flying ninja.

I was barely settling back into San Francisco before I was back to the airport yesterday to leave again, this time for Chicago. The four day week last week was definitely welcomed, especially after coming back from a two week jaunt (I know, poor me). Maddy and I were able to spend some time together on Tuesday, catch up on the holidays and relax - it was good to just chill for the evening. Wednesday I went to get a haircut at a place in the Castro that my coworker recommended called Spunk. It was small and the name of it certainly fit the aesthetic, which I appreciated. The art on the walls actually kept me distracted for most of the haircut, especially one piece in particular. It was a picture of Stevie Nicks, but all of the materials were junk. I asked the stylist about it and she said that the guy who did it was a friend of the owners and does all celebrity junk art. Pretty cool stuff. Anyway, I'm always a nervous wreck when I get my haircut because it's been hacked up so many times but I had a lot of trust in this girl. I told her I wanted bangs again and then afterwards I had the
what was I thinking thoughts racing through my head. It's not the 90s, let alone the 80s. But I've gotten used to it and she actually did a stellar job.

On Thursday, Maddy and I headed to the Mission for dinner so we could spend some time together before I took off for my trip east. We've been talking about Mission Chinese for months, ever since it was featured in Bon Appetite as a top 10 restaurant in the country. Corey was kind enough to give us a gift certificate as a thank you present for housing him last month (so unnecessary, but gifts are always welcomed) and so the meal was super cheap. It's not an expensive place anyway, it just takes forever to get a table, so we got there early (6:15PM) and sat down almost right away. The highlights of the meal were the mussels and salt cod fried rice - so good! Oh and the $3 beer.

My intention was to check out a running club on Saturday morning, but that will have you wait because I overslept by about 30 minutes. Oh well. Instead I took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed out to Golden Gate Park, which I've been meaning to do for a long time. I went on a long run all throughout the park and it was exactly what I needed. The smell of the trees was overpowering and I did some "trail running". It's too bad that the park is so far away from my apartment; it will be a treat whenever I can get myself out there to run because it's really serene.

I met up with Maddy and other Santa Clara folk for a couple of people's birthday celebrations and had a mid-day Bloody Mary (my favorite) at The Lookout in the Castro. The bar itself was uneventful other than the fact that it had an outdoor deck and it was close to 65 degrees outside. Is it really winter? We headed to the Marina to another bar and then I headed home to pack. I've been joking that I can't remember what 45 degree weather feels like and that certainly made packing a struggle. Now I'm in Chicago and it is cold, but I'm glad that I'll get to put some of my cold weather gear to use. I'll be in Boston tomorrow night for a week and am looking forward to all of the shenanigans that will ensue. And of course CLOVER. I'll probably skip next week's post since I'll have no SF news to report, but you better believe I'll be taking full advantage of my stay in Boston. Thanks in advance, Candice, for the bed!

Have a great week, ya'll.