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Have you missed me? The tomboy and I snuck off to Guerneville for a romantic Mother’s Day minibreak in a riverside cabin. We’ve loved Dawn Ranch Lodge since it was Fife’s and little has changed with the ownership – the grounds are still lovely, the meadow is still lush, the spot where M & I skinny-dipped at 1AM back in 2005 is as it ever was. Even the bonfire ring has endured!

We made the best of the storms we weren’t expecting by cozying up under the covers with a variety of movies to play on the laptop and procuring super indulgent, artisan cheese plates to-go from our new favorite place to eat in town, Boon Eat + Drink, all enjoyed while the rain played on the cabin’s tiny roof overhead. We also traded in our beach plans for a Mother’s Day rose garden tour and champagne tasting at Korbel (they have an organic brut and a reserve blanc de noir that I liked, plus their guest house is HAUNTED which is so exciting), and picked up desserts to nibble on in bed at night. It was a much-needed distraction from the fact that the petite is far, far away on a school trip and we had to spend Mother’s Day without her. I hope y’all were good to your mamas!

These photos, however, are from before the little trip. The weather wasn’t quite warm, but not quite cold, otherwise known as quintessential San Francisco. The solution? Leggings. Little jacket. Layers. I am still obviously in love with these nude pumps and nothing screams, “Actual temps be damned, it’s SPRING for heaven’s sake” like a perky, bright yellow floral.

Skirt, French Atmosphere
Sporty Black Tank
Bib Necklace, Buffalo Exchange
Denim Jacket, True Beauty
Leggings, Dance Boutique
Shades, Le Tigre
Nude Pumps, Madden Girl

You’re DYING to know what I’m reading, right? I had a gift certificate from CHRISTMAS to burn through at Border’s (seriously, it said Feliz Navidad on it), so I picked up the first issue of The Gentlewoman (leaving only one on the shelves), since Geometric Sleep raved so fondly about it. It’s fabulous. I’m not even through with it yet. I also grabbed Elle and my Vogue and W had just arrived in the mail, so I’m up to my eyeballs in ladymags. I also succumbed to this lesbian novel written in the early 80s, set in Lake Tahoe and with much acclaim on its back cover. Lucky for me, I scarcely had any opportunity to read this weekend, so I’ll have more to say about Curious Wine soon, I’m sure!

Hello there, strangers. I’ve returned from paradise or, as it’s called, Isla Mujeres. Guess what else? I’m thirty years old today. How badly I’m wishing I was still on the birthday trip of a lifetime! It was incredible, y’all, we fell in love. My first time in Mexico and M’s first time to this part of Mexico did not disappoint – everyone was friendly and gracious, the island and seas surrounding it were tremendously pretty) and oh-so restorative for one’s mind and soul), our hotel was amazing – I could get used to being handed champagne in the lobby upon check-in, we discovered how peaceful and otherworldly snorkeling is (especially when it’s a private boat and tour of the coral reefs, without a soul bossing you into a life jacket or refusing to let you drink beer whilst hanging off starboard by one skinny, sunburned arm), we were tripping over adorable feral cats and pups and wild iguanas the entire time, I rode a scooter all over the island in a bikini with M holding onto me for dear life, we ate better than kings, even, and we were truly beside ourselves when we had to leave it all behind and come back home.

Last but not least? It’s, like, always happy hour there. I hope you enjoy the pics – I’ll try and slap together another FFAF post or two from the trip, but honestly, we lost ourselves there in the best way and I can’t promise anything but more of the below:

Our first morning! Fantastically warm, albeit a bit windy and overcast, but it cleared up by noon. Above, we’re hanging out on our balcony in between breakfast and the rest of the day’s journey via scooter to the southernmost tip of the island, where the national park, ruins, lighthouses, sculpture gardens and more await us.

Below is our arrival to the island and some, uh, evening shenanigans!

This will have to be so, so fast! I’ve been terribly occupied with my new occupation as a bona fide travel editor, and to top it all off the tomboy and I have at last booked our trip for a much-needed Spring Break! In just three short days we’re off to very tiny little island in Mexico, where we intend to drive scooters all around, frolic with baby turtles and sharks and monkeys, lounge on pristine white beaches and eat and drink local deliciousness until we burst. We’re so excited and I cannot wait. The weather here in San Francisco has been lovely lately – balmy Spring days until tonight’s rain came from out of nowhere – but it’s no match for the Caribbean sun and sea!

What are your Spring Break plans?! If you haven’t got any, where do you wish you were going?

Note: The above photos are from nearly two whole weeks ago, when we lunched in North Beach on a pretty Sunday afternoon. Pizza calzone!

Hello!

Happy Oscars!

Happy Spring Forward! (Almost forgot, didn’t you?)

How handsome does the tomboy look in her vintage bowtie and sweater vest?! GAH!

