Lately

As of late:

1. Gregoire's take out on Piedmont Avenue. Take-out taken to a brilliant new level.

2. Keren Ann's new CD La Biographie de Luka Philipsen. A lighter version of Carla Bruni, a bit of Dido. Very soothing, and just great music to work to.

3. Oxygen--my indoor soccer team. We surprised ourselves with a 12-4 win last week only to be humbled this week with a devastating 6-0 loss. Winning is so much more fun.

What went wrong? I blame it on the music. Usually the Bladium plays upbeat and energizing music during games. Last night, at the beginning of the second half, Paul Young's "Everytime you go...away..." totally slowed us down. Later, I blamed a missed scoring opportunity on the agonizing guitar solo of a Van Halen song. We played against a team called "The Latinas." They were tough and highly skilled. At minute 35, we actually reverted back to a 3rd grade version of kick and run soccer. Brilliant. Thankfully, this was our last match up with them.

4. Clinique Bonus Time! Recently I spent a few hours at a swanky outdoor shopping mall in Walnut Creek. It's clearly an adult Disneyland--second to the Venetian at Las Vegas. Imagine faux European façades showing off Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma. Lest you be not taken by the McArchitecture, Godfather lite music fills the air. Happy blonde families stroll hand-in-hand. The captain of the local high school lacrosse team snuggled with his cheer bunny near a fountain. Whew. I had flashbacks of the city I grew up in, but thankfully the Italian music reminded me that I'm indeed in the throngs of Nor-Cal. And did i have a good shopping day? You bet. It was a glorious retail experience.

5. Girls weekend in the Pacific Northwest! Cappy and I spent this past weekend kicking it with mom up north. On the agenda for the weekend: dinner at a Caribbean restaurant near SeaTac airport, movies, dim sum, an art/craft fair, iced vanilla lattes, reminiscing, laughing. Bellevue Square and its environs is turning into a mini-Beverly Center. Seriously. I felt like I was in L.A. at times. My high school (Newport) is getting a major facelift. I guess that's what happens when you make a Newsweek list.

6. Personal Training at the Bladium! It's time for Penny to move beyond Pilates, Samba Beat classes, and indoor soccer... Stay tuned for the new adventures of Penny and her new trainer Billy W.

7. Bay to Breakers on May 21st Penny et al. will be starting off early on Sunday morning. Costumes TBA--read: we have no idea what we're wearing. You hear "Go!" then after 15 minutes, the crowds allow you a steady walking shuffle. Now that's a pace I can keep.

And lastly, we're happy to report that the Tubular One has fully recovered from the injuries she sustained last weekend. The T.O.'s usual dogsitter was in Mexico, so we took our little camper to San Francisco's Pet Camp. The vet says she may have hyper extended her knee and shoulder muscles. We attribute this to her overly rambunctious small dog play group. Oops. Next time, it's the Older Gentler Dog playgroup.