Hi! I don’t know about you guys, but the first thing I think about when I see beautiful sand dunes oceanside and I’m not wearing any pants is FOOTBALL. Kidding. I’m wearing shorts. They’re just so short you can’t see them here. Also, it’s obvious I don’t know the first thing about how to throw a football, even after watching the entire show Friday Night Lights in less than two weeks this summer.

Maybe next year when we move to Boston and it’s time for Fancy Pants’ football practice I can, you know, observe. They won’t mind. Right, Fancy? POWER GRAB!

But seriously, welcome to Dillon Beach. Isn’t it pretty? The tomboy found this sweet little coastal town when she read that the Russian River had gross toxic algae levels and she was forced to look at other places nearby. Thank heavens, because Dillon Beach is perfect. With one general store (adorable little restaurant attached), beach house rentals galore, and a super dog-friendly population of only 283, it was a dream!

My amazing, gauzy white shirt is from the Sports Basement. SPORTS BASEMENT. Some things you should know about Sports Basement:

1. All the lesbians are always at this store. Hot.
2. They’re only in the Bay Area, but you can buy from them online.
3. It’s totally not your regular sport-o store; they’re very community and very “Bay Area”*.
   *Please see Julie Goldman’s little deal on the Bay Area. 3:15. Here. You’re welcome!

Anyway, I bought a shirt from the sport-o place. I even wore it to Mango once, tucked into a leather panel miniskirt and hot little studded ankle boots. It’s not the kind of thing I own, but it’s Hurley (apparently that’s a thing, like a ski thing?) and gauzy, and to be frank I don’t see a damn sporty thing about it. Not that there’s anything wrong with sporty femmes. Rock it, sporty femmes! Own it. Work it. Werq. You do you, etc. I’m just not one of you.

(Skiing, tennis and horseback riding don’t count. Oh, and that one time I went surfing. Um.)

That Bird! He and I frolicked in the Pacific Ocean for hours and hours. He’s inexhaustible, and will leap fearlessly into the waves to fetch a stick or a ball. A real dog’s dog, he is, when he’s not terrified. I guess that’s why we love it so when he jumps into the water – for once, he’s so brave! Plus, he looks super funny all soaking wet. Like a skinny rat mop.

Wondering where the dingo is? Muzzled like a champ, tethered to a responsible human being somewhere nearby, and trembling with the urge to destroy all the other off-leash dogs and small children running by, kicking sand in his face. Bless it.

The striped suit is vintage, I picked it up off a sale rack in Cocoa Beach, FL earlier this summer. The shorts are Free People. The shiny perfect red nail polish on both fingers and toes is Jeffrey Campbell’s “No You Din’t”. I’m also wearing my Three Sisters “femme” necklace and awesome rhodium “bamboo” hoop earrings by Lauren Adams. M saw these lobster print beach mats and had to have them – the built-in pillows are such a bonus.

God, September just flew by, don’t you think? I hope October cools down, and stays awhile.

We’re back with more travel posts, but still in London. Standing on the Millennium Bridge, happy as clams, with the charming and wonderful Cari Campbell behind the camera. We were so lucky to have a generous friend to show us all around and keep us company during our trip! It really is the best possible way to visit a new destination.

All sorts of post-London Pride shenanigans. We parted ways with the parade and hopped on the tube to the London Bridge station, where we planned to meet Cari at the nearby Borough Market. We hadn’t yet been bewitched by the streets of Edinburgh’s Old Town, so walking around little curved cobblestone beauties like Stoney was quite a treat! After stopping at a fancy chocolatier and to sample the most delicious Manchego outside of Spain, we meandered along the Queen’s Walk past Southwark Cathedral, The Golden Hinde and the Tate, toward our high-rise dinner on the Thames.

We ran into these lovely little white birch trees – just like in the Maximilian Hecker song, Birch! Speaking of swans, London has a great deal of them. SO MANY SWANS. (Cue the tomboy trilling “Swans are cunts!” I’m surprised there isn’t a t-shirt by now.) At top left is the Tate Modern, of course, and then on the lower right you’ve got the bridge guiding the eye toward St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Schrödinger’s Cat Lives? – the beach at Gabriel Wharf.

Have I discussed my outfit? The only full-length shot is way down at the end of this post, but it’s a kicky little Free People dress that I love, with its little Missoni-esque chevron pattern. I wore it with an antique necklace from India, a whole mess of bracelets, my Ray-Ban aviators and comfy, sky-high Seychelles wooden platforms. M paired some nice denim with her trusty grey Aldo lace-ups, an Izod shirt and her Anchors Away! bow tie from Me & Matilda. Her belt is from H&M and I got her this smart leather messenger bag from Target a few years ago.

