Through the Cake Coma...

Me & Megen at ToscaIt's Wednesday now, and I'm a few days into my thirtieth year... (or, it's my thirty-first year actually, I'm just at the beginning of it,) I have done the dishes and given myself a slice of birthday cake that probably should have been eaten yesterday or the day before, but we can't eat cake all the time.

So, where did we leave off? Thursday, I think, when I left Nopa with an Elderflower Gimlet haze and a new Jonathan Adler gift card from the girls...Well, there *was* an event between now and then that might be worth mentioning: the birthday party.  

The Bash Poster by Molly Crabapple - a gift from my sister & brother-in-lawThere is an area of San Francisco known as North Beach, and while it is typically known as the "Italian" neighborhood jutting up next to Chinatown, it's notoriety carries with it the universally-ethnic attributes that include nightclubs, cabarets, liquor, and women of easy virtue. Historically, the North Beach area blossomed out of the Barbary Coast neighborhood of Old Frisco, where young men who had dropped off of schooners from far-away lands seeking their fortunes in the Mother Lode would get side-tracked by... nightclubs, cabarets, liquor, and women of easy virtue. (Actually, these ruses were really only a distraction for the much worse crime of shanghaiing - drugging, beating, or otherwise making someone senseless so that they don't notice they've been dropped onto the next boat leaving San Francisco Bay, non-stop to Shanghai.) The Barbary Coast is the only neighborhood near to the downtown area where one can toddle through narrow alleys, and see mid-19th Century architecture, including exposed brick walls - a rarity in earthquake country. It's the oldest part of town, and the part of town where I knew I needed to celebrate my momentous occasion - not that I'm a woman of easy virtue, but it's much more fun to know a few who are...

The bar where we met? Tosca Cafe. A place with a long dark-wood bar, vintage copper cappuccino machine from the old country, red horseshoe booths, and goofy jukebox -that mostly doesn't work, but when it does plays Italian opera, Sinatra, and standards. The house specialties include the Tosca Cappuccino: brandy and hot chocolate, and The White Nun...I still have no idea what's in that drink. Tosca is a place where you run into people you know - you don't really know them well, but you're always so happy to see them. It's a joint where on a typical night Saturday night one might run into any of the local celebutites who are too cool for L.A. - Sean Penn is a regular, and I remember Uma Thurman even being spotted at Tosca in years back, oh, and then there's Gavin, Gavin's always hanging around Tosca.

Cake! Of the Birthday-Cupcake variety...One of the best contributions hip-hop has made to the party life is the phrase: "Go shorty, it's yer birthday..." It's a credo whose permissiveness is somewhat dangerous, but never over-used when it actually is someone's birthday. Another drink? Go shorty, it's yer birthday.  Order the fois gras AND the lobster? Go shorty, it's yer birthday. Buy myself that new top? Go shorty, it's yer birthday. More cake? Go shorty, it's yer birthday. Kiss that boy over there? Go shorty, it's yer birthday. As you can see, the phrase can make things very messy very quickly, and yet it's part of the lexicon of modern birthdays...so what to do? I say give in and enjoy...and that's just what I did.

Raawrrr! The back of my dress with a cool necklace from Genevieve!Me and my new dress met Megen in one of the only free taxis in San Francisco Saturday night, and all five of us (Me, Meg, my dress, a girl we didn't know but gave a ride to, and the taxi,) made our way down to Tosca.  Friends began to trickle in right away and eventually my entire group had taken over the back area full of 1940s-style tables and red booths. Lee brought cupcakes from Miette, people hung out, and overall had a great time drinking lots of booze, catching up, and meeting new friends (who were my friends originally...how I love bringing people together.)

Sometime well after midnight, after countless vodkas and even more infinte birthday greetings, we departed Tosca for a fat slice of Cable Car pizza. North Beach has indeed changed: Enrico's has closed! The patio area is boarded up and the big green sign we all stood under last New Year's Eve has been replaced by a "for lease" sign. How could Enrico's ever be replaced? But then, to add insult to injury, the Sheriff's wagon/portable jail was parked on Broadway ready to pack off with a few tribes of thugs. A few of said thugs were scamming on the street, looking for action, and while we got in a cab to head for home I had the distinct feeling that we had escaped the area just in time. Looks like the Barbary Coast is back to getting people shanghaied.

I had even escaped through to the next morning (my real birthday) sans hangover! For this I am truly grateful. I am also truly grateful, and feel most blessed for my many friends who helped me to celebrate, especially Miss Megen - you are just too marvelous, too marvelous for words. I will never forget my wonderful 30th!!!

Tonight on the phone Megen said to me: "So girlie, your birthday is over...what are we going to do now?"