ilona

nighttime kayak trip for 5 along the edges of the san francisco bay in corte madera, CA. it was pretty cool. definitely a memorable outing.

birthday present for my li'l sis -- a brass candle-holder. i love it when people just pick out their own presents.

this is a lovely store in the mission neighborhood of SF, on valencia street. fancy beautiful vintage furniture and knickknacks -- but definitely expensive.

possibly the best restaurant in SF. my sister was visiting from NYC this weekend and we kicked off the weekend here. she was super impressed by san francisco's food offerings.

two bouquets of flowers to make my house pretty for a small afternoon party. i love having fresh flowers at home, and this place in Noe Valley is great.

i am really into this natural-flavored frozen yogurt trend. it's tart and delicious, especially with fruit on top. Tuttimelon does a fine job providing that.

this is a really nice hotel. i was attending a conference here, but it felt practically like a vacation, what with the luxurious room, the gorgeous pool situation, and taking breaks to go swimming in the warm, clear water of the ocean. when i get old i am totally moving to miami.

this is the NY Times app for iPad. it's okay -- nice to look at, but it currently has an abysmally small selection of stories. hoping that'll expand in the near future.

decent brunch place. i like their french toast very much -- it's nice and eggy.

i bought a couple of magazines (The Atlantic and The Economist, i think) and a spanish textbook. this is a cute bookstore with an extensive collection and a very yummy cafe.

while waiting for a prescription to be ready from the Walgreen's next door, i bought two books: Rosemary's Baby and A Separate Peace. i wonder if they get a lot of business that way.

note: i haven't been able to get to sleep without all the lights on for the past week, after reading Rosemary's Baby. i have a love/hate relationship with scary stories.

this is definitely one of my most-used apps. i haven't noticed anything annoying about it.

new bookshelf! this was badly needed, as my book collection outgrew my old shelves many months ago.

funny story: they delivered it yesterday, but they shipped it in the mail somehow (in a gigantic box) and just dropped it off in the lobby of my apartment building. we live on the third floor and there's no elevator. the box weighs probably over 100 pounds. not sure how i'm ever going to get it upstairs -- maybe i'll just unpack it in the lobby and move my books down there. it can be a lending library for all the neighbors.

strawberries, 3 apples, 2 pluots, 2 peaches, 1 nectarine, milk, eggs, all-purpose cleaner, Tazo tea, 3 pints of Double Rainbow ice cream. i think that's all. i am sort of impressed and sort of worried that i remember all of that 4 days later.

new mexican restaurant in Noe Valley. high marks! i like that they offer a "baby" sized burrito for people like me who can't hope to conquer a full-sized one.

addicted. like with Flight Control, i can almost convince myself that i'm working on my spatial-temporal reasoning skills, rather than just wasting time playing a silly game.

pre-ordered this book from Amazon -- the paperback edition is coming out in early september. i'll try to remember to come back and write a review after i get it!

waxing by Lindsay. she was a gem -- funny and talkative. talking and making me laugh is key to distracting me from the god-awful pain. also, she told me that she recently waxed the eyebrows of one Adam Lambert, when he was in SF recently for a concert! apparently he just walked in off the street with some members of his entourage. not sure what that demonstrates, but at least this place has a good reputation.

love it. the only problem with The New Yorker is that it's so full of interesting stories, and they're all so long, that if I try to read each issue I don't have time in my life to read anything else.

new haircut by my hair guy, David, at Cowboys and Angels salon in SF. i should really upload a picture so you can judge for yourself, but i promise it's very cute and hip. he is a master.

strappy black high heels to go with a fancy black cocktail dress i got in spain, which was making its debut the next day. i picked them out in 5 minutes. i can be a very fast shopper when i need to be!