oh, this is how it starts, lightning strikes the heart

I'm back in Denver and brutally tired, but I had an excellent long weekend in the city of sin. Friday was particularly delightful - I spent an hour drinking coffee and journaling at Philz, and then I packed up all my stuff, checked out of my first hotel, and left my tings there while I took an uber out to Beach Chalet for lunch with Anne and Veronica. Barbara is out of town and Grace couldn't make it, so we were a smaller group than usual, but I was v. happy to see Anne and Veronica. I am reminded, as always, how much I miss my writer group in SF, even if we usually met at an uninspiring Starbucks in the peninsula instead of having a fancy lunch overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

After we parted ways, I went back to my hotel, grabbed my stuff, and took an uber to the Fairmont, where I checked in for wedding shenanigans. I had just enough time to get ready and put on my outfit before it was time to head out - I shared an uber with Lauren (aka Subz) and Nathan to the Friday evening party, where I met Adit (some people call him the cat), who was my date for the night. I wore the v. fancy lehenga that I bought in Denver last month, and I loved it - it was v. princessy, which is not usually a look I go for when I'm a wedding guest, but it was great.

The first night was dry, which was less than ideal, especially since I had to give a toast. However, Terry's dad snuck in approx 100 airplane-sized bottles of vodka, so I was able to have a vodka and diet coke to get me ready to go. Also, the food was really excellent and the venue was nice, so all in all it was good. My toast was also great, if I do say so myself, so it felt like a rousing evening.

After the Friday event was over, Adit and I went back to the Fairmont and rendezvoused with Chandlord. We were going to go to the Tonga Room, but it was stupidly closed early, so I changed clothes and we ventured into the Tenderloin. Our first drink was not great due to a potential bartending mishap, but then we went to Zombie Village and had a couple of punchbowls while holed up in a booth and talking about Ritu's nephew (our favorite topic of conversation). And when we were done, I took an uber approx five blocks because I didn't feel like walking up Nob Hill at 2am.

The next day, I had room service breakfast (my favorite) and then went downtown to quickly buy a new pair of shoes, since my Friday shoes had created blisters and I didn't have any other options. That errand was easily accomplished, but getting back was a pain - the St Patricks Day parade was happening all along Market, which completely screwed up traffic, and so I ended up walking up Nob Hill with my shoes. This was not what my blistered feet wanted, but I made it back, took a shower, and took a nap. Then, Subz came to my room so we could get ready together - she had arranged some people to do our hair + her makeup, which was super fun. Unfortunately, the wedding was so windy that my updo didn't look as awesome as it did in the first thirty minutes of its life, but it was still great to get some girl time with Lauren.

Then we went to the wedding, which was at Cavallo Point in Sausalito. The vow renewal was outdoors, and since it's San Francisco, that meant it was totally freezing - I was glad I had decided to prioritize comfort over fashion and brough my down puffer, because I needed it. However, the Golden Gate Bridge made for a gorgeous backdrop, and Terry and Haseeb's vows (a vow renewal, since they got married at City Hall as NYC was shutting down two years ago) were beautiful.

The rest of the night was super fun - lovely cocktail hour followed by dinner, then lots more toasts, and then dancing. Eventually we all headed back to SF, and I ended up going out with most of Terry's siblings + Lisa (an old Stanford friend) until whatever bar we went to shut down. And then the time changed as I got back to my hotel, so suddenly it was three a.m. and I was ready to collapse.

Today was smooth, even though I didn't get nearly enough sleep - I got up, ate breakfast, packed, showered, etc. and made it to the airport with just the right amount of time. Getting to Denver was easy (albeit turbulent), and my house is still here, and I had takeout sushi to celebrate being home. And now, I desperately need to sleep - goodnight!

river running free, you know how i feel

Well, today was something. I didn't get nearly enough day job work done (although I slogged very steadily all afternoon), but I watched the inauguration, ordered a poke bowl for lunch, and forced myself to answer many emails. In the evening, I made a potato fennel gratin to go with some leftover ham balls from my freezer - the potato fennel gratin is basically just fancy scalloped potatoes, and while it would have been healthier to eat a salad and ride my Peloton, tonight called for fancy potatoes instead.

As for the inauguration, I will spare much commentary since it will likely either offend some of my readers or duplicate what the rest of you already feel. But for my own posterity upon rereading someday, the highlights:

* the national youth poet laureate, Amanda Gorman, read an incredible poem and I'm in awe of her talent

* Garth Brooks' a cappella version of Amazing Grace made me cry (and also text [censored] to congratulate him that one of his classmates got to perform at the inauguration, since Garth graduated from the same graduate school as [censored] and surprised everyone by showing up to get his diploma)

* Lady Gaga definitely had some Hunger Games vibes, but her voice is out of this world

* I wish I looked good in high-waisted wide-legged pants, but I do not, so I will leave them to Michelle Obama

* it was rather nice, after the last four years, to see a pretty bipartisan display of unity in the speeches from McConnell, McCarthy, etc....and now we see what comes next

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

always the same it's just a shame that's all

I somehow wore myself out without leaving the house, which I guess is a good thing? I stayed up way too late last night, so I didn't get up an around particularly early - but then I drank some coffee, meditated, journaled, and generally enjoyed my morning. I also made a v. tasty egg and cheese sandwich and organized my freezer, which is a thing I now do regularly due to the apocalypse.

