Birthday/Anniversary Weekend Round Up

Brace for rambling. After that: photos.

My weekend turned out infinitely better than expected (no offense, Mr. Boyfriend-O-Mine).

After a lot of worrying on my part (and nagging about making sure Cheeto and Little One were taken care of), my boyfriend picked me up from work on Friday. The kick-buttiness commenced. First we dropped off Cheeto at her old foster mom's house (she's a celebrity dog trainer, apparently, but gives a nice boarding discount to rescue animals). Next we picked up delish Earl Grey tea bobas and pot roast sammiches from the Urth Caffe (you're probably going to notice an eating theme here, btw). Then Mr. Boyfriend-O-Mine asked me to enter our destination into my phone's navigator application.

Our surprise destination: "Cat's Favorite Beach.*" Nicely done, Mr. Boyfriend-O-Mine.

We left early enough in the day to enjoy the sights on our way up to the Bay Area. Traffic moved along nicely, though we passed two separate cars whose engines had caught on fire. Not just smoking fire, actual flame fire. Scary. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get my camera in time.

That camera comment sounds callous, upon second reading. The people in the cars were fine. For the record.

Anyway, we ate dinner at a favorite burrito place in my old neighborhood in San Francisco, stopped in at a Safeway to grab an It's It (which I hadn't had for over 10 years - just as amazing as I remembered) and arrived at the beach at about 10 that evening. I hopped out of the car to find he'd rented a cabin, complete with a fireplace and kitchen. Awesome.

What made this all extra sweet was the fact that I practically grew up at this beach. My family and I spent weeks upon weeks staying in a family friend's beach house. In other words: my boyfriend not only listened to what I had said about these fond memories - he actually remembered. (He's a keeper.)

Morning one involved a breakfast of biscuits & gravy, potatoes and eggs. AND a mocha with whipped cream. Mmm. Then we went for a long walk on the beach, unfortunately spotted a rotting seal carcass being consumed by turkey vultures (sad!), then got caught up in the tide. We retreated back to the cabin just in time for lunch. Yes, lunch. Breakfast was heavy, but I made a point of not eating all of it. Anyhoo, I indulged in a free-range organic beef burger from my old favorite burger stand, a couple of fries and a half and half soft-serve ice cream cone. Heaven. And yes, all diets are off on birthday weekends. Besides, winter is upon us. I need to prepare to hibernate.

Post lunch, we wandered around the tiny beach town and hit up my old haunts - the charming bookstore whose owner hand picks each and every book (I found a coloring book that I remembered filling in as a kiddo) and a supermarket with a surprising array of organic and other nummy foods. Then we went on a drive past a lagoon (gooorgeous AND there were lots of cute duckies) and ventured into a rather secretive smaller beach community. Also gorgeous with enormous trees and lots and lots of green foliage all around.

Next we drove back into San Francisco, wandered around the Palace of Fine Arts, then hunted for Manchurian beef (not the same as Mongolian. Apparently it's a NorCal thing).

Sunday we had brunch at the same restaurant we ate breakfast in the day before. I think I had soup, but it was overshadowed by a really awesome smoothie and a cute dog inhabiting the doorway of the restaurant. We then took a looooong walk on the beach, showered and primped for socializing, and drove to Vallejo to chill with my super awesome cousin. Post chillin', we wen't out with a few other super awesome cousins (and one's super awesome girlfriend) for Chinese food. Post-Chinese food, we went to a super awesome cousin's house and hung out with their super adorable Corgi/Jack Russel mix. Which reminded me of Cheeto, but I made sure I didn't focus on missing her for too long.

* Cat's favorite beach = this place:


Found at my fav. burrito place:


Japanese tea garden goodness:





These guys reminded me of this. "They see me roll on, my Segway, I know in my heart they think I'm white n' nerdy!" Thanks, Weird Al.


Pretty drive near the ocean:
Palace of Fine Arts:


Mmmudpie:
Beach:


More Japanese Tea Garden:


It's them!
More Beach:
Cool cousin and cute puplet:
Additional Japanese Tea Garden:
Biscuits-n-Gravy:

That's gay.

Rachel Maddow made me cry. I mean, I love her and all, but one of her stories tonight got me all teary.

No, it wasn't because I had to look at Dick Cheney's ugly mug.

