My regularly scheduled spring break was foiled by clinical rotations that stop for no woman, and a looming deadline for my Master's thesis. As a small reward for a "break" full of hospital rounds and thesis-writing, I planned to take off the weekend before classes started up again for a brief visit to San Francisco to 1) See my college roommate get married, 2) Celebrate friends' birthdays, and 3) Escape from Manhattan.
A freak ice storm prevented all that.
I rescheduled for the following weekend, by which time I was back to a full schedule of work, classes, and extracurriculars. The delay in my happy trip also delayed my ability to get back into a work mode. Seeing as I'd never had the rejuvenating week of R&R, then spent 2 Fridays in a row at the airport, I was all out of sorts. But enough about the difficulties of readjusting to my face-paced academic life (no, seriously, it is).
I finally made it to the Bay Area last weekend. Hooray!
The trip was quicker than a hot minute, but I managed to eat well, play well, and see some friends.
Friday night/Saturday morning
I landed at SFO around midnight. Fred picked me up, and drove me back down to Santa Cruz where his company rented a beach house and were throwing a party that would last well into the morning.
Saturday
Fred and I enjoyed brunch at Tangerine in the Castro. I had the almond french toast which was this perfect creation covered in toasted almond slivers and topped with carmelized bananas flambe and fresh strawberries. It was so delectable that anything additional (e.g. butter, syrup) would have been criminal. I usually go for savory dishes, but I had an unusual hankering for dessert that morning. It was bliss. I highly recommend this cute 16th Street spot. Apparently, the locals agree.
I spent the rest of the day shopping for something to wear later that evening (everything I brought was casual) at a dance held aboard the U.S.S. Hornet -- a ship docked in Alameda (East Bay, across the bay from SF), where I knew vintage would be the rule rather than the exception. Though I lived in the East Bay for several years, getting me away from SF was about as challenging as it is to get me to cross borough-lines in NYC. Kirk came through with complementary tickets and round-trip transportation, not to mention the first round of drinks. He is nothing short of heroic, actually, and quite a good sport.Which brings me to Sunday...
Kirk, Iris, and I got up on Sunday morning to visit Mani-Pedi for some
nail-pampering. Almost forgot, I'd been up until 4-ish the night before playing Wii tennis with Manu (my virtual skills being remarkably as frenetic as my real-life stumbling on the court).After the nail spa, we hopped over to See's candy because I was determined to pick up some of my favorites that I simply cannot find
in New York (Rum nougat with cherries and walnuts in milk chocolate, and dark chocolate walnut nougat). Forty dollars of chocolate later, we still had time to stop by Matt's restaurant in the Marina (think UES) for a quick brunch cocktail before hopping over to Cole Valley for another of SF's celebrated brunch spots: 
Zazie's. Brunch in the backyard was nice, though a little misty. The food was good, but I think Tangerine wins my vote.With about an hour to kill before I had to head to the airport, the brunch crew hopped back over to Manu's to -- and I'm not kidding -- tap dance. A short while after that I was hugging people goodbye, and on my way back to New York.
Landed at 5 AM. Survived a non-Yellow-cab van ride back into Manhattan. Showered. Changed. Went straight to the halls where I wear a long white lab coat.
I've spent the last week falling asleep at 7 PM, waking up just in time to run to work. I think I may just finally be on track, but here comes another weekend -- who knows what havoc the next two days bring.