I then spent the afternoon taking care of a variety of tings around the house - mostly organizing my master closet, which spilled over into organizing the guest closet as well. I'd been meaning to do this for quite some time, and I still need to acquire some organizational supplies (mostly for my handbags, which defy organization) - but my closet looks much better and more functional than it did. Of course, since I have time on my hands, I arranged the clothes by color, which was weirdly satisfying. And I vacuumed and dusted the closets before putting things away, which was less satisfying but much more necessary.

At some point in the middle of this project, I chatted with Katie for a bit and discovered that she's also purging her closets this weekend, so we must have hit the same point in our quarantine moods. Then I talked to Terry for quite awhile - it was supposed to be her western wedding today, which means I should be in California on the verge of blackout drunk. Instead, I'm sitting at home, running the cleaning cycle on my coffeemaker, and listening to some soothing music on my meditation app. I did have takeout sushi tonight, so I guess that's somewhat festive? Probably not, but idk anymore.

And now, as soon as my coffeemaker has finished cleaning so that I can set it up for the morning, I need to go to bed. Goodnight!

and there's a million things i haven't done

I should go to bed immediately - it's after midnight, which is not late for my soul but is def. late for my current worker-bee situation. I went to the office at nine this morning, rocking some flowy, flowery silk pants from Rent the Runway and my new red velvet high-heeled boots - yes, this is extremely overdressed for Boulder, but #sarasnotsorry. I was sorry, however, to have to get to the office by nine, especially since I had meetings almost straight through until 6pm.

Then I came home, ate some leftover pizza, journaled a bit, and took a nap. Yes, this was all v. lovely. But it's performance review season at work, and so I ended up working (with slowly declining productivity) from 9pm to midnight. It wasn't all terrible, though...I have a trip to Dublin coming up, and so I spent a few minutes pinging with a coworker about meeting up in Paris the weekend before, which will make me super happy (and will hopefully provide ample fodder for my gargoyle book).

But now, after all that, it's time for bed - goodnight!

last christmas i gave you my heart

I slept approximately a million hours last night, and I spent the morning lazing about reading all about nothing on my phone and in some magazines I'd stockpiled. I didn't do much this afternoon, either - I think I hit a wall on just about everything, and I was also feeling the beginning of a sore throat (which seems to have subsided thanks to all the sleep I had). So I eventually showered and went out in search of pho - it wasn't as good as the pho place I've been to in Denver, but it was pretty tasty and only five minutes from my house, so I'll most likely go back when I'm need of a pho phix (sorry, that was dumb).

I also had another outing to get my brows waxed - this place is a block from my house, which makes it super convenient. I think the girl did a good job and I think I liked her, but it made me miss my San Francisco beauty people all over again - I didn't connect with her the way I connected with Amanda, who was amazing at both brows and life. However, it was also like half the price of an SF brow wax, so maybe there's something to be said for that. And it was, as I said, less than two minutes to walk there - I also like Katie's waxing person in Denver better, but that requires planning ahead and making an appointment and driving to Denver. Yes, this is a #firstworldproblem, but it's one I need to figure out if I want to start establishing some routines here.

Anyway, after I got my brows waxed, I walked around a little bit, then came home and cleaned furiously for a couple of hours. I've barely been here the past month and I wasn't really unpacked before that, so I've neglected the actually cleaning even though I've been steadily trying to get things put away. But tonight I scrubbed the kitchen, mopped all the hard floors, cleaned both bathrooms, and vacuumed the stairs, so things are looking much better. I need to vacuum upstairs tomorrow, and I also need to put some clothes away, and I also need to pack for California again...but all of that can wait for morning.

When I was done with that, I watched an episode of Project Runway (only one or two more left of this season, and I was bummed about who went home on the episode I watched tonight - but I know if I look up what she's been up to since the show, I'll find out immediately who won, so I'll have to stay in suspense until I watch the rest of it tomorrow). Then I spent too much timing making lists and messing around online, since there's a lot of things I want to accomplish tomorrow (and this month)...but the best way to accomplish any of it is to get some sleep first. Goodnight!

i may be crazy don't mind me

Y'know, it's pretty nice to have a home. Perhaps the newness will wear off and I'll start itching for the open road again, but at the moment, homes feel pretty great.

I woke up this morning after getting less sleep than I wanted and more sleep than I'd had in awhile. I could have happily stayed in bed all day, but I wanted to make at least some attempt to start unpacking - home will be even better if it's organized. I spent most of the day focused on making progress in my office - I figured out how to arrange the furniture, and I dusted everything, and then I started unpacking the 15+ boxes of books that had sat in storage awaiting my return. Of course, I'm not done, but I made a good start, and I'm hoping I can make even more progress tomorrow.

However, I took a break around four (after some guy installed the blind to my patio - my landlord had sent him, and it was the last remodel-related task he had to take care of, so everything's in good shape). I had to pick up a package at my office, and I bought some groceries so I could cook dinner. When I got back, I spent some more time unpacking, but then I made spaghetti carbonara - and it was really fucking delicious, if I do say so myself.

Then I told myself I could watch one episode of Project Runway before getting back to unpacking. I stuck to my limit...but then I spent the past three hours looking at and eventually ordering some stuff online. Most of it came from Wayfair, which has some pretty delightful deals - I got a new rug for my living room, since I wanted to swap out my old Adit-inherited rug (which may serve as a rug pad for this rug, since I don't want to get rid of it but have nowhere to store it), and I also wanted to get a couple of end tables for my living room. I'm trying to thread the needle between my conflicting style interests (urban industrial, rustic farmhouse, hollywood regency glam), so we'll see if I succeed in putting together something cool or instead create something totally schizophrenic.

