Where Everybody Knows Your Name

It's always an odd, and fun, occurrence when you move to a city and start running into people you know at random venues or events. Just a month and a half after my arrival, I saw Lucy and Jon's friend Swift running at 6am at the Marina, only two days after meeting him. I called out to him, and he gave me a funny, almost panicked look. I'm sure he was thinking, "Who the Hell is that girl? Did I try to pick her up at a bar or something?" Last night, SVV and I went to Bubble Lounge for the 10th anniversary party, and just 10 minutes after getting there and sifting through the crowd to find the hosts, Olga and Kate, someone called my name, and the crowds parted to reveal two of my favorite people in San Francisco, Trish and Tami (and Tami's boyfriend, whose name I still can't remember after meeting him a couple times, oops!). Something about running into people randomly at an event which you didn't even know they had ties to is comforting. It makes a city that once seemed so daunting and unfamiliar seem small and more manageable. Not to mention, those two are some of the most connected people in the city -- they're publicists, it's their job to be -- so SVV and I were introduced to the cream of the media crop.


SVV had his last class yesterday (hallelujah! It only took six years! And for those of you completely confused, he was in the Navy for most of his 20s and didn't start journalism school until nearly 30) and went out for Mexican and margs with his classmates, so by the time her returned to me and we left for the party at 7, he was well on his way to being toasted. I figured we'd show up, schmooze a bit and retire early. Instead, we were there practically from the time they served the first cocktail until last call -- and on a school night, at that! (Side note: SVV never made it to work this morning; I slept in about three hours longer than I usually allow myself. He's currently back in bed, as I write this at 2pm. It was that fun of a party.)


The second SVV had a drunken stumble, pouring his Cosmo all over my slingback and breaking the martini glass on the floor, I figured we were done. It was time to go. That was at 10:30. At midnight, we're still there, knocking back the drinks (well, I stopped after three, seeing as I'm a lightweight and have to run today) and dipping strawberries into the chocolate fountain. By that time, we'd befriended the French owner Emanuelle, artists, musicians, designers, architects, publicists, the bartender, everyone within a 100-foot radius. Everyone's so warm and friendly on this side of the country that it constantly amazes me. I remember every event I covered/attended in New York, whether at the Mandarin, Cipriani's or somewhere equally as pretentious, I couldn't wait to get out of there because everything was so clique-y, and no one talked to you unless you were a Mortimer or Vanderbilt or carried a roman numeral after your name.


SVV has many shining attributes, but I think the one I value the most is that I can throw him in any setting with any group of people, and he's as smooth as butter. He always joked that I was a professional schmoozer, but if that's true, a lot of that must have rubbed off on him in the three years we've known each other. Several people last night commented on how he makes the perfect plus one, and I'm inclined to agree. Now, if only we could both quit or day jobs and become full-time San Francisco socialites, mingling with the likes of Gav (Newsom) on a nightly basis, we'd have it made!


The BART ride home was an interesting one, spent discussing important issues of global concern: French manicures (SVV was very intent on learning exactly how they're done: "I mean, when the nail grows, what happens to the white part?" "I bet I could give you a kick ass manicure better than any salon!" And he's straight; I promise!), his dual-toned eyebrows (he's like a freak of nature -- blonde roots, black tips) and ear hair, a realization that I feared might bring him to tears.

"I have ear haaair??" SVV slurred, a bit disheartened.

"Well, more like a hair, and it's pretty minuscule."

"Gooood, cuz the moment I get an ear haaaair, it's all ooooover."

And that's all she wrote.

Ed. Note: I may very well not have a boyfriend after publishing the above photos. Hey, at least, I didn't post the video, too, right? ;-)