Lip-gloss Confidential

Spent the week helping my dad care for my mamacita or at least entertaining her. We made good progress on the Caramelo novel we are reading by Sandra Cisneros, caught up with her favorite telenovela Pasion, and laughed at family stories that I couldn't believe I had not heard.

It was nice to see her regaining her strength as the week went on. The calls, cards, and visits from those that hold her dear lift her spirits greatly. Before my dad drove me to the flyaway yesterday, she was already up; heater on, canela boiling and french toast made when I rolled out of bed at 6am. It was cold outside and waking up to her warmth was perfect.

I am not very domestic but I tried. They thought some off my approaches silly but appreciated them nonetheless. One morning I drove to my favorite strip mall on Plummer, picked up fresh alternative bagels from Western Bagel and lox cream cheese for my dad, then perused the isles of Gelson's for some sugar free and organic goodness to bring home. Decided another day to redo her bedroom, picked up high thread count sheets, comforter set, some pretty bedroom rugs, rearranged the fresh flower arrangements and she loved it!

***

Back in the city had two meetings and a friends birthday dinner I coordinated at the month old foodie Haven EPIC Roasthouse. Crackberry in hand I had a successful and productive first day back.

I always thought the friends I made from grammar school, high school, college and sorority would last me a lifetime. If that were the case then I would be down two; the former friend that took it upon herself to speak with some sort of authority about my extended family, oh that was a bad move and as forgettable as her brother that took up with my sister. The second LA friend that has seem to become a distant memory was probably collateral damage from my disclosing her boyfriends indiscretions. Either way, I saw one in the distance after Sunday mass as my dad and I chatted outside with old parish friends and the other I heard is engaged.

At the end of the day, I am the friend I want to have. The women I have met in my adult life have morphed into my new peers. Funny, witty, attractive, kind, and somehow I think I got really lucky to meet them here in this new place, when I thought I had already made the friends I would grow old with.

I think we are as young as Sex in the City but definitely as mature as the Lipstick Jungle. Here you go boys, a look inside girls night...as of last night one is happily cohabitating with her boyfriend, one is still with her boyfriend, one is dating only one person because that is what she has time for, and the other is definitely off the market for a minute :)

bzzz....

My phone was buzzing and my mom was calling to tell me about the wedding we are invited to in Aguascalientes in February. She thought it would be difficult to attend now and in November for the 50th birthday we have already been invited to. I told her she and my dad should go! She thought I should go since some of my favorite primas would be attending. Agreed to talk about it when I am in town.

A lovely way to start my day. A call from mom and project Martinez Martinez in full effect. Aguascalientes has been on my mind for a while and now I have two invitations to visit.

In a fortunate coincidence I get to take a business trip to West LA. Really fun to go home and play traveler. Staying in Santa Monica and decided to spend the week between there and my parents. It made more sense than taking two full round trips since I have to be in town back to back...

Heart my Geeks

My mom has been known to stop the watch on her wrist. When I used to wear a watch I tired of them losing track of time. I like to think we are composed of something smarter than time.

When I was home for the holidays I told my parents about my super crosscut almost industrial shredder not working. I used it for all my draft documents. One day it decided to only work in reverse. When set in forward motion it provided only a dull hum.

I was not sure what to do with the heavy duty shredder. Thought of calling some handy people I knew or taking it back to the store? Instead I decided to give it rest. When I returned from Los Angeles I called my parents to let them know I had fixed it.

First I ran the shredder in reverse mode then switched it forward and ever since my 15 month old shredder has worked perfectly!

Before leaving to LA my laptop also stopped running. The virus scan was 45 minutes into it with no virus in site when it stopped. I turned it on and it turned off.

So I figured I would just let it rest. Maybe this is all to AI but figured this might be just like a watch. Not the case and after a call assuring the extended warranty was still in effect I took it to the Geek Squad at Best Buy.

The 23rd of December and I had their undivided attention. Left my laptop in their trusty hands and made a call to cash in my mobile phone upgrade.Twenty minutes later I was wireless with a mobile PC.

In Palm Springs with my new Blackberry in hand the Geek Squad called me. Hard drive would be replaced completely under warranty and did I want them to take any data off of it?

Screwdriver in hand in the sun, I tried to take my attention off the palmtrees remembered the order; backup desktop, word files, powerpoints then music library, please and thank you.

Went to pick up the dvd full of data and there it was all the work I had created over the last three years. Funny how things work, the grant allotted me both a desktop and laptop for the duration of my post. The blackberry enabled me to post the final grades for the university course I had taught from Big Bear! Somehow I was wired without a lapse.

