In a Western Place

Closing off a street to build a park is a new, growing trend here in the city. After driving past it several times, I got to walk through the Guerrero Park (formally known as the Guerrero and San Jose Ave. intersection) this morning on my way to St. Luke’s. I like, however these pics I took… I like not so much.

I heard about McLaren Park a few months ago during a news segment about foraging and edible food walks. At first I thought, “neat, a park with food!” Then I realized “wait, I’ve never heard of this McLaren Park. Where is it?” Little did I know that it’s practically across the street from us. Well, more like a highway and 10 streets away, but you can see it from our front window. I always thought that rather large hill covered in grass and trees looked suspicious. Suspiciously delicious.

I’m going to refrain from writing about our house until all is said and done. The words: “addendum,” “disclosure,” “inspection,” “appraisal,” and even “house” now invoke an overwhelming sense of anxiousness in me. That, and I’d hate to compromise the deal if anyone involved should happen to fall upon this site (not that I would say or write anything inappropriate, I’m just feeling paranoid and nervous). Speaking of things prohibited, we treated ourselves with tickets to see Mr. Conan O’Brien last night at the Nob Hill Masonic Center. Despite what my lousy camera phone shots may indicate, we had pretty decent seats… decent enough to confirm that Mr. O’Brien is, in fact, a very tall man.

And yes, it was funny and very enjoyable and I forgot all about the real world for at least 3 hours. What more could you ask for?

M and his puppet buddies spent a beautiful afternoon outside of Wondercon last Saturday conducting interviews. This one didn’t go too well.

One SF to-do off the list! My friend Tracey held her wedding shower at the Fairmont during afternoon tea this past Sunday. The service was top notch, and I sipped on Jasmine Butterfly tea and photographed while everyone snacked on the dainty grub. It felt so good to throw on a sundress on a beautiful day to hang out with a bunch of fun ladies at a San Francisco landmark. Fancy, indeed.

I love love love Paxton Gate. M and I popped by their holiday sale/party last Saturday evening on our way to our friends’ holiday party in the Mission. They don’t allow photography, but people were drinking free wine around fragile items so I figured a few camera phone shots would be harmless. I have a hard time describing the shop to those that have never been. Let’s just say it’s beautiful, odd and inspirational… and conveniently located to another favorite, the Pirate store.

I’ve got Turkey on the brain! I love Thanksgiving, and I cannot wait until tomorrow. M and I will be staying in San Francisco for the holiday, and we’re skipping out on our other orphaned friends to eat our first Thanksgiving dinner cooked solely by me! A scary prospect, but there are several advantages to such. Here are a few:

• being that I live the Gluten-free life, I won’t have to skip out on anything because it’ll be Kirsten-friendly ; ) You can’t eat turkey without the gravy and stuffing!
• leftovers, leftovers, leftovers. Oh how I love leftovers!
• I can wear my PJs all-day-long

So, I made a late evening trip to Whole Foods last night and purchased 5lbs of fresh Turkey Breast (instead of a full turkey) and all the fixings for GF gravy, GF stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole (I made this last year, delicious!), mashed potatoes and garlic sauteed brussel sprouts. For dessert, I’ll be making a GF apple crumble. Everything will be made au-natural with very minimal ingredients — simple, just how I like it. Yum!

OK, I need to go wipe my mouth now. Happy Thanksgiving!

While not nearly as picturesque as the famous Lombard street, Vermont street is another most crookedest street in San Francisco. Located in Potrero Hill, it’s a fun drive with a lovely view of the city (minus the distraction of photo snapping tourists.)