Fancy Footwork...

Last week we went to check out Stompy Jones at the Top of the Mark lounge at the Mark Hopkins Hotel. Apart from being swanky and having a nice little dance floor, it also has a great 360 degree view of the city. As if this wasn't enough, they also serve you Japanese rice cracker snack thingies in big silver martini glasses.






So decked out in our best gear, we climbed up the hill (and then up the elevator) to the top floor and enjoyed an evening of fancy. Fancy bar, fancy outfits, fancy cocktails, fancy dancing.






I really enjoyed the evening! Stompy Jones were on top form as usual, and it was fun dressing up and being able to dance with only one or two other couples on the floor. I also really enjoyed the opportunity to dress up smart and try somewhere new. The cocktails are overpriced ($13 a pop) but they are good, and you get to enjoy them in a nice environment. Plus the dance floor is great.




Our fancy outfits did not feel so fancy, however, when we ran out of petrol on the way home and had to pull up on the side of the freeway....

So onwards and upwards, it was time to get fancy schmancy pants again last Saturday for the Black Couture Ball.


The Ball was held across seven venues on Fillmore - some you had to pay to get in to, and other were free - and the dress code was vintage (1900-1960s) black tie.


Our friends Slim Jenkins, an up-and-coming, swingin' bluesy seven piece band were playing at Bruno's Pizzeria Cucina so we went along to support them and have a dance.





Whilst Slim Jenkins rocked the joint, I'm going to have to say, the venue itself was a real disappointment to me. It was small and cramped and didn't allow much space for dancing. But what was worse, was that more than half the customers, who were just out for dinner (rather than knowing about the event) were dressed in jeans and t-shirts. Now, this is not their fault, of course, but given that it was only the minority who were dressed to the nines, I felt like my outfit was wasted on this pizza joint.




Then to make matters worse, my boyfriend and a friend of mine were handed invitations to strut their stuff in the fashion show being held that evening at Yoshi's, but when we tried to go in, the lady at the door pulled me back by my arm and told us we needed to purchase ($30) wristbands to gain entry. This is where I got annoyed. LADY, do not pull my arm, and do not have your people handing out these invites in the street if you only want people who have paid for tickets to enter. Hand them out to people inside the venue (who have your poxy wristbands) or make sure you are organised enough not to cause this type of embarrassing situation. It's not our fault if you went to hunt for talent on the streets because there weren't enough fashionable people in Yoshi's.


She then changed her mind and decided to let us in, but by that point I no longer wanted to be a part of their event. I think the idea of the Black Couture Ball was great, but I would have liked to have seen it on perhaps a smaller but more cohesive scale. I think the tickets to get into Yoshi's should have been cheaper and there should have been a dress code to get in to all the venues involved.

So anyway, after the brief Yoshi lady encounter, we promptly went back to the pizza joint and listened to the rest of Slim Jenkins' set. They are a really fun band, and play a great selection of danceable music - with style and personality. They all look like they are really enjoying themselves when they perform, and similarly the crowd all love being entertained by them. I am looking forward to seeing them play at Amnesia later this month.

Loving you is easy cause you're boothiful!

London needs more of the old fashioned photobooths that you find all over the place here in the USA.


It is so fun going on a night out and jumping in a booth with a bunch of friends, pulling silly faces and hoping for the best, then having a good laugh at your strip of seemingly similar, yet precisely different photos.


They are also fun mementos from a date with your boyfriend at the beach, or after a night dancing at a bar...


On occasion, they come out looking horrendous...or sometimes they don't even come out, because the busted old machine wont give it up, or the ink covers the whole strip in one big splodge, but this is all part of the fun!


I went to a party in London earlier this year, where they had hired a photobooth for the night, but on average they are so few and far between, and the ones you find in stations and supermarkets are those rubbish digital ones that come out in block format with four identical colour pictures.


Hand me a cocktail, lead me to a photobooth and then we're talking...

Al-fresco dancing makes me smile!

I have said this over and over again, but just in case you have not been listening to me: I love dancing al-fresco.


Being out in the sunshine, feeling a light breeze as you dance, is such a wonderful sensation, and luckily I have been able to do a lot of outdoor dancing this summer. Over the past three weeks here in California I have danced with my sweetheart at Justin Herman Plaza, by the Ferry Building at an event put on as part of the San Francisco Lindy Exchange, in Golden Gate Park at the weekly Sunday morning Lindy in the Park, in Union Square for Lindy in the Square and during the afternoon last weekend at the Brisbane Community Park where the Hi-Rhythm Hustlers played a set as part of a community fun day.


