Watch It: New Moon

I can't say it any better than the friends who were with me (without sounding like a total fangirl psycho)

JD

and

Whitney

Try It: Thai Boxing

I checked out a thai boxing facility for a 1-1 session prior to signing up for cardio class membership.

Things I wish I'd known prior to going:

1. How to wrap my hands

I was handed two, long pieces of material and placed in front of a placard like this:

(from Ironside)

I wrapped, unwrapped, and rewrapped for twenty eight minutes. At one point, the gym's owner encouragingly explained why he would not assist me: "I could give you a fish. Or I could give you a fishing line and show you how to fish." Which doesn't take into account my proclivity to tangle the fishing line around my neck and strangle myself.

2. There are 7 types of punches.

That's a lot, dude.

3. Humans have the potential to stink like hell.

I was worked over for an hour (apparently my 28 minutes of wrap time didn't count towards my session). Punching, kicking, striking, and blocking all while shuffling my feet. I. Was. RANK.

4. Have dinner ready before your workout

I was so exhausted I could barely keep my hand from shaking to get out the bag of rice. Thank goodness the hubby stepped in to finish up or I would have passed out.

5. Thai Boxing is super addicting

I had to join the gym!! I'm skipping out on the fight training and sticking with the cardio classes but it should be awesome.

** UPDATE ** It's a few hours later, and my pinky toe nail just ripped off, I'm guessing from all the kicks. Mother. Effing. OUCH.

Eat It: Farmer Brown's Breakfast Buffet

I'm not a fan of typical breakfast food.

Pancakes and waffles are eh. Eggs, unless poached with soy sauce, are ick. Cereal? Why? Just - WHY? It makes no sense. It's like...some kind of...crunchy oaty stuff with sugar and food coloring and you put milk on it? EWWWWW.

But the breakfast buffet at Farmer Brown's? GENIUS!

It's $15 all you can eat fried chicken, bacon, eggs, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, home potatoes, grits, fruit, and sweet potato pie. (For another $15 you get a bottomless mimosa.)

Did I mention the fried chicken and bacon?
Did I mention ALL YOU CAN EAT?

This was my first plate. I went back for more.


The best part of all, as always, is sharing finger lickin' goodness with friends including Vicki (on the right), who is my go-to girl for major food indulgences. Although I was slacking this time and couldn't follow up our smorgasbord with our usual BiRite ice cream run. Sorry Vicki! Next time I'll train and expand my stomach better.

Visit It: San Francisco

As someone who likes to travel, I'm skeptical of travel guides and whether they recommend the best places to visit and eat.

As a San Francisco local, here's my take on the latest issue of AAA's Via magazine's San Francisco picks.

Recommendations which I endorse and which part of my local's life:
-Posh pies at Pizzeria Delfina
-Crissy Field
-Ferry Plaza Saturday farmer's market (although I go on Tuesday, and there's an argument that "real" locals hit up Alemany but that's out of my way)
-AT&T Park and McCovey Cove
-Banh mi sandwiches in Tenderloin's Little Saigon
-Miette sweet shops
-Rainbow Grocery
-People watching at Tartine Bakery
-Mitchell's Ice Cream
-Bernal Heights for Moki's Sushi and Wild Side West drinks (the former)
-Green Apple Books
-Fog rolling through Golden Gate
-The Zoo
-GG Park and the Cal Acad of Sciences
-Castro Theater

Recommendations which I endorse and which I indulge in occasionally:
-Flax Art & Design
-The Legion of Honor with its classic view of the GG Bridge
-Architecture and views in the Presidio
-Biking on Angel Island (hiking, not biking, for me)
-Exploratorium and the Palace of Fine Arts dome
-Cartoon Art Museum
-Cocktails at Cliff House
-Fort Funston
-Amoeba Music
-Seward Street slides
-Baker Beach
-Fort Point
-Beach Blanket Babylon
-Chinatown
-Great American Music Hall

Recommendations I haven't tried, but which sound pretty cool and are on my list:
The Flower Mart
The Opera
Alternative films at the Roxie Theater

Moral - The list was 50/50 on picking local experiences, skipped over tourist traps (e.g. Alcatraz, Pier 39 which I also recommend but which, are, definitely, touristy), and didn't recommend anything that made me roll my eyes so let's put AAA on my list of trusted travel mags!

Try It: Diva For A Day

Full Disclosure: I'm lazy about personal upkeep.

I don't wear makeup.
I don't own makeup except clear mascara and chapstick.
I don't wash my face. Sometimes water trickles on it in the shower.
I use sunscreen. No scrubs or creams or serums.
I don't brush my hair.
Every year on my birthday, I use white strips on my teeth. You know those Crest strips you use for 30 minutes, twice a day, for 7 days? I use them for 3 days, ten minutes, once a day. That's enough for me.

Whenever I have a fancy function or when I needed the pics taken for this website, I called in my friends who primped me up. But really, really, really, I look like this:


No makeup. No face soap. No hair products. No brushing. Note the shiny forehead. The uneven skin. The limp hair. But eh, I'm passible for public consumption and I really, really like my nose. :)

So of course when I had full hair and makeup to be a bridesmaid for my friend's wedding, I was frightened by the process. They wanted to put GLUE on my eyelid for frak's sake That's how they get false eyelashes to stick. But the end product? I was astounded. Look at us! We look awesome.

The wedding took place at a house in Napa where the bridal party was staying. I soothed my feet in the property hot tub, not realizing the steam would melt the glue into my eye which hurt like a biatch. By the end of the night, I crawled into the bathroom and realized that I had no way of taking off the makeup since I don't own face soap. Crapola. So full time divadom is not for me. But for the one night? For all of us to look great? For these pictures? Worth it!

The four of us met on an online message board for fans of romance novels over a decade ago. We live at three corners of the country - California, New York, and Florida. This wedding is the first time we've all been together at the same time. Isn't that awesome? I know the hair and makeup helped, but I'm betting half the reason we look so good is because we're happy to see each other.