Yesterday I got a call from a Geekette, the computer was back but needed some programs and the queue was backed up it would be longer than they thought. So I said possibly could you please ask if they could get it done before my business trip?

One day later my laptop is with me again and all I can say is that this winter, some Geeks saved my life ;)

Punk Rock & Vodka

Muy nice, I know :)

Fuzzy friends star girlfriend had a 26th birthday bash and let me say it was the first time I realized absolutely no one I was with was from the city: Or umm California.

The band, artists, and smattering of fuzzy intellectuals celebrated in the Mission. Of course there were some friends of friends that had little in common with the rest. I had the distinct pleasure of conversing with one...

D- where do you live?
Upper Haight
D-We live in Nob Hill and Pac Heights!
I half smile, by choice?
D-It is really nice, how long have you lived in the city?
Four years, do you find the neighborhood you live in interesting?
D-I guess not really.
I fully smile, me neither.
D-How do you know the star?
Her boyfriend and you?
D-Oh we are friends of a friend.
Right.
D-So what do you do?
Nothing, I am writing my dissertation.
D-Wow! I work for Nintendo.
I laugh, really they are still around?
D-They are the #1 game company.
Sure they are.
D- Wii have you heard of wii?
Wii, you should have said so. Okay, my friend is waving me over think that means he is buying us drinks, see you later.

Birthday girl was drinking captain and coke and I decided to stick to Vodka. Fuzzy friend was running on makers neat. I noticed the drinks didn't seem very strong.

Made it back to see Mr. Nintendo waving his shirt in the air and dancing to punk rock standards. The hosts asked me who he was. A friend of a friend that was invited, we laughed.

I imagined if I was old enough to go out when the Ramones and the Sex Pistols, were around it would have been something like that night.

I got points for having seen the Ramones in concert, a cover of the Cure came on and I mentioned I had seen them too.

Night turned into day and the rain had stopped, fortunately it was grey out because my head was swimming in vodka...For a good girl living in Reseda, turned LA woman, San Francisco is a fitting third chapter...

Estrellita

Timing is everything...Now a Blackberry member. I see what they mean, how did I ever pass the time at the airport before now?!

Fa la la la la...off to Palm Springs then Big Bear for the holidays. In search of a proper godparent for Estrellita!

Holiday Love!

A last hoorah before the holiday away from the city that we know and love. Took the N Judah with my lovely friend Monica to meet In Sook at Bossa Nova. The latest and greatest in boutique Brazilian.

Sipped our caipirinhas, shared small plates before toasting promotions, friendship, boyfriends and the single life. Made our way to Absinthe for dessert, and it was bustling and busy at 9pm. Glanced at the Maître d' that I happened to meet through a university friend years before. Smile and request, "possibly a table for 3 or 4 for dessert and drinks?"

Prime table with reserved label gifted to us- immediately. Life is good. The buzz of happiness surrounded us and everyone was in a festive mood.

Met more friends before approaching the velvety rope at Harlot...

Pink

I may have been inspired by an Ugly Betty episode I caught on our Tivo. Although I clearly remember walking past Cole Hardware and being delighted at the site of a pink tree.

That in mind our annual holiday party theme was set to Naughty & Nice with a pink and silver motif. I have never taken interest in the decorating, but this year as my friend kept track of the pink trees being in and out of stock finally decided to purchase one. The clerk told me it was the last one.

Fuzzy friend in tow, I told him he could be the godfather since he carried it a couple blocks home. Besides he is Jewish and straight, yet carefully cradled the tree up the hill. At the house we plugged in the four foot tree with preset pink lights and as my other friend and I decided what kind of skirt to get it named her the godmother as well. I named the tree Annabelle, I like to name and rename things.

Celebrated our pink tree, or Hanukkah, or maybe just the city over drinks down the street at the Candy Cane...

Super Feliz

It was a full week, Quintana Roo, Tijuana, Los Angeles, and back to San Francisco. Ended the week with more than 30 calls and texts wishing me very felices cumple. Love, love.

Enjoyed my walk to the office and my assistant took me to lunch. The staff bought me a cake with one red candle that I wished on. I picked up a bottle of Sophia rose on the walk home and Lays limon. Toasted with my friend and got ready to head to North Beach.

Had dinner with four of my loveliest girlfriends at Enricos. Had not been back to the venerable establishment since the remodel and they did a really nice job. The tree was stunning. We toasted with a bottle of red wine then bubbly, then they brought me out another mini cake, with another perfect singular red candle. From the staff I got the rockstar salutation. Guess the cobalt and blue dress still had some Vegas magic on it from partying with my queridos primos at the Palms.

