Good Day Sunshine

I am in the middle of my work-weekend, and so far it's been pretty lovely and has featured more evidence of this charmed life I seem to lead.

To kick things off last night, I met my friends Elaine and Franny at my Favorite Bar. Over the past couple of years, I've become an official regular at Favorite Bar... a hip little place that, while sometimes too crowded on the weekend, is delightfully inviting during the week. I used to be uncomfortable with the idea of being a regular patron there. The allure of a Cheers-like life seemed lost on me, and I feared that "regular" status was probably a sign of alcoholism or some other ilk of anti-social behavior. Then I remembered that several years ago I became friends with the owner of Blondie's in the Mission because of my frequent patronage there. And in 2000, my friend Gry and I fell into a Wednesday evening happy hour habit at Casanova. We kept up that tradition for over a year and only stopped once Gry moved to New York. So I guess I should have no discomfort with my affection for Favorite Bar. And compared to others, I'm pretty much an amateur regular anyway, as I tend not to go there more than once a week or so.

Champagne at Favorite Bar is always fun, but things got really good today when my friend Denise and I decided to take advantage of the amazing sunshine kissing the Bay Area and hop a ferry to Tiburon. Once there, we slathered on sunscreen and set ourselves up on the waterfront deck of Sam's Cafe where we chatted up a storm over sandwiches and Sam's pink "lemonade." And to think so many others were stuck inside offices working today.

So here I am happy as a clam after having spent a fabulous day in the sun. Tonight, I will likely curl up on my couch and either read or perhaps watch the Grammy Awards so I can marvel at how many of the artists I don't know and how much of the music I've never heard.