My Bay Area Weekend
So today I safely returned home from the Bay Area after having an amazing time. I danced, baked cookies, saw Juno again, but above all spent time with an amazing group of Browncoats. :) Here's how it went down...
Friday: After arriving in San Francisco over an hour late due to airline issues (which are too silly to go into), I met up with Arielle and was driven to the Exploratorium to kill a few hours before our cookie baking party at Nicole's house that night. While at the Exploratorium I spent time in the mind section where I played with lots of neat things that actually impressed me. :) I then walked outside and took a walk, because it was a lovely day. I walked around a totally lovely lagoon outside, and was amazed how slowly I walked and how calm I was. I think for the first time, I could actually sit back and smell the roses, as it were. But that's for another discussion.
I spent time walking slowly around the lagoon, watching the ducks, geese and swans do their thing, until I wandered to the Palace of Fine arts, which was truly stunning as you can see from the pictures. I then walked across the street and sat alongside the bay, watching people play, jog and so on while the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz served as a lovely backdrop. I then met up with Gail, Arielle's roomie who works at the Exploratorium, and hung out with her for a while at work. Then we grabbed dinner at a local burger joint (which was awesome) and then went to Nicole's house for a holiday cookie baking party.
The party was a blast. We made and ate cookies, I met a bunch of new Browncoats (while seeing some old friends) and was introduced to Blackpool starring, of all people, David Tennant. Blackpool is an awesome BBC musical that takes place in what's called England's Atlantic City, and it was amazing, but to watch DT dance and sing and tango was wonderous. Once the party was over, I went back to Arielle's place to crash, because I was EXHAUSTED.
Saturday: Dicken's Fair! This is like a Ren Faire, but in 19th century London, and in my opinion, a billion times cooler. The costumes were amazing, the dancing was astoundingly fun, and the mood was just so festive. We had to wait a spell to get in, but I got to see some awesome costumes along the way (even if cell phones and bluetooth headsets ruined the mood). ;)
When we finally got in, we were greeted to a lovely opening ceremony. After that, we wandered and shopped a bit. I also finally got to meet up with the Fernandez sisters, who drove in from Reno, NV mostly to hang out with me. I met the two of them at SiliCon back in October, and since then we've become awesome friends.
During our shopping, I got something I've wanted for a long time...a pocket watch. I finally found one with a design I loved, a classic 3-masted fighting sailing ship (in this case one of my favorites, the U.S.S. Constitution). I also ate meat pie, cookies, and danced a LOT.
I also got an AMAZING Tarot card reading. I mean, incredible. This woman...she read things about me that few people know. I was very impressed, and to be honest, she was impressed with me too, which floored me. She said I had an amazingly strong personality, and was on the cusp of an amazing change that would take me places even I didn't understand. And I totally believed every word she said...it was amazing. I was pretty much blown away by the experience, in a good way, and I don't think I'll ever forget it.
After a lot more dancing, eating, glaring at costumes and so on, we left the Dicken's Fair around 7 PM to go to the Gaskell ball, which is a fully formal ball they have every couple of months in Oakland. I changed into a suit when I got there, and was blown AWAY by the hundreds of people in amazing costumes floating around the floor. The still pictures I took just don't do the beauty of it justice. I also danced a lot, mostly with random girls who I either asked to dance or asked me to dance. It was an AMAZING time. The Fernandez sisters showed up looking splendidly, but left early due to being so tired, but I made sure to get a waltz with each of them. Around 11:30, Arielle and I left for home because we were both tired, she more than I.
Sunday: Sunday was a much less-planned, more relaxed day. After getting Breakfast with Arielle, I was picked up by the Fernandez sisters, and the three of us drove downtown to catch the 2:30 PM showing of Juno. Sadly, when we got there at 2:28 PM (can I just say San Francisco is DAMNED confusing) and finding the show was sold out, we got tickets for the 4:00 PM showing. This gave us time to walk around Japantown (which was lovely, if smaller than Chinatown), do some thrift store shopping and get a bite to eat before the movie. We then saw the movie again, which the girls loved and I totally adored a second time.
Then the girl's drove me to Gabe's house so I could stay over for the night. He graciously allowed me to stay in his guest room after being kicked out of Arielle's place due to Gail's mom coming into town (so SHE was gonna use the couch). Gabe, his girlfriend Star (yes, that is her real name) and I then went out for Sushi and had a lovely time. After returning to Gabe's place, Gabe left for a business trip and I crashed around 10:30 PM. I didn't actually SLEEP until midnight, though, because I sometimes have a hard time sleeping in new places.
Monday: Thankfully coming home was completely uneventful. After getting a cab to the BART station, I rode BART to SFO wherein I watched Jekyl on the way home. I'm back home now, having gotten a nap and giving my kitties plenty of attention after missing them so.
