From London, I landed in San Francisco for a quick visit with some of my best ladies. I was especially excited to meet Carolyn's not-so-new baby, Adam, and spend some much needed time catching up with both Carolyn and Mei Li. But the fact that they live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world didn't hurt.
We spent the first evening out on the deck, watching Adam crawl around as Bobby kindly made us dinner. We debated deep topics like the un-calculable level of Adam's cuteness, health care reform and the un-insured, the status of women in the church, how one annoying person can derail an entire class discussion, whether there are any single non-loser men left alive, and other great mysteries of life.
I woke up Monday morning with a few hours to kill before I was supposed to join Mei Li for one of her lectures, so I rode Caltrain into the city and headed to Nob Hill for some pretty incredible views of the city and beautiful early 20th century architecture.
After killing myself climbing up and down hills, I headed down to the Ferry Building to meet my friend Lisa and her son Sam for lunch. We ate at the Slanted Door which, as it turns out, is pretty much the most amazing food on the planet. Lisa's baby was adorable and we got caught up on all the gossip of the last two years.
Sadly, I got back to the Caltrain just in time for them to close the doors to the express train back to Palo Alto. No amount of pleading and cajoling would make them open the doors and let me on the train, to make it to Mei Li's lecture on time. So, back to North Beach for more hills and views and architecture. Coolest find of the day was the Ina Coolbrith Park. Ina was born in Nauvoo and a niece to Joseph Smith but made her home in San Francisco. She held literary salons in her home and nurtured the talent of other young writers and artists. I identify with her fighting for and finding a place as a woman in a time and place that didn't always value the contributions of the fairer sex.
Exhausting my appetite for architecture and views, I headed back to Palo Alto to meet Mei, Carolyn, Bobby and their friend Troy for food and more conversation. We did some backseat driving on the government shutdown, what caused it, and how to fix it. We asked for Troy's professional economist opinion but he wisely refrained from sharing it, likely because we wouldn't have been able to understand a single word he said.
The visit was way too short - I might have to take one of those daily direct flights from D.C. to San Francisco, especially since I forgot to get a single picture of us together.
We spent the first evening out on the deck, watching Adam crawl around as Bobby kindly made us dinner. We debated deep topics like the un-calculable level of Adam's cuteness, health care reform and the un-insured, the status of women in the church, how one annoying person can derail an entire class discussion, whether there are any single non-loser men left alive, and other great mysteries of life.
I woke up Monday morning with a few hours to kill before I was supposed to join Mei Li for one of her lectures, so I rode Caltrain into the city and headed to Nob Hill for some pretty incredible views of the city and beautiful early 20th century architecture.
After killing myself climbing up and down hills, I headed down to the Ferry Building to meet my friend Lisa and her son Sam for lunch. We ate at the Slanted Door which, as it turns out, is pretty much the most amazing food on the planet. Lisa's baby was adorable and we got caught up on all the gossip of the last two years.
Sadly, I got back to the Caltrain just in time for them to close the doors to the express train back to Palo Alto. No amount of pleading and cajoling would make them open the doors and let me on the train, to make it to Mei Li's lecture on time. So, back to North Beach for more hills and views and architecture. Coolest find of the day was the Ina Coolbrith Park. Ina was born in Nauvoo and a niece to Joseph Smith but made her home in San Francisco. She held literary salons in her home and nurtured the talent of other young writers and artists. I identify with her fighting for and finding a place as a woman in a time and place that didn't always value the contributions of the fairer sex.
turned around as I was walking up one hill and was shocked to see Alcatraz behind me
Exhausting my appetite for architecture and views, I headed back to Palo Alto to meet Mei, Carolyn, Bobby and their friend Troy for food and more conversation. We did some backseat driving on the government shutdown, what caused it, and how to fix it. We asked for Troy's professional economist opinion but he wisely refrained from sharing it, likely because we wouldn't have been able to understand a single word he said.
The visit was way too short - I might have to take one of those daily direct flights from D.C. to San Francisco, especially since I forgot to get a single picture of us together.
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