Dancing at Justin Herman Plaza was great, as it was a beautiful day, the music was fun, there was a lot of space, and I just really like that area down by Embarcadero with the bay bridge in the background. It also felt fantastic to be back out at a dance event in the arms of my boyfriend after THREE MONTHS apart!!!








Lindy in the Park....hmmmm, not so much. I did not enjoy this experience. I probably should have given up before I had even started, when I stepped outside and the weather was grey and drizzly. This does not make for a fun dancing environment. Especially when you are wearing white plimsoles and they end up covered in splattered slushy muddy pavement gunk. I was also not entirely enthusiastic about the music selection...or the amount of tracksuit bottom type ensembles on show. But, I should probably go back on a nicer day before I pass too harsh a judgment....after all, I'm not judgin', I'm just sayin'....




Lindy in the Square was more my cup of tea, with fun music, lots of space and great surroundings. It is interesting dancing in Union Square, which is kind of like a little oasis of sorts, surrounded by the hustle and bustle of shoppers and department stores. It also starts at a great time - 6pm - meaning you don't have to wake up early for it, it's not too hot out by that time, yet it's still light out.


Oh Hi-Rhythm Hustlers, you never fail to make me want to get up and dance. Thank you for playing two sets of stonkin' good tracks on a sunny afternoon, in a beautiful setting where I could dance to my heart's content. This was the perfect afternoon, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! Brisbane took us around 10-15 minutes to drive to, was surrounded by pretty hills and was warm. Yes!










I am looking forward to my next al-fresco dance experience...probably at the Rhythm Rocker weekender in Long Beach next weekend...

Cali catch-up!

Well, I have been back in sunny San Francisco for over three weeks now, and have really been making the most of the lovely weather and fun times on offer.

Soooooooooooo.....here's what you missed (unless you were there with me):

The wonderful wedding of my lovely friends held outdoors at Stern Grove, complete with taco truck....yes you heard right, a TACO TRUCK!


The bride and groom looked beautiful, the ceremony was romantic, witty, amusing, sweet and lovey, and the wedding was a lot of fun. I am so glad that I was able to get on my flight as planned and be a guest at the wedding. ♥






Jet lag really kicked my ass this time round, and for the first week or so I would get really tired by the evening. However, I managed to battle through it and take my zombified self to the annual Hank Williams tribute night at Club Deluxe where members of the audience took to the mic in a live band karaoke type affair. It was fun, but I felt so sleepy that whenever friends arrived who I had been excited about catching up with, I found it really hard to express how happy I was to see them, as I was in a complete daze. It was a real matchsticks-propping-open-eyelids evening....






A few days into my trip, a wonderful thing happened...there was a heatwave!!! Oh yes, glorious, hot, tan-inducing weather. Hallelujah. So there was only one thing for it: spending as much time at the beach as possible.


We took a little road trip down to Santa Cruz in the barracuda and spent a couple of hours lazing on the beach, dipping our toes in the cold water, eating a homemade packed lunch of sandwiches and strawberries (which an annoying bird had its eye on, edging its way closer and closer to us - until Aaron turned all Heckle and Jeckle and tried to show that bird who was boss by chasing it around the beach...) before checking out the vintage shops and eating ginormous ice cream cones from Marini's.








We also went to Baker Beach a couple of times and got our frisbee on. It's amazing how much fun can be had from running around after a piece of plastic. I didn't think that it would get hot enough on this trip to go to the beach in SF so it was a very pleasant surprise, and I am glad that we made the most of the wonderful sunshine.








I attended my first movie night in Dolores Park to watch The Big Lebowsi. Good thing I've seen the movie before, as the park was heaving with people, and you couldn't really see or hear the movie from where we were sitting. That said, we took a great picnic with us, so obviously, me being me, I was more concerned with the mushroom brie and spicy olives than Jeff Bridges and his White Russians...

After the movie we jumped on the swings, which was a lot of fun....for me. Note to self: next time Aaron wants to go on the swings, advise him not to, as it makes him nauseous and headachey....




Sticking with the outdoor theme, we went to Golden Gate park for a picnic one afternoon, before checking out a few shops on Haight St. I don't know what it is about GG Park, but every time I go there I seem to get surrounded by dirty hippies with mean looking dogs, playing guitar and smoking weed....




I prefer Dolores Park, and its proximity to Bi-Rite ice creamery. Yum. Salted caramel.....mmmmmm....