I forgot an important thing. Matt called from NZ while we were in the car -- they now know I have the BTVS theme song as my ring tone.

I survived! Yes, it is possible to meet fellow b.org folks and not self-combust.

I started the morning at UCSF (will post more about that later in Bitches), but finished there 2 hours earlier than expected so I called Steph to see if she wanted to play early. I think I surprised her, but she was a good sport and said ok. K-Bug and I met her at the hotel, and had the added bonus of meeting Lee also. I had completely forgotten that Lee was bringing me some of the movies she was giving away. I love bonus prizes like that!

We hung out at the hotel for a bit, just chatting and such before Lee headed off to Deb's. Steph, K-Bug, and I all headed out to do a bit of shopping. I had told my daughter we would TRY to do a bit of school shopping at one of her favorite stores if time allowed, and this was it. So off we went to PacSun which is in the Nordstroms building. She shopped while Steph and I wandered around checking out all the monkey wear items.

Then it was off to lunch with Hec. I think he covered that pretty well (including the comment about me being a rabid A's fan) - the food and scenery were beautiful. David is full of energy and the tour of the ferry building was a whirlwind, so many good sights and smells. And yes, the Jack Daniels gelatto is to die for.

We walked along the Embarcadero a bit, but ended up hoping in the car to see Pac Bell Park. The weather along the water was unusually warm, and the car has air conditioning. Seemed like a logical choice.

After a quick pit-stop at the hotel, we were off against to the Cheesecake Factory atop Macy's in Union Square to meet Nilly and the rest of the Spa-girls. When we got there we met up with Jess, Ginger, Beth B, and Lee. Deb had to bring there over in two car loads, so it was a bit longer before I got to meet NILLY, JZ, and Sail. Nilly is quite wee - but everyone had me thinking she would be pocketsized. She is not that wee. K-Bug and Jess had both ordered Chinese Chicken Salads, which where piled HIGH on the plate. Nilly was taken back by the "tall food". She also marveled at the 8 inch tall cakes in the display case.

After food, Lee and Jess headed off to the East Bay while the rest of us wandered around the corner to Lush, I mean, how could we resist. Once we turned the corner, off Geary, the scent of Lush just beckoned us. It was my first visit and WOW!

Then we wandered down to DSW to look for wee shoes for wee Nilly. Unfortunately the only pair we found in her size was not really her style. We did have fun checking out all the styles, trying to convince Nilly she needed a pair of sequined flat slides.

Beth B. headed home and then we climbed into my van to go back to Deb's. On the way we made a quick stop at Trader Joes to find some Kosher wine. They only had 3 choices, I would have expected more.

K-Bug and I had put in a long day, so we decided to just drop everyone off and head home. I am looking forward to meeting Deb and everyone else tomorrow.

Yes, I had too much fun last night. Nicole, a friend of hers and I all went out to look for drinks and dancing. We found drinks, and I got to drunk to try and cab it back to David and JZ's, where I was supposed to be staying, and instead crashed on the floor of their hotel room.

I woke up rather sore, tired and hung over, and managed to accomplish very little other than making out to Sparky's for deliious dinner and fun card games with her, her DH, Lee and Jess.

Then Lee and I took the BART back to town, which dropped us off at Lee's hotel, an I took a bus up Van Ness and walked six blocks to my dad's house, where I am typing this now.

I'm very bummed that dad's Tivo seems to be missing, and the cable is not hooked up. Dad needs to tell me these things before I crash at his place.

I am also sad I will not be seeing beth and matt (though who could begrudge matt a trip to Hobbitland?).

There were attempts to explai american food ames to illy - but when we could come up with a unified dumplig theory, we gave up.

Having a little bit of trouble with the "n" key, are we? I loved reading Beth's post. It was like a puzzle!

I got to drunk to try and cab it back to David and JZ's, where I was supposed to be staying

And, may I add, you are SO GROUNDED.

Everyone else has pretty much covered the SF leg of the Nillytour quite well, so I have only scraps and bits'n'pieces to add. Random notes:

• Nilly is, as advertised, exactly the way she writes; she is just precisely herself, and is so open and friendly and easy to talk to! And curious about everything, and entertained by everything, and just thoroughly Nillylicious.

• Also, like me, she found it incredibly hard to resist picking up some of the Lush bath melts and tasting them, they just smelled so good and looked so perfect. There was one chocolatey bath melt with a cube of Demerera sugar in the top that just about killed us both.

• Deena is here, and is also exactly the way she writes, and I am looking forward to visiting more with her this afternoon. And she brought dozens and dozens of homemade bath bombs in 8 or 9 different scents as presents for all of us! They smell heavenly and are gorgeously colored and just a touch glittery, and they make you want to run straight to Deb's bathroom and launch yourself into her big luxuriant clawfoot bathtub. Chez Zmayhem has only a scruffy little tub with chipped porcelain, but Deena's bath bombs will make it all better.

• Deena and Laura have exactly the same color hair, and it looks fabulous on both of them. Actually, between Deena, Laura, Lee, Ginger, Deb, and SailAweigh (who has marvelous curly hair that I thoroughly covet), the SF contingent has approximately one metric shitload of auburn and redheads. It's very fetching.

• Jess's blue hair is fab.

• As are beth's blue toenails.

• Lexine's daughter K-bug is sweet and charming and articulate, and she and Lexine clearly have a great relationship. She did commit the fashion faux pas of getting a pair of Frankenboots at DSW, but on reading upthread I have decided to ascribe this to the malign influence of Hec and Teppy.

• Lexine's fingernails ROCK.

And now I have to go, as Hec just gave me my breakfast of English muffins with peanut butter, and in typical JZ fashion I have gotten hiccups from the peanut butter, so I need to go hold my breath before the hicc'ing makes me nuts.

All the stories are excellent! I'm so glad everyone is having such a good time.

Somervillians, I am sad to report that I won't be able to join you on Tuesday evening after all; I don't really have the time or the money for two Nilly visits, and I'm choosing New York because it's a lot easier for me to manage. I'm very sad that I won't get to meet Lilty, or Frankenbuddha, or Cindy, or see the other Somervillians who are near and dear to my heart. *sniff*

Nooooooooooooooo! Kate, aren't you going to NY with the Somervillains (like in Jon's car, or something)?

hopes Kate is just senile

Heh. No, not senile, just tired and poor. I was planning to drive from Hartford (where I work) to Boston on Tuesday night and meet up with everyone at the restaurant, and then spend the night at Jon's place and get up early and drive back to Hartford on Wednesday to be at work by 9. But the more I think about, the more it seems like a bad idea, especially since I have very little extra money right now, and I know I'll be spending more than I should in NYC. Plus, my car has been acting funny this week, and I've been out late almost every night this week and I really need some quiet and non-stressful time at home, and I'm overexplaining, and I really want to come, but... I think it's a bad idea.

Sorry to hear that Kate. If you change your mind at the last minute, my guest room is still yours. If not, see you in NYC!