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Ok. So, I guess some of you do want to hear about my trip. So, i'll try to remember as much as I can.

Day Two:
We wake up fairly early (for us on vacation) and take a walk. We were on a mission to find something that Nic needed, and we sort of wandered aimlessly. Ooops! We wound up in Tenderloin. It was one of those places that you look around and go "Oh shit, don't take out your wallet/camera/phone!" It was rough even for San Francisco standards. So, we put on our game faces of "Shit, I walk this neighborhood everyday." I was pretty pissed by the time we got out of there, but I got over it as soon as I felt safe.

Then we proceeded to head to The Mission District. This area is my favorite of the trip, mostly because it reminds me of home a lot. Not that I'm homesick, but it's just nicely familiar. The cab dropped us off close to Nic's friend Josh's house. Josh is just a really cool, sweet, laid back dude. He lives in this house that was pre-earthquake (that's a BIG deal there) and was fan-fucking-tastic inside. Huge , with lots of old crown molding and a large courtyard area that was shared but nice. Toward the back of the apartment was a very large studio space. It made us very jealous. Josh then took us on a little walking tour of the main street and we stopped to get some tasty coffee at Phil's. It was the last time we'd have good coffee there. (Can i talk more about how SF has shitty coffee? Damn, I've lived in Seattle too long.) After that, we walked up Bernal Heights Hill, the highest point in the city and took many pictures. The weather was perfect and warm.

We climb down the hill (it was a bit of a hike up) to the main street again and go get some burritos at La Taqueria. For serious, it almost made me cry. i could not believe how fucking amazing these burritos were. I guess lard and a 100yr old seasoned grill will do that. The carne asada was heaven and i did actually say "OMG!" when i bit into the burrito. 

After that, we had to say good bye to Josh and head to a park and enjoy the day for a while. It was like Hipster central, but we got to drink a beer in the park! One girl's pants kept falling off her ass and completely showing her underwaer when she bent over, but they were tight around the ankles. Sigh, I'll be seeing those pants all over the place this fall, I'm sure.

We decided to walk to the water and take pictures of the Bay Bridge and downtown. People are so unbelievably NICE. Someone stopped to ask us about our cameras and at first we had the old Seattle shock of "HUH? WHAT? Do you want a dollar? Are you going to mug us??" because people just don't step out to talk to other people on the street here. I also got a compliment on my Dr. Girlfriend shirt - for the first time EVER someone knew what show it was from.

Then we went back to the hotel for a nap. I think we probably walked 15 miles total so far that day.

We got ready for Shpongle at about 6 or so. What did we want? Coffee. Could we find it. NOPE. Even the starbucks across the street was closed. So, we downed a red bull and a 5 hr energy instead. We smelled like ravers when we got to the venue. It was actually a very large beautiful venue and the DJ was playing some really great dubstep. Were people dancing? NOPE. Ok, I thought, maybe they are just waiting for the main act. Did they start dancing then? NOPE. Everyone was either too drunk or too cool to dance. And the drinks! Geezus. $10 for a drink. I accidentally spilled a guys drink while taking off my hoodie (maybe if he hadn't been up my fucking ass when i was going up the stairs, it wouldn't have happened.) and had to buy him a new one. $10! Anyway, there was one guy there though that was just dancing like it was the end of days - I liked him. He looked like Jesus and the dancing scarf guy (kind of Seattle's Lesley). Another guy, who was clearly having a fun acid trip, was in the lobby as we left. I'm pretty sure it was LSD.

(We went to see Shpongle in Seattle a week later - COMPLETELY different crowd. Will write more about that later.)

And then we got back to the hotel and slept.

(no subject)

Day Three:

Woke up and met with Nic's friend, Kimmy. She's a seriously bad ass photographer who just graduated with her masters in photography last weekend. She was VERY sweet, i liked her a lot. We met up with her close to our hotel and her school and somehow went back to the Mission District. As we were trying to figure out what to eat, a May Day protest went by - mostly focusing on immigrants rights and Arizona. Honestly, it was *awesome* to see a protest - on May Day - in San Francisco. The restaurant was nice, it was Vegan, but the drinks were meh. Not alcoholic drinks either, just regular drinks.

Kimmy took us to the house that she was house and bunny sitting at - Moose, the bunny, was hiding under the bed for the short time we were there. We got in Kimmy's truck and drove to Crisy Park to take pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was lovely lovely! I can not stress how much I love seeing water and hills/mountains - though, by this time, I was starting to miss the mountains. I was starting to miss Seattle a little. Not enough to make the trip bad, but just enough to realize, again, how much i love it here. This is where the picture I previously posted of Nic and myself is. Honestly, I absolutely love that bridge, too, it goes without saying that it symbolizes SF, but it is a real US treasure in design and function.

