This post has been a long time coming....

I've had so many fun, crazy, and even odd experiences this week that I've wanted to write about. But I haven't had a chance until today! This week has just contributed to my "why I LOVE living in the Bay Area" attitude.

Sunday, March 13
I had my first Philly Cheese Steak today. Well, okay, technically it was chicken, but it was really good. Then, went to Mitchells for the best ice cream in SF with AZ, Alexis and Ashley. mmmmmmmmm.

Tuesday, March 15
Went to Berkeley for a Persian festival to celebrate Persian New Year's (which was actually this morning around 4:33am). There was music, dancing, and even jumping over fire. Then, afterwards, went the Kiki and some of her family to Jupiter for drinks and hearing live jazz. This trio was great -- hadn't heard good live jazz in a while. We also have a sip of vodka from the bottle that was snuck into the restaurant.

Wednesday, March 16
Salsa class at Social Salsa. Having SO much fun learning this. I know I'm killin' AZ with all this dancing craze -- but she did express that she appreciates my "exploring her culture..." (were those your words? :P heee hee.

Thursday, March 17 *St. Paddy's*
Up brignt and early to take the aforementioned best friend to SFO. On the way, manage to get the song "yeah, yeah....." stuck in my head. Awesome.
After catching a quick nap, head to El Sobrante for breakfast with my friend Ayelet. We eat some traditional Israeli food (can't remember the name) that was delish! Head to Oakland for a lesson and then San Rafael to meet Tyler for the rest of the afternoon. We trek up to Sonoma for some wine and general merriment.
It was a gorgeous day.
Later that night, head out to The Irish House for holiday festivities. Wear my Guinness shirt and socks(!) and there is more merriment, dancing, and Guinness-drinking. San Franciscans love to celebrate!

Friday, March 18th
Had the odd experience of being the ONLY passanger on a Muni bus for 15 minutes. I had my own private bus - down MARKET street, even. The #7 just didn't have that many takers. Eventually, we had up to 8 riders. Strange, as that morning we were so crowded you couldn't even turn around.
After work I crash, but then decide to head to The Independent (just down the street) for a concert to see one of my favorite bands, Berkeley locals O-maya. They brought with them Brazuca Brown (Brazillian!) and Bayonics (latin/hip hop fusion) as their openers. MAN was it a hot concert. Dancing, and yes, even more merriment! I love this venue, too. It's a great, not-to-big space. I was in the front all night. I could've joined in on the timbales had I wanted to. I was that close.

Saturday, March 19th
To San Jose to go to Great America with the queen! Her work sponsored a private event there and we had the park to ourselves. We didn't even get rained on! The best roller coster, by far, was Top-Gun. Smooth, fast and thrill-seeking without the whiplash. The least enjoyable was the stand-up roller coaster. This coaster had awful, unconfortable banana-seat things (feel sorry for the men who ride it!) and was extremeley jerky. Not worth it.

For Saturday night I had tried to recruit my people to head out to Cocomo with me, but there weren't any takers, barring one of the guys from my Wednesday night class. We had a lot of fun and danced for 4 hours, staying to shut down the club. And, I think I finally figured out the shoe situation, so I can avoid blisters! I'm glad E met me there ('cause it would be weird to go totally alone - as a girl), but I think he was hoping for a little more than dancing. Flattering as it is, I'm just not feelin' it....)

It's now Sunday afternoon, and as I write, I'm being serenaded by several different things. One: NCAA basketball on the TV (oh yes, I'm BITTER) and the improv piano stylings of my roommates' 8-year old brother, who's been crashing here for the weekend. It's really cool to see the two of them together. R was super excited that his bro was coming up from NC, and just watching them, I can see that he is his younger brother's hero. What a trip.