After that wonderfully scenic walk in the sunshine and warm weather, we headed up to the 8th floor of OXO Tower. We were early and fortunate enough to be shown to a table in the lovely, airy bar while we waited for our dinner table to open up. After a sensational (no, truly, SENSATIONAL) round of cocktails and appetizers, we were led outside to the terraces where our corner table was set up overlooking the river.

It was gorgeous! The sun’s beams fell like glory through the sparse and silvery clouds, we ordered a bottle of Harvey Nic’s champagne, because how on earth could we not? and watched the people below on the tiny beach. The food was divine, the conversation lively – speaking fondly of San Francisco and excitedly about London – and the only thing that would have been more perfect is if Cari’s love had been there with us, too. (She was in New York for a wedding!) That concoction on the lower right is a clever twist on the classic English trifle – strawberry shortcake, Pimm’s gelatin with cucumber and mint, and vanilla ice cream.

We left OXO with the most pleasant buzz, the sun drifting down like molasses (have we talked about the fact that the last light of day doesn’t truly vanish until 10pm or 11pm at night – or how we miss it so?!), and walked over the Millennium Bridge into the mostly deserted area of Holburn, where we caught a taxi to get to a lesbian party I still don’t know the name of.

I can’t even recollect the neighborhood we were in or the street the club was on, but there was a big red glittery heart with CARWASH written on it in a 1950s script hanging outside, so there you go. There we met up with some of Cari’s friends, ran into the ones we’d made the night before at Candy Bar in SOHO, and spent the night hopping between the two dance floors, one with pop music and one with house music. I taught the bartenders how to make me a Tom Collins, bless their precious hearts.

Look at these two! So handsome, those smiles full of trouble. The sun was already starting to light up the sky again when we finally stumbled home to our hotel in Kensington. It was a really, tremendously brilliant day.

More to come, I promise! Next up shall be Sunday UpMarket, our turn on the London Eye and Buckingham Palace!

XOXO,

FFAF

PS. Nicolette, my darling, I’m not doing this to hurt you, I swear! ?

FFAF is still on vacation, but wanted to make sure y’all had something to tide you over.

Welcome to my femme corner! In the femme corner, fancy lingerie hangs from fancy Anthropologie fixtures that emulate the gilded whispers of antlers hung on a wall. A glass contains exclusively Besame liners, eye and lip, and a Sharpie for notes. Antique silver trays keep all manner of hair ornaments in check, as well as a neat stack of eyeshadow quads. (M has no idea what an eyeshadow quad is, by the way.) A beautiful old letterpress tray has been lovingly repurposed to house dozens of pairs of earrings.

A butch-smelling candle (tobacco, bergamot) sits beside a pair of bold blue geometric earrings and a giant poof that distributes very finely milled sparkle to anything it touches. The femme corner is home, and the reach of it stretches out warmly in soft, purring concentric waves, the way femme is wont to do.

Remember all that fuss about a dresser? Here it is, only half-finished. The bird-shaped drawer pulls were back-ordered and just arrived yesterday, before these were taken. One’s little tail had broken off in transit so it’s got to wait even longer to be complete, but it’s come along.

I found these enormous hanging canvas cubbies at a home boutique in Oakland awhile back. The moment I laid eyes on it in the store, I knew they’d be perfect for storing my smaller purses and bags. I was right! I centered two of them above the dresser, so that the attached hooks lining the bottom of each cubby could be used for hanging necklaces in organized, eye-pleasing way. I love how it worked out, and I’ve so far managed to keep clutter off the top of the dresser by adding a small lamp, and places for my awesome BIRD ON IT accessory-holders.

The birdcage on the left holds bracelets, the tree branch in the center holds daintier necklaces and rings, and the birdbath on the right holds all my small vials and decants of perfumes. Sunglasses and the larger perfume bottles get placed on these adorable “Free To Be” embroidered cloths I found for mere dollars apiece, to protect the dresser’s surface.

Now getting dressed at home is just as lovely as an afternoon shopping in a boutique! This was a casual, sunny weekend outfit for running errands and whatnot.

