Late night musings....

Sent to friends at 2:36am

I think I've mentioned my fireplace love before...numerous times. It
seems inevitable that this desire would return as I watch the frost
creep across all the windows this morning....   Our furnace chose this
evening to commit suicide so our beds are piled high with blankets and
I wonder at what point I will begin to see my breath .  Mentally I'm
either curled in front of my fireplace again or stretched out on my
lounge chair in peurto moreles waiting for my next margarita. I
eagerly look forward to stepping out of this toasty nest into our
frigid room 3 hours from now....it's not obvious is it?

I've mentally decided to volunteer to take the bus in tomorrow to give
McGyver a chance to go buy furnace parts quicker. It's not that i
doubt he can fix it himself . After 18 ish years together he's done
many things to make my jaw gape in wonderment: laid ceramic tile,
laminate, drywalled, installed a gas line, fixed our old furnace , our
stove last month , our dryer 2 years ago etc. I think it's more that I
come from a home where aside from faucets and toasters... Duct tape
fixes everything.  I marvel at people who can fix things but with an
air of disbelief that it can be done at all.

Hopefully the heater is on the bus. I do like to be warm.  Is 630am
too early to add warming baileys to my morning coffee? Hmmm... I think
it might be.

Late night musings...

Sent to friends...Nov 15
2:15am

 Every night that I've made the middle of the night trudge downstairs
to the living room I have had the same thoughts...

* a week ago I forgot to look inside a suitcase pocket while unpacking
from my parents house and left my kindle book light in there. I can't
think of a better sleep inducer than the biography. Now
it's too late an too cold in here to go find it. Damn programmable
heat.

* in my sleep deprived stupor , how long before I miss a step on the
way down and break a hip? I am growing aged.

* there is something awesome about homemade grandma quilts on couches

* need to remember to check if our house thermostat changed hours at
daylight savings time . I suspect not. I'm cold although that matters
not at all right now. Sigh... Better check now...   Hmm... It is the
right time. I guess I just need to reprogram it to kick in earlier .
Now where's that warm spot I just left on the couch?

Other random thoughts...

* I'd like to poke someone with a qtip right now. Hard.

* I wish we had a fireplace. At the moment - a gas one. I'd hunker
down in front of it with my grandma quilt and let the flames hypnotize
me into oblivion.

* I have a page folded over in a book we have that has my dream
basement layout . If I were the queen of my world and had full control
of our basement development I would have done this layout. It had a
wood burning fireplace with a big stone hearth among other things like
overhead beams and big comfy chairs.... Ahhhh... When I win the
lottery....

* do you think I can count the words of all November musings to my
NaNoWriMo total? My grade 5 teacher told me I'd be an author
someday... Lol

* do you think the immense amount of grey roots in my hair are more to
do with my hair color right now or the fact that I have to deal with
as a team lead and 's  bathroom revelations & rocket jokes?

* do you think a hot massage guy with rippling shoulder muscles, a
cold afflicted voice with a delicious accent could remove the ache in
my back from  this effing? Oi... I just got all glazed eyed for
a moment falling into a shades of grey worthy daydream moment. Made me
bite my lip...

* time to wrap up.... The grandma quilt has warmed me and my eyes and
brain tired enough to let me sleep again. If I go fast enough I might
be able to generate a good dream about that last point....

Melly

Late night musings...

Emailed to friends....

4:15am
Thinking that THIS is the time I should bake... No interruptions you
know? Such masterpieces I could create....

Not sleeping again...

Oct 26 email sent to friends...

3:15am
On tonight's edition of Melly's stupid brain.....

* why doesn't NyQuil ever knock me out two nights in a row? Only one....
* change mngmnt - insert old workmate name here
* pillows - I hate mine
* change mngmnt - insert not as old workmate name here
* movie popcorn - not to be eaten at 10pm
* change mngmnt. - ack!
* the sounds o gurgling...
* snoring - why?

Gah!

Not sleeping...

Apparently some time in the last few months I have quit sleeping through the night.  I wake up and fixate on something and then send middle of the night emails to my friends...   One such friend told me that I should post these random musings on my blog.  So why not?

Oct 18:
Why? Why? Why?
Stupid brain won't sleep through the night.
No coordinator thoughts today. 45 min of wasted time so far...

