+ Took Friday off to run around the City with Allison. We headed first to North Beach to drink ass kickin espresso at Caffe Trieste. Then wandered through the zig zagging streets and into Chinatown. In a cavernous and dusty junk and housewares shop, I found four of the most beautiful porcelain rice bowls I have ever seen. They were a buck twenty-nine each.

+ In deepest, untouristy Chinatown, none of the shops even bother with English signs. Windows are stacked with bloody beheaded fish. Produce markets are crowded with tiny ladies reaching over each other for apples and turnips and oranges. It was a sunny, cold, perfect day.

+ We ended up in another random shop and I found a globular rice paper lamp shade for $3, and a couple of adorable, roomy noodle bowls. I may need to go back and complete the set. Chinatown is truly the only place for lovely and cheap dishes, people.

+ Walked back toward Market. I bought the shoes I have had in mind for the wedding, and will practice walking in them and breaking them in for the next couple months. Allison finished her xmas shopping (she lives in Milwaukee and is home to visit family). We rode back to my place on the train, dumped off our shopping bags, and walked to heavenly Gordo taqueria for their perfectly greasy quesadillas.

+ Today: Brian and I took our sweet time getting ready this morning. Finally left the house just before 2:00, and took the bus over to the Toyota dealership on Geary. Test drove the 2005 Prius hybrid. We both loved it. The wait list is down to eight weeks, so we will easily have our new car in May, as planned. I want the red one. It’s beautiful. It’s really an awesome car. And, it’s in very high demand — not just because it’s a hybrid. It’s also just a solid and well-designed four-door sedan. Wow. Our first new car! I’ve never paid more than $500 for a car. Well, for the one car I’ve ever owned. The funny part is how that shitheap took on about four times as much in repairs in the seven years I drove it.

+ Tomorrow: Housework, painting, maybe knitting. Oatmeal for breakfast. Brian’s going to be at training most of the day, so, Jane time in full effect.

+ On the good advice from my good friends, I am going to go to the gym early this week, before work. Like, starting my workout at 8am. Not only a good time metabolically, but also a time when the crowds at the Y start to really taper off.