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The title of this post comes from one of my favorite miniseries, Angels In America, which I hope I’ll be able to see onstage someday. The exchange goes like this:

This is the outfit I wore on our date night on Friday. I love it. The tomboy cheered when I came downstairs. I pointed to my belt and said, “Guess who’s coming out with us tonight?” (I can’t remember the last time Sheeba circled my waist.) It’s just fun, the whole outfit, and shamelessly pretty. What makes it, I think, is the blazer from Asos. It was a steal, around 39 GBP, and it’s the perfect companion to these shoes. It’s also linen, so it was a foolish choice for a March night still being throttled by winter, but it’s going to be my BFF this Spring/Summer, I can tell.

Last night I discovered that, as far as I can tell, I cannot get Fifi Chachnil in the states. This was grave news as I’ve been desperate to get my hands on some since my decant ran out late last year. On the bright side, I’ll be able to visit their shop in London when we’re there this June! In the meantime, I ordered another 5ML to get me through, as well as a Frederic Malle decant sampler. I’m so excited. It’s been awhile since I’ve reviewed scents here, or even since I’ve gotten new ones, so I’m hoping it’ll kickstart that old habit!

Speaking of scents, I accidentally mashed these flowers into my hair when taking these, and my hair smelled weird the rest of the day. Since you readers are so swell at telling me which flowers are which, can anybody tell me what these are? I picked up four bouquets and made three lush, cheerful arrangements out of them. My nail polish is Caitlin from Zoya’s Spring Collection, Intimate.

Spring, won’t you hurry? Quit letting this dreadful, lingering winter bully you!

What Spring trends are you looking forward to most, and has Spring hit where you live yet?

Details on the outfit:
Dress, Target
Blazer, Asos
Pumps, Novela
Tights, Banana Republic
Bag, Freebird by The Sak
Belt, Vintage

Jewelry:
Bracelet: Lori’s Shoes
Necklace: Banana Republic
Rings: H&M

The day I wore this dress it poured non-stop. I left the house and the sun was sparkling across the damp lawn, but by the time I got to work it was just buckets of water falling out of the damn sky. Bullocks, I thought to myself, sheepishly stepping around puddles on the walkway up to my office, I should have worn thick tights and more substantial shoes. I took slight consolation in the fact that I at least had my Richard Chai for Target trench to wear over it.

I think it’s rained here for two weeks straight, or it feels like it anyhow. My part-time horseback park ranger, part-time accountant work colleague and officemate says we’ve got 30+ inches of rain this season, which is astonishing considering even the rainiest past seasons garner 20-22 inches, tops. We’re all bloody sick of it.

Yesterday, a friend of mine posted this gem on Facebook, which sums things up perfectly: Dear Sky – You’re ugly. We get it. WE GET IT ALREADY.

The thing is, I got this dress for sunny Spring days. I loved the bold cobalt blue, the simple origami pleating on the neckline, the ladylike, knee-skimming length of it. I imagined wearing it with bright red shoes and a huge white flower pinned in my hair on the 4th of July, or with some sandy flats or sandals and a nude bag for a stroll with the tomboy, maybe a lingering brunch date with a carafe of mimosas or sangria outdoors. You don’t get a dress like this and then ruin it by covering up your gams, kittens!

Plus, my pretty pedi was sick of hiding under socks and tights.

I made the best of it. Part of me feels like it turned out just fine, part of me feels like the styling wanted the skirt to be more pencil than A-line; at least with a pencil silhouette, the lace and updo might make more sense. Anyway, you can’t hit solid gold every single day, I suppose. We’ll have to see if the dress holds up better in true Spring weather!

We’re staying local this weekend, once again. It feels like we’ve been flitting off to Tahoe every other weekend, and next weekend we’re off to San Diego. I’m taking M on a top secret hot date – she has no idea where we’re going! On Saturday, if we’re magically bestowed with sunshine, we’re considering a little tea dance and I’m really hoping that Dakota and I will have a lesson on Sunday. We also must file our taxes – the deadline is fast upon us, and we always get cranky on account of the completely unfair discrimination we face with our checkbooks, watching thousands of dollars swirl the drain.

