baseball

Mimoun and I rode over to Rosamunde on mission last night to watch the Giants game and eat dinner... at the same time! what fun.  While oggling Brian Wilson's absurd beard, we enjoyed scintillating conversation about the differences between regular season and post season games - characters' mental state, pitching rotation, batting order, etc.  One thing I love about baseball is watching a player's performance actually increase under pressure, like a closing pitcher's last strike outs. Anywaaaay... here's what we ate. It looks good in the pictures, but its a so-so restaurant, heads up.  




Rumor has it he put rogaine on his face...ha! what a nut. photo from here



mitsuwa mmm...

This weekend we hopped in my brother's barely working volvo and drove our friends down to socal for shows in LA and San Diego. Unbelievably, it was the hottest weekend on record in Los Angeles as we sat in traffic on the freeways with 5 people, a dog, a trunk full of equipment... and no AC! Eeeek! It was actually debatable whether windows up or down was hotter.  Los Angeles. I just don't understand the concept. You must drive everywhere; everywhere is at least 45 minutes away. This is no way to live. Well, upsides of our weekend included excellent Thai iced coffee, make your own pizza dinner, club card purchases, Young Prisms, and the mitsuwa japanese market. If you happen to be way out in west LA I would definitely check out this gem.



Beef noodle bowl lunch special. heck ya



hello health!

I hope everyone had a wonderful week. I was waylaid by a brief but vicious cold Monday and Tuesday that totally knocked me out.  While laying in bed drinking white tea and blowing my nose every minute, I did manage to max out on the number of consecutive episodes of Law and Order SVU I'm capable of watching. So, to pass the time, I finished The Elegance of the Hedgehog and bravely reentered the beginning plot lines of Cutting For Stone. For someone who has become delightfully stuck in the genre of emotionally driven, real life is rich enough to write about, relationship centered novels, like Irving's Hotel New Hampshire, Rosie by Anne Lamott and even A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon, it was difficult to transition to such a philosophical work.  Not to say that Elegance of the Hedgehog was devoid of emotion. The sort of abrupt, sort of anticipated self discovery of both narrators was the final push that carried me to the end of the book, right when I thought I needed a break from philosophizing. Recognizing Renée as character and not a vehicle of the author's thoughts made it much harder for me to leave the small, dreamy world of "7 Rue de Grenelle."  So, overall, I'd recommend it! It feels good to work out your brain, turn off the arrested development re-runs, pull your eyes away from your Reader, etc, etc. Enjoy!  

grandma's boyfriend cozy house show

Saturday night was a small house show in the Sunset. My brother and I made the journey out there to see our friend from grammar school, George, play bass in Grandma's Boyfriend, who recently returned from touring in Japan. They played with Howlin' Cheetah, not a hardcore girl band, but actually a delightful blues funk rock suprise, à la Captain Beefheart. I like the weird building block poster.

donut joy

The regulars at Donut World on 9th and Judah. I had such a wonderful breakfast, sipping hazelnut coffee and licking glaze off my fingertips. I thought about my dad, an avid donut lover, before and after his cancer diagnosis. Aside from being so sad and terrible, my dad's cancer has heightened my senses. More often now, I try to break from my routine so that I leave space for new and delightful experiences, even the simple ones like donuts for breakfast.

If I could apparate

I would be at the Marin Brewing Company having a Mt. Tam Pale Ale and watching the Giants trying to get on base. Plus, tuesdays are $3 pint night.

pesky material needs

A difficult part of life as a young person, post education, pre job-that-earns-you-a-living-wage, are the little setbacks: a plumbing bill, my desperation to see the Giants vs. Dodgers series ($50 for a left field bleacher seat!), etc. Today, I'm a bit overwhelmed by city rent, groceries, and the evil corporation who lives in reeking sulfuric lairs under volcanoes called Comcast. Sharon knows what I mean.