Shorts, Tunic: Free People
Denim Shirt: Vintage
Pumps: Novela
Bikini: Anthropologie

Meet my fabulous new chair. From its slender little brown legs to the perfect shade of dusty rose velvet and the officious nailhead detail on the arms, it was love at first sight. I put it in the study, so that I can curl up in it with the pups at my feet, a fire lit in the fireplace against the wall opposite, with a good book. On a rainy day? With a cup of Earl Grey? It’s heaven on earth. I tossed one of my new Liberty of London throw pillows into it to make it a bit more playful and modern.

(OMG, I sound like an HGTV promo. Heaven help me.)

Believe it or not, these were taken just two weeks ago, and our space has made a ton of progress since. We’re having a small group of folks over for UFC 124 on Saturday night (apropos of nothing at all we’re serving up a snack parade tour of Asia, which is THRILLING, let me tell you) and there’s still so much to do! Before M got home from work last night, I was in the walk-in closet, hanging up all my freshly spray-painted rows of hooks for my bags and purses. I think in the next week or so, there will be lots more photos of the new place, because we’ll have tied up the loose ends on a bunch of projects. Tonight was all hammer and nails and framed photo clusters in the stairwell.

LIKE YOU ARE EVEN HERE FOR THE HOME IMPROVEMENT, THOUGH.

I know why you’re here. You want to know where I got my fancy feathers. Well, I’ll tell you. H&M, $3 and some change. BOOYAH. They have so much nudie girl stuff right now, it’s not even funny. I bought nearly half a dozen different hair accessories in the same shade of color.

For something a bit more festive, tear a small bunch of glittery leaves from a faux branch of holly and secure with a few bobby pins!

Shoes: Novela (by way of ebay)
Corduroy Skirt: Old Navy
Blazer: Free People
Pony Pin: Little Otsu

ANNOUNCEMENTS! Are y’all wondering what to put under the tree for that special someone? Look no further.

HO, HO, HHMMMMM. What?!

Autostraddle’s Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide 2010: What Your Girlfriend Or Otherwise-Inclined Pal Wants?!?!

True story. Go check it out, because it’s an excellent resource guide to getting the lesbo in your life an awesome present for the holidays (or any occasion, really – date night, anyone?). Plus, I wrote up a little section on some nifty gift ideas. Ooh.

This has shaped up to be quite the outstanding weekend for one that was meant to be low-key (and productive, but that’s another story). Last night, I was delighted to accompany a new friend to an all-femme clothing swap – my first clothing swap, ever! I brought two full-to-bursting shopping bags full of clothes and accessories, plus one rolling weekender bag.

If you could have seen the hostess’s flat, y’all would have DIED. It was beautifully decorated – a juke box in the living room, vintage everything in the perfectly appointed dining room (with floral tiered serving trays lined with irresistible petits fours) – words can hardly describe it. Beyond that, the flat was occupied by a dozen or so friendly femmes, sweet as pie and so welcoming to a newcomer.

The swap was a success, I think. Nearly everyone found a few new items to bring to their wardrobes, and some made out like bandits. Someone even brought a ton of brand new high-end hair and beauty products! This dreamily soft, patterned skirt (meant to be a dress, but I wore it like a paperbag-waist skirt) and vintage blouse are both from the swap.

I had to make this next photo l a r g e because of the shadow behind me. Both the tomboy and petite loved it. It’s kind of neat!

This morning the tomboy did something only necessary once or twice a year: She got up early to work on a Saturday. As if on cue, five minutes after the door closed behind her, the dog upstairs began its incessant barking and the upstairs neighbors above it began their incessant shouting in Spanish. I burrowed into the covers even deeper, trying to daydream myself back to sleep with thoughts of our dreamy new place – have I mentioned we’re moving in two weeks? – to no avail.

No matter. I got up, brewed some coffee, toasted some bagels and watched Teen Witch with the petite. I packed a handful of boxes, showered and whipped my resolve into braving the rain to check out the little festival that could, Bring Yr Own Queer, nestled between the de Young museum and Academy of the Sciences in Golden Gate Park.

When I arrived, a band was already playing in Spreckels Temple of Music!

(That’s this thing, aka the “Bandshell”…)

Y’all? It was amazing. Not only was every single band really, really talented and awesome, the whole thing was a testament to homos making it W O R K, yo. The rain was unrelenting. It fluctuated from a moderate drizzle to a steady, heavy rain. Merch tables surrendered their white tent so that it could be moved to front stage center, and folks sans umbrellas huddled under it to stay dry.

Lord only knows how nobody managed to get electrocuted, but the sound was mostly unaffected by the elements. There were snacks and crafts and queers of all stripes, including guest of honor John Cameron Mitchell, and it was wonderful to watch curious passersby stop and join in – some of them families – despite the rain. Everyone was damp or soaking wet and giddy and utterly without a care as they took over the shell to dance once Hard French took over the stage to play 60s and 70s soul music.

