SAN FRANCISCO!!

I'm sweating again. If there was one thing that trip to San Francisco did for me it may have been to renew my desire to get out of Miami sooner than later. :) We could not have had better weather there. Perfectly sunny every day, 60s, maybe 70s, a slightly cool breeze - just enough to keep you comfortable really. Perfect weather for wearing jeans, a few layers, scarves, boots - all my favorite things. I think my eventual residence may have more to do with the fashion it allows than anything else. I will say this - I detest hot weather clothes. Being modest and all, there's only so much you can take off, you will still be sweating, and you won't look nearly as chic in your capris and t-shirt as those wearing less than you.

ANYHOW. Was the trip fabulous? Absolutely. Did I miss my kids? Well, I did have a real maternal instinct kick in on the plane ride there when I heard a child start crying halfway through - just a sad, I'm confused cry, but really, it sort of made me almost cry myself. I got over it though. :) Did the kids make out fine with the babysitters? Apparently. Phoenix even wanted to go back to James when I tried to hold him when I got home! And the pregnant lady didn't go into labor, so I guess that's a success. Did I absolutely love San Francisco? Yes! Did I pretend like I was a doctor to get in for free food? Yes. Did I even carry presentation posters across the country to be part of the group? Yes. Did I forget them and leave them stranded in the airport multiple times? Oops, yes. Was it so awesome to not dress like a mom for a week? YES. Did people not recognize me because of it? Also yes. Did I remember that Ryan and I have a really good time together when we're not stressed out and bossing each other around about taking care of the kids? Yes! Did we party like rock stars until wee hours of the morning? You bet. (Ok, like rock stars for us, but we still crashed before the other 99% of the people we were with. But cut us some slack, we're not used to this lifestyle.) Did I shop for 8 hours straight? Yes. I mean, yes.

Did I get a little sick of standing around in heels for hours on end socializing over cocktails? Yes. (Drunk people must have some real stamina.)

So yeah, it was a great time. In my pretend doctoring I even sat in on a few presentations at the conference. Day one: cosmetics stuff, lasers, before and after pictures, that kind of stuff. Cool. Day two: bloody eye sockets and disengaged eyeballs - um, yeah, I didn't really sign up for this. I better go shopping.

Ryan presenting his poster at the conference:














China town


















Golden Gate Bridge. Really cool to see the fog rolling in over it.





























Justin (a.k.a., Roomie) after running across the bridge:


















Pier 39:
































The boys eating crab. (Too much work for me, just get me to Ghiradelli already so I can get some chocolate.)


















In the hotel getting ready to go out:

















Chillin' in the hotel room after yet another high-heeled episode:






















Got to go to the Oakland temple with some cousins:




























Saw South Pacific with my aunt and uncle:




(Also went to dinner with some other cousins but forgot to take pictures.)










The program also sent us to this crazy, over-the-top, cabaret-style show called Beach Blanket Babylon with these wild hats and costumes and performers poking fun at everyone in politics and show biz. It was a bit crazy, but had some really funny moments. My personal favorite was Madonna - over 50 years old with her perfectly sculpted face and body set to the song "Defying Gravity" from the musical Wicked. It was hilarious.






(Picture from their website.)

Check out the art on the walls in this lounge we went to:



So cool. You'd be looking at this picture on the wall and then you'd see the person blink or shift subtly. I loved it.

Took a cable car:





















Stopped at Lombard Street:






















And I finally got to indulge in an enormous sundae from Ghiradelli. (Not photographed - like I would take the time to take a picture while Ryan is busy eating it all!)

And my renewed energy-for-my-kids! even lasted a whole day after I got home.

Actually, that reminds me of the only negative thing - when other people take care of my kids and get along so well! This happened when my cousins watched them a couple months ago too for an over-nighter. I come back to a clean house, happy kids, and an "everything was great!" Really? It wasn't even a little hard? Come on, you at least lost your patience a couple times, right? The house didn't look like this 10 minutes ago and you were in a total state of frenzy? And at some point one was bleeding, one was screaming and the other one was breaking something, right? Wow. I either have really good babysitters or I'm kind of bad at this! :)

Anyway, it was awesome. I'm definitely in for Chicago next year!