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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!

Saturday began innocently enough. We woke up, put a batch of cinnamon rolls into the oven for breakfast, watched a bit of BBC’s Pride & Prejudice and set out for the East Bay to find M some skater shoes. While I found an excellent new jacket and an adorable ski cap with hearts on it, M ran into one dead end after another with the shoes. To add insult to injury, Buffalo Exchange sent her into a homo panic and some persnickety baby dyke with no manners and a lot of attitude looked me up and down obscenely (and repeatedly) enough to solicit M’s wrath. It wasn’t pretty, but no blows were exchanged. Having had it with Oakland, we returned to SF and freshened up for our date.

Contigo Kitchen + Cava, a cozy tapas restaurant in Noe Valley with a strangely appealing lime green and firewood motif, didn’t open until 5:30PM, so we popped into a few shops and grabbed a warm-up round of pleasant enough cocktails at Bliss bar. DINNER WAS AMAZING. We had the pork belly, lamb shoulder and patatas bravas, and M & I both tried hazelnuts for the first time. They were delicious, as well as the cheese plate and prosciutto (the sheep’s milk was my favorite). It began to rain and as we wrapped up dinner, a few friends invited us out for drinks at a lesbian party at a gay club in the Castro. Much debauchery ensued, and I almost immediately stripped off the cardigan, leggings and coat when we walked in, it was that hot.

Strangely, we seemed to know everyone there. It was like one big, unending jovial reunion of sorts, and boozy texts to have even more friends join us were successful, making everything that much more epic. We woke up in relatively little pain this morning, but were USELESS in our attempt to gather coffee and other supplies, and yet managed to procure M some skater shoes. FINALLY. They are Vox (and from an awesome skate shop called Cruz on Mission) and she is pleased, so I am pleased. As promised, after lunch (desert fries, yum) she took me to see Nine at the Castro Theater. Neither of us had ever been there before, so it was extra-dreamy and romantical. (I wish I could say the same for the movie!)

The storms kept us from a spontaneous trip to the snow, but hopefully y’all have had equally exciting holiday weekends. One more day to go! Whee!

Please to meet the wonderfully brilliant and gorgeous Kate. She came to stay with us for a few days and we had some excellent SF adventures together. The photos above are from a nice little walkabout we had through the Mission, in search of carnitas by the pound, chili/salt/lemon-drenched mango slices and Humphrey’s Secret Breakfast ice cream. It was overcast and cold, but we bundled up and dragged our hungover asses through the Mission and were met with much success (and an angry drunk, but that is neither here nor there). We stopped to take a few photos by some of the many, many amazing murals that can be found in our ‘hood.

Below, you’ll find Kate & I all sassed up and ready to go dancing. The tomboy snapped these before an epic night of Osha Thai (Kate ordered this massive fried rice dish served in half a pineapple! We all drank lychee cocktails!), a George Michael singalong at the Lexington and shaking what our mama gave us at Cockblock. It was all very wonderful and we had enough fun for the entire mafia. And then some.

CONFESSION A: So, last we heard, the tomboy was getting on a fancy yacht and leaving the femme behind…can you see her up there, walking away? So sad. Sad and alone. (Don’t listen for one second to that nonsense M commented about my slapping her…that was for something else and she knows it!)

CONFESSION B: As ever, all my silly pouting was for naught. Yesterday afternoon, I saw M off on her yacht  and she had a good time – the food was great, she said, and not only did they serve champagne but she had her fair share of rum & cokes, too. As they made their way toward the Golden Gate Bridge, I trekked my ass (in heels and fancy hair, of course) from Pier 3 to Pier 39 in like 10 minutes flat, marched into the first fancy restaurant I saw and very sweetly asked for a seat over the water on the second story outside. I figured it was worth a (long) shot. To my utter surprise, I was gestured in right away and seated just in time for the show to start. It was such a gorgeous, cloudless day to be on the water. I ordered a very delicious rose petal gimlet with a float of champagne to make a DIY French 75 and some tasty lunch and got my camera ready to take some pics.

