Twas a splendid weekend, well as good as it could be in the absence of Z.

Tidepools Half Moon Bay (Fitzgerald Marine Reserve.) There was a whole family of seals out in the ocean swimming about fifty feet away from where we stood. We didn't miss the hermit crabs! I was worried the tide would be an impossible 3 feet by the time we finally arrived, but it wasn't too bad. Next time, we're definetely wearing rubber boots!

Lunch at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market: We shopped first. Sampled and brought home treats, like lavender salt, heirloom tomatoes, caper hummus, and just ripe nectarines. Then dined at Taylor's - I went fancy pants and ordered the Ahi burger, oh and a white pistachio shake. It was worth every penny!

Sunday: Craft Fair at Fort Mason with gals Wendy and Aiko: Aiko's auntie had a booth displaying her origami. Cho kiri! We were on the hunt forJeung-Hwa Park's scarves . Jewelry at JanosikNY looked and felt divine. I especially loved the hearts collection; she makes tactile pieces using leather and foam rubber. Ooh and there was this really nifty drawing hand by Agelio Batle, made of graphite. (The pieces don't stain your hands.) Though just the idea and the experience of writing with a hand was a bit freaky, as was using a foot, double ended finger and nose, but I made some fantabulous (can I use that Z?) doodles using the lily.

Speaking of appendages, everything at the fair cost about an arm and a leg making it a purely window shopping event, but it left me inspired to get more crafty. Then I could charge and arm and a leg off of other people . . . er I mean create beautiful things.

Evening: San Mateo for a carborific dinner + 1 ginseng carrot soup at Joyluck Place and spent oodles of time at Suruki Super and Ichiban-kan. Had wacky fun browsing everything from Naive wash, to Hakodate ramen, to oil splatter guard - great invention for keeping the stove area clean.

And now back to the rat race!