I also ordered a humidifier for my bedroom (crucial in Colorado - if I like it, I'll probably order two more) and a duvet insert for my guest bed (which isn't here yet, but I have hopes that the bed and the comforter will arrive before Drewbaby or [censored] want to sleep on it]. And I booked a hotel for my December trip to SF - although it turns out I now have another December trip, but that one is basically two nights and one day. Yes, that means I'm going back to California three times in the next five weeks. But I've got the next two full weeks in Colorado, so I want to make the most of them.

And now I really need to sleep - goodnight!

working on the night moves

I didn't sleep all that well last night, and I need to go to bed immediately if I'm going to recoup some lost energy and also get up in time to do some stuff in the morning. Today was good, but my stress levels increased because I decided yesterday that I need to go to India...and that I need to go next weekend. lolololol.

It's the right call in terms of timing (because there was only one other week I could go between now and Thanksgiving, and that week didn't work for that team), and it's also the right call in terms of getting it over with so that I don't have to go in January, and it's also the right call because it needs to happen. However, it's a wee bit exhausting to even think about, since I have to go directly to San Francisco right after, and I also will be in the midst of unpacking hell next week and so need to make sure I stay organized enough to pack for a trip (and not pack as badly as I did for Bora Bora/Easter Island, where I packed for the heat of Bora and forgot about Easter Island's cool weather completely, which is exactly what could happen to me when going to Hyderabad/San Francisco). That said, I was looking at the Hyderabad map to decide where to stay and I was flooded with memories from a lifetime ago...so I think once I'm in the air and can't turn back, I'll be thrilled.

So I spent more time today than I should have investigating flights and tings, in addition to a million meetings. I also talked to my parents during a rare weekday phone call (because the India visa application requires the city of your parents' birth and for some reason I never remember where my dad was born). But I forced myself to take a break tonight - I picked up a salad from Modern Market (this is predicted to happen far too frequently in my future) and watched a couple of episodes of Project Runway. And now I should sleep - goodnight!

i'm smiling, she's living, she's golden

I'm sleepy and I inadvertently had more wine than I intended, and while that all ended hours ago, I think I'm going to drink a bunch more water and go to bed. Today was good, though. I spent the morning messing around, cleaning my room, and writing, as most of my mornings are usually spent. Then, in the afternoon I went to the Sir John Soane Museum for a class on making 'jasperware' jewelry.

The Soane Museum is one of my favorite museums in London - it was founded by Sir John Soane, who was a famous architect and major art/antiquities collector. His sole surviving son was a wastrel who disappointed him one too many times, so Soane got an Act of Parliament passed to disinherit his son and leave the house and all its contents to the nation, with the intent that it would be preserved in perpetuity as a museum. This probably sucked for the son, but is great for all of us, since it's an amazing example of an early 1800s townhouse (and v. much more interesting than most of them would have been anyway, since he was an architect and put in lots of clever skylights, mirrors, etc. to brighten things up, and also managed to get the massive stone sarcophagus of Pharaoh Seti I into his basement by knocking out a wall).

sssanyway. The workshop was in the basement, and there were five of us, along with the two women who worked for the Soane who were leading it. We mixed up plaster and poured them into our first molds, and while those were drying we got a short private(ish) tour of the upstairs. Today was the last day of an exhibit of Robert Adam's documents - he was the most important architect in England in the generation before Soane, and his neoclassical designs had an enormous influence on British design. I really should have gone to see this exhibit separately and spent more time in it, but it's okay that I didn't - the tour was enough to get the highlights. And I got to see bits of the museum that aren't open to the public - namely the place where Soane buried his dog and turned it into something that looked like an abbey ruin so that it would feel like the house was built on top of ruins. Ha.

We then spent the rest of the afternoon painting our creations, with a break to have prosecco. I had more prosecco then I realized, I think, and I drank my last bit quickly since we were out of time...and it hit me when I was sipping a glass of wine at a pub down the street, which was poor timing. But I had a great dinner of short ribs at the Star Tavern (which was started in the 1500s, although the building has been rebuilt). And then I came back here, passed out briefly, woke up, wrote in my journal, and then considered working but instead watched the season finale of last year's Top Chef - I'd watched the entire season while packing my apartment back in December, but with the holidays and everything I never finished it.

And now I need to sleep - I have no plans tomorrow and need to get some serious work done, and sleep will help toward that noble goal. Goodnight!

those little red panties they pass the test

Today was a pretty great day, all in all, even though I had to finally admit that I'm not done with my book and push my preorder date back, which made me sad. Not as sad as it probably should have...which gave me a vague, fleeting feeling of wondering if I really still want to be writing historical romance, since there's a lot of other stuff I'm excited about.

But I sorted everything out and made a plan to finish the book - I'm pretty close, but it's not where I want it to be and I'd rather make it right than publish early and wreck my fanbase. And I made an announcement on Facebook and also solicited reviewers and already got a bunch of replies, so I think it will all be okay in the end.

