Eric was up at the crack of dawn (5:00am), because he had made plans to go mountain biking this morning. He met up with a few guys and rode for a few hours. He had a really good time. It was all downhill riding. They had to drive up a dirt road seven miles (which Eric said the RV or PT could not handle) and then it’s a total downhill ride that takes about 40 minutes.
Eric did it twice, but he was lucky there was someone to take him up there the second time. He had taken the RV, so Jimmy and I could have the car to go shopping, and the RV wouldn't make it up the mountain. In order to do the ride, you need someone to drive to the top, leave the car there, and then you ride down, but then you have to have someone else with a car to take the first person up to get his car! It's not the kind of road you'd like to ride the bicycle up (even though 7 miles is not far at all), because it's a dirt road and it's all uphill. Eric said you'd be so exhausted by the time you got to the top that you wouldn't want to ride down!
Jimmy took this picture of our apartment from the other side of the complex. We're the corner apartment on the second floor.
Photo by Jimmy Donahue!
Jimmy and I went to breakfast at a place called KONO’S SURF CLUB CAFE, which is right off the beach in Pacific Beach. We had passed it yesterday and saw a long line waiting outside and figured we’d go see what all the fuss was about! It turns out that there are two reasons there’s a long line:
1. The place is very small, with only about a dozen or so tables; and
2. You wait on line, give your order, then go sit down and a waitress brings you your food. It’s very down-to-earth – not fancy at all. Breakfast burritos, bagels, etc.
Jimmy had a breakfast burrito and I had a toasted bagel with egg salad. It came with a bag of chips! He had coffee and I had fresh-squeezed orange juice.
Jimmy took this picture of a dog he and I fell in love with. This sweet girl was sitting right near where we were parked. She had NO interest in us whatsoever, and hardly changed her expression (or her position) from the time we left to go to breakfast, and the time we returned!
After breakfast, I took Jimmy to the swap meet in the parking lot of the Sports Arena where I had been a few weeks ago, trying to find a piece of furniture for the TV in the master bedroom. Jimmy loves vintage clothes (as do I!), and I had seen a vendor there who had men’s clothing. We finally found her, but she didn’t have anything Jimmy liked or needed. We walked around the swap meet for a while.
Jimmy loves music (as does Eric) so he looked at the DVDs. I was looking for a vanity seat, because I have been using a chair from my grandparents’ bedroom set, but it doesn’t go very well and is a little too big for the vanity. I’d rather put it in the corner of the room, where it will look beautiful and I can throw my purse or lay out my clothes for the next day.
I couldn’t find anything, and Jimmy didn’t see anything he wanted either, so we left the swap meet and headed to HILLCREST, where there are a bunch of great vintage clothing stores. There are a lot of parking lots in San Diego that I was afraid to try, because I didn’t know how they worked. I'd just drive around until I found an open spot with a parking meter. Jimmy told me he’d help me figure it out, so I parked in a lot and we went over to where it said, “PAY HERE.” Turns out each spot has a number (we were in 119). You punch that in, put in your credit card and tell them how long you are going to stay. It was $2 for 2 hours; $4 for 4 hours; $6 for 6 hours, etc. We paid $4, thinking it would be more than enough time, and went on our merry way.
I brought all the clothing which had been rejected from BUFFALO EXCHANGE, because there are other stores in the neighborhood who buy used clothing and I was hoping to have better luck.
Our first stop was WEAR IT AGAIN SAM, because I wanted him to see my favorite store! Barbara, the woman I’ve befriended there, wasn’t in, but a gorgeous girl in a bright red wig was working. She was dressed so beautifully in a vintage outfit and had great make-up. She was totally put together. Fishnet stockings, spiked heels, cute pencil skirt and lovely vintage top. Adorable!
I recognized her, because I had checked out the eBay auctions that WEAR IT AGAIN SAM was running and she's the model for all the clothes they're auctioning off!
I showed Jimmy the two pairs of shoes I had sold Barbara, which were on display with a bunch of other great vintage shoes.
The girl (I forget her name) said, “Are you the woman who brought in those fabulous shoes?” I told her I was. She said she bought the third pair (called “Springolaters”, because they had a piece of elastic that ran under your foot, which caused them to make a slapping sound as you walked. I don’t know if this elastic design was supposed to make them easier to walk in, or more comfortable, but they looked exactly like Barbie’s black mules.) They had really high heels in black fabric with a bow over your toes. I used to wear them at Price Waterhouse – which really caused stares, but who cared? I loved high heels!
These classic Barbie Doll shoes look just like the Springolaters!
Anyway, I forgot that they had vintage men’s clothes, too. (Actually, I was always in such a trance, looking at all the fabulous jewelry, purses and dresses they had, that I don’t know if I EVER noticed they sold men’s clothes, too!) Jimmy looked around, but they didn’t have anything in his size.