Nothing useful really except that if you I am going to stab my brain with a qtip for
even thinking this thought.

Other topics this morning include: "aww crap - son's birthday is
next weekend! Gotta get a gift! Gotta create loot bags! Gotta clean
the house!"  Another big chunk of time spent thinking about insert work mate name here too.

Dear diary, now that I've emptied my brain, moved to the couch and am
cocooned within a heavy wool quilt made by grandma ( always the best
therapy)  - perhaps now only flocks of sheep making white noise will
be in my head... :)

Tune in tomorrow for a play by play of melly's stupid brain!!!!

San Francisco - Day 8

Our last full day here!

I have no pictures to share today.  We spent the day doing a lot of walking and some shopping.

We went out for supper at a Mexican restaurant in Union Square where the food was delicious but the atmosphere terrible (loud yelling people beside us).  We packed up our suitcases and will be leaving for the airport in the morning.

17971 steps today.

San Francisco - Day 7

With DH's conference done we had to check out of the Argonaut Hotel.  First though he wanted to try breakfast at Lori's Diner so we walked over to Ghirardelli square to eat and enjoy the view.

I was a little sad to check out of that hotel.  It was so nice.  Their lobby had a bunch of large squashy chairs, couches and throne-like velvety chairs.  Some of them were around a fireplace which always had a fire crackling.  Others were around small tables where there were board games laid out.  The lobby led right into the adjoining restaurant - the Blue Mermaid.  The bed truly was the most comfortable bed ever.  It sat a bit taller than normal so it felt like a giant's bed.  There was a small seating area off to the side with a couch and footstool.  Our room faced the street at the back of the hotel and so each night we could hear the Irish Pub music but it was never loud enough to keep a person awake and never played very late.  If you have money to burn when going to San Francisco - stay at that hotel.  :)

After breakfast we took a taxi downtown to Union square where we were able to check into our new hotel - Hotel Palomar.  Our room was on the 9th floor overlooking the Apple Store.  On the reviews of this hotel, some people complained that the lit Apple from the Apple store shone too brightly into their room.  I suppose it would .... if you didn't close your curtains at night.  The curtains are thick though so if you pull them the room is pitch black.  The room seemed a little older than the Argonaut room and somewhat off center.  Some of the drawers would not stay closed.  The bathtub though was HUGE.  Imagine one of those old style washtubs but make the sides look like normal tub material.  Then make it  DEEP, deep enough that if you sit on the bench inside - the water is up to your neck and you can stretch your legs all the way out.  For a finale - add jets.

At 1:00pm we were picked up for our Muir Woods/Sausalito tour through http://www.bestbayareatours.com/

It was a cozy tour - picked up in a large van to join the 6 others waiting inside.  On a speaker system our driver told us some things about the city and about Muir woods/Sausalito.  Over the Golden Gate and down the road to Muir Woods.  We drove around a creepy twisty/turny road that had a section blocked off because it was crumbling down into the abyss below.   Our driver told us that someone had mistakenly driven off the edge on another section.  Lovely.  Once we survived that trip, DH and I chose to walk one of the longer trails through Muir Woods.  It was a great walk - very beautiful.

Once we were all back from the walk we got back in the van and re-drove along the road of death.  I would have taken a photo but I was too busy staring the other way and pretending I wasn't there.    We then drove into the town of Sausalito.  We then had to make the choice if we were going to return with the guide or make our own way back to San Francisco via the Ferry.  We chose to take the ferry.

We then walked the streets and shopped the shops in Sausalito.  It seems like a little beach town with lots of quirky things to shop for.  I bought the best coffee mug - it looks like a camera lens!  We stopped to share an appetizer at the local burger shop.  See if you can figure out what it was:

There are nachos...but instead of chips - they are waffle shaped french fries.  They were tasty but I couldn't get past all the cheese on them so didn't eat very many.

Back to the ferry and the beautiful view at the docks:

We made a friend at the docks although to be honest he cared more for the girl beside us feeding him fudge.

17404 steps today.

San Francisco - Day 6

This was also a pretty quiet day.  I slept in a little and then took the F-line over towards the Embarcadero Center (Pier 1 area).  Stopped at Starbucks for a morning mocha and some reading and then did a little bit of shopping.