Still, it's not ideal, and I'm going to have to work pretty steadily to hit my new target. But I'm also in London and need to take advantage of my time here to learn new things and find ideas for my next series, so I took a long break this afternoon to go to the V&A Museum (one of my favorites in the world) and see their temporary exhibit on the history of undergarments. It closes on Sunday, so I bought a ticket earlier in the week to see it today so that I wouldn't put it off until the very end. I'm super glad I went - they had some cool stuff from 1700 to the present, and while I couldn't take photos, I definitely wrote almost four pages of notes from the exhibit. People really aren't all that different through the ages - we all want to feel sexy and well-groomed and fashionable, and we're willing to wear dumb things occasionally to do it (although few things were as dumb as the cage crinolines that made dresses so wide that women would sometimes catch their dresses on fire and burn to death - the Victorian version of 'on fleek' was way riskier).

So, the exhibit was great, and I have more museum plans coming soon. Then I came back to Roam, dropped off my stuff (I bought a book on historical fashion, of course), and went to the department store to buy an electric kettle. This may be dumb, but I've got another month here and there have been many mornings already when I really wanted tea as soon as I woke up but didn't want to go down two flights of stairs and interact with strangers to do it. So I bought the cheapest kettle they had, which also happens to be dual-voltage so I can take it back to the US if I want.

Then I ran a couple more errands, came back to Roam again, and ordered Thai because I was starving and couldn't be bothered to cook. The Thai delivery was pretty tasty, and I ate while talking to Michelle (the community manager) since we were both staying in tonight. Then I came upstairs and messed around online and dealt with email, more preorder stuff, etc.

But that's all I have to say - tomorrow I need to write in the morning, because I have museum plans in the afternoon. Goodnight!

and it starts sometime around midnight

I'm so tired - considering that I got enough sleep last night, I think it's because of my introvert wall. Or it's because I spent 4+ hours driving home in rather treacherous conditions - it rained most of the way through the mountains and in the most traffic-y areas of the flatlands, which took more focus than your run-of-the-mill roadtrip. Or it's because I'm an octogenarian at heart, but I'm choosing not to believe that.

However, despite my incredible exhaustion, the trip was a success. I woke up this morning and showered and packed and helped clean out the house, and it all went quite smoothly. Grace and I were going to leave by ten, but we ended up hanging out with Anne and Barbara F until their ride showed up at 10:45, so we were later getting on the road than intended. But we had our usual highly entertaining car ride together - we talked about the unique vagaries of the historical romance publishing world, and we overanalyzed my relationships (all of my romance writer friends are married, and I think they find the modern dating world fascinating - or, as Grace called it, 'a special kind of hell' - and she's a trained psychologist, so I trust her judgment on this one). We also stopped at Starbucks for lunch and still made it to her place before three, so that was great.

I dropped her off and drove over the Golden Gate Bridge, which was as gorgeous as it ever is - unusually, it was raining in Marin and relatively clear in SF, so it felt like the skies opened up and welcomed me home on my way into the city (unlike my drive to Grace's last week, when the bridge was completely fogged over and everything else was clear). Then I came home and promptly lost all motivation and ability to function - as soon as I had the car in the garage, I was ready to pass out. However, I forced myself to stay up (although I ordered thai food instead of going to the grocery store and making an elaborate dinner like I'd fantasized about on the drive over the Golden Gate). And I watched two episodes of "Project Runway", which is about as much as I was capable of accomplishing. But now, even though it's not even ten, I'm going to go to bed - I have to get up early and pack some stuff and go off on another adventure, so sleep is more important than anything else. Goodnight!

panda panda panda panda panda panda panda

My last day as a thirty-four-year-old was a good mix of productivity and socializing, with some wine and annoyance to spice things up. I woke up and spent the morning cleaning - I still have some stuff to take care of tomorrow, but this was good enough for now. Then I realized I was going to be late for brunch, so I threw on some clothes and dashed down to the marina (okay, I walked slowly down to the marina - my squats/lunges/kettlebells on Thursday turned my legs to stone, and I feel like I can barely move) to have brunch with Kristen at Caffe Union.

As you all know by now, that's my favorite brunch spot - so after we were done with brunch, I spent some time hanging over the dutch door to the kitchen and catching up with Tony. But brunch with Kristen was great - I know her in multiple contexts, since she works for one of the ebook retailers (not the one I used to work for), and is also Barbara's daughter (the Barbara I went to Tahoe with and see 1-2x/week when I'm in town). Kristen and I didn't talk business at all, and it was totally delightful, and she shares a birthday with my sister and my granddad, so I'll have to go out with her again soon.

After that, I came home, grabbed my laptop, put Project Runway on in the background, and messed around with cover design and stock imagery for four hours. I probably should have been doing anything else, but I'm a little anal about covers, so I went way too deep (but I think the end result will be good). Also, having Project Runway on in the background is a good motivator, since I need Tim Gunn to tell me to make it work as many times as possible.

But I had to put my laptop away and go down to the mission for dinner. My lyft driver was friendly and interesting, and we had a good conversation about the tech world. And when I got to Locanda (my dinner spot for the evening), I ran into Javier, whom I hadn't seen in forever, so that was entertaining. But I was there to meet Claudia, and she ended up being forty-five minutes late, which meant that I was slightly infuriated and drank far too much wine (and ate a bit of eggplant) while waiting for her. Luckily the staff was cool about it, and again, I had a lot of wine, so that dulled the edge of my annoyance When she finally got there, I stayed mad for another fifteen seconds, but then I forgave her and we had a delightful catch-up session over gluten free pasta, so all is good.