Instead it was this story. The Iraq veteran and West Point graduate who came out on Rachel's show was inevitably dismissed from the National Guard because of their ridiculous "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. I hadn't seen the original interview where he announced his sexuality on air before, and seeing the clip of it today made me cry.

Jump to 1:27

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

As the daughter of two very liberal parents in San Francisco, I grew up not realizing that "gay" was different. Love is love is love, I thought. Then I moved to Montana and BAM: those things I thought were archaic - racism, sexism, homophobia ... they were still hanging around. There are many, many beautiful things about the state, but leaving my San Francisco bubble left me, well, shell shocked. It wasn't Montana's fault - this hatred exists all over the place. I just didn't know it. I didn't expect to read, "I'm sorry, but men are funnier" in the judges' comments from my speech and debate rounds. I didn't expect that my mom would be confronted and threatened for her race. I didn't expect to hold my friends close as they cried and came out to me, because they didn't know who else they could tell.

So when Proposition 8 (hate) passed in California, my heart dropped. I anxiously await the California Supreme Court's ruling. When hopefully-soon-to-be-ex Miss California Carrie Prejean decided to spread her hatred, I was livid. (And seriously, half-nude, underage photographs, breast implants and you're trying to preach the word of Jesus? Uh ungh. Go away.)

But then Maine legalized gay marriage. And Dan Choi bravely risked his noble military career by coming out publically. And my dear friend got engaged.

Love is winning.

And it makes me cry.

Sweet tears of joy.

Reasons why I'm happy to be in California

#1,003,294,298,335,682

This is what my parents' house looks like today:

Now imagine the opposite of that.

Throw in some smog.

Voila! You have LA!

City Lust

I want to have a torrid love affair with the city of Los Angeles.

And I don't mean its inhabitants.

I want to love this place. I *enjoy* a few things ... but nothing has helped me overcome the bland sea of BMWs, Lexus and Mercedes. Or those days where you can taste the air. Well, less taste and more chew. The way Santa Monica beach smells like a Port-A-Potty. Or the plastic people and wild materialism. The inflated sense of self entitlement. The good, but never amazing food.

I've been here for over two years now.

Hurry up, LA. Seduce me.

Catching Up #3

Thanksgiving was all kinds of wonderful. Not only did I get to go to San Francisco for the first time in ages, I also got to hang out with my dad's side of the family (also for the first time in ages).

Lucky me - I had two thanksgiving dinners.

I brought this: Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Brown Sugar & Pecans

It may sound simple, but it's freaking delicious. Make sure to double the topping.

Catching up #2

People who know me well know that I talk about San Francisco incessantly. I grew up there, for the most part, and it very much defines who I am. Without much warning I moved to Montana mid-high school, which also very much defines who I am. It's a strange existence now - I'm not sure if I'll ever feel fully at peace living in either place. I have dear friends and family in both Montana and California. If I had it my way, I'd relocate the friends and family to Northern Cali. Oh well. Dare to dream.

Anyway, I managed to go back to San Francisco for the first time in eight years over my Thanksgiving break. I have to admit that I started bawling when I caught a glimpse of my old neighborhood. I was born in our old apartment. Thrilled and saddened, I saw that the front door was exactly the same as when I left. In stealthy stalker mode, I snuck a peek through the window to the lobby. Also exactly the same. The front door to our old apartment, clearly visible through the window, had the same cheap wooden door as before. It was a replacement from the time my little brother tripped and fell forward into the glass pane that previously served as our front door. He nearly killed himself; the thing cut through his neck. He still has the scars today.

More important than my old apartment - the food. Several of my old haunts were still around, so I just had to get a taste of my childhood. Due to time constraints, I was only able to make it to one place.
Mmm.

$8.95 for this:

Post-food, I insisted that the boyfriend and I take a walk to my old park.
First, the church next to the park. If I were religious, I'd get married here in a heartbeat.



My park.


The trees were all ready for the annual lighting ceremony.
They end up looking like this:
(Not my photo)


(Also not my photo)


We also did a drive by of the Palace of Fine Arts.

My lovely cousin got us tickets to the Dickens Fair at the Cow Palace (glamorous name, yes?). We dropped by on our way out of town.

I ended up chasing after a rabbit on a bicycle, trying to get a photo.


I didn't do a very good job.


Well, at least I got one of him off-bike. I also ran into Samuel Pickwick.

Overall, a very fun trip, albeit short. I really enjoyed getting to know my family as an adult.

Did I just refer to myself as an adult?

Crap.