fitforafemme.com

CONFESSION: Yesterday was the St. George Spirits (makers of the delicious Hangar One infused vodkas) Open House Holiday Party in Alameda, CA. The theme was Cheesy Prom and folks were out in all their awesome 80s glory. Since I was there working and wasn’t sure about how dressed up folks would get, I played it safe with this outfit, since it felt like a nice, balanced Pretty In Punk sort of getup, especially with the cheeky animal print tights. The Building A Mystery dress is from modcloth.com, as well as the super fierce Full Throttle heels.

Not so safe was the decision to wear these shoes out for the first time to an event where I knew I’d be on my feet for six hours straight, but surprisingly I had no discomfort with them at all! Phew. It was a perfect choice, and I can’t even begin to describe how gorgeous the old hangar is. All of the beautiful machinery and stacks and stacks of crates of alcohol, with an incredible view of the SF Bay and the city itself, plus all that wonderful natural light coming in through rows and rows of windows all around.

The main cocktail tastings were all named after classic 80s movies – Some Kind Of Wonderful, Pretty In Pink, Risky Business – and the plethora of appetizers being served were amazing, especially the Mexican nibbles from El Huarache Loco, chocolates from Rechiutti Confections and last but not least, the single malt sweet potato pies, which M merrily ate for breakfast this morning. (We slept in until 1PM and watched Breakfast At Tiffany’s over coffee and leftover nibbles from the party, having induced the most crippling food coma ever after an incredibly filling dinner at Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack in Bernal Heights.)

Thank heavens we only have a 2-day week this week! Hope y’all had lovely weekends. XOXO!

CONFESSION: Spot the Maker’s! That wee bottle was critical in my speedy recovery from this miserable CRUD sickness I have only just now come out of (alive, praise Dolly), after 9 hellish days of being bedridden. God, I despise being sick. I despise being slowed down. Do y’all know how fast I go? FAST. It was unpretty, but we are moving forward. By now you may have heard that we (as in San Fran-fussy-cisco) had a whole hour of 300 MPH torrential downpour blues earlier today. Hayes Valley, the Van Ness Muni station, parts of the Mission flooded in some places up to three feet. There was some nonsense about a new pumping station, but come the bloody fuck on, people, if we can’t handle an hour of heavy rain then what on earth do we do when it rains steadily for days? CRY. DROWN. I would like to see how drowning rat hipsters handle that situation, I really do. Hm. Food for thought!

CURRENT OBSESSIONS:

• Reviewing fragrances and makeups here at FFAF again
• The perfect pair of brown (dark or mahogany) cowboy boots
• Making a delicious dish of scalloped potatoes from scratch
• Bourbon balls (you bitches know who you are)
• Horseback riding in some semi-regular capacity on the cheap
• Finishing a re-read of Ayn Rand’s Anthem, which started in the tub last night
• Trying to forgive myself for getting rid of a) an ashy purple velvet blazer and b) asymmetrical dresses, both from years ago, since they’re “back” – don’t you just fucking hate that?

DREAMY:

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: Wednesday, February 11th, 2009.

What: Max & Cleo chiffon dress in navy blue with hand-beaded bodice (see below, ignore whatever it is I’ve gotten on the dress – probably whiskey ganache!), vintage apron and two-tone navy pumps by Linea Paolo.

Confession: I was in the kitchen all the livelong day, y’all, making delicious things for my tomboy to enjoy on our anniversary. First, a homemade beef stew, very simple – a big slab of pretty brisket, onion, red bell pepper, beef stock, quartered potatoes, a few secret seasonings, sea salt and pepper. In the crockin’ pot, of course. Then, I made Irish Car Bomb cupcakes. They are as fantastic as they sound and probably the fanciest thing I have ever baked from scratch. Rich, dense Guinness chocolate cake, insanely sumptuous Irish whiskey ganache centers that melt in your mouth and Bailey’s cream cheese frosting. They’re fucking INCREDIBLE, I wish I could teleport y’all one each. So good. So, so, so good.

*Note: Mine aren’t as pretty as Smitten’s because, well, I’m mostly domestically disabled and also because I don’t have a hand mixer OR a mixer thingee. Yes. You heard right. It is IMPOSSIBLE to make fluffy cream cheese frosting w/out something electrical, and my Oster blender did NOT want to hear it.