Friday, November 03, 2006

A Change Is in the Air...

First off, thank you to everyone who posted "welcome home" comments. That made for a happy return to computer-land! And thank you to everyone who asked if I would post a few pics. of my purchases. Duh! Now why didn't I think of that?!? I'll be happy to do that next week.

Today, however, I'd like to share my brand new blog with you. It can be found here. I'd so love to have you all come over for a visit. If I were able, I'd have coffee and a delicious spread of scones waiting. But alas, I cannot. So instead, I've posted a little contest on the new blog to get the ball rolling. My daily posts from now on will be made there as well.

Email me if you have any trouble whatsoever, okay? Otherwise, I'll see you soon!

Thursday, November 02, 2006

You're Going to Kill Me!

Oh my gosh... You're going to kill me.

I'm back from my trip to SF (obviously), and we had an INCREDIBLE time! I may as well just own up to it right now.... Here goes... There are NO pictures. Not a one. I'm sorry. Every time we set out from the hotel, neither one of us wanted to lug the camera along with coats, sunglasses, lipstick, wallets, kleenex, and our purchases. We walked our socks off and took the bus practically everywhere. So I'm here to beg for forgiveness.

I can, however, give you a good narrative...

Boy, did we do a lot! We visited the Castro District and went to Haight-Ashbury. We discovered this charming little section of town called Cow Hollow. We were South of Market, in China Town quite a lot, and in North Beach. We stayed at the Hyatt just off of Union Square, so we spent a great deal of time there as well.

We saw "Chicago" starring Huey Lewis, which was amazing. The dancing and singing were just top-notch, although Huey himself was a little disappointing. (I expected that he might not shine in the dance/act department, but in my opinion, his singing wasn't quite as incredible as the rest of the company either.) We ate at our favorite Italian restaurant twice: Mona Lisa. We spent Halloween afternoon in Cow Hollow because the shops there were hosting "trick-or-treating" for the kids. That was just too cute. Many people brought their dogs all dressed up as well.

As for art stores, I visited General Bead and Beyond Beads - both just the bomb. We went to FLAX and I indulged in paper galore. We went to Kozo Arts, which was okay. They were really expensive and were basically just about book-making. I went to Britex Fabrics for the first time. Oh my GOODNESS! What a fabric artist's dream! They have four - count 'em FOUR - floors of fabric and trim! I so wish I lived near there! And I went to my favorite yarn store twice. That's called "Art Fibers".

We did the usual shopping at Macy's and all the stores on and near Union Square. That was mostly window-shopping though. I did really well with spending, actually. Maybe I'm getting more selective? One can only hope.

All in all, our trip was a blur of sleeping, eating, and walking about town. We must be seriously sleep-deprived at home because we took no less than 2-3 naps per day. And that's in addition to a full night's sleep. The Hyatt invested in these new beds since the last time we visited. That bed was, beyond a doubt, the most comfortable bed I've ever slept in at a hotel. Maybe we slept so much because we were so tired from walking and so full from eating? I'm not complaining, though!

I realize this post is sortof a jumble. I guess I'm just trying to get it all down as quickly as I can. Steve's still off the remainder of the week, so I'm still in "vacation mode". I will post the surprise and contest I've been hyping tomorrow though, so check back Friday!