When we were done, I came home and spend the last four hours doing more photoshop/cover stuff while watching more Project Runway. And now I'm desperate for sleep - I need to write tomorrow and also do birthday stuff, so recouping some energy (and sobering up) would be a good idea. Goodnight!

if i had the chance i'd ask the world to dance

I had an awesome first real day of the conference (although technically it still doesn't start until tomorrow, but since I just talked for about twelve hours straight, I'm going to count today as a conference day as well). I woke up after some v. fitful sleep, made more fitful by my temporary roommate's white noise app - the white noise was some kind of water theme, and I think I had to pee like five times last night as a result. Stupid.

Luckily, I switched rooms and roommates today, so no more white noise for me! I got up, showered, and checked out of the old room at ten, but the new room wasn't ready, so I stashed my bags and met up with Nalini for a couple of hours. We mostly chatted for the first hour and had an awesome time, and I got to eat some of the gluten free cookies that a German blogger had brought to her (Nalini's in a whole different stratosphere of success and has some super rabid fans because of her paranormal books, which tend to attract rabidity in fandom - so people come up and give her gifts, which is v. interesting). Then we actually wrote for half an hour, which was great - I thought about Lucretia for a little bit, and I hope to repeat that feat tomorrow.

After that, my roommate (whom I know as Sarah, but who is also Vivi and Lizzie) arrived, and we had a delightful lunch in the hotel - we have a ton to catch up on, and we started the process over food, which was v. welcome. Then, I had a business meeting with one of the retailers (fun), and then I did a bit of personal work before meeting up with Erin (a historical writer who is not the historical writer named Erin with whom I roomed last night) for a margarita and some discussion of non-traditional historical romances - very timely, since I kind of want to set my next series in Vienna in 1814 and that's not exactly common.

Then, oddly, I had a blast from the past - one of my former coworkers was in town for the conference rather unexpectedly, and she emailed this morning to see if I wanted to meet up. I loved working with her back in the day (Amanda was basically the second-in-command on the partnerships side, and I always liked her even when I was frustrated with her boss), so I was very glad to see her (and to get my former employer to buy me a glass of wine and some guacamole). We talked for an hour, and then one of her minions (Anna) joined us for another forty minutes, and it was great to hang out with both of them. And Anna kept saying how relaxed and happy I look, which is true, but may have also been because I was rocking a chic black jumpsuit and gold sandals, which is so far removed from what I wore at work that I must have looked like I am living a totally different life (which I am, I guess - #sorrynotsorry).

After that, I had like twenty minutes to check in to my new room, grab my bags, run upstairs, powder my nose (with real powder, not cocaine - I'm in San Diego, not Hollywood), and run back downstairs to meet up with people to go to Christie's house for a party. She lives here, so she had people over, and it was so fun - great to see her house, great to eat her food, and fun to hang out. But I bailed early because I was so exhausted, so I shared an uber back with a friend who works at Apple, and then I unpacked and washed my face and talked to my roommate a bit more.

And now that I've recapped all of that, it's really time for bed - goodnight!

strike a pose

Today was a long, lovely day, and I'm ready for bed (even though I should stay up all night and write...but maybe I'll do that tomorrow night). I got up fairly early and spent the morning chained to my laptop, which was quite productive once I got started. The writing process continues to intrigue and mystify me, but at least it's working now, so hopefully I'll produce a book worth publishing in the next month (doable, but I've got a lot of slogging to do before the end).

Anyway, a smoothie and a couple of coffees kept me going until noon, when I ate a sandwich and then showered/put on a dress/made up my face so that I could pursue my afternoon/evening activities. I had made this plan a month ago, back when I thought I was turning my book in to my editor last week instead of this coming week, and so while I was a little loath to socialize this afternoon from a timing perspective, I was super eager for the plan itself. I met Joann (of spinster honeymoon fame) and the original Jen Lui at the de Young, where we had tickets for the Oscar de la Renta exhibit. I hadn't been to the de Young since Jen got married there, and when they told me to meet them in the garden where she had gotten married, I had a brief moment of disorientation because I had been quite tipsy when I had arrived to her wedding (due to ill-advised champagne consumption while watching a football game) and so wasn't sure if I remembered where the garden was. But I found them, and we talked for a little bit before going in to the exhibit.

I thought it was all quite lovely - de la Renta's collections had many more wearable (or theoretically wearable) pieces than I've seen at some of the other fashion exhibits I've been to (namely Alexander McQueen, which was perhaps more stunning but also mostly crazytown). Of course, I might not have worn the pants that had fur hanging off the cuffs in a way that almost looked like a string of small rodents (or maybe that's exactly what I would wear, provided I became a postapocalyptic warlord, which is kind of my backup career choice). But I really enjoyed the exhibit, and I'm glad we caught it.

Then, we wandered around several other areas of the museum, including a great photography exhibit and a bunch of interesting stuff from Oceania (New Guinea, etc.), which made me think a little bit about the ethics of collecting stuff. All in all, it was a nice way to spend an afternoon, and since I recently bought a membership, I really should go there (and the Legion of Honor) more often, if only to people watch and scribble in my notebook in a more beautiful setting.

