we are always running for the thrill of it, thrill of it

I had a v. nice day in the yay area. When I woke up, after slightly too little sleep, I took a shower and then went out in search of paper and coffee. The paper shop was a bust (they had cute stuff, but I'm trying to be more discerning since I have bought more journals than I'll probably use in a decade anyway). But I had some v. tasty and v. cheap huevos rancheros nearby, which made me happy. And I got a large coffee at Philz, which delighted me. I also talked to my mom while I enjoyed my coffee, which was great until the sun went behind a building and I started to freeze. I do not understand how 55 here can feel like 35 in Iowa, but it is what it is.

After I talked to my mom, I walked to Sephora, where I got a couple of trial-size things to replace things I was running out of on my trip. Then I took a v. brief nap before getting my hair cut. My old stylist, who cut my hair from approximately 2010 onward, has a salon that is only a couple of blocks from where I'm staying, and I was way overdue to see her. Our conversation took many dark turns, which was hilarious, and I walked away with a great hair cut, so that was all great.

Then I walked to a parking garage to retrieve my car, and I drove to Alameda to meet up with Claudia (aka Santy Claude, but only in December). We had happy hour at Saltbreaker, where I had an excellent cheeseburger (like, really excellent, and a decent gluten free bun that managed to hold together) and an abhorrent glass of wine (like, really abhorrent, and we probably should have sent it back). But catching up with Claudia was v. wonderful. And then I went over to her house and spent a couple of hours hanging out with her and Téo and Sam - I may have bruised my hand from the enthusiasm with which I used a monster truck launcher with Téo, but it was #worthit.

At some point, I was exhausted and traffic had died down to a v. reasonable 22 minutes to cross the Bay, so I came back to my hotel. I caught up on news for a bit, and then I grabbed a salad (since that burger was a 3:30pm and I felt like maybe I should have something dinnerish) and a glass of wine while writing for a couple of hours.

And now, I need to sleep - I have a lowkey writing morning planned, but then I had a triple happy hour situation happening (well, a late lunch, a happy hour, and a dinner), and I want to bring my A-game to some of my favorite people. Goodnight!