It’s been an exciting weekend. I had a fantastic dinner with my BFF on Friday night,  traipsed 3.2 miles with the tomboy through the Castro and Mission in yesterday’s gorgeous sunshine, went dancing to the ladies of the 80s at New Wave City and brunched at noon today with a dear friend in the lovely Noe Valley. And if you want to hear a dirty little secret, I’ll tell you one (well, two):

1. I let the tomboy pick out my dress. I can’t believe it’s supposed to be worn this way!
2. M & I redressed in last night’s outfits for a FFAF shoot because we didn’t have time to last night!
3. I was forced to wear tights because my bruises from self-defense fights last weekend are still quite prominent and nasty looking. In fact, just yesterday I dubbed the one just above my left knee “the eye of Sauron.” It’s very serious!

I had a lily in my hair last night, but the rest is basically the same. Anyway, we were hoping that you could help us. The tomboy needs a new pair of glasses, and she tried some on yesterday but just isn’t sure. She is also convinced that Tom Ford frames are going to be the answer to all her prayers (not that she prays). Take a look at the three different frames below and let us know which ones you like the best in the comments section!

Palettes! THESE ARE A LOT OF COLORS. But it works.

I’ve had this really fabulous Kenneth Cold necklace forever and as far as I can tell, it’s made a single, sad little appearance on this blog.

I still remember buying it!

M & I were at this amazing, super industrial outlet store near our old place – in its heyday, I’d leave with an armful of shoes, and its slow decline saddened me – and I saw it in the glass case. The brown leather is unbelievably supple and buttery, and the little pearls randomly strewn through out this textured silver, well, I died. Of course, I took it home, never once suspecting it’d end up around my waist one day.

I love it this way and probably ought to have more faith in its construction, but I was a little afraid all my rigorous running around and climbing up and down rickety old stepladders might break it. It turns out fate would take care of that for me, when I spilled a shitload of cooking oil all over the front of the dress whilst preparing for dinner with poor scientist. will blog for food, requiring a head-to-toe wardrobe change.

It happens to the best of us, right? Or maybe just me. Hm.

Hey, are you voting daily? You know, to help FFAF win a richly deserved 2009 Lezzy Award? WELL, GEEZ, GET VOTING ALREADY!

It is Friday! Pardon my weeklong absence, dear readers. I’ve missed you!

We are upon a three-day holiday weekend, which is wonderful because I’ve scarcely had time enough to recover from the last.

Last night M & I celebrated five years, to the day, of the exact night that we met, with French 75s and premature Valentine’s Day candies.

Yesterday morning I woke up (late, of course, bangs sticking straight up, shuffling sleepily from the bedroom to the french press and my – well, M’s – laptop) to a world without Lee Alexander McQueen, a true genius, a would-be visionary, a brilliant legend. Ever the late bloomer, I explained to a dear friend that it wasn’t until it dawned on me that I was a lesbian, at long last in my very early twenties, when I truly became interested in fashion. Not in any deliberate, studied way, at least not that I can remember. So it’s really just the last decade or so that I have lived with this heightened sense of it all, the awe and skepticism and obscurity and blatantness.

It is more than enough time to recognize that the man was really and truly something else. It’s not fair to lose that mind and all the incredible, staggering, in-your-face beauty it produced. Loving what he made often required you to bend and twist your mind in ways other designers haven’t and won’t, and I’ll miss it all dearly.

You were beautiful and terrible, McQueen.

Y’all love hard on Sunday, you hear?!?!

Because I said so.

PS. Silly me. The ring is also Laundry by Shelli Segal and the gloves are vintage.

Happy hump day, y’all! I am ever so slightly under the weather with a bit of a head cold, but otherwise life is just lovely. The sun came out again today and despite the fact that I can scarcely breathe, I decided it was midweek and FFAF needed some action. I’ve been living in this outfit, as it’s not too cold here lately, but it’s not warm by any means, either. This is a nice balance because it’s super comfortable, and a great excuse to rock some color, too. I’ll admit I’d hardly given Spring a second thought until yesterday and all the Groundhog Day activity! The internets, they do not let you forget. My head is far too stuffed to continue on in any meaningful way, so let’s make a list of shows I’m obsessed with at present:

1. LOST, because it’s bananas:

2. The Tudors really needs to hurry up and get back on the air already. Sex, violence, religion, politics, corsets. Need I say more?

3. The Pacific, which is a new miniseries coming to HBO this March, a sort of complement to Band Of Brothers, which I really, really loved and always watch whenever it’s on. I need to own it. Maybe they’ll create an amazing box set with both series after The Pacific premieres.

4. Big Love is the show I want to be addicted to, but I’m not quite there yet. It’s in the queue! M & I watched an episode or two awhile back and were pretty ambivalent about it, but have since been convinced by friends that we need to start from the beginning and give it some time. (This better not be like True Blood, y’all!)

5. Last but not least, Grey’s Anatomy. This one is all my BFF’s fault. I’ve mocked her incessantly for years about this show. I’ve spent countless Friday mornings rolling my eyes over coffee while she went on and on about Izzy this, McDreamy that and last season, we somehow got sucked in. Unbelievable. Now we have the video game. Yang, of course, is our favorite, and now I know exactly what the BFF means when she says, “You’re my person.”