Birthday Pictures!

First of all, thanks for all the love!  All the well wishes via facebook, twitter, email, my phone, the mail, blogs, etc. made me feel way less nauseous over turning 30.  And it turns out 30's not so bad, anyway.  ;)

My dear friends came out to celebrate with me at the Lake Chalet last night, and we had lots of fun!  I highly recommend Taco Tuesday.  You get to sit on the water, drink 1/2 price margaritas, and enjoy plentiful $2.50 tacos.  Sweet!

the venue

me and Diana: one of my favorite people in the world

Meagan and Amanda on the lake

me and Doro: almost birthday twins! (she's 8/13, I'm 8/16)

table on the water + tacos + margaritas!

Timmy and Trav: a stand up pair

thank goodness for Cari--no idea what I'd do without her.

(p.s. she is mama to Milo and Jude, regulars on this here blog)

a contemplative Raul surrounded by margaritas

neighbors and friends: Diana and Adam (plus Crouching Claire)

Mani and her handsome lil Mateo

flanked by twins: PJ on the left, AJ on the right

We had a blast, although I wish my faraway friends could have been there as well.  Yay for celebrations and drinks and friends and flowers!

Two more things:

1. Please keep my dad's horrendous beagle, Ignatius, in your thoughts/prayers.  He has a suspicious lump and I am sick with worry.

2. Speaking of pleases, please check out my friend Annie's new blog, Tough Little Cookies.  She's finally started a blog about raising her three hilarious and adorable daughters in San Francisco.  Please remember how it was when you first started blogging and go show her some love!! :)

Sunday Brunch & some Stalktalk!

In a valiant effort to postpone the end of summer, I spent pretty much the whole weekend eating and drinking with friends.  From a dive bar with my teacher friends on Friday night, to a biker breakfast on Saturday morning (you heard that right!), to an impromptu Japanese dinner in Berkeley on Saturday night with my friend Helen, to today's brunch with my college friend, Tara, at what I think might be my new very favorite place:

Chop Bar, Oakland, Jack London Square

my friend Tara with her bloody mary

she's from the northeast, she can't help her snark ;)

ask me what I'm drinking and I'll tell you:

BEN F'S EVOLVE WINE

see?

Not only was Sauvignon Hottie delicious, but so was the food!  Tara and I shared chilaquiles & eggs ala cazuela with a grilled veggie mojo sauce . . . YUM.  I confessed to the waitress that I ordered the Evolve as part of a Ben F. stalking mission, and she said, "That's so funny, he was just in here a couple weeks ago!"  I'll catch up to him someday.  It'll happen.  And if you're curious as to whether I tweeted that picture of me drinking Evolve wine to Ben F . . . the answer is immediately.  

isn't it cute in there?

Hope all of you had as decadent a weekend as I did.  Lord knows I'm making up for it now, since it's the  last day of my 20s and the first day of school.  Wish me luck with my '11-'12 monsters!  Can't wait to meet them. :)

Busy Weekend in Pictures

Why did I think summer would be so low-key and relaxing?  I had visions of spending my days lounging on my back porch with a Blue Moon, big sunnies, and some books . . . and yet, not so much how it's turned out.  Working a lot on my curriculum, meetings, babysitting, social engagements, stalking motorcycle clubs, visitors + travel = one busy girl.

Here's what I've been up to this weekend:

eating lots of these

dinner (Delfina Pizzeria) and drinks (Double Dutch; my fave) 

with my dear friend Monica

p.s. anyone know how to get the iPhone 4 to take better pics in the dark?

p.p.s. check out the awesome boombox on the Double Dutch homepage

p.p.p.s. go to Delfina Pizzeria and get the broccoli raab pizza stat.

sunny days at the pool with this guy & his impish brother

immersed in my new book

p.s. the co-authors, Keith and Kent Zimmerman,

teach creative writing in my unit at San Quentin

a beautiful San Francisco Sunday in Freeman's back yard

Tomorrow I'll be missing Leeann, who was supposed to be visiting this weekend, until I dropped the ball and took too long to email her times (the airfare sale ended) :(.  No doubt we would have torn up the town.  Instead, I'll be BBQing with friends during the day, and teaching at San Quentin at night.  Normally I wouldn't teach on a holiday, but I'll be out of town the next two Mondays (here I come, Georgia!  here I come, Cabo San Lucas!), so I'm sucking it up for the greater good.  Needless to say, my students don't have any other plans. ;)

Fittingly, I'll be teaching this poem.

Happy 4th!  

Girlfriends, Good Food, Wine, and Jax Teller

How lucky am I that Micaela, Marianne, and Jessie chose to spend vacation time here with me in San Francisco last week?  And let me just say that our trip was everything we dreamed it would be.

four girls in Napa

Marianne is the sweetest person I've ever met.  And she's incredibly beautiful, loyal, and says the cutest things. ♥

Jessie can party like a rockstar.  She's a hot & hilarious bad ass with some amazing stories.  She and I could get into some pretty serious trouble if we lived near each other.

And Micaela is my girl.  I feel closer to her every day, and am so thankful this trip gave us so much time together.  This woman could fill oceans with the love she has to give.  It's pretty unreal.

at Rubicon Estates (Niebaum-Coppola)

Texas/Oklahoma girls in Golden Gate Park 

Jessie stopping in for a quick tattoo on Haight St., ha!

foggy day at my favorite beach

wine!

