marching on

Okay, so... more of March. This is week 12, which marked the end of Bruce and Bonnie's stay in SF. Since that Sunday was their last full day here, Carmen and I took Bonnie out for tea at Crown & Crumpet in Ghirardelli Square. It's where we had Carmen's baby shower last year, so it was nice that Bonnie got to see the place. We had a delightful lunch, and the food was actually better than we remembered. (I still prefer the sandwiches—and the ability to order the kinds you want—at Lovejoy's, but this seemed much improved.) After lunch, we took some pictures of the fancy centerpieces and cake toppers there, looked around a toy store in Ghirardelli Square, got some cupcakes for the boys, and then took a quick field trip to Ft. Point for a view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Much better than the boys' outing to the computer museum.

78/366 crown & crumpet

On Monday morning, I babysat Elsa for a little while so Carmen could go pick up a new rug for her living room. It was quite a nice rug, but she decided not to keep it in the end. Between the busyness of the pattern and the original cost (she was going to pay about 1/10th of that), it wasn't quite what she wanted, especially for their baby- and dog-friendly lifestyle.

79/366 rug for a day

Tuesday was the first day of spring, according to the Google doodle. So in celebration of that, I took a picture of some flowers. These are forget-me-nots. Fun fact: I used to have a My Little Pony named Forget-Me-Not. It was blue with flowers on its butt, and it had clear plastic wings that moved up and down when you pressed a button in between them.

80/366 spring flowers

A walk to Noe Valley on Wednesday resulted in the use of one of my reserve photo ideas. I had passed this display of rings in a store window before, on a day when I already had a few good photo options, so it went on my list for another day. This turned out to be that day.

81/366 rings

Thursday was not a very prolific day for photos either. I drove down to Redwood City for lunch with Alyson at Dreamworks Animation, where she works. A visit there involves signing a nondisclosure form, so clearly, it's not a place where I'd be able to take many pictures. After we ate our food from the cafeteria, Alyson gave me a mini tour of the building. She was allowed to take me anywhere with hardwood floors, not carpet, which eliminates pretty much all the areas where people are actually working. Nevertheless, it was fun. I got to see the viewing rooms where she spends a lot of time reviewing shots, and there were cool models and pictures from the films lining the hallways in the common areas. Before I left, Alyson took a picture of me with the giant Po from Kung Fu Panda in the lobby, and I took a few pictures of it with my camera too.

82/366 kung fu action

Friday's big news was the birth of Chrissy's son, Elliott. I took a picture of Elsa's red booties on the table downstairs, since I had to babysit Elsa during her morning nap while Carmen returned the rug. Elsa doesn't have too many gender-neutral things, but these came in handy that day.

83/366 in honor of elliott

And it was back to more rain on Saturday. I was having a hard time thinking of anything to use for my picture of the day, and my only idea was to go to La Boulange in Noe Valley to get a few macarons. But since it was raining steadily all afternoon, I really didn't feel like going anywhere. Steve came to the rescue and volunteered to go get my macarons for me. While they didn't have the lemon ones I wanted, they had a few of the cherry ones I also like. I took a picture of them on the marble slab that we had just acquired from some neighbors who were moving away. The one good thing about a rainy day? At least the light was a little more interesting.

84/366 macarons on marble

Thankfully, the weather has mostly improved since then. Only one more week of March recapping to do, and then it's on to lovely, springy April.