What a week! It was crazy busy, and I spent a good chunk of it in San Francisco for a marketing conference. Today I'm curled up on the couch, laptop on lap, coffee at side, and looking at recipes. In other words, a normal Sunday morning. Although if I could quit sneezing, I might also have a cat in my lap. Oh, Spring.
The beginning of the week was tame - the only thing really noteworthy is that on Tuesday I was voted in as a board member for the Kansas City Direct Marketing Association.
Wednesday, however I got up at the crack of dawn and flew to San Francisco. And it was beautiful, weather wise, although I hardly left the hotel except for dinners. 'Hazard of staying in the same hotel as the conference and having a Starbucks in the lobby and breakfast & lunch paid for by the conference sponsors.
Upon arrival Wednesday morning, my feet were killing me. Apparently even though I travel just enough to earn A-List, I've not yet learned that cute shoes do not justify themselves in airports, even if they are slip on/off. (Especially since I was TSA Pre-check and didn't even have to remove them). I had packed running shoes thinking that I might actually (ha!) find a treadmill, but had only packed one pair of socks (a by-product of packing, uncaffeinated, at 3:30 in the morning). I immediately put on my sneakers after I checked in, and since I'd noticed a Target across the street from the hotel, that was my first stop to buy another pair of socks since I assumed I'd need to wear my sneakers again before the week was out (urban Target, but still it made my heart hurt a little that the South of Market had gone so suburban - there was also a Ross, a Marshalls and an Old Navy. I kept telling myself that the drag queens in this neighborhood needed affordable clothing too, but I digress..). Anyway, I found a little burger joint for lunch called "Super Duper Burger" and apparently the local chain had won 7x7's best burger and Eater SF's top 10 milkshakes. It was a pretty fine burger and milkshake - although I kept running that scene from Pulp Fiction in my head. Anyway, then since I'd been up since (local time) 1:30 am, I headed back to the hotel for a nap.
Got up around 5, showered and headed to the conference kick-off: a cocktail reception at the rooftop bar. I hate these things, hate them. I am no good at networking - especially since nobody had name tags on, but my friend Erin was to arrive a little later and we were going to go to dinner afterwards. It was a full host bar, so I took advantage of the hospitality and had a Maker's and diet and stood around awkwardly in the periphery. A tall lanky guy, who was there as a vendor for a video content company, walked up and introduced himself. I was clearly not in the market for his product, so I was thankful he stood around and talked to me anyway. Maybe he hated networking events as much as I do (although clearly he was much better at it). We chatted for nearly an hour - while I sweated - the room was crowded and HOT and I was wearing a suit jacket that I regretted most of the evening. I also found out he was at least 15 years younger than me, as we were discussing Millennials' impact on marketing and he admitted that he was one. So, me: sweating so much my carefully flat-ironed hair was going full bush, feet hurting in my 'proper adult business shoes', and now add to that feeling a bit like a relic. I'm sure Erin felt attacked when she finally arrived, because it meant I could leave soon.
Anyway dinner was the nearby BlueStem Brasserie - I had a chicken confit that was very yum, along with some croquettes of potato and olive nicoise and, to drink, an old fashioned. The next night Erin and I met up again after the conference and pulled up Open Table, looking to venture away from the conference, and picked a little mom & pop place called Il Borgo. It was so charming, and our waitress was definitely Italian (I suspect she was the chef's wife) - in that she let us linger forever and then scolded us to finish our dinner before dessert. (It was a lot more charming than it sounds, being scolded in very Milanese accented English) Dinner, for me, was a fettucine primavera with some fresh spring peas, prosciutto and little tomatoes, and the house chianti - and Erin and I split a light and creamy tiramisu for dessert. It was what I pictured exactly when hitting a little neighborhood restaurant in lower haight.
It feels like it took all day to get home on Friday - flying from the West Coast is such a drag - between time changes and no direct flights. I spent a great deal of time frustrated, at the conference and at SFO, with either painfully slow or no internet access. But the conference was fantastic, lots of good discussion and exactly on the subject I was interested in. So there's that. I also engaged quite a lot on Twitter and got a few new followers - and folks to follow.
Yesterday, I lounged around the house most of the morning, and then got out to run errands - including a stop at Lane Bryant for some shorts. I have apparently gained more weight than I wanted to admit since none of my summer clothing seems to fit, and I refused to go up 2 sizes at Lane Bryant. I wound up only buying a dress; which doesn't solve my casual summer wear needs, but did have me with the grave realization that I cannot keep fucking around. Back to Low Carb and exercise today.
So instead of baking the cherry, almond-amaretti cupcakes I'd picked out last week, today I'll be making a white chicken & spinach lasagna with zucchini in place of the pasta. And putting together my meals for the rest of the week. But, I do get to plan some fun cooking for next weekend: I'm invited to Easter Lunch and have been tasked with dessert. My hosts are diabetic, and since I'm doing low-carb, I will be making a turtle cheesecake with a pecan nut crust.
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