I'm going to post this even if it kills me...

I've started six posts in the last three days. Part of the problem with my posting is that I a. have too much to tell, b. have really nothing to tell, c. would really rather lounge around the house in knit shorts and camisoles, and d. need to clean my room/unpack/do laundry/take a shower. But I do have much to tell so I am going to begin at the beginning and hopefully end at the end, however there is a strong chance that I may end back at the beginning. Also if you would like to see more pictures from my trip (I took about 2000) I will be slowly uploading them to my Flikr now that I figured out how to use it. I've had the dern thing for two years and am just now figuring out it's uses. Apparently there is a monthly upload limit for free accounts and thus It will probably take me at least two-three months to get them all up. But I should have some up later to night.

Dress-thrifted, Belt-thrifted, Tights- target, shoes- pinupgirlclothing.com, Red Bow- the abbyss of my mother's ribbon collection probably.

This is what I wore to visit Alcatraz and Fisherman's Wharf. I did not intentionally dress like a Gothic Lolita Sailor Girl to visit these places, but it happened. I actually really love this dress, but by Thursday I was so sick of those shoes. I own over 40 pairs of shoes. There is a very good reason for that. I get bored. I probably won't wear those shoes for months now. Alcatraz was really cool. Very spooky/creepy/intense/psychologically interesting. I highly recommend going someday and taking the audio tour. But I will warn you against the "slash-pop" noise they so delicately cover when you're in the dinning hall. We took the ferry over at nine am and left around 1:30. There was so much to see, and it was really a marvelous tour. I also decided that I could very happily live my life as a fisherman's wife, on an island, surrounded by the sea and making homemade clam chowder. I blame the revelation on Alcatraz, though there is much irony in my trip there leading me to this idyllic fantasy. Alcatraz is not somewhere I would label as idyllic, though the view is beautiful. When I told my mother this she started laughing and told me that she could totally see me living some strange Eye of the Amaryllis meets The Secret of Roan Inish life. I think this would be quite lovely and look forward to being the eccentric fisherwoman who mostly keeps to herself and her devastatingly and ruggedly handsome husband and their five children, save to go into town to hear the local gossip. I think people would think I was a witch, because I'd wear granny boots, long skirts and a shawl. Fisherman's Wharf was as fun as it always is. I love the fish market the most. If you can't tell I am a huge fan of sea food, and by sea food, I mean anything that is not sushi. Sushi is gross and disgusting. And no, Bri and Jess, I do not want to go get sushi anytime soon. Or ever for that matter. We ate lunch at Boudine and had clam chowder bread bowls, then we walked over to Ghiradeli Square to have afternoon tea at The Crown and Crumpet. Cutest place ever. I am not a huge tea fan, but I could have sat there for hours drinking that stuff and eating our little cakes. I did get tired of hearing my sister squeal about how pink everything was (her tea was even pink despite being called "Blue eyes"), but I am also not a pink person. I am however a sparkly things person and there was plenty to be had. we were supposed to go to a club that night but Jess got sick so we ended up walking down to an old fifties diner called Mel's Drive In and had burgers and shakes. Then we went back to our hotel and fell asleep very quickly.

Sweater- target, Shirt- Decemberist's concert, Skirt- target, -Tights- ???, Unicorn socks(!)- Pac Sun, Shoes- Keds.

Boring outfit, not even all that cute, but by Friday I wanted to be as comfortable as possible plus I had a plane to ride that night and knew I wouldn't have time to change. Our last day was my personal favourite. If you have never been to the Sutro Bath Ruins on Ocean Beach, you must go. You must wear a skirt, and you must climb all the rocks and ruins and go into all the caves . Then you must take your shoes off and run through the ocean. When you have finished these you must play with the settings on your camera and take over five hundred pictures. Trust me this is the recipe for the best day of your life. We had so much fun! We also saw The Camera Obscura, which is super neato in a geeky kinda way, and had clam chowder at the Cliff House as we watched the ocean chop at it's self and this random kayaker. Let's see how many times I can go on and on about clam chowder in this post. Anyways we walked up and down Ocean Beach and found a beached dead seal, which we reported to Beach Patrol like good little beach goers, plus it was gross and disgusting and I wanted to pass out. I met a poodle named Rex who loved me, we found a super cool cave, we scaled rocks and pretended we were German Tourists (No offense to any German Tourist at all!!! But they are the worst at ignoring the safety chins/ropes/signs and plummeting to their deaths off cliffs. I went camping alot when I was a kid, to lots of national parks, so you can trust my knowledge of this.), and then we took a bus back to our hotel and got our luggage and exchanged pictures for the last time, and waited for our shuttle that doubles as a human trafficking service. Then we got to the airport and went to our gate, waited for 45 mins, then figured out that they had switched our gates and we were at the wrong one. Then we boarded the plane, flew home and were greeted by thick Los Angeles air and really hot nights. And that's my story. We had such a good time, full of crazy and hilarious memories (ask me about how Bri fell off the bed), and while I'm glad to be back in my own bed, and with my family, I hate southern California even more now. I haven't been outside for two days since it's been in the 90s. I miss the wind, and the cold, and complaining about it being hot when it got up to 69. Oh cool weather how you taunt me...

In other news I was going to announce a giveaway today, but I think I'll hold off on that until the end of the month. We were supposed to be going on a family vacation next week, but plans may be changing so until I know what my month looks like, I will hold off on it. But I am very excited for it! I'll show you the prizes soon. There will be two winners, one international, and one within the US. I'm itching to tell you all about it, but it will have to wait! I go back to work tomorrow and am almost looking forward to it since I hear there is a strike going on in one of the offices. Should be interesting.