After we were done, we adjourned to Laurel Village (a neighborhood I never go to) for dinner at Spruce. We started with a drink at the bar, and I downed my tequila and strawberry cocktail in record time because it was quite refreshing. Then we had an amazing dinner - we split a kale caesar salad and some foie gras, and both were excellent. I had a pork loin for my entree, and I thought it was excellent - the pork was perfect, and it was served with a sweet potato puree and some random assortment of vegetables, all of which worked quite well together. We also split a deconstructed s'more and some chocolate mousse, and it was all quite delicious.

The verdict was that we would all go back if the opportunity presented itself. As it turns out, Spruce is owned by the same restaurant group that used to had Des Amis, and so I hugged one of the waiters who used to be at Des Amis (and whom I ran into too late in the meal, since we might have gotten comped some wine if Spruce had known about or acknowledged my former VIP status). Unfortunately, it's too far away from my house (and also too stuffy/expensive) to become my Des Amis replacement, but it was an excellent Saturday night outing - and gave us plenty of time to gossip and catch up and discuss a wide variety of topics.

We were done by eight, and Jen and Joann dropped me off on their way out of the city, which was perfect. Then, I did a little bit of work, but mostly fell down a wikipedia black hole - and now I think it would be better to sleep and start fresh tomorrow. Wish me luck with that - goodnight!

take this and take six, haters

I had thought that tonight would be a quiet, early night during which I could rest and recuperate...but as usual, I was wildly incorrect. Today was great, though - this conference has definitely been worth it (although I guess 'it' is ill-defined, and it's hard to say that going to Hawaii isn't worth 'it' ever, right?). But I feel like I've got tons of ideas (both writing and marketing/career) sparking, and I'm sucking in lots of energy (like an energy vampire, which is unusual for me since I am usually the energy donor rather than the vampire in many situations).

sssanyway - I had to take sudafed this morning and felt a little bit off all day as a result, but it was better than continuing the wracking cough/misery that I woke up to. I may have pushed it too hard yesterday, and I definitely pushed it too hard today, but I feel like I need to - the purpose is to make connections and learn things, which I'm doing. I went to the 8am breakfast, mostly because Barbara was speaking - and while she called out the people at her "friends table" who were writing too slowly (I felt affronted, but so did half the other people at the table, so I guess it probably wasn't directed just at me), her advice was generally spot-on.

Then I went to a Kobo talk (great), followed by a publisher talk, followed by an hour and a half break for lunch, which I spent in Christie's suite working/eating lunch with her and Monica. Then I went to a talk by another retailer (secret!) and had two quick 1:1 meetings (one was innocuous; the other convinced me that I need to write SPINSTER HONEYMOON immediately).

At that point, I hit the introvert wall hard, so I walked to the mall to pick up my altered pants (thankfully they look great and were perhaps worth the drama), and I also picked up the underwear I'd ordered from Nordstrom to be ready for me when I got there (I brought plenty, but failed to coordinate colors, so have several light dresses left and a whole bunch of hot pink/red/black to go underneath it, which doesn't really work so well). And I hit up Anthropologie, mostly because I needed a break from people and shopping was a fun way to spend an hour. The mall was way too large and way too fancy, but it was a good interlude.

Then I came back to my hotel and sat on my balcony for ten minutes while eating a granola bar and drinking iced coffee and staring at the ocean and making notes about the story brewing in my head. And then I met up with some of my friends for dinner - we walked down to a Mexican restaurant that had a gorgeous rooftop terrace, and we drank margaritas and replenished our Californian need for avocados.

After that, I should have gone to bed, but Anne lured me into going up to Christie's room again, and so I sat there from 8:30 to midnight like an idiot. Monica was there as well, and the four of us gossiped and had a hilarious time. At some point Barbara came back from her dinner, and things went a bit off the rails (Christie told some story of a woman almost dying in the house she was buying, and we ended up talking more about politics than is usually advisable), but it was all super fun...and I continue to learn things even when things are off the rails, so I guess that's good.

But now I need to get the 6.5hrs of sleep that I'm going to eke out tonight - tomorrow is chock full of meetings and I'm not sure I'm going to survive it, but I'll try my best. After I get through tomorrow, the rest of it is gravy (Pearl Harbor + dinner plans on Thursday, a couple of meetings on Friday that I may skip in favor of more beach time), so hopefully I remember that perspective when I wake up surly and sleepy in the morning. Goodnight!

the word is on the street that the fire in your heart is out

It's 2:30am on the east coast, and I'm beyond exhausted...but I've successfully arrived in Boston, where I intend to enjoy my friends and work for a couple of days before heading back to SF on Wednesday. Today was another all-out death march of fun, but it started with dragging myself out of bed and packing and showering when all I wanted to do was lie there and dream of salads (I've reached the point in the trip, probably after the foie gras at Momofuku, when I really want to each something bland and lettuce-y).

However, I made it out of the hotel by eleven, and I met up with Terry for brunch so that I could say goodbye to her. We went to Blue Dog, which Terry picked solely because the huevos rancheros were mentioned in the Yelp reviews and she knows what it takes to help me recover. As it turns out, the huevos were delish - crispy tortillas underneath, with black beans and three eggs (and a side of bacon and a massive cup of coffee to try to complete the cure). However, while Terry's company was delightful and it was great to see her one last time, she also knew me well enough to see that I was fading by the end. So we went back to her place, where she insisted that I take a twenty-minute nap, which may have been the only thing that saved me today.

