missouri loves company

Yeah, so this morning was just as rough as I deserved. I skipped my training session with Alyssa, since I was in no shape to either drive to Palo Alto or work out when I got there. Instead, I laid in bed for awhile and enjoyed the spins. I had to get up, though, because Durand had left his phone here last night, and when I got in touch with him via email to arrange its safe return, he invited me over for brunch. Clever of him, since that meant I had to drive to Diamond Heights, but since the food was great and his place is amazing, it wasn't really a sacrifice. He was feeling just as beat as I was; that bottle of Bombay Sapphire that I mentioned polishing off in last night's post was only split between me, Durand, and Salim, although Durand and I also played our part toward the five bottles of wine and the final, epically stupid bottle of champagne. But he made some delicious scrambled eggs, bacon, ramekins with raspberries, and gorgeous little salads with greens, heirloom tomato, and avocado -- while I cooking gigantic vats of food and serve it all up family style, he goes for a modern, minimalist, plated approach, and it was all wonderful. It also fits his apartment; while he's waiting for all the furniture he ordered and so we had to sit on the floor, you can tell that the space is going to be fantastic. It's up in one of the highest neighborhoods in the city, and he has a gorgeous panoramic view of San Francisco in a space that feels oddly like a modern ski chalet/loft. So it was cool to see that, and the eggs went a long way toward restoring my vitality.

After leaving Durand, I came home, parked my car, and went for a walk (since Alyssa ordered me to get some exercise to make up for skipping training). I walked around Fort Mason, etc., for an hour, which was totally gorgeous even if it was pretty brisk today. While walking, I talked to my parents, who were in good spirits even though they both had colds. Then I came home, meant to get some writing done, and basically spent all afternoon/evening obsessing over the book that's coming out, the visitor stats on my website, and other silly things that I need to just ignore. I also cleaned up the kitchen and dining room from last night's debacle, which wasn't all that hard. I exchanged texts with Drewbaby, since I completely forgot that yesterday was the 15th and so forgot to wish him a happy birthday (happy birthday, Drewbaby!). I talked to my aunt, since I thought she'd gotten some personalized corkscrews someplace and I'm trying to come up with possible giveaway/prize/swag stuff, but I was mistaken (although she did have a great idea to do some personalized tea canisters). And, [censored] called me tonight to say that he had [censored], which amused and touched me.

I spent the remainder of the night making a list of Regency-era words that I'm going to send out the (ridiculous) definitions for when I announce my book release to my friends and family mailing list, which should be fun. If you'd like to subscribe to the friends and family list, click here -- you'll get an occasional email when I have a book coming out, and I will try to make them entertaining. But now, I really need to sleep -- my hangover almost, almost disappeared, and then suddenly shifted into a massive headache, so I think I need to sleep. Goodnight!