Details:
Dress, thrifted
Lace jacket, H&M
Espadrilles, Dolce Vita
Belt, vintage

Bling:
Wooden bangle, Pier One
Hoops, Lauren G. Adams
Necklace, Banana Repubic

By the way, I’ve got a big favor to ask you, dear readers. If you have $5 or $10 or $20 to spare in these hard times, can I persuade you to consider making a donation, whatever the amount, to the San Francisco Dyke March? After 18 years the Dyke March Committee is having serious financial difficulty that may result in canceling all or part of this year’s march. It’s our Christmas. It’s tradition. It’s one day out of the year when we can come together during Pride Weekend and celebrate who we are and who we love, and it’s kind of really up to us right now to keep it going strong.

I’ve mentioned this before, but there’s a big push to try and get a certain amount raised by April 1st. A little more information from the committee:

WHY?
The economic downturn has hit us hard. In the past The SF Dyke March has been made possible through generous grants from fabulous organizations, donations and fee waivers from the city and minimal private fund raising. Those grants have been cut, our insurance is no longer covered and due to city deficits many of the fees that have been waived can no longer be covered by the city. You know this can’t happen without port-o-potties!

THE PLAN:
We need to raise $30,000. At least half needs to come in the next month to make the Dyke March happen. Our mission is to get 2,000 people to donate at least $10 each in the next 30 days. Please donate as much as you can to help close the remaining gap!

HOW YOU CAN HELP:
DONATE $10 (or more!)
SHARE email everyone you know & invite folks to the Facebook event
ASK your friends if they’ve donated their $10

YOU CAN HELP MAKE THE DYKE MARCH HAPPEN!

DONATE NOW: http://thedykemarch.org/donate
For more information: http://thedykemarch.org/
Find the SF Dyke March on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=133455806727885

I cannot even begin to express how pleased I was to discover that this gorgeous green corner of our garden was a trellised canopy of pink jasmine. Aside from lilac and lavender, it’s so one of my very favorites. It reminds me of Oakland, of being young and dumb and throwing myself into myself with a force I now find mildly alarming, in retrospect. If my 20s had a little animated book you flipped through to see a tiny film full of gorgeous, wretched chaos careening into the arms of unyielding perfection, the smell of pink jasmine would writhe up headily from the pages.

I’ve been known to tear a small bunch of jasmine away and toss it onto the dash of my car. The more the sun breaks it down and disseminates it through the stale of my car, the better. It beats the hell out of some scented whatever-the-heck you can buy at a gas station! In somewhat related news, all of the houseplants that were scarcely hanging on at our old SF flat are now thriving, and some are barely recognizable they’ve flourished so much.

Today was a 50-50, half grey and half silvery sunshine. Last night I shocked the entire lesbian nation of SF by appearing at a social event on a weeknight sans tomboy (13 Licks at Q Bar in the Castro, to be exact), so despite the fact that I was back in bed before 1AM, I wanted to take it easy this morning.

Jeans, a striped cotton pullover and heels seemed low-key enough, especially when pulled together with oversize, lacy pearls and a blazer. The top knot was a no-brainer, et voilà!

I’d never been to this particular bar on this particular night (though I’ve been there plenty when it was called other things and hosted other nights – lesbian nightlife is very complex, yo, especially in the context of cross-longevity and whatnot), so I chose an outfit (not pictured) which I considered to be “playing it safe.” Leather panel skirt, lacy black bra, MAJORLY lacy + sequin vintage blouse. It was raining, so I paired it with sheerish black tights and my new Aldo boots, and plunked a big floral chiffon bow over my ponytail.

I was repeatedly told that I was fancy, and my companion for the night insisted on buying me a drink on account of my necklace that says femme. (Totally unintentional side effect, that bit.) I got to meet some FB friends IRL for the first time, which is always fun and delightfully awkward and kind of nerdy, right? But so good, and definitely cute. Plus, they played Adele.

Anyway, I will wear it again sometime and post it here for you, sweet readers. Yes.

THESE VINTAGE FAUX-BAMBOO SUNGLASSES.