But naps cannot last forever, so I said my sad farewells, grabbed a cab, and met Tammy (aka Tammmmmeehhhh) at the Met. We saw the "China: Through the Looking Glass" fashion exhibit, which both of us had wanted to see rather desperately, so it's great that we were able to do it together. The dresses were, for the most part, either totally gorgeous or so ridiculous as to be really entertaining. We also took a brief swing through the "Sultans of Deccan India" exhibit, which had a bunch of diamonds, garnets, and other jewels and artifacts from India. All in all, it was a lovely way to spend the afternoon (despite the crowds), and there's perhaps no one else I'd rather go to a clothing exhibit with than Tammy, so that was fun.

After the museum, we met up with her boyfriend (who had no interest in fashion...ridic) and had a highly overpriced drink at Bar Pleiades. The drink was actually super tasty, but the neighborhood encourages outlandish prices. Still, it was a lovely way to spend an hour before parting ways with Tammy and Daniel and walking over to Central Park's Bethesda Fountain for my next rendezvous...

...which was with Ritu, Bill, Steph and Jon, who had spent the day wandering around and were ready for me to join them in their peregrinations. Oddly, as we sat there, we were eventually joined by Adit, who is in town for the weekend and ran four miles to say hi to us. This yielded vast quantities of sweat, so I didn't hug him, but other than that things were pretty much as normal. So we talked to him for thirty minutes or so before I insisted that we leave him behind so that we could have dinner before our respective train trips.

Dinner was duly accomplished at Jaiya Thai, where we had some v. spicy curry, some lovely duck, delish pad thai, and a terrible rum cocktail (but then, I didn't want a cocktail, so I don't regret not finishing it. Then I ran back to my hotel to grab my bags, and I rendezvoused with Ritu and Bill at Penn Station, where we caught a train to Boston. We inadvertently sat in the quiet car, which meant Ritu and I spent the vast majority of the trip (until we fell asleep thirty minutes from Boston) whispering secrets to each other while drinking a bunch of inferior cafe car wine (which they ran out of almost immediately, so it was good we bought three small bottles while they had them).

Now, I'm safely ensconced in Ritu and Bill's guest room, and I need to sleep properly before I pass out. Goodnight!

more than a feeling

I had a lovely, rather unusually nice day today, with a decent combination of work + playing hooky + homemaking to keep me energized. I got up earlyish and was at the cafe by 8am, where I did an hour and a half of work before Kathia picked me up for our day's adventure. We went up to Sonoma to hang out for a few hours, and it was totally delightful - it was quite warm up there, which gave me a chance to wear the awesome black sundress I bought for Bora Bora (but never got around to wearing there). We wandered around the square for awhile, eventually settling down at a cafe to have a glass of champagne since the tasting rooms weren't open yet (how dare they not serve wine at 10:30am on a Tuesday!).

But eventually things did open, and we had a leisurely, totally delicious lunch at The Girl and the Fig. We split some radishes (not my fave, but they were good enough) and a bowl of their corn bisque (totally my fave), and then we each had a steak, which made my heart and my stomach happy. We also had wine flights (whites for me and picpoul for Kathia, which is a white varietal that I'd never heard of before), and the sommelier was so freaking excited about explaining the picpoul flight that it was v. adorable to watch.

Eventually, though, Kathia abandoned me so that she could get a massage (the reason she was going to Sonoma; I was along for the ride), and so I wrote for an hour and a half while nursing an iced tea against the heat at another cafe's outdoor patio. Then she picked me up and we made it back to the city by four, which was perfect - I desperately needed to do laundry tonight in preparation for my trip, and I also wanted to clean my bathroom, unpack the picture frames I ordered a month ago to make sure none of them were broken before the return deadline passed, etc., etc.

So, all of that was duly accomplished, and I only spent an hour or so messing around on the internet and distracting myself in the meantime. Oh, and I took a nap, but that was v. necessary after the wine+writing+sun. And now you know everything I care to tell you, and I must sleep so that I can write before the gym tomorrow - goodnight!

everything you touch surely dies

My first full day in London was gorgeous - well, gorgeous if you're a hermit who likes Regency-type activities like walking and writing. I got almost ten hours of sleep last night, which was v. v. necessary, and awoke feeling refreshed and in a much better mood than the one I was in when I left Germany (I would spit here, but you wouldn't see it and I would have to clean it up, and besides, I'm not good at spitting). Then I took a v. nice shower and abandoned my posh hotel to wander around London for awhile.

My first stop was breakfast(ish) at Le Pain Quotidien, which appears to be London's version of SF's La Boulange, but with table service. My eggs and prosciutto were delicious, my coffee slightly less so, but it was a good place to write in my journal for an hour and try to meditate my way out of my own head and back into Thorington's (is that creepy to say?). Then I walked for approximately two and a half hours straight without any real goal in mind other than to wander around and get inspired. I strolled through Hyde Park, walked along the Serpentine and cursed the geese, delighted in seeing random British things like overblown gold-encrusted fountains and unexpected horsemen, and ended up in Mayfair. There I wandered with even less direction, admiring the very lovely doors on the ultraposh townhouses. I also did some window shopping at some of the most ridiculous fashion stores around - the only one I was tempted to go into was Marc by Marc Jacobs, which begins to look like a bargain basement compared to Louboutin, Celine, Jenny Packham, and the like, but I spared my wallet and stayed outside looking in like an urchin.

