Saturday Night Life with Holly

My sister from another mother and father accepted my invite to go into "The City" and hang out. It was so fun! I received an email from her that told about our time in the city in great detail:

Hi Esther ---
The SF City adventure last night was fun!

We met up at Urban Outfitters. Awesome basement bargains! I keep thinking about BOTH the tree branch jewelry holder AND the birdie lamps. =-) (Bless her, she loves birds! That's so cool).
Me: I bought iron angel wing wall hanger (for 5 bucks!) and recounted my weird encounter with this guy on the BART...yes, Holly -I AM a weirdo magnet! (I told my bro about it today and he said the exact same thing...weird!) The guy on BART had been watching me from Pleasant Hill station...and finally came and sat right by me, even though there were plenty of other seats. I ignored him for the longest time because I was listening to my iPod and also sketching, but finally, my curiosity and irritation got the better of me and I took my headphones off to see if he would tell me what the heck he wanted. It didn't take long before he commented on my drawing. He said, "I couldn't figure out who you were drawing..." (Well, gee -could that be because she had no head...?) I told him I didn't know either.

There ensued a rather awkward conversation in a thankfully populated BART car. Well, it came out that I had lived in Utah, so the guy asked me if I was Mormon. I said yes. He proceeded to stand up and ask me, "Who do I look like?" I was at a loss. And just praying that he didn't get any weirder...prayer not answered because his next comment was, "People tell me I look just like Joseph Smith." I just stared at him. I really didn't know what to say...But you know, it's kinda weird that he kind of did look like him...maybe he wasn't lying...? I'm soooo gullible.

I tried to find out which stop he was going to but he said he didn't have a destination. Yet another red flag. Why me?! Anyway, I had the brilliant idea to say, "I know this is kinda weird, but my friends won't believe me if I say I saw a guy that looked just like Joseph Smith...can I take your picture?" He allowed me to take his picture:

I did this because of the reason I told him and because I wasn't sure if he was going to follow me. He did get off at the same station but I made it clear I was going on by myself (and I also lost him). I was a bit shaky when I arrived at Urban Outfitters to meet Holly. I was soooo glad I wasn't on a solitary trip this time. I tell ya, it's not fun to be sitting on the BART planning ways of defending yourself, should someone try something shady. Running through my head were many things -and most were questions as to why he chose me to bother.

I suppose he was just a lonely, awkward guy. Some of the stuff he told me didn't even add up. He told me he was LDS (Mormon) and he also had a southern accent but he grew up in the Bay Area...I'd like to think he was just some harmless and bored guy, but I am way too easy of a target, as it is.

And we walked around and around and saw the sights and the neat looking people and went to the top of the Sir Francis Drake Hotel to Harry Denton's Starlight Room. =-)
Me: Then she showed me the star on top of the hotel from several blocks away. We also encountered an elderly couple on the elevator on our way up...it was funny because the old lady said "He flirts with all the girls and the boys...haha! He was giving me and Holly "the eye" as we got off the elevator. Dirty old man!

And alas, enjoyed a lovely meal at Cesario's Italian Restaurant in : Union Square, Nob Hill (601 Sutter Street @ at Mason St).
Me: My first time ever at a real Italian restaurant and saw some guy drinking from -what looked to me like a tiny tea cup- but was an espresso cup that they use in Italy all the time...wow...I need to travel more. Holly was very generous and let me have more bread than my share...she's great at sharing. I had pesto linguini and it was very good and very filling. We had to walk around for a while after eating. As we walked, we came close to the Tenderloin District. I didn't know much about that area, but Holly filled me in about the characters that I could expect to see (druggies, prostitutes, people shooting-up). We passed some big guy who had a large blank folded across his chest and Holly quickly put me on the other side of her so she'd pass by him -and I had this fleeting thought that he could be a flasher. She's got my back, she does.

And finally, had Coldstone Ice Cream...the richest sweet treat I think i have ever had ....pumpkin mint mixture extravaganza.
Me: I had pumpkin and Irish Cream mixed with graham cracker crust...mmmm...

Well, that was our fun trip to SF...in a nutshell :) Thanks for hanging with me, Holly! You are one fun gal!