Those angels wrought glorious havoc over the bay and SF skyline and Golden Gate, and I had so much fun watching it. Excepting M’s view, I couldn’t have had a better one myself. They really are something else to watch. They flew so close that one colleague of M’s almost dropped her drink in shock on the upper deck, as it tore past them. We texted each other back and forth like dorks, in total awe and, you know, because we missed each other. Like dorks.

And then it ended! Much too soon, but when I saw M’s yacht heading back toward Pier 3, I closed out my bill, stopped downstairs for some hot baby donuts and cotton candy for the petite, and met M back by the Ferry Building, where we chattered about fighter jets and our meals and cocktails and took a bunch of FFAF photos. It was a perfectly imperfect Friday!

Oh, and I took the trolley back, but only because I didn’t want the baby donuts to get cold! Clang-clang-clang!

I am so upset that I cannot get my nifty slideshow to work. I will keep at it and post as is for now. XO!

From Movies

Confession: I love it when M makes me whiskey-cokes at home, because she serves them in these wee, adorable glasses we bought at Ikea after seeing them at our friend’s lovely home for Sunday brunch a few weeks ago. They’ve got elephants and  birdies and penguins and flowers on them. They’re so fucking weird and perky. I love them! Anyway, M cuts about a third off the straws (we have, like, 500+ straws because I refuse to drink cold beverages without them, with the exception of other cocktails and bottled beer and water, shut up), that’s the best part. The wee straws to go with the wee glasses carrying the not-so-wee contents!

Look, I’ve found a photo of them for you. And you should totally buy some, too! They come in orange. (Bangmaster, I know you want that, to go with your TRADEMARK nails, as only you know.)

EXCITING BREAKING NEWS: This morning, M was all, “We’re going on a secret mystery date. SSH! Don’t ask me any questions. It’s very serious. Bring a purse that you can throw your Moleskine into. In fact, start with the purse, and THEN pick out your outfit.” So, I got ready with nary a clue where we were headed, and off we went. She drove me all around Oakland and I caught on and said, “You’re trying to disorient me on purpose!” – which, by the way, is impossible to do. She’s very sneaky. Well, the date – contrary to the suspicions of some – was NOT at a sex den, shooting range or some hidden San Francisco gem. She took me to Best Buy to test drive the new camera of my choice for my birthday! I was completely thrilled and overwhelmed, having outgrown my Sony Cybershot digital camera long ago. We must have been in there for a few hours, tinkinering with several models based on M’s preliminary research (sneaky!) and my own baseless lust, and finally narrowed the choices down to a couple of digital SLRs and high-end digital cameras. Shoving my chronic desire for instant gratification aside, I bravely took M’s hand and said that I wanted to do more research and model comparisons at home. M supported this, reminding me that they didn’t have the Panasonic Lumix model she’d researched before, and that I might want to test-drive some more in person before deciding.

Alas, I came home, did some research and promptly fell in love with the Panasonic Lumix G1 w/ Leica 14-44mm Lens Kit “anti-SLR” with interchangeable lenses. I LOVE IT SO MUCH ALREADY. Turns out there’s no place I could have test-driven it out here, because no one is carrying it yet (it just came out in November of last year). Still, based on countless reviews, I think it’s going to be fantastic and M is seriously the best, most amazing and dreamy husband ever. She’s excited that I’m so excited, and that, my friends, is true love!

Pls. to meet my shiny new toy:

When: Sunday, Jan. 18th, 2009.

Femme What: Jeans by Zara, plaid ruffled blouse from The Gap, belt by Ralph Lauren Polo, vintage Gucci scarf, boots by Lamica.

Femme Confession: Yet another spectacular January day out here in the golden state. We took advantage of it by taking a trip to the Laney fleamarket a few blocks away, where I scored a sterling silver unicorn pendant (holla) for $3, adorable mirrored curio cabinet that I intend for my future vanity for $4 and a brand new Goorin Bros. beret and scarf for $1 each! We came home and frolicked around in the courtyard, where these photos were taken. We have a bocce ball court!

Tomboy What: Diesel jeans, Chaps Ralph Lauren graph paper shirt, brown boots from Aldo.

Tomboy Confession: I am going to get super buff for the next 12 weeks (M-W-F). I even bought some whey protein stuff I plan to mix in to some of my booze, I AM SO READY FOR THIS!

OK! Now that that’s settled, one last photo with the ditzy puppy: