YeahSureRight

Oh, What a Time We Had

And… she’s back! Four glorious days in not so sunny San Francisco. Went for a vacation, came back more tired than I really ever want to be again. As you can tell by my holiday schedule:

Thursday: Go to work until 2pm, drive home, Vieve picks me up at 2:30pm, we go to the airport. As we only have carry-on and no one flies at 5:05pm on Thursday, the airport is relatively quiet.

We get on the plane sometime after finally locating a place that sells Snapple and fly to Las Vegas (Vegas, baby, Vegas!). I can’t remember what we do in Vegas, but we eventually get on another plane and fly to San Francisco. We had planed on taking the train to the LLS’s casa but we were informed upon our arrival that the new roommate who has a car would be picking us up. So no train that night (thank god, I hate metros; I get motion sick on them).

So we head into the city and meet the household and cats, eat pizza and go to bed (Vieve on the couch, me on the air mattress). It’s about 1am.

Friday: LLS decided she needs another tattoo just in time for our mother’s visit so we head down to the Castro and have brunch before she is inked. A little window shopping and she settles in to have a dragonfly permanently attached to her shoulder (the perennial lesbian tattoo location). V and I need something to do so we head next door to get manicure where we are told that we are 2 of their few female customers (this is the Castro, mind you, a gay neighborhood in a gay town, go fig).

I learn what a “bear” is. You don’t want to know.

That night we go to a play as part of the SF Fringe Festival. It’s about DH Lawrence. And while I applaud anyone who puts something of themselves out there for the public, I have to say two things:

1) There is a time and a place for a DH Lawrence historical play. It’s at the DH Lawrence Festival and Conference at Nottingham University, England.

2) If you are going to attempt accents in a play, practice them first. New Hampshire cannot pass for German, nor can Yiddish; or Southern for New Zealand. It was abysmal.

After the play, which was more fun to make fun of than watch, we go out for Turkish food (at Sultan Kabob) with V’s friend Tim and his friends. The group is lively and worldly, all very interesting and I spent much of the meal talking with Karina and Sherwin. She’s Latvian, he’s Indian American and they live in Latvia and will until their baby is born. Also in the mix were Alex and Cho. He’s from Yorkshire, she’s from China and they live in the city. Also there are Tim of course and Jeff. Jeff is visiting from England and we talked most of the night, during dinner, walking through the streets, at the bar (Blur). I think it’s very interesting that Jeff made it a point to sit next to me though the night. It could have been that my dress kept opening up and revealing my pink underwear, or it could be my sparkling personality. I am going to go with a combination of the two. It’s all about the panties and personality. Anyway, the boys walk us to the train that night near the original League of Nations, which is very cool and I am glad I saw it at night because it is in the worst part of town. I should have made out with Jeff.

V and I get the last train home and get to bed around 1am.

LLS rudely wakes us at 6am to help get her house ready for the party. We decorate and plan and mix and eventually, we go out and find breakfast in the neighborhood, at a sweet little dive up the street run by a very friendly Asian couple.

My parents arrive with the food and we set all that out, there is, as usual at one of my mother’s parties, way too much. People start arriving. They are all from the LLS’s office and all very nice, gifts and speeches are given, LLS’s partner, me, V and Erica go to the grocery store (where they sell alcohol! So not fair!). And she offers us her Brandi Carlile tickets for that night. She bought them a while ago not thinking about the party and so we go.

Very good show, A Fine Frenzy opened. There were twins (in Brandi’s band). It was at the historic Fillmore, a very famous venue somewhat near Haight-Ashbury (which has a GAP now, it’s so wrong). Apparently though, when San Franciscans get drunk, they don’t believe in the concept of personal space so I had a woman’s ass in my face for most of the second encore (we had seats in the side balcony). It was a great show, lots of energy and humor.

OK, so that’s Saturday. I was also invited to Melanie’s wedding (the reason V was out on the coast) that day.

We wake up frikkin early as we have to get the rental car ($70 each or a 6 hour train ride, you decide) at 8am and drive down to San Jose to meet another of V’s friends, Julie this time, for breakfast. We go to this cute little place and talk and eat. We ate so much on this trip, it’s not even funny. Always, they suggest that since we have the whole day to kill that we should go to Santa Cruz and play on the beach. A stunning idea since SC is only a half hour away and they have ocean there. So we go and play on the boardwalk, walk on the beach, eat some carnival food and look at seals and the outrageously priced souvenirs and move on our merry way back to SJ for the wedding.

We are pretty much the first non-party guests to arrive so we get ready in the hotel bathroom and primp a little. It’s a good thing I bought that other dress in the Castro and wore it to the LLS’s shindig. Otherwise I would have had nothing to wear to the wedding.

Anyway, I have to start out by saying that the wedding it being held at this mansion/hotel/former home compound thing. It’s gorgeous and manicured and perfect. Even the carpets match the wedding colors. The CHUPAH was already set up and just needed to be decorated; the chairs were in place so we were seated.

The ceremony was beautiful. The groom’s (Steve) brother-in-law was the efficient along with a traditional cantor, the bride cried during her vows. They both looked very happy.

Then, COCKTAIL HOUR! I had one champagne and met and talked with some very nice people.

Dinner was salmon or beef, I had salmon. The table V and I sat at (apart so we wouldn’t just talk to each other, more for my own good than hers) was very cool. Everyone was really nice and cool and talkative and funny. There was Ben and Emily (the roll thief and the artist thinking about studying in Paris for a year), Doug and Jessica (brother and sister, both very funny, Doug was very cute too, should have made out with him too). Melinda the world traveler, Rachel, etc. the list goes on and on. It was a small but very fun crowd. I danced with the bride’s brother (I lead), who looks just like this boy I dated in high school, and it was freaky.

More dancing, laughing, frolicking and the crowd wanes, there is cake.

The after-party is in the basement bar. You would think the bride and groom would be tired, but no, they are going strong, as are most of the young people at the festivities. We, however, have to drive home that night so we say out goodbyes and head home. We are in bed by 1am.

Monday: We relax and get on more planes and come home.

I need a vacation from my vacation.

posted by HelloBettyLou @ 1:39 PM