Home Sweet Home

Hello my friends!

I am back in Louisiana from my various travels. And let me tell you, I am pooped. But I had a blast in San Francisco, where I hung out with the ever charming and fabulous Gail Carriger!

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On Thursday night, the night of my arrival in San Fran, my friend Jana and I went to meet Gail and the wonderful ladies of io9 at their meetup at Borderlands. It was a hoot, everyone was super friendly even though I was a bit jetlagged and slow with the uptake, and we had a great time. There is all sorts of photrographic evidence here. I am the very short, chubby one with the very, very red hair. Jana is the statuesque, blonde goddess. She’s my oldest friend and I love her. After Borderlands, Jana and I met her brother, Louis, for Peruvian food. It was ridiculously good, and I adore Louis, so all in all it could not have been a more perfect evening.

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Friday, Jana had to have an emergency root canal (fun!) so after she went to work for the morning, I went to meet my friend Sascha Illyvich for coffee. Which turned into lunch. Which turned into a rather epic bar session. In between imbibing things, however, we made one awesome stop where we did not put anything in our mouths: Cask. There we bought my favorite whisky, Bruichladdich, which is an absolute pain to get ahold of in the states. I bought two: one for that night and one to take home.

And then we drank more.

Saturday found Jana and I at brunch, with Gail Carriger and her lovely friends. Following which, Jana and I did a little shoppie-shop, and then we went to see Crazy Heart. I will be reviewing it shortly; but for now I can officially say I loved it. Then I cooked dinner for Jana and her friend, and then Jana and I had an early night.

Sunday I had brunch with Jana at a gorgeous restaurant called Plant, on the Embarcadero. It was a beautiful day and I really wasn’t looking forward to flying back to freezing cold Illinois. But fly I did, and then the next day I drove back to Louisiana (plus one bottle of lovely whisky and minus the price of one speeding ticket, as per usual).

So all in all it was a FABULOUS vacation. I miss Jana very much, so the chance to spend time with her is always a pleasure. And it had been an entire year since I’d seen her, over last New Year’s. It was also nice to finally take a real vacation from work: I didn’t do anything the entire time I was away from Chicago. I only sort of checked my email, even. I’d been flat out right up until then, and then I just floated, in Jana-space, and it was exactly what I needed.

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So thank you to all my lovely friends (both old and new) in San Francisco. I’m sorry some of you missed the meatloaf: there’s some in J-Rock’s freezer.

Posted by Nicole Peeler

Author, Professor, Lover, Fighter

6 thoughts on “Home Sweet Home”

  1. What a cool trip. I love that you gave details of what you drank, and where you went. I'm always bugging people to share that kind of stuff since I'm out here in the boonies with the kids, my husband and the snow. A lot of snow…

    So, Gail seems to be so cute with the steampunk/Victorian look. Not that you're not cute too. Actually, I have the red hair going on too plus I'm short…just saying:)

  2. Gail is SUPER cute and she's totally into her persona. I love it! I couldn't do it as I'm far too lazy with my appearance, and I really admire her for going that extra mile. And it suits her to a T! It was such a blast to hang out with her! 🙂

    And the snow is evil. I forget until I go home to Chicago for the holidays. Oy gevalt!

  3. I knew she would be cute! I am someone who would WANT to do what she does and maybe even buy a few outfits, then at last minute decide it was too much trouble and put on jeans. I'm like anti-feminine for some reason. I hate buying shoes, purses or belts. It's sad really. BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Good thing my husband doesn't care:)

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