Greetings from sunny (for now) California!

hello all,

I write to you sitting atop an almost fully-inflated air mattress on the floor of my friend Lisa's bedroom and listening to an incredibly bad B horror movie about a teenager who keeps getting killed (you shouldn't expect much from the $5 bin at Wal-Mart). I use the term "almost" since my butt is definitely closer to the floor than I'd like. As Pa and Lisa are both asleep, I'm going to take one for the team and forgo some midnight mattress inflating.
I'll let you know if I literally wake up on the floor.

Goodbye rainy Virginia, Hello rainy California. That's what I get for scheduling a trip during rainy season. Today however was beautifully sunny and actually leaned towards spring type weather. I hope it lasts a little bit longer.

Anyway, my first full day on the west coast:

What we ate (in one effing day, people!):  
+ clam chowder teeming with fresh clams and huge chunks of bacon in a sourdough bread bowl. Bacon and seafood are one of the best pairings ever.
+ made to order mini doughnuts, hot and fresh from the oil and tossed liberally with sugar.
+ clam strips and chips, doused with good ol'malt vinegar.
+ fleur de sel cupcake: chocolate cupcake with caramel filling, ganache frosting and fleur de sel.
+ sweet vanilla cupcake: vanilla cupcake with a sweet Madagascar bourbon vanilla frosting.
+ Zorba the Greek crêpe: mushrooms, cheese, potatoes & pepper with a yogurt mint sauce.
+ fruity nutella crêpe: banana, blueberry, strawberries & nutella. whipped cream. vanilla ice cream.
+ shrimp fettuccine in a cream sauce (shaved parmesan, heavy cream, chardonnay, garlic, shallots, red bell pepper, oregano). Heck yes I cooked in Cali.

Where I went: 
+ Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf
+ Ghirardelli square and Kara's cupcakes
+ (I love) Haight Street.

Things I noticed: 
+ Cafe and restaurant people are oh so friendly. Clothing shop people were more often than not snotty hipsters. The employees at American Apparel were ironically super nice.
+ Meter parking is gd expensive. A quarter will buy you only five minutes. Magically, you will not be carrying any change when you need it most. $21 will buy you four or five hours at the public parking garage in front of Fisherman's Wharf. This is even with the first hour free.
+ Haight Street has the best secondhand/vintage shops ever. Seriously, kid in a candy store. You might have needed that kiddie leash after all.
+ Vintage dresses that you want are never in your size. Be prepared to shoot some bittersweet glances if you are not a size negative five. You have boobs or a butt? Hah! Keep on truckin'.  Side note, I kind of want a dirndl now.
+ Finding postcards in San Francisco is considerably easier than finding postcards in Atlantic City.
+ Cyclists think they own the street. They pedal precariously close to your car and proceed to berate you after. That guy actually grabbed Lisa's seatbelt. Calm down, crazy.
+ Sea lions waddle in an ever so cute manner.
+ Bring a jacket just in case because it's chilly in the mornings. Be prepared to haul that shit around when it gets warmer.
+ Multiple cameras and notebooks do not make a light bag.
+ Lisa's house is eerily similiar to the house in Paranormal Activity. I'm just sayin'.

That's all.  You should start preparing now for the throngs of photos I'm going to post when I get back.