We walked over to Tosca for the famed hot chocolate and brandy. I was feeling like I wanted to have a vintage celebration, muy nice as my tia Rocio would say. Life is good and really does get better with time. Love my life.

Three of us made our way to Tony Nicks, my first time but still in the neighborhood. Walked in to find one empty table for three. The night was good but then lovely In Sook decided we had one more stop, and I promise I have never laughed or enjoyed the company of good friends more. Who knew, life had soo many firsts :)

Beauties

Pain

At the yoga studio the instructor was commenting on how she can always tell the bad thoughts someone is thinking. 'They just look at you with this air of contempt.' Sometimes I just want to tell them- 'this isn't supposed to be easy.' Trust me I offered, the classes we suffer through most, in retrospect are the best. 'I just feel like saying get over it.' He was probably hung over I offered, that is the worst. Note to self- yoga teachers can read minds...

That is exactly why my friend and I had skipped yoga and went for a mini walk that included a stop at the Kezar Pub. It was sunny, it was happy hour, it was the world series? Yes, it was on, and I commented on how I did not like the contemporary uniforms of the Rockies. I don't know either team well, but would take the Red Sox based solely on their fashion sense. Seems they are killing the series anyway.

Easily ignoring the flat screens we got back to our cran and vodkas, and east coast plans. On her to do list was a facial, and she convinced me it would be fun. Appointment booked it was her gift to me because I had never been. Ninety-minutes, I had no idea they could work on your face for that amount of time, without minor surgery!

I didn't have plans to go out and that was good because although my skin did not look it, was really very sensitive. Sure enough by the time I had to go to my first wedding in the city, my face felt normal again. Slid into the vintage little black I.Magnin dress and pink with gold baubles, contemplated purses and overcoats. My friend had already arrived and was having a beer in the kitchen, we caught up as I did my makeup in the next room. That was the first time I noticed my skin, it had a particular color and texture of its own, that could only be described as new skin.

Traded the low heels for the higher ones and realized, beauty does feel good. Wonder if the esthetician was able to read my mind...

Spain via Florida

Another sunny Florida day, and feel like the Sangria was in true Spanish form last night. One of the things I remember fondly about going to Spain was finding an underground lounge- in the sweltering humid heat, the below ground venue was a cool refuge.

We decided since we had taken the panoramic train ride from Barcelona to Valencia we were going to order a pitcher of their namesake drink. So we ordered Agua de Valencia, which sounded really refreshing. It was really smooth, the combination of fresh orange juice with cava and vodka, was really easy to drink. After the first pitcher we ordered another.

This was me and my sisters first trip to Europe. On account of her college graduation we set our sights on Ibiza. My mother objected to us spending two weeks on the Balearic Island, to please her, we planned a stop on the mainland. Pushed through the jetlag, enjoyed the Barcelona nightlife, and Spanish culture, met cute Italian law students, on a quest to visit the Lladro Workshop we made our way to Valencia.

We didn't know if it was the heat or the sugar or the alcohol that had gotten to us, because suddenly the Agua de Valencia had us laughing and trying to figure out how we got to such a happy state. Regardless we wanted to recreate this back at home so we asked the server what the ratio of, cava, oj, and vodka were? It seems we had left out an ingredient- gin. Gin, we missed it, no wonder, se nos subio!

It might be the salsa music I have the pleasure of hearing everywhere here and the combination of Caribbean accents which are so distinct here, something makes me want to hop on a plane and head further east. Or it might be the warm sun and friendly disposition of everyone on this side of the country that reminds me of good times.

At the intimate dinner at the Spanish restaurant last night, the professors from across the nation informally gathered to talk about their grandchildren, their fight for full tenure, their creative projects, and travel, they offered me a balanced look of what my future had in store.

One of the things I know, once I complete my dissertation I will be able to take on some of the travel I enjoy without the guilt of deadlines. I think I have caught the travel bug, I had been cured for a good minute, but am glad it is back :)

The coffee is finally kicking in, thank goodness the south moves about as fast as molasses.

La Playa )'(

Going a mile a minute...When the double rainbow was sent to me, it took me back to my time on the Playa. Already looking forward to next year at Black Rock City.

Today I will ambitiously take on the following:
*Follow up on mundane paperwork
*Drop off dry cleaning for same day cleaning to be packed for LA
*Campus library to check out another Foucault and return books I am not using
*Read articles printed last night
*Shop? not sure I love the shoes, should check one more store. Love my new dress!
*Cobbler, I bet that is where my favorite suede boots are!
*Edit PowerPoint for Professor, headed to the conference we were both invited to
*Confirm drinks with fellow Chicana Dissertation Crazed friend!