And We Had Dinner At the Mall

I have had the greatest day ever.

It actually started last night when I met Tom at the Rickshaw Stop to see the very talented Bart Davenport. I had never been to the Rickshaw Stop before, and I discovered it to be delightfully random. It's in a completely random area; the door is not marked; and there really are a couple of rickshaws in the place.

Who knew?

Well, probably a lot of people because the Rickshaw Stop is celebrating its third anniversary. So okay, I'm a tiny bit of a Jane Come Lately on this one. In addition to Bart Davenport, a duo called Bramble and Briar performed. I only caught the end of their set, but I really liked what I heard. They were so cute and just emanated happiness. Two other artists played, but I didn't like one of them, and we left before the other took the stage.

Because it's my life, I, of course, ran into people I know at the show. One was the (recently) ex-girlfriend of a musician I'm acquainted with. She's young but a lot of fun, and it was nice to see her. I just hope my musician-friend was/is not too sad about their break-up. I get the feeling he may have been, at least for a little while. I also ran into Phelps, with whom I went to high school in L.A... back in the Stone Age when I was actually in high school. God, I'm old. Anyway, I've run into Phelps at shows before, and his wife, who skipped the occasion last night, even told him beforehand that she knew he'd stumble upon someone he knew. And she specifically mentioned me.

I love that my reputation as a Gal About Town precedes me.

Even after a fabulous Bart Davenport set last night, I got up early enough this morning to make it to the gym before my singing lesson. Yes, I exercise every day, but often I only have time to take a run. Words cannot describe how incredibly nice it was to engage in a proper resistance training/cardio combo for my workout this morning. Not to mention that I positively love my gym. I feel better just walking in there, so I really need to make more time to luxuriate in it.

My workout accomplished, shower taken and lunch ingested, I then made my way to the East Bay for my singing lesson with Best Friend. We spent the first hour chatting, so we only had 30 minutes for actual singing. I think that's the danger of taking voice lessons from a friend, but Best Friend's teaching is worth the risk. After singing, I let BART propel me back to the City where I met my sister, the famous Fabulous Patti, at the Merchant Wine Bar in the Ferry Building. Once we'd had our fill of wine and pastries, we went to the fancy Westfield Shopping Center, home of Bloomingdales in San Francisco.

And that is where I purchased the most fabulous coat in the world.

I've been looking for the perfect coat since October, and tonight I found it! Plus, it was on super-sale. I'm not going to lie; it was still expensive. However I'll take whatever savings I can get, and my perfect coat was almost 50% off. You'll be seeing this coat a lot, believe me. Finding the perfect coat can leave a girl famished, so FP and I hit the food court for dinner.

Yes, we had dinner at the mall.

Lest you think we indulged in Hot Dog On a Stick or something equally nauseating, I will assure you that the Westfield Shopping Center is not your ordinary mall. To that end, we were able to enjoy dinner at the Slanted Door. Inside the mall. If you don't live in San Francisco, this may mean nothing to you. If you do, you know what a coup it is for this restaurant to have a satellite location in a mall. And it was delicious.

How much would you pay for a day like this? Wait, don't answer, because there's more! I then went to Erin's birthday party in Russian Hill. There I got to see not only her, but Helen, Simon, Kenneth, Evan, Liz, Doug and Jack, in one of his last San Francisco appearances. Jack is moving to New York on Wednesday. Yay for him, but oh, well, for the rest of us.

Live music, exercise, singing, cocktailing, eating and shopping. The last 24 hours have featured virtually everything I could ask for. I suppose having sex with my dream man would have made it even better, but no day is absolutely perfect. And I have to have something to work toward, I suppose.