Karaoke, sunshine, and shopping...

"...son las tres cosas que me hacen feliz!" which means, "...are the three things that make me happy."

(It's a lyric from a 50's latin song, "Pan, Amor, y Cha Cha Cha." --which means, "Bread, Love, and the Cha-Cha" in Spanish. It's on a cd called "Rum Punch: Hip Swaying Classics" from of all places, Restoration Hardware. I highly recommend it, though it's incredibly hard to find.)

Bobby came to visit CopyKat and me this weekend. So of course we had to take him to our favorite karaoke bar, The Mint, located in the Castro. But I realized I was sorely out of practice, so I brushed the dust off my PS2 on Saturday to practice a few tunes on Karaoke Revolution. I was able to carry a tune enough to score some good points and unlock extra features for the game, which I was pretty happy about, but I still think my singing has really gone downhill.

Then I met up with two girlfriends for dinner to try a wonderful Indian fusion restaurant, Tallula, in the Castro district. We ordered several small dishes, plus some cocktails. Everything was delicious! The cocktail menu had the funniest lyrical, romance-novel-inspired descriptions. I'd love to go back to try the rest of the unique dishes on the menu.

Then we met up with Bobby and tatertot and her posse of friends. CopyKat sang Madonna's American Pie, and I sang Rosemary Clooney's Mambo Italiano --Even though I couldn't keep up with a few of the lyrics, I tried to cover it up with drunken exuberance. Well I wasn't quite so drunk, but just a bit buzzed. Frankly I was surprised that after 3 cocktails and a pear cider, I wasn't getting a buzz. So CopyKat bought me a fruity Stoli shot to finally get me buzzing. (CopyKat got rather drunk though, which made the drive back home rather amusing.)

As usual, there were a lot of amazing singers. A lot of them picked songs I would never think of, in genres such as blues, country, and even opera. The performances were all very inspired, and even the few who didn't necessarily have a great voice, were still entertaining. I even saw a repeat performance from the last time I was there: a man who sang both the male and female parts of C + C Music Factory's "Gonna Make You Sweat". I'd say one of the highlights from this night was a white guy who sang "Milkshake." That was highlarious. Our friend Bobby, who was visiting from out of town sang some Linda Rondstadt song I've never heard -- "Silver Threads and Needles" or something like that. And our favorite karaoke DJ, Frank, sang a wonderful rendition of a Josh Groban song.

On Sunday, we all met up again for brunch at yummy Zazie in Cole Valley (where I had wonderful gingerbread pancakes with lemon curd), then went shopping on a beautifully sunny Haight Street with the girls. I ended up buying all kinds of stuff, including flipflops, shirts, and cds.

Then I bought a cute little schoolboy-style white hat, by Goorin. I hadn't ever heard of this brand, so I had to look up the brand's site when I got home. Apparently they make ALL kinds of cute retro-modern hats for both men and women, as well as even bags and wallets! And they aren't even crazy designer prices! So I ended up ordering more hats! (I'm looking forward to my haircut at the end of the week, which should help hats look and fit better on me.)

As if I didn't buy enough already this weekend! Ahh, it's nice to be a single career girl. So much for the house chores I was planning on doing. I guess I'll have to take care of them after work--before I skip town next weekend for my NYC trip!