Did I ever mention that Jimmy is tall, dark and handsome? He’s 6’-4”, which actually makes Eric look short when he stands next to him, and you know how tall, dark and handsome Eric is! It’s hard for Jimmy to find vintage clothes, because it seems EVERYONE was small in the “old days.” That’s why I don’t fit into any of the clothes – the average waist size is 24”. Who has a 24” waist these days?
After WEAR IT AGAIN SAM, we went to BLUESTOCKING BOOKS. Jimmy loved it as much as I do. He loves books, too, and they have a great selection.
After that, we went to a place called FLASHBACKS (Fashion Reinvented). They buy, sell and trade vintage clothing. They have the same deal as BUFFALO EXCHANGE – they’ll give you 35% in cash or 50% in credit. A young girl and guy went through all my clothes and picked out a bunch of stuff. I said I’d take the 50% credit and ended up with $57!!! I was so happy, because it was all the same stuff rejected by the other store, and they loved my stuff! Also, they had SUCH great things that I knew I could spend the $57 in no time, which I did!
I bought a vintage Lucite purse with a white pearlized finish in excellent condition (for only $38) and a small gold mesh Whiting & Davis eyeglass case (for $12). I had $7 left over, so I bought a pair of black tights. I was so happy. I loved my purchases!
After I skipped happily out of FLASHBACKS, with Jimmy walking behind me, we walked around some more, going in and out of bookstores, card stores, and boutiques, until we were ready to go home.
Eric called and said he had a great ride and was on his way home. By the time we got back to the apartment, he was walking his bicycle to the apartment! What timing! We relaxed and hung around for a while, and they dozed a little while I was working on the computer and watching TV.
Then, I said I needed a nap, so I went into the bedroom and slept until 6:30pm while they hung out and watched TV. Then I jumped in the shower, we all got dressed and we went to “our” sushi place – HAIKU on Garnet in Pacific Beach.
Jimmy LOVED it. We got our usual – edamame and shumai, and then got our favorite roll – Spicy Crunchy Shrimp Roll, along with a Dragon roll (which had lots of great stuff in it, including eel – which Jimmy had never tried before), and a Scallop Roll. Everything was delicious and we all enjoyed it tremendously.
We decided to drive to Mission Hills (near Hillcrest) to go to Gelato Vero Caffe, which is on the corner of Washington and India Streets. It was after 9:00pm and we weren’t sure how late they were open. I got us lost on the way (it’s the second time I got lost on the way to Hillcrest at night), but luckily it was still open when we got there. We found out they’re open until at least midnight every night. That was good news that could be VERY bad for us!
We got four flavors to bring home – pumpkin spice (Jimmy’s favorite), pistachio, some kind of creamy flavor with chunks of brownie in it (how descriptive, Peppy!), and the fourth was the one I picked, but I couldn’t pronounce it, and now I can’t even remember how to spell it. It was a chocolatey flavor, reminiscent of Nutella, which is DELICIOUS! Anyway, we got 2 pints with 4 flavors and headed home to have a party!
We broke up the giant fortune cookie my cousin Ilene sent and it was the perfect complement to the smooth, cold gelato. The cookie was super-thick (much thicker than a fortune cookie), but tasted delicious and the chocolate coating melted in your mouth. Wonderful! What a party we had!
Jimmy is very high-tech and he helped us with so much stuff over the weekend. He taught Eric how to use the DVD and how to play DVDs. I know that sounds easy, but not to us. We’re totally spastic about that stuff. Anyway, after my nap, Eric was playing DVDs like crazy! He was having the time of his life!
Jimmy bought me a box of FERRERO ROCHER chocolates (my favorites!), a DVD of JOHN PINETTE (a really funny comedian), doing his stand up act (I SAY NAY, NAY). We all watched it and it was REALLY funny.
He also made me a poster (by enlarging and printing a card I had sent him) of a picture I REALLY love. It’s by an artist I discovered in Flagstaff, Arizona. Her art was on display in a restaurant we went to and I bought myself and Jimmy a card of her art, because I knew he’d love it as much as I did (and he did). It came out SO great and I’d LOVE to hang it up, but I already have SO much artwork packed away, because we don’t have that much space here. I’m hoping our next place will have lots of wall space (and high ceilings), so I can have it framed and hang it up.
Jimmy helped me with my laptop by showing me how to “defrag” (something I never even HEARD of before), and he cleaned up my hard drive for me. He also installed itunes and showed me how to download CDs, so I have music on my hard drive. This is all stuff I never bothered to do before. I didn’t think I needed it, or wanted it, and didn’t know how to do it, but now that I have it – I love it! I can play music while I’m typing, and don’t even need to get out of my chair!!!!
Finally we all went to bed. We knew we had to get up early on Monday to drive Jimmy to the airport. His flight was taking off at 10:15am.
We had such a great weekend and it was so much fun having Jimmy around. He’s the perfect guest – he cleans up after himself (made his own bed two days in a row!) and helped us with the DVD player and the computer! He’s a lot of fun, and really made my 50th birthday more fun and festive!