After that, I returned to my hotel in South Kensington, ready to stop walking and start writing. But first I took a nap. And then I went downstairs and had afternoon tea while starting my reread of Thorington - afternoon tea is a much healthier endeavor when one is avoiding gluten and so can only have the grilled chicken + salad. But the tea was great and the room was gorgeous (with the exception of the toddler who screamed most of the time I was there with relatively little effort made by his parents to tame him). And between that + working in my room most of the evening, I'm almost done with my readthrough. It was slower going than it should have been because I kept letting myself get distracted by technology, but c'est la vie.

And now I'm going to sleep even though I'd wanted to finish the read-through tonight - I'd rather keep resting up so I can survive the next push. All in all I'm really happy with where the story is, though - I need to make some tweaks, but nothing major, and I have high hopes that I'm very close to done (with the exception of a final scene that I still haven't written, ugh). Goodnight!

girl, you really got me now, you got me so i don't know what i'm doin'

First, can I say that I wish writing a romance novel was as easy as writing the lyrics to "You Really Got Me" by Van Halen. I mean, even "Jump" is a lyrical masterpiece compared to that. If only I could repeat a chapter or two over and over again and sell it as a finished book...but alas, I cannot.

sssanyway, I'm still in Dallas, and I accomplished everything I set out to do today (other than finishing my book, which ain't happening this weekend). I got some sleep, checked in with the people for the conference and dropped off a bunch of those #&@%ing excerpt booklets that have been the bane of my existence for the past four months so that they could put them in the goody bags for the conference attendees, and then had lunch at an awesome French bistro nearby that one of the conference coordinators recommended to me. Their roast chicken was great, as were the fries, and I drafted a bit of the next scene of zee romance novel while drinking diet coke and enjoying life.

After lunch, I enjoyed life a little too hard by going across the street to Anthropologie and buying an utterly ridiculous coat that I should probably take back (but I know I won't, because it's the most awesome thing I've ever worn). Then I went to the gift store next to it and bought scented votives and a basket and some organza bags for the favors I'm giving out at my luncheon table tomorrow, and then I went to the fancy grocery store in the same shopping center to get tea and hot chocolate for the same basket. My basket ended up super cute - a copy of each of my books, the tea/hot chocolate, and the votives/candleholders. Yes, this is my life now.

I spent the rest of the afternoon working, but I rallied in time to go to the welcome reception/dinner/general hangout, where I sat with a fun table of people and ended up eating pizza that I shouldn't have eaten because I wasn't hungry enough to eat dinner at five p.m. and then thing unexpectedly went until ten p.m. rather than ending at 7:30 like I had expected. Still, it was fun, and I'm excited for tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, though, I should really sleep so that I can wake up in time to blowdry my hair - this is Texas, after all, and I'm not sure I'm allowed to show my face in public with wet hair. Goodnight!

you didn't have to cut me off

I'm curled up in Katie and James's guest bed in Denver, which is v. lovely -- and a much better end to my day than the start was, given that I woke up thirty minutes before my 4:05am alarm because I had a nightmare that ended with a bunch of children stabbing me to death with sharpened spoons. Ugh. So I sort of laid in bed for a bit until the alarm went off, but the dream was too creepy to sleep any longer. Then I got out of bed, showered, etc., and left the house on time -- only to park my car and arrive at the terminal to discover a v. v. long line for check in. So long that I tried to use the curbside baggage check, and still waited there long enough that they came through the line and culled those of us on my flight so they could check the bags in time. Then I begged my way into the priority security line, and I made my Southwest flight in time to board in the A group as I was assigned, which means I scored a precious middle seat. As it turns out, I chose poorly, since I was across the aisle from a threesome of strangers who would not shut the fuck up the entire way, which was super annoying since I just wanted to sleep and instead was considering turning my dream into a reality, only in reality I would be wielding the sharpened spoons and they would be mourning their eviscerations.

I just took a deep breath...I'm back. Anyway, I landed in Denver and Katie and James picked me up at the airport. We proceeded to have a v. lovely day; we hung out at home for a bit while James helped me to mainline coffee, and then we went out for brunch/lunch at a really cute cafe, where I had possibly the best huevos rancheros variation I've ever had. Then we abandoned James and went to a Yves Saint Laurent exhibit at a museum in Denver, which was v. lovely and made both me and Katie feel quite acquisitive. We refrained from spending all of our hardearned money at the museum gift shop, however, and instead went for tea at a nearby teashop and spent an hour catching up on life.

By this point I was looking rather haggard (Katie was too polite to say it, but I sensed her trying to distance herself from my beatdown face), so we came home and I napped for half an hour. Properly refreshed, we went to a Cuban restaurant that was totally fantastic; the wait was half an hour, so I had two mojitos at the bar and another mojito at dinner, which, Katie and James rightfully pointed out, was a bold move given my airplane dehydration + the altitude here. But the food was amazing -- we split some arepas and some plantain chips, and then Katie and I split a steak entree and some paella that was some of the best paella I've had in recent memory. Then we came home and ended up watching "Revenge of the Nerds" after I said I'd never seen it before; I'm pretty sure that in this household, I would be the nerd, but I wear my shame proudly. And now, I really should sleep if I'm going to overcome my likely hangover + my sleep deprivation in time to be a good guest and greet my hosts pleasantly in the morning -- goodnight!