(apologies for the bootlegged quality, but you get the idea)

kelly weddings

Two of my cousins on the Kelly side each married their long time loves within the last six months. The first wedding in Seattle was dreamy and rustic in a barn-like setting with twinkle lights and simple flower arangements. The one I'm still recovering from on Saturday in SF was a traditional Catholic full Mass followed by a small but hip paaartaaay in Potrero hill. I could not be more of a sucker for the romanticism and joyful optimism of weddings. I tear up every time! Plus you get to throw a party in exactly the way you've always thought parties should be thrown. Lulu and I were way too busy owning the dance floor to take pics, luckily I found a substitute. This couple had their wedding at a summer camp in Arkansas! Get. right. out.

lots more freaking adorable pictures here

love this

Bioluminescence

There's nothing I love more than pleasant suprises! Thinking we were simply on an ill-fated adventure on a freezing cold night last Sunday, Mimoun and our friends and I hopped around the coast trying to find a beach were we could build a bon fire for their band's music video. In Pacifica, the sand sparkled with thousands of bioluminscent microorganisms everywhere we stepped. In Half Moon Bay, we found a beautiful nook carved out from the cliffs to huddle around our little fire and pose self consciously for pictures. And on Ocean Beach where we started our journey around midnight... well nothing much. It was closed, with cop cars everywhere. There were rap battles going on in the parking lot though.

Make your own bioluminescence

If I had stepped into those rap battles, probs would have looked like this.

SF. we make it look so easy

Riding up a hill on a single speed. Taking on a burrito the size of a football. Saying things like, "the weather's really not that bad." Exuding effortless style... Just saw this awesome slide show by NY Times. Thank you very much, I too, own polka dot tights.

me and mimsy in the Haight. haaaa just kidding.

book alert

I've been completely consumed by Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins mysteries. Easy is a totally human hero whose dark upbringing in the racist 1940s south gives him the smarts to solve mysteries for his friends in Los Angeles, who wisely turn to him rather than the white police in the 1960s. In some books, he fulfills a seemingly simple request from a close friend, in others, trouble arrives in his otherwise peaceful life as a building superintendent and he maneuvers out of it unharmed. I'm reading Bad Boy Brawly Brown right now, but I think I need to go back to the beginning and read them in order. Enjoy!

American Novelist Walter Mosley. Pic from this site.

hello friends. hope you had a fabulous weekend. The aforementioned pool party was a great success! Everyone got to meet Libby, take a dip in the pool, and watch the Giants beat the Dodgers! However, we drank budweiser and I made guacamole instead of gazpacho.... and woops! didn't take any pictures. We ended the night each devouring our favorite flavor of Its-It which, for non-Californians, is the best ice cream cookie sandwich ever.

happy LA plants

Hmm how do I get my plants to look like these? pics from my visit to sunny LA

Okay I know this may be old news for many of you, but this blog makes me crack up every time! I think it's hilarious! What is better than an adorable little dog making satirical coments? I ask you. We've got to figure out how to get Libby on here.

Just remembering this magical evening with good friends, playing with sparklers and singing songs we memorized as teenagers. If only there were pictures of the dancing that ensued at 2am... A morning dip in the lake to cure our hangovers and then back to the City. Thanks, Universe for allowing this soup of wonderful circumstances to come together.

pool party

the Stillman's back yard

As I usually do on Wednesdays, I've been thinking about mind blowing-ly fun activities for the upcoming weekend. Two words came to mind = pool. party. What a throwback! A traditional marco-polo playing, sun tanning, fruit salad eating gathering for old friends, new friends, the Stillmans (minus Mike because he's with Ann in Michigan), and obviously Libby! Delicious gazpacho and refreshing drinks for all who make the trip out of SF.

gazpacho pics and recipe at cup and table

First of many posts about Libby

Libby is the Stillman's dog, with whom we are all obsessed. Lucy once asked me, "Don't you think all the time about how you wish you could text Libby?" Well, honestly, I hadn't thought about it. What would she text me? maybe something like, "Hi nora I loveloveloveloveloveyou!" Dogs bring me such joy! Their unique personalities, the fact that are as needy for love and attention as I am, the fact that they love you unconditionally in a world where we're constantly evaluated and too often isolated. These are pics of Libby from the birthday party we had for her in Dolores Park. Some lady informed us that the chocolate cupcakes we were eating probably weren't good for the dog. ohmygoshnowayyy

Happy dog!

snoozing, long day at the park