So all in all, an AMAZING weekend. Wanna see pictures? Go here! :) I hope you also had a very shiny weekend. :)
Friday: After arriving in San Francisco over an hour late due to airline issues (which are too silly to go into), I met up with Arielle and was driven to the Exploratorium to kill a few hours before our cookie baking party at Nicole's house that night. While at the Exploratorium I spent time in the mind section where I played with lots of neat things that actually impressed me. :) I then walked outside and took a walk, because it was a lovely day. I walked around a totally lovely lagoon outside, and was amazed how slowly I walked and how calm I was. I think for the first time, I could actually sit back and smell the roses, as it were. But that's for another discussion.
I spent time walking slowly around the lagoon, watching the ducks, geese and swans do their thing, until I wandered to the Palace of Fine arts, which was truly stunning as you can see from the pictures. I then walked across the street and sat alongside the bay, watching people play, jog and so on while the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz served as a lovely backdrop. I then met up with Gail, Arielle's roomie who works at the Exploratorium, and hung out with her for a while at work. Then we grabbed dinner at a local burger joint (which was awesome) and then went to Nicole's house for a holiday cookie baking party.
The party was a blast. We made and ate cookies, I met a bunch of new Browncoats (while seeing some old friends) and was introduced to Blackpool starring, of all people, David Tennant. Blackpool is an awesome BBC musical that takes place in what's called England's Atlantic City, and it was amazing, but to watch DT dance and sing and tango was wonderous. Once the party was over, I went back to Arielle's place to crash, because I was EXHAUSTED.
Saturday: Dicken's Fair! This is like a Ren Faire, but in 19th century London, and in my opinion, a billion times cooler. The costumes were amazing, the dancing was astoundingly fun, and the mood was just so festive. We had to wait a spell to get in, but I got to see some awesome costumes along the way (even if cell phones and bluetooth headsets ruined the mood). ;)
When we finally got in, we were greeted to a lovely opening ceremony. After that, we wandered and shopped a bit. I also finally got to meet up with the Fernandez sisters, who drove in from Reno, NV mostly to hang out with me. I met the two of them at SiliCon back in October, and since then we've become awesome friends.
During our shopping, I got something I've wanted for a long time...a pocket watch. I finally found one with a design I loved, a classic 3-masted fighting sailing ship (in this case one of my favorites, the U.S.S. Constitution). I also ate meat pie, cookies, and danced a LOT.
I also got an AMAZING Tarot card reading. I mean, incredible. This woman...she read things about me that few people know. I was very impressed, and to be honest, she was impressed with me too, which floored me. She said I had an amazingly strong personality, and was on the cusp of an amazing change that would take me places even I didn't understand. And I totally believed every word she said...it was amazing. I was pretty much blown away by the experience, in a good way, and I don't think I'll ever forget it.
After a lot more dancing, eating, glaring at costumes and so on, we left the Dicken's Fair around 7 PM to go to the Gaskell ball, which is a fully formal ball they have every couple of months in Oakland. I changed into a suit when I got there, and was blown AWAY by the hundreds of people in amazing costumes floating around the floor. The still pictures I took just don't do the beauty of it justice. I also danced a lot, mostly with random girls who I either asked to dance or asked me to dance. It was an AMAZING time. The Fernandez sisters showed up looking splendidly, but left early due to being so tired, but I made sure to get a waltz with each of them. Around 11:30, Arielle and I left for home because we were both tired, she more than I.
Sunday: Sunday was a much less-planned, more relaxed day. After getting Breakfast with Arielle, I was picked up by the Fernandez sisters, and the three of us drove downtown to catch the 2:30 PM showing of Juno. Sadly, when we got there at 2:28 PM (can I just say San Francisco is DAMNED confusing) and finding the show was sold out, we got tickets for the 4:00 PM showing. This gave us time to walk around Japantown (which was lovely, if smaller than Chinatown), do some thrift store shopping and get a bite to eat before the movie. We then saw the movie again, which the girls loved and I totally adored a second time.
Then the girl's drove me to Gabe's house so I could stay over for the night. He graciously allowed me to stay in his guest room after being kicked out of Arielle's place due to Gail's mom coming into town (so SHE was gonna use the couch). Gabe, his girlfriend Star (yes, that is her real name) and I then went out for Sushi and had a lovely time. After returning to Gabe's place, Gabe left for a business trip and I crashed around 10:30 PM. I didn't actually SLEEP until midnight, though, because I sometimes have a hard time sleeping in new places.
Monday: Thankfully coming home was completely uneventful. After getting a cab to the BART station, I rode BART to SFO wherein I watched Jekyl on the way home. I'm back home now, having gotten a nap and giving my kitties plenty of attention after missing them so.
So all in all, an AMAZING weekend. Wanna see pictures? Go here! :) I hope you also had a very shiny weekend. :)