No IML this weekend, alas. Tomorrow we're off to San Francisco for the weekend. Well, Russian River actually. But fun nonetheless.

New pics from Chad and Joe's going away party last week, and Gretchen's birthday party last night. I'm not feeling inspired enough to attempt any witty captions, so I'll just let 'em speak for themselves....

Gretchen turned another year older at our house last night. The party went surprisingly well, I thought, considering our somewhat lackadaisical preparation. Of course, I was still slicing lemons and hadn't dressed when the first guests show up.

Rather rudely threw everyone out at 11:30 so we could head to Crowbar to hear Mike Duretto spin. A fun, silly, hot night.

Three, count 'em, three houseguests this weekend on top of all that. I'm bushed. Jason is out enjoying the sun and a friend's pool. I'm resting.

The new Abercrombie & Fitch catalog is over the top.

Life is both exquisitely boring and oddly engaging lately. Some long-buried area of my brain kicked in recently, and made me quite content to spend my evenings being domestic. For once, I have projects. We're fixing things, buying stuff, painting, for god's sake. I can barely stand it.

Working on—or rather procrastinating on—a small freelance web design project. First steps toward building something like a portfolio. I have a vague goal that within a year I'd like be freelancing full time. We'll see how that goes.

Cocktails last night at Chad and Joe's, pre-bar. Haven't seen them since the White Party. It's clear they are focused on their impending departure—getting ready to flee Phoenix for a year-long sabatical in Spain. Things are packed, yard sales are being held, bon voyage parties are planned.

I was momentarily speechless last night when I thought the "For Lease" sign actually read "For Sale." Only a false alarm.... I'm gonna miss 'em.