Aren’t they nifty? God, I’m glad we stopped in Auburn on our way up to Tahoe last weekend. I scored not only these shades, but a lambswool capelet and the above-mentioned ivory sequin + lace blouse. Someone started sending us Latina Magazine, so I was reading it on the drive and saw these amazing hoop earrings by Lauren G. Adams. I usually stay away from hoops, especially HUGE ones, but I fell so deeply and immediately in love with these that I scanned them with my smart phone RIGHT FROM THE PAGES OF THE MAGAZINE and bought them whilst sailing 80mph up HWY 5, y’all.

F I E R C E.

Jeans: James Preserved Denim
Striped Shirt: Kersh Essentials
Blazer: Banana Republic
Blue Patent Pumps: BCBG
Pearls: Spoiled! (Oakland)
Sunglasses: Vintage (Sisters, Auburn)
Bag: Co-Lab by Christopher Kon
Foxtail: Dollywood

PS. ZOMG, my Zoya “Intimate” Spring Collection arrived today! Of course, I put Gemma on right away – it’s described as a “light muted olive green with an overlay of blue and violet duochrome shimmer.” It’s extra-festive for St. Patty’s Day!

PPS. Special announcement: Fit For A Femme is super excited to be part of this rad photo show with Lesbians in SF, debuting at the one and only Lexington Club for SF Pride 2011! Here’s the flyer for a sneak peek and to learn more about the show. (Don’t forget to “Like” LISF on Facebook and check out their excellent Tumblr, and if you’re local or will be in town for Pride, mark your calendars for the show dates!) It’s going to be outstanding.

I wish you guys could make out the meringue yellow stripes on this cozy t-shirt. They pop wonderfully, just not in this particular set of photos.

I was very proud of the fact that I managed a perfect French twist in the morning, out of the blue, but then failed at maintaining it intermittently throughout the day. Until it was dinnertime, at which point I furiously mashed about half a teaspoon of Jonathan Dirt Texturizing Paste into my palms, hand-teased my hair, and pinned it up haphazardly.

Here’s the AM version, as well as a photo of my super gross tape measure work accident:

As you can see, my office walls are painted all kinds of cerulean blue. This is awesome, except for the fact that they are naked. I ended up ordering an assortment of bright, bold wall decals designed to look like ornate, sort of vintage photo frames of all sizes.

Aren’t they neat?

After I determine how they’ll be grouped on the main wall, I am thinking of having our design department print out some choice words (like my title Maven, for instance) to put inside of the frames, in the mood of the whole Keep Calm & Carry On thing. They’ll be removable of course, which is great as I am fickle and like to change things around often. Where the hell was I going with this? Ah, yes. The hand.

Well, I was measuring the width and height of the wall with a new tape measure and at some point during which it was stretched out by 12′, it slipped and sliced my knuckle open. Bullocks. It bled copiously. My very sweet colleague had to go and fetch a First Aid kit, as we had zilch with which to treat my wound. I consulted a doctor friend and said, “It’s deep, like I can see meaty white stuff, but it’s mostly stopped bleeding,” and she said, “Oh, the white stuff is your fat, when was your last tetanus shot?” Super.

Do I look like a girl with lockjaw? Nah. It was my left hand, too, y’all! (Did we know that I’m a lefty? Well, now we do.) A LESBIAN WITH ONE HAND OUT OF COMMISSION MAKES TWO REAL SAD LESBIANS. Other than it, I’m fine now.

This post was named after this excellent little Trina Turk ruffled ponte jacket, which I’m wearing again today over a flowy silk dress and riding boots. I wanted to find a jacket that was very special and could spice up pretty much anything in my closet. I tried on a shimmery Valentino Red jacket I was in love with, but the 4 cut off the circulation in my arms and I was swimming in the 8 – of course there were no 6s to be found and I almost cried in the store.

