Last call, back to school, Labor Day blowout

This weekend was just one big slothful celebration of the last days of summer before school.

I mean, I'm not actually going back to school -- but remember the old days? The last hurrah of Labor Day weekend? Playing ball in the neighborhood yard? Accidentally hitting your ball into the neighbor's yard and freaking out over his part-dog, part-who knows monster thing guarding the backyard? (Wait, this is just the plot of The Sandlot.)

Anyway, I'm not a student and I don't actually go back to school anymore, but my sister is a middle school teacher, so I get to live vicariously through her. And this year, we had a last days of summer blowout that involved both old traditions and new:


1. We went to brunch. San Francisco has a long list of good brunch places and a definite "brunch culture." Usually you need reservations or your wait-in-line face on to get in anywhere -- but this is the second weekend of Burning Man, and the city is noticeably light with people. Especially brunch-going people.

So the four of us (me & Matt, Lizzy & Greg) went a-brunching at Nopa, and I got to see Lizzy's brand-new engagement ring! (She would not allow the use of photography, so just picture a three-stone ring, a diamond flanked by aquamarine. Perfect because blue has been her favorite color since she was 0 years old.)

2. We played board games. Board games are like water to our family. The weirder and more unknown outside our family, the better. This time we played our old favorite, Be A Broadway Star!, which is sort of like the game Life except that instead of building a career and family, you're working towards getting your Actor's Equity card, an agent, a publicist, and maybe even a Tony Award!

The game requires knowledge of some musicals and the willingness to sing & dance. My sister and I are hams and this is the perfect game for us. (Although, I have to say, as a person who has been working the theatre career hustle, this game is a teeny bit depressing at the same time it is hilarious!)

Not us. We were having more fun than this.

Then we played The Friends Trivia Game (no link, and you'll see why). Backstory on this game: I was living in San Francisco in 2009 and found this game, still in its shrink wrap, on the side of the street in a box marked "FREE." Obviously I snatched it up. From there, it followed me through 2 more moves before Lizzy and I finally unwrapped it yesterday.

My sister, wondering why the box is so big for these 5 items.

In short, it was a flop. There were weird rules that made no sense, some cup card that you were supposed to care about (why didn't they make it the big ceramic greyhound on wheels??), and a trillion questions that we couldn't answer, despite the fact that we were Friends fiends. (Y'all, even in the height of my Friends fever, I did not know the name of the actor who played Gunther. Sorry, Gunther.) There was one good part to the game -- I got to pantomime being the Holiday Armadillo in a charades challenge.

3. We got our nails done. My sister and I each go through out tomboyish and/or frugal phases, but somehow we were each on the same page today and decided to treat ourselves to pre-school (heh) mani-pedis. And hey, she needed some nice nails to go with that new ring of hers! I got gel nails on my hands for the first time -- they cured so fast and are so smudge and ding-free that I wonder if I'll ever go back to regular nail polish (at least at the salon). I'm just a little worried about how to take it off -- but I'll think about that more in 3 weeks.

I wanted to show off my nails in a picture,
but the lighting was never right. I got bored.

Happy end of summer (or beginning, if you live in San Francisco!) & for all you teachers and students out there, welcome back to school!