Goodbye, Gabby

Gabby, like Whitney, has left the Tower Sisterhood to go overseas. She will be teaching English and Spanish to a family's French children living in Spain. I am so proud of her and know she is going to have an incredible time.

But I will miss her.

At 8:00 in the morning, the day before she left, we all came over to her house and drank bloody marys and ate breakfast while listening to music and watching cat videos, in a send-off celebration.

Cabbage Buds!! 

We love you Gabby, good luck!! *SSOOULL*

Insight Art and Music

For this month's Sac Midtown 2nd Saturday, my friend Jonathan Buck put his wonderful art up at my favorite coffee house, Insight Coffee Roasters. It made me so proud to see all the pieces he had been progressing on finished, framed, and on a wall.

One of my favorites.

Jon asked me if my band would want to play and if I knew any other bands that would be down, so we decided on Backseat Lovers, Sam Eliot and the Market Street Gang, and my band GOD SEX.

Backseat Lovers were as energetic as ever, even with Daniel Nunez standing in for their bassist and rocking hard, all though he had only practiced the songs for two hours prior.

Sam's band was a pleasant change of pace, wedged in between us and the Backseat Lovers.

Our set was the funnest I've ever had playing a show. Having just played a show the night before at Blue Lamp, we were zoned in with each other and played the tightest set yet. (Photos courtesy of Amanda Chavez, picture behind the mic above)

I really enjoyed to communal vibe that was present that night, the whole neighborhood and friends coming together at the hub of Southside Park, Insight Coffee.

After the show, a few of us hung out on the porch of the Chicken Ranch, and four boys tied their shoestrings together.

and then walked down the steps in unison.

Paul Mitchell Photo Shoot

Sometimes my boyfriend is a hair model.

Apartment Hunting and The Top of the Oz

After I found out I had two days off in a row, Nathan and I decided to start hunting for apartments in Oakland. There were some really magical spots, mixed in with some sketchy neighborhoods. We found our dream location though, an apartment building just tucked in behind Lake Merritt, with a gorgeous  park with a trail leading down to the lake. It seemed like it was out of a fairy tale. also, there was this little driveway next to the complex that reminded me of Placerville:

After a day of driving around aimlessly and wondrously, we finally made it into the Top of the Mark. Here was the view out the window we dined next to:

 This week was a screening of the Wizard of Oz. They had a brand of red wine and white wine to sample (freely), but my crude taste buds could only tell they were good wines because of how expensive they were. All wine is delicious to me, $2 or $20, it's all the same. 

We also snuck in some Mad Dog, but don't judge us. Sometimes you need a bit of trash mixed in with your class.

We vowed not to buy anything once we were inside, but instead bought the two most reasonably priced things on the menu: a "light and stormy" cocktail made up of 10 cane rum and ginger beer, and dark chocolate covered popcorn with jalapenos and about 5 other ingredients I can't remember.

It was pleasant watching a magical movie in a swanky restaurant, surrounded by twenty-somethings who had the same idea as us.

Once we were back in Oakland, Laura drew a portrait of us:

Band Practice

Getting ready to play a GOD SEX show at Insight Coffee Roasters.

On Whitney's Last Night We Became Vampire Bats

Goth Night at the Mix or something... one of those bars downtown that are more for Rosevillians and Elk Grove Trolls than poor lil Sacramentans. This night was a different story though, cheap cover and loads of entertainment. 

Whitney was moving to England the next day to be an Au Pair for a cute little English family. We celebrated by dressing in black and wearing too much eye make-up.

I love this shot.

Gabba in guy liner.

Tower ladies are being torn apart! I will miss the hell out of Whitney.

Grave Yardin' + Lake Merritt

The Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco has free summer screenings/wine tasting during the summer at The Top of the Mark. We had no clue what to expect, and got there just too late to watch Casablanca.

Nonetheless, it was the fanciest hotel I have ever been in.

We walked around China Town and people watched for a bit before heading back to Oakland.

We visited our lovely friends, Dave and Laura, and saw their beautiful new apartment before heading out to a tiki bar and sneaking into a graveyard.

Laura bein' spooky

Back at their place, Laura set out a gorgeous spread and we drank tequila while trying to throw crackers into each other's mouths.

The next day we drove to Lake Merritt, a huge lake in the middle of Oakland. We walked the entire perimeter of the lake and this is what we saw:

Nathan and I confirmed our desires to move to Oakland.