Yesterday I shopped. Oh boy, did I shop. This place is dangerous for an aussie with a good exchange rate and a credit card : ) San Francisco, my wardrobe thanks you, my visa bill does not.

Then to halt the shopping process, I went out to Oakland to visit my friend Christy, who I haven’t seen for ten years. There’s nothing better than seeing an old friend and just being able to pick up where you left off and talk and laugh and feel like really, she’s just been down the hall a little all this time. I tried to convince her to move back to Oz and she tried to convince me to move over here….maybe we should agree to meet in Hawaii occasionally. Oakland was pretty and much warmer than the city. I even managed to stay awake until almost midnight so I think I’m over the worst of the jetlag/trip recovery.

This morning there was maybe a leetle more shopping then I rendezvoused with Bron and Valerie and Louise and Carol for a trip on the ferry to Sausalito. Where it was also much warmer than the city (though SF has turned on a gorgeous day today until a little while ago until the fog started to roll in). Sausalito is picturesque and crafty and it was probably lucky we didn’t have more time there or someone would’ve spent serious money…

I left them at the Marriott (which is starting to fill with romance writers at a rapid rate and I’ve run into several others of the aussie contingent already (waves to AA and Denise and Joanne and Catherine and Tracey). It’s hard to believe I’ve been here four days already and tomorrow I change hotels and the conference begins.

Tonight I’m kicking back, eating very good rice paper rolls (which here they call, somewhat confusingly, spring rolls. The crispy ones we call spring rolls are ‘crispy imperial rolls’) from Out the Door which is the downtown outpost of The Slanted Door. So thanks for the recommendation from Aviva via Char : ) They really are good, they might have to feature again for a quick lunch or dinner at some point. I’m washing them down with MetroMint Peppermint Water which Christy introduced me to yesterday and is something I’m going to miss when I leave.

After dinner, maybe some (just to be crazy) of that writing stuff. Oh and repacking…good thing I brought an extra bag : )