort she put into becoming a published writer, it gives me hope that I too can be published with enough patience, diligence, and (hopefully) talent.

5. Friends - I indulged in the company of friends in the city Saturday, at the farmer's market Sunday, and last night two girlfriends came over and we had a tapas-style celebration with Italian, Indian, and Indonesian food and wine in order to discuss our reading of 'Eat, Pray, Love.' In addition, a dear friend spent time to carefully read my chapters and give helpful comments for improving, while also emphasizing what is good already.

6. Target - Sometimes I hate going to this gigantic superstore because of its overwhelming size, but they really do have great prices and stylish clothes for less. I went a little crazy and bought five shirts! I decided I was spoiling myself for doing so well on the diet the last two weeks, but I also don't have many nice shirts--I tend to be a tanktop and cute hoodie kind of girl since I work at home--and I needed to remedy that.

Naughtiest girl award

I had the not-so-distinct honor of bringing the naughtiest present to a bridal shower on Saturday. Normally I would be proud of this feat, but in this case my mildly naughty present happened to be the ONLY naughty present! I've never been to a bridal shower where the bride received mostly appliances/kitchenware and only two pieces of lingerie. I knew this shower would be milder than most because the bride had many conservative older church friends in attendance, but I assumed her younger girlfriends would get her sexy little presents. Apparently not. There was a "time" theme to the party...each person was given a particular time of day in the invitation ("lunch time," "dinner time," etc.) and their present was supposed to represent that time. I got snack time. How could I resist? My theme was "Snack time should be pleasurable." Pretty lingerie coupled with various edible oils, body creams, frosting, chocolate, etc. She opened my present first, so much laughing and shocked giggling ensued. Easy crowd. Or not. (*immature snicker*) The best part was when the bride tried to explain the frosting, which her fiancee requested I include, by saying, "Well, we both really love food, so he decided we should incorporate it when we're married, Ican'tbelieveIjustsaidthat." Classic.

I wanted to finish my current chapter by last Friday, but I didn't quite make it so I wrote for about four hours yesterday morning and nearly finished. I still have some rewriting to do. (I guess that means I should not be blogging now...) I'm trying to limit the editing at this point, but I can't stop myself. I have a hard time progressing with the writing if I'm not happy with the previous section; not to mention that I worked in editing the last few years, so my inner editor shouts a lot.

We had a very touristy dinner in the city (San Francisco - for some reason all bay area residents call SF "the city") last night with the husband's uncle who is in town for a conference. We walked from North Beach down to Ghiradelli Square, through Fisherman's Wharf--where I was startled by the man who jumps out from behind a bush, even though I've seen this stunt many times before--to Pier 39 where we had delicious clam chowder. It was a rare sunny day in SF, but the wind was bitterly cold and blowing so hard it made the walk back to North Beach quite difficult. I guess I can claim that I worked off the clam chowder since we walked uphill against the wind. Woo hoo.