Back at the end of March, I took a much-needed trip home to California. My mom picked me up at the airport and we enjoyed our nice Mexican lunch at a nearby restaurant where you can see the planes landing. I pretty much waxed poetic about the aroma and freshness of the air for the next five days. We headed back to Mill Valley where I ran some errands and marvelled at the lack of people, particularly at Northgate Mall, which was quiet and barren of people, even on a Friday afternoon. After dinner with my parents, I headed into San Francisco where I met up with John and Josh at their apartment and we waited for Gwyn and Chuck to arrive from LA.
Then we headed to Matador Bar where an array of other friends were waiting -- kind of incredible, and really touching actually, because people from all areas of my life had come out to meet me. Rob Hanson, Bryan Pon, Dave Downs, Scott, Maya, Peter, Katja, Hendrick, Andrea, Kris, Yogi ... I was so touched that everyone had come out to hang out.
Josh and Gwyn doing a shot of something.
The Hanson That Is the Rob.
The next day, Gwyn, Chuck, John and I all woke up and headed for brunch in the Castro.
First Gwyn showed off her
America's Next Top Model moves in the kitchen ...
... while I admired John's fridge.
John and Chuck, en route to the restaurant, Gwyn lurking in the distance.
After a nice lunch, Gwyn and I headed up to Marin. She hung out with my mom for a bit while I showered, then we did what we do best -- drive around, laugh, talk, etc.
First I took a picture of her in front of the apple tree in my parents' front yard.
We ended up in Tiburon where admired the view and chilled.
Gwyn, talking to Yuka.
Look! I am white as a ghost, straight from NY!
Gwyn headed back into SF to hang out with Chuck and John; I stayed at home and waited for Yogi to come over for dinner with my parents. We dined on delicious grilled salmon with this light cucumber sauce, asparagus, rice salad and pilaf, then Mom pulled out an amazing homemade blueberry pie. She knows the tricks to make me want to visit home more often!!
Yogi and I drove to his place in the city and kicked it for a bit, drinking wine and watching MTV, then headed out to a really lame club in SOMA that was chock full of Burning Man kids (something that makes me
never want to go back home); after Dave, his friends, Gwyn, Chuck and John arrived, we headed to another bar nearby and then to The Transfer for Frisco Disco, the funnest dance party I have been to in SF for quite some time.
The next morning I took the ferry back to Marin and then joined my mom and dad for an early dinner at Absinthe before they went to the symphony. I headed down to Marisa & Dave's in the Outer Mission and hung out for a while. The next day, I saw Natalie for a nice lunch, then went over to an editing studio to say adieu to Yogi. And then that night, after another amazing dinner from the Cocina Mes Padres, I went over to Scott's apartment in the Marina and had a few glasses of wine and finally got a chance to chat up for the first time in years.
Such a nice trip ... wish I could go home all the time! But I came back to New York feeling thoroughly refreshed, rejuvenated and rewarded. Everyone I know in San Francisco just fills me up with so much love and happiness and inspiration, so the little injection of it kept me afloat on quite the buoyant cloud of happiness for the weeks that followed. Yay!
