when the lights go down in the city, i'll be sitting on the dock of the bay wearing flowers in my hair

[please excuse the ridiculously long title...I'm just a music geek...]

WEDNESDAY:

*Arrive in San Fran!

*San Fran - dinner at Home with Cherie, Krystal, Meg & Kim;  traveled to Meg's to pick up an air mattress (our saving grace considering the room only had two twin beds)

*Chancellor Hotel - the night of mini-disasters: 

1. the realization that my small digital camera was missing (luckily recovered by the Glen Ivey Spa staff!)

2. Krystal's almost-lost prescription meds ("did it go down there?"...we all took turns looking 6 stories down from the bathroom window into the back alley...fortunately the meds were safely in the bathroom) 

3. the first broken drinking glass...which led to our introduction with Mehari (the adorable, elderly bell hop/custodian/etc) who, with intelligent insight/foreshadowing, offered us two glasses to replace the one lost

THURSDAY:

*Sausalito - breakfast at Cibo; pictures on the pier; the cutest bus stop ever; the almost breakfast at the Lighthouse Cafe

*Santa Rosa - caught up with a friend at Kendall Jackson Winery & checked out the garden tour

*Healdsburg - Oakville Grocery for lunch; explored Bella Wine Caves (they had hula hoops!)

*San Fran - 1st stop at the Golden Gate Bridge; recommendations from Matt (the awkwardly endearing concierge) and his "i'm not insinuating anything, but...." comment; dinner at Cafe Claude w/cute, lonely boy (who we almost invited to join our table)

FRIDAY:

*Hotel - 2nd broken drinking glass (I think little giggles escaped when we heard the glass break...like "really, did that just happen again?....someone call Mehari")

*Muir Woods - the "hiking" experience, which can't be too legit since there was a guy in a suit there

*San Fran - 2nd stop at the Golden Gate Bridge; lunch at Cioppino w/our cute waiter/hockey player; Fisherman's Wharf; breakdancing dudes; Pier 39; saw Alcatraz from a distance; the quest to find Chronicle books (where I bought this hilarious little book); shopped at the Blue Jean Bar with "Dustin Bobby" (the Justin Bobby look-a-like) and his dog Penny/Penelope; got poor bus instructions from "Dustin Bobby" ("yeah, just go right outside there and hop on the bus" ...no bus number, no sign w/schedules, etc...we should've known better!) and ended up on the other side of town; walked back to the hotel to avoid any further unwanted detours;  shopped/explored Union Square; laid-back dinner at Chipotle; hung out at Dueling Pianos at Johnny Foley's and listened to a lot of songs by Lady Gaga & Queen 

SATURDAY:

*Hotel - Krystal departed at 4:30am

*San Fran - Cherie ventured out to the ferry market while I headed out to look at art in Union Square; I walked the air mattress to Meg's office to meet up with Cherie; quick breakfast at Posh Bagels before we loaded up for the airport; farewell to the nice guys in the parking garage (these older gents called me "nice lady" and knew me by name during our stay)

*SFO Airport - watched USA and Ghana battle it out surrounded by numerous others in the airport

*Austin - made it to my lovely apartment sometime around midnight  :)

+Click here for Additional Photos

++If you're interested, you can listen to my 'CALIFORNIA: by plane, train & automobile' playlist below:

from the East to the West...cont.

The interesting DJ from Damona's wedding thought we were fun enough to put on his site...just scroll to the bottom of his site to check out his pics:
DJ Pics


From Carla's wedding, Holly & I took some "single lady" pics in the photo booth that I completely forgot about...plus you can click through the other pics to see all the photo booth fun:
Photo Booth Pics

from the East to the West...

Two of my really good friends got married...the weddings were two weeks apart, and on separate coasts. It's only fitting that they got married so close together, considering that both of these ladies got engaged within hours of each other (on the day before Valentine's Day). Even more fitting that Damona (Hi-C) got married only days before her "Da-mini", Carla. [Note to Holls: If we continue on the current trend, you're next!]

Trying to recapture these past few weeks in a blog just doesn't seem possible. I don't feel like I have the vocabulary to accurately portray my accounts or express my thoughts...and the photos seem to pale in comparison to the actual events...but here's what I can share:

 EAST COAST
 

East Coast photos: 

East Coast (Damona + Rob)

Notes from Amish-land:

1.  Carla & I got lost driving from the wedding to the reception, but we got beautiful countryside photos from our side excursion.

2.  Stuttgart = Single Ladies (at least, for our table that was the case!)

3.  Holly has a twin! not really, but her & another bridesmaid looked like they could be sisters

4.  Rob hearts Damona, and vice versa

5.  I heart cupcakes :)

WEST COAST

West Coast pics: 

West Coast (Carla + Jason)

Notes from celebrity-wanna-be land:

1.  We found the cutest Subway ever!

2.  There were elk and rams and bears....oh, my! (?)

3.  Awesome signature drink (tequila + cherry limeade)

4.  Jason hearts Carla, and vice versa

5.  I heart steaks, jazz & champagne! :)

ps - if you're confused by my notes, the photos offer more insight!