On my walk back over to the Ferry Building (near Pier 1) I stopped at the Boudin Bakery for lunch.  I had Grilled Cheese on sourdough along with their homestyle tomato soup.  I wasn't a huge fan of the soup but the sandwich was excellent.

I was originally planning to walk but they day was quite cool, foggy, misty and rainy so I caught the F-Line back to the hotel around 2pm.  I was frozen and buried myself under all the covers for a nice cozy nap.  :)

Once DH returned from his final conference day we had planned to walk to the Golden Gate bridge. We both decided it was way too cold so decided to take the bus to the Haight area instead.  We ended up waiting for a bus for about 40 minutes because of first choosing the wrong bus, then buses being too full etc etc.  Finally we were able to get on.  This bus was fun because it drove through the Presidio area which is fancy.  The houses actually have yards here and are surrounded by very large trees.  I thought it reminded me of a campsite.  Narrow twisty roads with little spaces here and there which would normally be campsites - but were houses instead.

Haight Street.  We were expecting hippies and trendy shops/cafes.  There were some of those yes - especially toward the end we were dropped off on.  There was also a lot of....altered people and downright crazy yelling people there.  I'm glad DH walks around with his "talk to me and die" face on while on vacation.  LOL  It would not be a place I'd want to visit by myself and was a stark contrast to the atmosphere in the Cow Hollow area.  :)

I did buy myself a souvenir though:

Because they are purple.  :)


















Back on the bus we went back to our hotel.  We had supper in the restaurant below the hotel - the Blue Mermaid again.

This time we started out trying Crab Cakes and moved on to their amazing soup in a sourdough bread bowl.  Both were really good!

One good thing about all this mist is that it brought my curls back:

Ok...so you can't really tell...but they are there!!


















Grand Total walking today was 10337 steps or 7.1 km.

The next day brings a tour to Muir woods and changing hotels (work paid for this one so we are moving downtown and cheaper).

San Francisco - Day 5

After far too much walking lately, I decided that this day would be a lazy day.  I drifted in and out of sleep for a while finally hauling myself out of bed around 8 (yes that's sleeping in).  I made myself some mocha and had a yogurt.

By 9:30am I was at Pier 39 again.  The first time we were there we didn't take the time to look into all the shops so I wanted another look.  Since the shops didn't open until 10am I spent some time watching the sea lions push each other around.    They were a lot feistier than last time and were doing a lot of barking and grunting.

I then wandered through and window shopped to decide what to see when the shops opened.  Saw this outside of Bubba Gump's restaurant:

Because life is like a box of chocolates....

















Found some funny greeting cards, some pens from the Left Handed store and some weird socks.  I stopped for lunch at a casual hot dog place (Hook & Crook) and read by book for a while.

After lunch I made by way back to the hotel - stopping at a candy store on the way (It's Sweet) to get some headphones for my son (half price!).  Had a great nap but woke up all confused.  :)  

Once DH got back we caught a bus into the Cow Hollow area for our anniversary supper at Betelnut.  Cow Hollow seems to be 80% inhabited by women.  All the stores are beauty parlors, organic grocers, dog groomers and yoga/pilates studios.  Very odd to see so many woman walking dogs with no guys anywhere around.

I started off with a drink whose name I forget but it had strawberries and basil in it.

It did not taste very good.  :)
















Instead of having a heavy meal we decide to share a few appetizers so we each enjoyed 1 skewer of satay, half a green onion cake, a couple potstickers, some green beans and some rice.  The green beans were fabulous - they were Szechwan green beans.  Very crisp and very tasty.

It was only a half hour walk from our hotel so we decided to walk back.  We walked along union street and decided to turn back toward our hotel at Lombard Street.   Well there is a reason that Lombard street is so steep on the Wharf side...it's because on the other side there is a giant hill to climb up.  Climb we did - so glad I wore boots with heels on them.  LOL  DH took a great picture of the slant:

Once we reached the summit though we got to walk back down the hill on the twisty famous Lombard street side which was fun.

Finally we decided all that walking justified dessert so we walked back over to Ghirardelli Square to the Ghiradelli Ice Cream shop to have a hot fudge sundae with crushed almonds, whipped cream and of course, a cherry on top.

The chocolate sauce was heavenly....


















