Happy Birthday, John!

When it comes to next door neighbors Tom and I won the lottery. That's no April Fool's joke. John and Emmy's house is a foot and a half away from ours on the uphill side.

Here we are at Pacific Cafe celebrating.

Where Exactly Is the I-Spot?

It's right here.

Why I Like Laurie Colwin

At night some people count sheep and others read mysteries. I lie in bed and think about food. Often I make up menus. Sometimes I invent recipes . . .

from Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin

Two Toms

xxx
The bright blue plastic bag

The two of us

The four of us

John and his Tom

My Sweet Home Cooking Tom

John told a funny story about my Tom in college. One evening Tom ran down the hall in the dorm yelling: "I've just made an important discovery. There are no adults. We're the adults. We're doomed!"

Unrequited Love

Tomorrow is a big day. John is coming to visit. He lived down the hall from Tom at William & Mary. I fell in love with him the instant I met him 30 years ago and wrote him a letter and told him. He presently lives in Boulder, CO. The last time Tom and I saw him was ten years ago after we had just moved here. John was leaving from San Francisco to fly to Nepal with the Peace Corps, and the three of us ate at Little Thai the night before he left.

We're picking him up at the Civic Center BART station tomorrow around 11:00. He said he'd be carrying a bright blue plastic bag. Do you think it's full of presents? He's a Buddhist–I'm not sure he eats meat–so I'm making him deviled eggs and graham crackers with chocolate icing.

Friday Night

I painted the town.

Actually we went to see The Ghost Writer. I hate it when I go to a movie only to end up wishing I had stayed home, gone for a walk and drawn on the computer instead.

Happy At Last

For dessert plates we've always resorted to using coffee cup saucers. Dessert is an important part of our lives, and this month I decided to break down and actually buy something to use for dessert dishes that didn't have an indented ring in the center.

I found these tiny white dishes in CB2 while we were scouting out a couch for Barbara. The dishes were $1.95 apiece. I had to think about it. I wasn't sure they were big enough. I wasn't sure they cost enough.

A few weeks ago I splurged on four pink dessert dishes that I had been lusting over for eons on the internet. Do you ever order something and just know that when your order arrives you'll be happy at last? I knew when these pink dishes arrived that I would be happy at last. But the pink turned out to be dusty pink, and the dishes themselves turned out to be gargantuan–not that there's anything wrong with gargantuan.

So I decided to return to CB2. But it was too late. The quirky white dishes were gone. When I got home, I checked CB2's web site and guess what. The reason they were no longer in the store must have been because no one bought them–because (follow this link) now they are marked down to 95¢ apiece! I'm trying not to use so many exclamation points, but I couldn't help using one there. So I ordered eight.

They arrived today (the day after Mari, Wolf, and Mimi left, of course). But that's OK because now I'm happy at last.

p.s. The tiny knives are $5.95 for a set of 6.

Mimi's Cake

I'm so excited because tonight I'll finally get to meet Mari and Mimi and Wolf. They're coming over for dinner and I just finished decorating Mimi's flourless chocolate cake. She's 5 months old. All the candies have little m's on them for "Mimi." They're m&m's. You know, I'm not sure Mimi can eat cake yet.

Mimi ended up drinking her dinner. We had to eat her cake for her.

A good time was had by all. The Norwegian flag flew proudly beside our driveway to beckon our guests. (Wolf moved to Los Angeles from Oslo, Norway, in order to study cinematography at the American Film Institute where he met Mari.)

We almost were able to talk Marilyn and Jeffrey into driving over from Sacramento. They were ready to hop into the car until Jeffrey got called away to Portland. WAH!


Wednesday: It's decided. Mari, Wolf, and Mimi are moving to San Francisco. Mari and I are going to eat cookies and ride our Vespas every day. Did I mention that Sally and Hubcap are moving here, too?

Found On the Beach Today

Pre-Spaghetti Walk

It was hot this evening and the beach was wall-to-wall people. We hit the Coastal Trail. Cool, uncrowded, fragrant.

Thank You, Peter

Our Beach Buds

One of the best things about walking on the beach is running into Anne, Peter, and Carmen. (Carmen is off chasing a kite.) They live on the opposite end of Ocean Beach, and jog 3 miles up to the Cliff House and 3 miles back every day. That's 6 miles, folks. They can eat all the pizza they want.