Shoes: Vintage YSL
Wide-legged velvet trousers: Erin Fetherston for Target
Striped t-shirt: Michael Stars
Jacket: Trina Turk
Bag: Co-Lab by Christoper Kon
Sunglasses: Ray-Ban
Bangle: Pier One
Spiked freshwater pearl earrings: Banana Republic

Welcome to my own personal lifelong dream come true. This is the backdrop for where I’ve begun (at last!) formal horseback riding lessons. Still sniffling and somewhat under the weather from my persistent cold, having canceled on brunches and parties and even my mom’s birthday this past weekend, I kept one commitment: I showed up to ride a pony in Woodside on Sunday morning. I didn’t have the contact information for the instructor (it was on my work email, which I thankfully have not yet had to access on the weekend), and they were expecting me. Being a no-show for my very first lesson wasn’t even a consideration.

Luckily, the sun was out and the sky was clear. It was almost warm that day, even. Isn’t it just stunning?

Not far from the meadow I’m pictured in, there are several stables (as above), many paddocks, a spattering of roofed and roofless pens of various sizes, and at least one arena for jumping or fencing. That’s where I train! The facilities are nestled in a heavily wooded park just between our home and the Pacific Coast, with redwoods and oaks and creeks and meadows and madrones, much of which is only accessible by foot or horseback.

As I drove through the tiny, old-fashioned downtown of Woodside, my breath caught at how completely beautiful and lush everything looked. Things suddenly felt surreal. You know how taking off on a flight for some yet unexplored destination doesn’t feel quite real, like you won’t actually believe it’s happening until you touch down in a world entirely different from any you’ve known? It felt just like that, but instead like landing. A smooth, graceful, dreamy landing.

The tires of my car bit into the gravel of the small parking lot canopied by all the trees (one of my absolute favorite sounds, next only to walking in it), and I parked and stepped out of my car. I seemed to be the only person around and hoped I hadn’t botched the time in an OTC-drugged haze, and then I stopped dead still.

I saw them. At least a dozen horses, some with their little cold weather coats on, some ignoring me, some craning their necks curiously, all of them gorgeous and possessed with distinctly unique personalities. I had to force myself not to cry in awe and gratitude. After a few moments I looked up the hill and saw a few stablemen in the distance, fussing over a gorgeous black horse with white markings, so I headed there. They sent me back down the hill, past the parking lot to the arena, where a boy no older than ten or eleven was practicing jumps with his pony and a trainer. She sent me back uphill to the stables, and as I reached the top, a little winded, I saw him.

Dakota! His reigns were held loosely in my trainer’s hand, who smiled at me and told me I was early. I had no idea. I thought I was late! Without much ado at all, the trainer gave me the reigns, told me to walk Dakota to the mounting block and get acquainted, as he had to fetch waiver papers he’d forgotten back in the office for me to sign.

Just like that, I was a girl all alone holding the reigns of a big, dark chocolate brown horse with a jet black mane and big, open brown eyes. Just like that.

We walked. I led, Dakota followed politely. I cooed and passed my hand along his cheek and nose, peering into those bright, shining eyes. He appraised me then leaned in reassuringly. We’d reached the mounting block. The trainer came back and I completed the form, snapped my helmet on (the bangs will have to be grown out immediately as they do not at all agree with helmets), went through the motions of cinching the saddle before hoisting myself up to begin the lesson. From there it was easy, the ghosts of lessons I’d taken years ago shaking off dust and taking form again. We kept the lesson simple, basic. Dakota and I have to get used to one another before moving on to more advanced areas, but that will all happen in due time.

I feel tremendously lucky and like I’ve got a missing piece of my heart back again.

This blog is obviously about to get heavily equestrian in the next few months, so I hope you’ll bear with me. When ski season ends, I’ll be taking weekly lessons at least. This outfit (getting back to the essentials) isn’t much: a pair of Banana Republic extra-skinny jeans, a Ralph Lauren Polo wool turtleneck with suede patches, the black jacket by Gap and Lamica boots.

Blue Monday because these were taken on Valentine’s Day!

It’s now Thursday night. I am antsy, very antsy. Tomorrow we’re heading back out to Lake Tahoe for more snowy bliss on a long holiday weekend. Since there have been lots of storms in the past week, there will be plenty of fresh powder and it will probably be much cooler than last time. I’m pretty sure we won’t be skiing around in light sweaters – I’m actually worried I won’t be warm enough this time! I’m going to take a break from FFAF and just enjoy my girls and the beautiful surroundings. I hope y’all have wonderful plans to make the best of the holiday, too!

