my people
i can't seem to get it together
i have wanted to sit down and blog this post for a while but just haven't had the time
so here i am at 10pm on thursday night FINALLY finding the time
a few weeks ago we finally took a post graduation (for us both) and post bar vacation.
we headed out west to see mary, dusty, their new house (they moved in two years ago) and of course davis, blue and coco ray (the animals). we stayed for almost a week. totally unheard of.
we left early on friday morning, so early we arrived on the west coast by noon. dusty picked us up after taking the dogs she walks/trains to the beach so it was me, jes, dusty and a bunch of dogs. we got to their beautiful house, checked things out, got some lunch, and then took a nap. after the nap mary and i went and did yoga while jes and dusty hung out and then we went back to their house and had a DELICIOUS dinner of lasagna and mary's peach and blackberry pie. yall, it was seriously the best pie i have ever had. the crust was TO DIE FOR. i miss it. anywho, here is a cute picture of dusty and blue:
and here is one of mary and blue surfing the web:
here is davis watching the olympics:
and here is the best picture ever of mary and her family from back in the day:
like most nights, on friday night we played some dominoes and watched the olympics. i pretty much passed out on the couch by like 9:30pm west coast time (after midnight here in the atl).
on saturday morning we went to the beach with the dogs. it was a cold and foggy morning but it felt good compared to the overwhelming heat of the last few months here in atlanta. after that we did a little shopping and then headed to a bday party for our friend sarah little bangs (that is what i call her). there was homemade pizza and delicious organic ice cream. i liked the salty caramel, jes liked the honey lavender. i think it tasted like soap.
on sunday we went to a baseball game: giants vs. dodgers. it was so much fun. after the foggy cold morning on saturday the rest of our time there was warm and lovely. i was worried i would be cold at the game b/c the park is on the water so i brought a jacket. instead we were sweating buckets b/c the sun was beating down on us. mary got an organic grass fed hot dog and the rest of us got veggie dogs and then we also got these amazing garlic fries. jes and i also got a beer. it was so much fun. the bleachers were definitely where it is at. i think we all took naps after the game b/c the sun wore us out, but then we got up and had this really nice dinner at this place called the liberty cafe. jes and i shared an amazing chicken pot pie and i got a divine glass of pinot noir. back at home it was all dominoes and olympics. here's a picture of all of us at dinner:
and here is one of the cutest cat in california, co co ray:
on monday we headed out to inner sunset to walk around and then to go to golden gate park. before we walked around the park we stopped at the botanical gardens which were FREE to get into (score!) we saw so many lovely plants that i have never seen anywhere else. jes got all artsy and took a bunch of amazing photos. here are a few:
after the botanical garden we headed to the conservatory to see all the flowers. when i lived in san francisco after my masters i worked in golden gate park at a non profit that worked to raise money to save the conservatory. it was in bad ways and now it looks like its really been re done. my favorite part was the fields of dahlias. after that we walked through the haight and then the castro and got some sammies and hung out in dolores park.
on tuesday morning we got coffee and pastries and then jes and i headed to the east bay to eat lunch with my friends mel, krista and mel's baby boy julian. mel's partner tanner had to work so we didn't get to see him. it was great to catch up with them b/c i usually only see them at IDKE once a year. here is a picture of mel and julian:
i mean how cute is that kid?
and here is krista, mel and me:
after lunch krista had to go to the airport on her way to the femme conference in chicago and mel had to go back to work too. so jes and i took the bart back to the city, got off at embarcadero and walked all the way to the castro where we met up with erica and heidi who were vacationing from brooklyn. jes had never really been to the water up by fisherman's wharf so we walked over so she could see it. here is us with the bridge:
erica and heidi were staying at a bed and breakfast in the castro so we met up with them, walked them around a bit so they could see dolores park, the women's building in the mission, and some pretty views of the city. after that, we headed to the lexington club for a few drinks. it was nice to reconnect with them and relax with a few black and tans. here is a picture of jes with erica and heidi:
so after drinks we headed back to mary and dusty's for our final meal. instead of going out to eat, we just wanted to eat a nice simple meal at home. we decided on grilled cheese sandwiches. mary made a kale salad to go with it. where i come from you don't eat kale ever (i have IBS people) but you CERTAINLY don't eat it with grilled cheese. so jes and i decided we had to get some frozen french fries to combat the kale. now two beers on fairly empty stomach makes donna and jes a little drunkadoozles. so we laughed and punched each other (don't ask) the whole way home. ok, i will explain: jes was set on getting the fries at safeway a few blocks passed mary's house, but i wanted to check each and every bodega along the way. i failed and we got them at safeway. now the other thing you need to know is that jes MUST have mayo with her fries. mary + dusty = NO MAYO ever. they DID have nanonaise (fake mayo) but that WOULD NOT DO for jes. so she stops at the fucking burger king across from their house to get some mayo and the lady WOULD NOT GIVE IT TO HER. she told jes they were "out." jes was so mad she mad this face at our camera:
how fucking hilarious is that?
for the record, the fries were a huge hit, we ate the whole bag AND the kale salad was delicious, but i only at a little b/c my belly can't handle it. after that we chillaxed and probably watched the olympics. it was an amazing trip. super relaxing and filled with sunshine, great food and lots of love. it was hard to leave and we really miss mary and dusty, but we were happy to get back to the cats.
i will leave you with a picture of my favorite part of mary and dusty's house: their gorgeous kitchen:
ohmygod it took me 1.5 hours to write this post. i did watch miami ink and the cho show while doing it. forever the multitasker.
peace.
