falling behind online. again.

so my google reader is out of control again. i haven't updated the blog since my trip. my inbox is getting too full again.
i'm just not keeping up with all of this online stuff!
i guess something has to give way when life gets busy, and i've been busy.

i got super sick sunday night.
i was supposed to give my speech on monday, but i was in no condition to get myself out of the house. so i had to miss my speech. i'm sure some of you can understand what kind of stress that puts on a girl who takes school seriously. especially when the syllabus says "no makeup speeches without a doctor's excuse." ugh. adding stress to sickness doesn't help the healing process. luckily, i got it all worked out, and i was supposed to give my speech on tuesday. but we ran out of time. ugh again. i finally presented wednesday. i feel like i went through triple the amount of stress over one speech than i should have because of the delays in delivering it. i'm happy that it's over.
i also had my econ midterm yesterday. i'm still not feeling 100% well, so it was hard to study when all i wanted to do was sleep. i'm not really sure how the exam went, but hopefully it wasn't too bad. i'll have to wait and see.

anyway.
i didn't manage to take very many photos during my trip to san francisco. i kept thinking about it too... i just never actually got out my camera.

it was a pretty long drive over thanks to construction on 80. i only made it about 15 miles in my first hour on the road. luckily, it wasn't too bad after that. i didn't even run into very much trouble getting over the bay bridge since i arrived a bit late.
as soon as i got to the hotel, i met up with my sister and went to dinner with richard and marty. i think i mentioned that my sister was there for a work event. it was a huge mining conference, so richard (our family friend who is a mining attorney) and marty (who we've gotten to know over the years via richard when she's in reno for mining stuff) were there as well. it was fun to catch up again. i only see marty once or twice a year, so it was nice.

we ate at this little italian place that was super cute. it's one of those really picturesque restaurants in a little alleyway with lights strung up and seating outside. the food was delicious too.
we were all pretty exhausted after dinner, so we called it a night. but my sister and i decided to make one last trip out to the cheesecake factory for a little dessert before bed. :]

the next morning, my sister and i attempted to have breakfast at this place that was featured on the food network. when we arrived, the line was out the door and estimated to be over an hour... so we passed on waiting. we headed out shopping instead. i had some success, but not at anthro. oh well. there is a joe's store in union square, where i found some new denim. it's been a while since i found a pair of joe's that i've fallen in love with, so that made me happy. i do need to get them hemmed a bit though.
we spent some time investigating the makeup counters in macy's. katie's makeup is being discontinued, and i was in the mood to try something new. the girl at the laura mercier counter was beyond nice to us. she told us all about their "flawless face" and how to use the products. she did my makeup, and then told me to come back the next day if i liked it. i went back. :] there were different girls working, who were also super nice. i cannot stand when the makeup counter girls are stuck up. so it was really nice to have such helpful and friendly girls there. one of them was a traveling makeup artist, and she worked wonders with those brushes! they definitely sold me on the products. so far, i'm really like liking my purchases. i explained that i just wanted a really fast routine because i don't normally wear makeup, and that's exactly what i have now. so far, so good.

we ventured out to chinatown that night for dinner. we went to a place called hunan home's. it was so good! we decided to try the fried bread, which was insanely delicious. i'll be going back for the bread for sure.james and i had something similar in nyc, but this was different in taste and was served with a sweet dipping sauce. mmm. so yummy. the soup and tea were really nice since it was so cold while we were there. and i love that they gave us oranges with our fortune cookies when they brought the check. so fun.

saturday night, i met up with andrew in north beach. he told me he had a new addition in his life, which i would be excited about. i was super curious. when we got to his house, i found out that it was a piano! have i ever mentioned that i could listen to him play piano for hours? i'm pretty certain that he knows that too. anyway. i met his current roommates, three of which are french girls. they were pretty funny. there was a big poetry festival going on over the weekend, and i think many of the poets were hanging out in a bar that we ventured out to. it was good a people watching experience. :] eventually, we decided to meet up with two of his roommates at mojito, where there was live music. can i just say how nice it was to have those french girls around? every time a guy would try to attempt to dance with me, i could just make eye contact with one of them, and they would move in and shut him down. ha. it was amazing.

i requested a photo before i caught a cab... somehow we ended up with this lovely atm/trash background. i don't even know why that was deemed a proper photo background. oh well.

finally on sunday, i decided that i had to get some photos with my sister before it was time to pack up and head out. we stopped on one of the corners of union square on our way back from macy's, and i tried to get the heart in the background. it was a fun challenge to figure out how far away we needed to be, etc. unfortunately, the sun was a little bright. ha.

we took this one while we were waiting for my car at the hotel. i like it much better. :]
i'm happy that i was able to spend some time with my sister and get away from everything around here for a while. she and jamie are going to visit for the rib festival, and i think paul and victoria are going to make the trip as well. it will be nice to see everyone at the same time. i'm excited. :]

on the drive back to reno, i got caught up in traffic in berkeley, so i decided to make a detour and visit scrapbook territory. it was the first time i'd visited that store, so i was happy to finally have the chance. i found a few fun things to bring home, including the new cosmo cricket holiday line. it's adorable. i walked around the area for a bit, and by the time i made my way back to the freeway, the traffic had cleared. it was a pretty nice drive home until i got to the last 30 miles, which took about an hour thanks to the construction again. ack.

alright. well. i guess that's about it for now. i'm looking forward to the weekend for sure. i have to make another presentation for a speech on tuesday, but i'm hoping to have time to rest and feel better. :]

p.s. would you believe that i forgot my toothbrush after specifically mentioning it!? thank goodness for walgreens on every corner in the city. ha.