I’ve made no formal announcement about the fact that I’ve moved on to greener pastures, work-wise. This has been my first week and it’s been wonderful. It’s an ideal role – challenging, but there’s a pleasing balance of working freely and as part of a sharp, funny, creative team – and as resident Maven (that’s what my business cards say, I love it), I’m focused on wrangling data and paving new organizational paths at a small design company in the tech world!

Needless to say, I’m thrilled and things are off to a dreamy start. It’s an incredible place to be and I’m so deeply happy.

Now that all the new news is out of the way, what’s this I’ve got on here? It was a dreary Monday, so I abandoned all wispy notions of wearing something frothy and pink, and opted for this comfy cotton day dress in navy blue. I brought a coat but left it in the car, since I knew the museum would be warm indoors and carrying it around all the hours we whiled away in there would be cumbersome. I was perfectly comfortable the whole time. PHEW.

Dress: Banana Republic
Belt: Vintage
Boots: Nine West
Snaky Earrings: Gift from M!
Bag, Foxtail: Freebird by The Sak, Dollywood
Nail Polish: Jo by Zoya

Happy President’s Day weekend, kittens!

The bright and vivid hues you see here, my doves, are no more. Can you believe that blue sky or those magical yellow and purple flowered hillsides, all that full green grass? I long to be back in the balmy arms of this day! It was only Sunday last, on the drive out to my best friend’s house on a lovely late afternoon. After a little visit, we headed to a nearby path to take the rest of these photos. The light was incredible. We hope you enjoy them!

Lo! as the wind is, so is mortal life
A moan, a sigh, a sob, a storm, a strife.

-Sir Edwin Arnold, “The Deva’s Song”

Alas, we are having some major weather out here now. Hence this beautifully dreary quote. I suppose that’s what we get for boasting. How was everybody’s Valentine’s Day? Sweet, I hope, and full of love and light or perfectly executed snark on the Hallmark holiday du jour.

We had the day off and spent it at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. It was wonderful! We had a swanky lunch in the museum’s more elegant dining option, the Moss Room, complemented with classic cocktails. M had the Aviation and I tried a prosecco number with elder and Hangar One vodka. My lunch was divine: local, organic pork sugo with house made pappardelle, spinach, and grana padano. M went with lighter fare, the chilled soba noodles with sesame, cucumber, and a ginger chili vinaigrette. I am absolutely in love with the museum, and can’t wait to go back. We went from the humid, tropical 4-story rainforest to a faux-igloo, where we watched a short movie about the Aurora borealis, and then got faux-snowed on!

It started to drizzle just as we were leaving, so we started a fire back at home, all snuggled in and spent with a bottle of champagne, cooked an early dinner and exchanged treats. I’m sure you’ll see it here soon enough, but M gave me a gorgeous watch for Valentine’s Day! I adore it – it’s all sleek stainless steel and Swarovski around a stormy mother-of-pearl dial, and it complements my engagement ring perfectly (fun FFAF fact: I’m very much left-handed). I’m one lucky lady.

M was a VERY bossy photographer the day of this impromptu shoot! She rushed me down the path so that the train was in some of the shots (after the freight train passed, two Amtraks went by, but they’re not nearly as romantic). She made me stomp through all the tall, tall grass to a little pond. She demanded that I climb back up the hill and stated that I absolutely must roll down it, like in the Jack & Jill nursery rhyme. After that, she spied the little foot-long section of a tree trunk just in the water there, and she stood watching like a hawk until I was balanced atop it on one shaky foot.

By the time we finished, there were dozens of burrs trapped in my tights, the hem of my skirt, and on my long sweater vest! I made her pick them all out on the side of the road while I hopped from one foot to the other, scolding her. It was really, really hilarious.

I’m wearing:

Gap skirt
Converse One-Star shirt
Calvin Klein sweater vest
Nine West boots
Vintage purse
Le Tigre shades

with:

Tiered necklace from Banana Republic
Lipstick bullet by Culp Baubles
Earrings from Isla Mujeres, Mexico