left my heart in san francisco...

It's been less than 48 hours and already the girl trip to SF seems like a lifetime ago. It was amazing and went by so incredibly quickly. Partly it was because our schedule was jam packed with activities, both wedding and on our own agenda, but we basically squeezed every moment into our solo weekend.

The weekend started out on the right note when we bumped ourselves up to first class on Virgin America. It was my first first class flight (hey, it's a total waste to fly so spectacularly with all those kids!) and it was impressive. The airline has moodlighting and these cool monitors with movies, tv, games, and a chat program where you can chat with other passengers. Oh, and the free drinks, meals, and seat massages were also quite nice. Also, you can tell from the pic below that Kim especially loved the reading lights because they looked like karaoke microphones and you KNOW that she had to totally hold herself back from belting out some Fergie tunes.

The big bummer, though, was that my monitor didn't work and while I was content to read my Phillipa Gregory Victorian soap opera, it was disappointing to not use all their cool toys. Especially when I really, really, really love cool toys. Also, the airline did a spectacularly poor job of compensating me (a handful of drink tix for the way home, but only allowed to use one per flight (huh?). It's such shame when a perfectly good company totally slacks on customer service.

But I digress... Because the rest of the weekend was absolutely delish. SF is so incredibly cool and beautiful and the weather was lovely. We checked into the Warwick, which was tiny, but beautiful and quaint in that SF way and then checked out the Nike Women's Race booths at Union Square. Kim ran this a few years ago, but all the excitement and hubbub in the square made me sorry we weren't running it this year. But then I got over it when I remembered that we'd have to go to bed early and not hang out in the bars. Next year.

We probably should've skipped the bars, though, because that night we headed down to North Beach, which is where B and I used to live and hang out. I had such good times there, but apparently that is the place to hang out when you're 24, as we were, because when we were carded at the door of one place, I looked at the guy, who looked about twelve and said, "Really?" We were ready to be flattered.

"How old do you think we are?" Kim asked.

"Um," he thought for a minute. "Definitely not more than 34."

Hmmm, was it all that necessary to card us? Turns out that the guy was born in '85--old enough to be our kid if we'd gone the path of Bristol Pallin, and that everyone else in the bar was about his age. Except for the kid who brought his grandparents out that night.

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The next day we got decked out for J&J's nuptials.

"Um, what are you wearing under your dress?" Kim asked as we were getting ready. "It's totally see-through."

And here's where travelling with your friend is a absolute bonus. Because I'd only brought one dress, she ran out as the stores were opening and went to two stores to pick up the perfect half-slip. A person couldn't wish for a better travelling companion! While she was gone, I grabbed some huge bagels with lox, capers, and carmelized onions to eat in the car on the way up to Santa Rosa for the wedding. We'll remember them always since they leaked onto Kim's purse and left it smelling rather fishy... Oops.

The wedding was lovely--the setting, the friends and family, the ceremony... It was so Jessica and Jackie, and their happiness just filled the celebration. Plus, it was so great FINALLY meeing Mr. Ezra.

But the greatest part of the weekend was seriously being in charge of our own schedules. For once. We ate when we wanted to, shopped when and where we wanted to (and often under the influence of a cocktail or two), and slept through the night ENTIRE night. We took care of ourselves and recharged by dining on sushi and sake, and the next day on massively huge Mission burritos (which were as good as anticipated).

Having never really indulged in a girl weekend before (seriously, what is wrong with me?!), I am now a true believer. There's not much better than spending time with a good friend with the same goals (recharge, relax, boots) and needs (sleep, eat, boots). And while it was wonderful to get home to our adorable passel of wiggly kids and hand out the surprises we'd brought them, I think our trip to SF is going to have to be an annual event. Josh and Boaz, you guys don't mind, right? Right?

And did I mention the boots?