Marianne was such a good sport since she doesn't really like wine :)

happy

one of my favorite pictures from our trip

at Vesuvio in North Beach.  BEWARE!

on this trip to City Lights, I discovered a new poet

with whom I'm now a little obsessed: Evie Shockley

the Golden Gate Bridge was actin' up a little with the fog

Other things we did:

*Visited my neighborhood restaurants and wine bar

*Watched (and re-watched) super hot Jax Teller sex scenes at Cari and JJ's house

*Stayed up till 4 am with laughter, a few tears, and lots of stories

*Had a bit of a traumatic experience running into my exbf's good friend, who told me that my exbf is getting married (still coping, y'all)

*Ate authentic Italian food in North Beach

*Spent some time on my back porch

*Saw the Painted Ladies (or as I like to call them, the Full Houses) and busted out the Full House theme song 

*Drank lots of coffee!

Hurry back, girls!  My house is so empty without you.

A Claire and Micaela Evening

Micaela arrived yesterday evening!  After I picked her up at the airport, we dropped her stuff off at my house and had a quick beer before walking up the street to dinner at Burma Superstar.  We shared a carafe of red sangria, samosa soup, rainbow salad, coconut rice, and platha, along with long-overdue stories and laughs.

Marianne and Jessie were scheduled to arrive this morning, but they had a little incident on a country road involving Jessie's car and a deer around 4:30 am, so we'll be picking them up at SFO at 4:45 pm instead. ;) Everyone's okay except Jessie's car . . . and the deer. :(

Micaela and I are off to lunch & a little shopping before picking up the girls, but I just wanted to say a quick hello.  More updates to come from all four of us!

The Ideal Bathing Suit

That is, if I had the ideal body!

I'm still on the hunt for a cute, affordable bathing suit this year (I've been wearing one I got last year).  Once I saw this one at Victoria's Secret, I knew that it would be the one if I were tall & skinny like the model sporting it, ha!  Unfortunately, and contrary to Snooki's belief, I don't think monokins are for short people.  But check it out:

both images from victoriassecret.com

I can't decide if I like it better in black or white.  Either way, it's HOT!  But maybe not for swimming at the neighborhood pool with two toddlers (which is what I'm up to this weekend).  

It's finally pretty here in northern California and I intend to get the tan to prove it!

Also, check out Micaela's post about her upcoming visit . . . she, Marianne, and Jessie will be here in just four days!!!

Weekend in Review: Outside!

It's officially hiking season here in northern California!  I swear, it was so gorgeous here this weekend.  And after falling asleep on my couch watching the DVR'd Royal Wedding Friday night, I was itching to be outside on Saturday.  And so . . . my friend Doro came over and we did an incredible hike in the Oakland Redwoods.  Those of you who are coming to visit, this scenery is what you have to look forward to:

taken with iPhone mid-hike

Amazing, right?  And then Sunday, I took my little pal Freeman straight to the beach:

me: "Let's play in the water!"

F: "I can't believe you just woke me up from my nap."

It was definitely warm enough to lay out, but not so much to swim.  F and I put our feet in the water but it was freeeeeezing (as usual in San Francisco).  We still had fun!

Here's hoping this kind of weather continues.  It's good for the soul.

And it *almost* helps me get over the fact that I couldn't be in southern California this weekend for Sammy Lazzaroni's first birthday.  His mama is one of my very best friends and their family is so dear to me!  If I could have one superpower, it would definitely be the Samantha-Stephens-nose-wiggle ability to transport myself anywhere, anytime.  Wouldn't that be amazing?

p.s. Check out Kristen's post today at While We're Waiting.  Made my heart swell.

New York City trip in pictures!

This post is seriously late, but I've been busy recovering from a whirlwind trip, jet lag, and the knowledge that I have to be back in the classroom, bright-eyed & bushy-tailed, Monday at 8 am.  WHAT?  Ugh.  Scratch the bright-eyed & bushy-tailed part.

New York City is magical, as was seeing all my friends together (we all got together Saturday night for dinner in Brooklyn--12 of us!--some friends from childhood, college, grad school, etc. etc.).  Summer has those pics on her camera, so I will post them as soon as she sends them to me (ahem, Summer).

But here's a summary of my trip, in photos:

Summer and me out exploring

In Times Square, right after we exited the biggest Forever 21 in the freakin' world (5 floors?)

how delighted was I to spot a dress made out of cards??

me with itty bitty Baked by Melissa cupcakes

seriously, they are about the size of a quarter!

Summer and Adam's boys

Radio City Music Hall

The closest I came to Carrie Bradshaw was visiting the Patricia Field store

(where I fell in love with a gold glitter iPhone case)

Times Square

check out the marquee--the Bronx zoo cobra was on the loose!

btw, if you don't follow @BronxZoosCobra on twitter, you're seriously missing out

a morning alone in Union Square . . . 

. . . where I spotted these precious school babies!

my darling friend Marisa at Motorino Pizza in Brooklyn

if you live in NYC, run there pronto!

we had broccolini & margherita pizzas

and love bomb cocktails!

Marisa and me at dinner--old friends!

heehee

Make it work!

my college friend Peter in his office at Kensington Press

(I'm suffering from job envy: he reads fiction manuscripts all day & decides whether or not to publish them!)

in the theater district

(I love how the light is shining on the "i")

Simon & Schuster, for those of us obsessed with literary presses

taken from the Brooklyn Bridge

(oh how I wish this were properly centered)

walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, heading to Grimaldi's

aka the best pizza in NYC

goodness gracious alive, this pizza is good

I love this picture of Summer with the "Live Your Life" sign in the background

Aside from a couple mishaps (including losing my phone & having to buy a new one), it was a phenomenal trip.  Summer was the best hostess ever (as was my dear Marisa, whom I stayed with one night!).  I wish I'd had more time so that I could have spent more time with everyone . . . but all the more reason to make NYC a yearly vacation!

Hope y'all had a wonderful week.  I'm glad to have returned to the blog world!  Happy Monday.