Later, after we had parted with Kimmy, we got ready to go to a BBQ thrown by Jess and Nikki. At first we thought it might be just us and them, but a lot of people showed up, which was great!  All of them are awesome - Nic's friends are really a great group of amazingly talented, kind, sweet people. The food was very good, but sadly, i don't remember much, as I was drinking far too much red wine. I'm a bit ashamed of that, to be honest, though it was my planned day to get ripped and the only day i drank much of anything on the trip. I do remember that I had lots of fun and really heart Jess and Nikki for throwing the party.

Day Four:

HANGOVER OF EPICNESS. Ugh. I wake up drunk still, but fine. We met Mary Jane, Josh's girlfriend, in...you guessed it, The Mission District. :) She lives in Oakland and said she'd give us a ride to hang out there for the day. I LOVE MARY JANE! She's a super talented knitter and just an all around sweetheart. Once in Oaksterdam, we go to eat brunch with MJ, Brook and Cynthia. It was a great time, lots of conversation and Brook and Cynthia are huge VB fans. I could feel the hangover getting worse - eating, plus the fact that Oakland is 10 degrees hotter than SF, walking, moving, breathing - it all made it worse. But I am a TROOPER and it was MY STOOPID FAULT I drank too much. We walked to the rose garden there and took many more pictures.

We took the BART back to the hotel and got ready to go eat at a restaurant called Anchor & Hope. It had fancy pants prices, so we put on our fancy pants clothes. Was any one else there dressed up? NOPE! It was still nice to get dressed up. The food was good, but worth the price? I'm not sure on all of it. the bacon wrapped smoked oysters were a win, but come on. Smoked oysters + bacon, it's gonna be a win. There wasn't a single WA beer or wine on the list either. It was fine though.

Day Five:

I am recovered! Our plane didn't leave until that evening, so we decided we were going to go on a hunt to find a pair or two of jeans for my hottie of a boyfriend to show off his behind. We met up with Kimmie again and wandered around Lower Haight. *I* found a lovely handmade *yellow* (yes, I said yellow) dress that someone was kind enough to buy for me. Sadly, no jeans. We walked to the park in front of the Painted Ladies and Kimmy took our picture yet again. What a view, though, jesus. We decided to try to find jeans in the Castro, and we sure did. A nice Italian gay man helped us pick out two pairs of expensive beautiful jeans that looks amazing on Nic. We then drove over to the house Kimmy was sitting (after meeting her cutie three legged cat) and Moose was out and wanting to be petted on. Bunnies are sweet, soft and they feel so fragile. Took pics of Moose and then we walked back to the hotel and we were off to the airport.

For about two days after we got back my legs were in serious pain.

This was probably the best trip I've ever been on in my life. Lots of friends, no set schedule, and an awesome boy to hold hands with.

(no subject)

Ok, last post. Promise.

Since SF, i haven't been up to much. Just the usual work and hanging out with the boy. We went to see Shpongle here in Seattle and the show was excellent. Well, she show was excellent in SF, but it was better here because for 3 solid hours, people were dancing and having a great time. People actually even dressed up and were excited about the show. I saw more Burners here than in SF. The energy was really positive and fun and lots of friends were there.

About a week ago, I signed up for a Vidal Sassoon cutting class. It's an intensive 2 day class that is 14 hours in total and covers most of their basic cutting and finishing techniques. This class is a big deal and very expensive. It's at the end of July and I have so much equipment I need to buy for it. I'm super excited about it.

Today, Nic decided to take me to REI and buy me a helmet for bike riding. He wants to buy me a cheap bike so we can ride around, as he loves biking. I want to bike too, but I get so winded sometimes (HELLO CIGARETTES! You are too expensive for me and you suck for my health! But i keep smoking you! WHY?), so hopefully, he will be gentle about making me bike places. My helmet is pretty sweet though.

Work is work. Hopefully the expansion will open soon and I'll be making more money. I'll be working more hours, for sure. But god, am i broke.

Anyway, that's it. I may be broke, but I sure am happy. Everything is perfect in my life ATM, except for the money thing. And since I feel secure and loved, the money thing doesn't stress me out to the point of anxiety. It still upsets me, but I am working toward fixing that.