Wednesday July 1st.

I had a wonderful 5 days in San Francisco. Last Friday through Tuesday, I got to spend time in my favorite sections of town. Our hotel is right at the gate of Chinatown and right around the corner from my favorite little downtown sushi restaurant. Headed over there right after checking in. The afternoon exploring Chinatown ended up in North Beach and getting the required box of XOXO Truffles. Now these are the best little bites of wonderful chocolate ever. Friday ended up with a late Italian dinner in North Beach sitting outside under the heaters of the cool SF night air and watching all of the people as their conversations wandered in and out of earshot. All of the night sounds of SF are still so very clear in my mind.


Anne Devine meeting up with us for brunch.






Saturday was the birthday girl’s day and following well established birthday rules the birthday person gets what ever they want on their birthday. We started out by having a delightfully late brunch, hooking up with my friend Anne Devine and then starting off on our day of more meandering around. After much shopping we ended up at the Georgia O’Keefe & Ansel Adams exhibit at SF MOMA. Then it was off to view the city and have an adult beverage from the top of the Marriott. Dinner at Blowfish Sushi to Die For was excellent as always.











Dinner accented with a cold Saki flight





Sunday morning was SF LGBT Pride. The parade started off around 10:30 and went on for hours. Everyone ends up at City Hall, listening to music and partaking in some of the best people watching ever known to human kind. Then it was off to dinner at my all time favorite place in SF, Zuni Café. Oysters, polenta w/mascarpone & Parmesan and an oven baked chicken with black current bread stuffing. Ummmmmm Yummy!

Hanging out at SF Parade and watching all of the festivities





Monday was a sort of sleep in morning after such a very long Sunday out in the sunshine. We ventured out and did some damage at the Gap and several other shops along Market Street and then we headed to the renovated Ferry Building Marketplace to see all of the new shops and continue the meandering. After a ride on the historic F Market line trolley, our day ended us up all the way up at Fisherman’s Wharf for a nice dinner and to see the fog roll in.

view of Alcatraz from the pier behind the Ferry Building





Tuesday came around all to soon. I was not ready to leave SF. This place had been my home for over 15 years and I love parts of it so very much and sharing it with someone is even cooler. Like up at the Wharf, running into the relocated Musée Mécanique and playing with all of the old mechanical machines was a true highlight. Just sharing all of the things that I love about this city is a treat.

I got in super late Tuesday night/Wednesday morning and had to wake up and get to work ASAP. I have loads to accomplish before I take off next week for the Puget Sound Bead Festival. I am not teaching and am just exhibiting so it is going to be an interesting event this year. Many of the exhibitors have pulled out and chose not to make the trip. This year is getting hard for many and the fact that they are taking the loss of booth fees as a choice has to be very hard to take.