Grand total steps for my "lazy" day ended up being ~16200.

San Francisco - Day 4

I started off this day by walking over to Ghiradelli Square in search of some breakfast.    I ended up at Lori's Diner.  Two diners in one vacation - really living it up aren't I?  I really liked the diner here.  It wasn't too busy, the view was spectacular, the food was good (for diner food of course) and service was very quick.

I tried to read my book while eating but kept getting distracted by the beautiful view.  I decided when I finished to go wander the paths that I could see from the window.

The first thing I found was a teeny tiny beach that a few tourists were splashing away in and a couple brave souls who were swimming to the docks beyond.

I followed the path and flow of bikes, joggers, strollers and dogs down a long dock and then up a big hill which also gave some nice views....

then back down the hill into the marina area

finally coming to a boardwalk with the best view of all.  I sat down and meanly sent this photo to a bunch of people.  Pretty sure with all the enemies I made this morning that I won't be able to return to work.  I'm ok with that though...that particular spot created one of those rare moments where you are in exactly the right spot at exactly the right time and feeling completely at peace with the world.  Everyone reading this should go there now!

I decided to turn and head back so that I could drag DH down this way when he returned from his convention.  On the way back I stopped at safeway to pick up something for lunch and get some breakfast items for tomorrow.  I took some pictures of some things to show the kids:

Once DH got home I took him over to Ghiradelli Square where we ate at The Pub.  I had found the listing on Urban Spoon and it had ratings in the 90% zone.  They talked us into trying their famous "Tommy Tots" which are tator tots that are sweet and spicy with blue cheese.  So very weird but strangely tasty.  I then got the pulled pork which came with 3 sides: Mac n Cheese, cornbread and zucchini and Jay had the Rib/Sausage combo with potato salad, corn bread and bacon beans.  Everything was delicious.

We wrapped up with an hour long walk along the same places that I went in the afternoon...pausing for a moment to watch the sun set behind the Golden Gate bridge.

All in all, I logged 13.26km on foot yesterday - 19221 steps....which still stops short of breaking our walking record in Toronto a few years ago.  Here it's just not possible - nothing is flat!!

Here is a quick pano that DH took with his phone:

San Francisco - Day 3

17436 steps yesterday - 12.03 KM
Yesterday was around 16000 steps.  Good thing I like my shoes.

Yesterday I hopped the cable car and headed down to Union Square for some shopping.  Without DH there to reign me in I had full control of the VISA.  Mwa hah hah!!

So...Old Navy, Macy's, Forever 21 and the Container Store came first.  I say came first...but these 4 stores actually took 3 hours.  LOL  Macy's is really big!!  Did some shopping for the kids, bought a pair of jeans, a shirt and some PJs.

I stopped for a breakfast...umm...brunch....ummm...snack mid morning at Starbucks.  I found a quiet table, read my Kindle and people watched around Union Square.  While I was there I spotted the alternate Melanie.  She appeared to be single - don't ask me why - she just did.  She chatted confidently on the phone while waiting for some complicated drink.  Leaving Starbucks she stopped at the flower stand and bought a bouquet of wildflowers for her small (but with a great view) apartment where she planned to spend the day making oddly shaped appies for her friends who are stopping by after work.  She planned to squeeze in a couple hours of writing for her latest novel.

Anyway...

Came back to the hotel, had a nap and then headed to Pier 33 where we took the Alcatraz tour.

Riding the ferry was fun - we rode up front where we'd catch the occasional spray.

someone from the second level even came down to warn us that we were in the spray zone.  LOL...

There turned out to be very little spray and by the time we reached the island the deck that we were on had gone from 4 people on it to about 30.

Again most of the pictures of the tour are on the camera and I'm not downloading anything but phone photos until I am home.  The tour hadn't changed much since i was last in San Francisco back in 1997. The most remarkable change was that we no longer had to carry around walkman's.  Everyone now gets a little MP3-like player  to carry around.

Got some great views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate bridge at sunset.

Once we returned to Pier 33 we walked back toward out hotel and stopped at Cioppino's for supper.

I had the Margherita pizza and it was FABULOUS - so fresh tasting. 

Jay had the ravioli and it was also to die for.

The service was fast and attentive and it wasn't too crowded.  Would highly recommend this place for a casual Italian meal.