Don't make me snap you...*

I hate it when I get up on a Sunday morning (okay, so it was almost afternoon when I got up. I took a sleeping pill last night, okay??) and my newspaper is nowhere to be found. So now I have to go out and buy one. When I've already paid for it. And it's the Sunday paper, no less -- more fun, and more expensive. Damned newspaper thieves...

Anyway... back to the much nicer topic of last week. Cindy and the girls got here late Tuesday afternoon, and since that was the big earthquake commemoration day, I thought we should pay homage in our own way. So we had dinner at one of the restaurants in the Ferry Building, which was all lit up in different colors for the occasion (that's the picture you see here - cool!) and then we took a walk up to Lotta's Fountain, which is where the official commemoration is held each year (you may have seen the mayor hanging a wreath on it on TV last week). Not only was the fountain still standing after the quake, it became a gathering place and message center for survivors, so that's why it's an important part of city history.

Then, of course, we were off to Ghirardelli Square for sundaes. Yum.

The next day, we checked out this exhibit, which was really amazing. Goofed off in Golden Gate Park, where the girls were amazed to see that gazebo that's in "Memoirs of a Geisha" (yes, they filmed part of the movie here), stopped in briefly at the new De Young museum to check out the view from its observation deck, then headed over to the Wharf, because it's where you have to go when you're a tourist. And I remember loving it when I was the girls' age (they're 15). Watched the sea lions at Pier 39, had a nice dinner, then got dessert at a fabulous little dessert cafe back in my 'hood.

Thursday, we headed downtown to shop a little, rode the cable car, shopped in Chinatown, then had another lovely dinner in my 'hood before we collapsed. Okay, I collapsed.

The weather was spectacular, the company even more so. Lots of laughter and way too much food. But those, I think, are the hallmarks of a good time. Where are we going next, girls??


*we said it this way so many times, i don't even remember now what the correct phrase was! cindy? sierra? lindz? anyone?