It was brilliant. Singing and dancing in the rain. It ought to happen every weekend!

As they say, Only in San Francisco…

(Photo by Jenna Riot)

Dress: Free People
Blouse: Vintage
Belt: Vintage
Boots: Dolce Vita for Target
Stacked Rings: M’s 2nd wedding anniversary gift to me!

…and in case you hadn’t heard:

(Or An Ode to the Mission District)

When I woke up this morning, it was muggy. Muggy and wet. Our plans to take the dogs and petite out to Fort Funston were instantly sacked and we were all starved, so I threw on a flowery dress and layered a blazer ablaze in florals over it. The poppy red crossbody mini was the cheeky kiss of death. I was too rushed, else I would have remembered to put my lipstick bullet necklace on! KA-CHOW!

We settled for brunch nearby at the rather new B³ (bottles, burgers and bites) – this would make the 2nd time we visited the restaurant this weekend! We visited for the first time post-Ivan Coyote over a cheese plate, shared burger and fries, and a carafe of their housemade sparkling white sangria. Brunch was delicious! They brought us our morning coffee in a wee french press. My bourbon vanilla french toast was awesome.

This is what the rest of it looks like (makes you wonder why we didn’t do the photos out front, and quite possibly you might find yourself instantly hungry, given the bourbon vanilla maple bacon biscuits and gravy or M’s eggy sandwich thing):

We attempted to walk off some of our brunch by visiting the sidewalk sale at ATA and found an old K.S.S. folding bellowscope lens for $5. We kept walking and popped into Afterlife to get my hot little hands on one of Fall’s biggest must-haves, the black leather panel skirt. Mine is faux, thank you, and I plan to wear the hell out of it. In fact, my goal is something like this:

EVERY TIME YOU FEEL LIKE PUTTING ON JEANS, WEAR THIS SKIRT INSTEAD, HMMMKAYYYYZZ!!!???? KTHX.

Anyway, here are the awesome shoe shelves at the boutique, which is full of re-purposed and “found” vintage treasures, as well as some carefully selected new inventory, too. Plus, the bellowscope and some street art. Side note: Boy, did we walk past some choice performance art aerial dance at the Women’s Building on the way home from dinner at Farina on Friday night, y’all.

Dress: Fire Los Angeles
Blazer: Free People
Boots: Dolce Vita for Target
Bag: Church sidewalk sale, 10 gay cents!

Some pics from our goofing around with the bellowscope lens:

Other things I’m excited about right now:

1. LISF (Lesbians In SF) posted a shot of M & I from their photo show opening at The Lex on their tumblr today! F U N.

2. You can listen to the new Blonde Redhead album, Penny Sparkle, in its entirety here at NPR.

3. Blair-oops-I-meant Leighton Meester as the new deranged Single White Female? Girl, you can stalk my life anytime.

It’s been an incredibly busy week at work, but happily so. Plus, I found out I have lunch buddies I could hit with a quarter if the windows from my office opened (they tend not to in skyscrapers), they’re that close, so I won’t have to go to the Ferry Building all by myself like I have been (though sometimes I imagine I will, because there’s something a little bit magical about that, especially on a warm day with gloriously blue skies). I’m lucky enough to get away with outfits like this at work, for the most part, even when it’s not a Friday!

Urban Heritage light denim, pink blouse, Free People floral blazer, vintage necklace and leather belt from Modcloth.
Madden Girl conical nude pumps.

I’m watching Moulin Rouge! It’s one of my absolute favorite movies of all time. I told M that I would just watch the beginning. Right now, Satine is walking out of the theatre to send Christian away, and I swear to God I would wear the outfit she’s got on in this scene every day for the rest of my life if I could. (It’s the long gray wool suit, with the matching hat and veil.) M & I are sipping some cocktails that I made with this new American gin we’re trying called Leopold’s. I muddled some fresh strawberries with fresh-squeezed lemon juice and a fistful of basil, added gin and some lavender-infused simple syrup, and they are heavenly. (I love how when Satine is crying and singing on stage her make-up is all jacked, and she doesn’t look perfection, but it doesn’t matter, because she loves, damn it. Oops, this is very definitely the end of the movie now.)

I got a new product from the Fekkai line and I can’t wait to try it:

I got tickets to this and I can’t wait to go!

Action shots, Bird looking very thirsty, my new muddler from Sur La Table: