WHEN I WAS ONE, I HAD JUST BEGUN Dearest Family and Friends
57 Cumberland Street, San Francisco CA 94110
Phone Number: +1 415 738 2112
September Highlights
Esme
One Year!
We’re in awe of our gorgeous little girl and have loved (nearly) every moment of having her in our lives for the last year – what a fabulous journey!
She can still demonstrate her prowess on cue like a performing monkey, although as she approached her first birthday, it became less of a surefire thing that she would nod, shake her head, do high five on command.
But when in the mood, she can put her head on one side, put her hands on her head (and also in Portuguese), clap her feet and hands.
She says Mama.And Dada, although rather indistinctly...
She can play peekaboo with her hands covering her eyes, peeping out from behind to gauge your reaction.
She loves blowing at the mobiles in her bedroom. And now when entering any room, or even any new space, will start blowing at the ceiling or into the sky.I taught her to blow at leaves and flowers instead of grabbing at them.
If you say, Where’s So and So, or Where’s Such and Such, she will point to the object, or look in its direction.
Colman loves chasing her pretending he’s a tickle monster.
Her decibel level on the squeaks of excitement when being chased, tickled or when a dog is in sight, is now reaching ear-splitting proportions.
A 7th tooth is starting to emerge on the bottom.
Pleasingly, she still does downward dog, often no handed, and has even started demonstrating the pose to encourage Daddy to do it.She loves getting into nooks and crannies, investigating everything in her path, cupboards, boxes and suitcases all endlessly fascinating.
Lelli and Antonio bought her a pink car for her birthday which she delights in pushing about.
She loves bouncing on the bed, clambering into armchairs and sliding off sofas.
And laughter comes ever-more easily, tears dry quickly, as emotions wax and wane across her expressive sweet face.
Restaurant of the Month
As Kristan and Steve were away for Soren’s first birthday, 
we four proud parents celebrated the first year milestone by smugly going out to dinner to congratulate ourselves on our achievement in producing our bonny healthy children who have so much fun together.Firefly, the quintessential neighbourhood restaurant in Noe Valley outskirts, was chosen for our celebration. Simply great. 15 years of operation and it showed. Relaxed, friendly service.
A warm chic interior that allowed you to hear each other speak, with just the right amount of bustle background. We shared the appetizers family style, liking the Shrimp and Sea Scallop Potstickers and Heirloom Tomato Salad. Entrees were a triumph. The Braised Pork Shoulder melted in the mouth, the Alaska Halibut with Couscous and Zucchini-Brown Butter terrific. For desserts we treated ourselves to Fromage Blanc Napoleon with Honey Pistachio Filo and Cardamom Roasted Figs plus the Peach Almond Pastry Thing. Yummo!Top
Party Weekend
Esme and Marcus’ Birthday PartyTo celebrate our babies’ first birthdays, we had a joint birthday picnic in the Golden Gate Park Playground, as they are just two weeks apart in age. Both were very well behaved and being the centre of attention didn’t seem to go to their heads too much.
Marcus is confidently walking everywhere now, lurching bow-legged from side to side with arms raised high for balance, just like Frankenstein’s Monster.
Esme chose to mark the occasion by standing on her own for the first time, to a big round of applause from everybody. Great sense of showmanship, that girl!
Armani organized a lovely cake from Rainbow Grocery. And we sang happy birthday to both in time-honoured tradition. Neither child was permitted any cake – Esme stuck her toe in the icing and shrieked with excitement when Colman licked it off.Jen knitted her a special purple beret which she looks adorable in.
Next door to the playground is a fabulous carousel. So we all indulged our inner child and went for a ride. Adam in particular enjoyed cavorting on his large cock.
Walking unaided is very clearly Esme’s next milestone and she practiced all afternoon, with Jonathan holding her hands.Thanks to all for your gifts for Esme and for contributing to a lovely afternoon.
Party at Dave and Cathy’s
After the picnic we set off for Point Reyes to a party at Dave and Cathy’s fabulous architect-designed home in Inverness. Esme powernapped on the way and woke just as we arrived. Dave is a leading light in Colman and Patrick’s Wine Night group – they meet every month and earnestly debate the pros and cons of a particular varietal, taking notes, examining price points and taking ‘le terroir’ into consideration. Oh yes, and drinking copious quantities of the grape.
On this occasion the Wine Night Group were being joined by other revellers – it was an excellent party. Colman and Morgan erected our tent in the garden, Esme spent much of the evening crawling after the dog.
Our former downstairs neighbours, Patrick, Catherine and Caroline, presented Esme with a splendid present: Rocky the Raccoon in a dustbin – which proved to be the highlight of the party (and not just for Esme). Thank you!
We slept well in the tent and woke to a misty and glorious morning. The survivors had a slap up breakfast and managed to smile through raging hangovers for the camera.
Sophia’s Pool Party
After breakfast we headed across country to Sonoma for Sophia’s 40th birthday pool party.
A supremely relaxed affair on a very warm and beautiful day, Sophia and Gerardo had catered lunch and a cake for close friends with family and hired a house with a pool for the weekend. 
We had surprised Sophia earlier in the week at the Bliss Bar; this was her day in the sun. Although the pool was unheated, the heat of the day drove us all into its refreshing embrace – some more enthusiastically than others!
It was great to meet some of Sophia and Gerardo’s old friends and watch the children cavorting on lilos and floats.
We drove home after our epic party weekend with a great sense of satisfaction.
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DLG Event of the Month
Wonderfully, Jason and long term partner, Jim, decided to get married on September 26th, after the California Supreme Court had ruled in May (see May blog) that to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples is “unconstitutional.” All summer happy couples have been rushing to tie the knot at City Hall. Unfortunately we were not in town to attend the wedding, but I was able to go to the DLG celebration event.
A surprise for Jason, we hired a room at karaoke bar, Do-Re-Mi, and smuggled in lots of booze and brought food along. What a night! Jason did guess where he was going as we neared our destination but didn’t realize he would be presented with such a sexy item of apparel to flaunt on his wedding night.
We girls (and Jason) poured our heart and soul into each number, reaching hitherto unmatched heights of emotion (and depths of despair to anybody vaguely musical who may have heard us warbling and caterwauling).
I started with Thank You for the Music, sang Summer Loving with Jason as a duet and finished with my tribute to the bachelorette, Kiss. What a superb evening!!!Vote No on Proposition Eight
The forthcoming elections are critical for same-sex marriages as it is now on the ballot: Proposition 8 seeks to overturn the Court’s ruling. This is the real battleground and crucial vote for our neighbours. All over San Francisco, and especially where we live as it is so close to the Castro, posters proclaiming ‘No on 8, Unfair and Wrong, Equality for All’ are displayed. Far outnumbering the Obama Biden posters.As the blog went to press, polls show the vote’s razor thin, the Yes camp having had their lead whittled away after the successful mobilization of the community for fundraising and phone canvassing.
We are all praying for the No on 8 campaign to prevail on Tuesday November 4th.Almost as much as for a Democrat victory. Sarah Palin’s appointment has stunned everybody – a gift to leader writers and satirists everywhere
(this spit roast pig actually was part of the gourmet 18th Street Block Party celebrations arranged by Bi-rite, our legendary local gourmet market). The choice of her as candidate also galvanized many, her social policies being so out of step with pretty much everyone in the Bay Area and in the rest of liberal America. I received a forwarded email in early September thus: "Dear Friends,
Are you as sick in your stomach as I am at the thought of Sarah Palin as Vice President of the United States?
Since Palin gave her speech accepting the Republican nomination for the Vice Presidency, Barack Obama's campaign has raised over $10 million. I am horrified by Palin's selection, furious, and frightened by it for many reasons, one of which is her position on women's issues. May I pass along the following fiendishly brilliant idea?
Make a donation to Planned Parenthood. Of any amount, in Sarah Palin's name. Here's the best part: when you make a donation to PP in her name, they'll send her a card telling her that the donation has been made in her honor. It will support an important organization and it will make women's voices heard."
Since the email went round, nearly $1m has been donated to Sarah Palin in Planned Parenthood’s name from people in all 50 states (including myself) – genius!
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Visitors of the Month
Angie and GraemeCame to visit us mid-September. The weather was glorious for their whole time here – really splendid – warm and sunny, perfect temperatures.
They had barely a second to catch their breath as we plunged them into holiday activities. Luckily they were on fantastic form all the time. Angie was a super trouper to join the DLG doing karaoke for Jason’s bachelorette party, having just flown in that day. Next day I took them to Crissy Field to admire the view of the Bridge, the Bay and Alcatraz.Then to see the Women Impressionists
Exhibition at the Legion of Honor Museum to the west of Golden Gate Bridge, so more excellent views from a different angle.For our last night together Angie and Graeme very very kindly treated us to a slap up dinner at Boulevard downtown. Really gorgeous.
And such fun to see them, we had a terrific (although whirlwind) time together – thank you so much for coming to visit!We then flew out to Europe leaving them to enjoy SF’s natural bounty and have a romantic holiday for a couple of days before they headed home.
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Sonoma and Napa
Expedition of the Month
No guest comes to stay without a weekend adventure. So we took Angie & Graeme to Guerneville, Russian River Valley, (the gay resort capital of Sonoma County), for two nights staying in the lesbian-owned and managed Boon Hotel. Newly done up, with little cabins around the pool and hot tub, it was a charming little boutique hotel. We made friends quickly – Esme loving the dog and being a great hit with the residents as she crawled around the pool.We woke to see rolling fog, which took until mid-morning to burn off. A lively debate ensued as we drove off to go hiking in Armstrong Woods Park up the road – should lesbians grow beards? As one hirsute lady by the pool was sporting a fine set of whiskers and crop of vivid tattoos. Colman felt strongly that it should be each to their own, Angie and I were revealed in all our heterosexual prejudice, Graeme admitted he was just content admiring the view…
As we had forgotten Esme’s lunch back at the hotel, Colman went back to fetch it, so the 3 of us started up the path through the Coast Redwoods, expecting Colman to catch us up any moment.
It took longer than we all expected as he was misdirected, before he eventually hove into view scarlet in the face and puffing.
It was a glorious hike once we rose above the skyline and got our breath back. Esme, now returned to her father’s back, had lunch and then had a lovely snooze. 
We reached the col to find a party of San Franciscans who had driven up to admire the awesome view across three counties and back towards the Bay area. A classic friendly SF encounter ensued – they offered us some very special vintage wine, made us a sandwich and took in exchange a luscious chocolate pudding from Bi-rite). The scenic voyage down started through open meadows, followed by ancient gnarled woodland and then traverses beside steep gullies, before we reached the valley floor.
We felt very deserving of a lounge around the pool thereafter. Esme dipping her toes into the water but not venturing to swim.
And then we went out to dinner in unpretentious and charming French restaurant, Bistro des Copains, further up the Russian River. Esme behaved impeccably in her high chair, and flirted outrageously with the (rather handsome) waiters in a most brazen fashion.
After she had gone to bed we sampled the hot tub by starlight. It was almost too hot for comfort but a lovely way to round off the day.
On our second morning we rose manfully to the challenge of more pool lounging with the lovely lesbians, before packing up and heading off for some arduous wine tasting along Russian River.Esme seemed keen to join in, especially at Porter Creek organic winery – a girl with good taste!
Carneros Inn
I had arranged for Angie, Graeme and I to stay at this luxury retreat in Napa to review it for http://www.i-escape.com but as it was a Sunday, Colman had to return to SF for work. We dropped him at the bus stop in Santa Clara with barely a backward glance and jaunted off across bucolic country filled with vines, the sun blazing above. Doris, the SatNav, was behaving erratically but we found our way to the swish Carneros Inn without delay.
We knew we were in for a good time when they offered us a crisp sauvignon blanc at check in. Our cottage had a superb bathroom, private little deck and small garden, a welcome plate of wine and cheese, and all mod cons.
Having developed a martyr-like aptitude for lazing around the pool, we checked out the family pool area (there was another more exclusive pool higher up the hill), which had a large infinity edged lap pool, hot tub, and children’s infinity edged pool. Bliss on a stick. Esme loved paddling in her float in both pools kicking like a little frog, 
Graeme nobly volunteered to try the hot tub.Dinner was taken in the FARM restaurant. Superbly presented and gorgeous fare, Esme doing very well in her high chair, sampling a range of exotic breads.
Angie, Graeme and I sat up under the stars quaffing wine, stuffing ourselves with cheese and putting the world to rights. That night Esme woke and took longer than normal to go back to sleep so I took her for a magical moonlit walk through the cottages and formal gardens. Very atmospheric.
The following morning while I was on my tour of the property (The spa, cottages, suites & homes, Hilltop dining room and swimming pool, and views and setting!), Angie and Graeme looked after Esme, taking her for another swim in the sunshine – thank you so much! All too brief a visit but lovely to see how the other half live for 24 hours. Top
Dublin
Pat and Niamh
We flew into Dublin on the 24th September, having had a pretty tiring flight (Esme was very upset for the first few hours, but then did get 4 hours sleep, despite Aer Lingus not dimming the cabin lights overnight)
to a warm welcome from Colman’s parents. Pat and Niamh were very thoughtful and generous throughout our time with them, cooking up a storm and driving us about.
They treated us to theatre tickets for an excellent new production of Hedda Gabler at The Gate, starring our friend, 
Justine Mitchell, who we met backstage for a drink afterwards – lovely to see her on such terrific form.They got to spend time with Esme who they’d not seen since Christmas and who managed to adjust quickly enough to local time – sleeping through the night again after 4 nights.
They looked after her while both of us worked, taking her for strolls, showing her off to friends and neighbours, and to the local city farm.
Thank you so much!The five of us also had a night away staying in luxury B&B Tankardstown in County Meath for i-escape - which was a fun excursion.
And Aunt Eilo had us over for a slap up four-course lunch. 
Esme loved playing with Finbar on the rocking horse.It is funny how cities conform to their ascribed traits:
Dublin has terrible traffic problems, friendly and warm inhabitants, changeable weather and prices to match London. Yet of course completely familiar and we felt very much at home. Except when Colman took the scenic route driving back from the theatre…Dublin Friends
We managed to see some old muckers while in town. Ronan and Geraldine came to Esme’s very intimate birthday tea and we went for a brisk stroll in Marley Park afterwards with them. 
They bought her a lovely outfit and treated us to dinner – we owe you both big time – our turn to take you out next.
We had a great night with Conor and Valerie, and were treated to a visitation from sweet Fergus and a rendition of ‘I’m a Little Chimp’ composed by Conor,
which still reverberates in our heads.Esme got to play with Lucy, Callum and Finn who were in Dublin for the summer – thanks for Puff the Magic Dragon.
And with Tanya also visiting from London.Top
Emily & Niall’s Wedding
Wedding of the Year
We were able to time our visit to Dublin to be able to attend Colman’s cousin, Emily and her partner Niall’s wedding.
It was wonderful to spend a proper day and fun evening with the O’Neill clan – who we had last seen at Emily’s twin Kate and Mark’s wedding last summer when I had been very pregnant. Eoin had flown in from Rio again to give Emily away. The weather stayed fine which was a bit of a miracle considering the appalling summer Ireland has endured. 
Emily looked wonderful and clearly had such fun throughout the day and night. She was almost upstaged by her daughter, Katie, who is 6 days younger than Esme. The second cousins had some fun together.
Katie was really phenomenal on the day, with great energy and temperament. Esme lasted well and was on pretty good form, but Katie really rose to the occasion, giggling and clapping at all the right moments through the speeches, and looking like the perfect princess in her outfit.
Emily very sweetly arranged for a little birthday cake to be presented to Esme before dinner, as her 1st birthday was the following day. Esme was fascinated by the candle’s flame so Colman brought her closer to the cake to encourage her to blow it out, with predictable painful results. Cue wailing sobs and her first burnt finger.
The speeches were some of the funniest I’ve ever heard reflecting the perfect couple’s wit, fun and joie de vivre. Niall was roundly teased for his love of grooming products and top of the range wheels; his mother brilliantly wound him up for getting lost on a Scout trip. Emily for her garrulousness. 
And there wasn’t a dry eye in the house with mention of both fathers having not lived to see this happy day. Niamh got a special mention for being such a great influence in the family, which was lovely.
It was the first time I’d been dancing in a long while and so shook my thang on that dance floor (my favourites being the fantastically cheesy Abba tribute band and inevitable disco numbers) until New York New York (why do they always play that as the last song at weddings in the British Isles I wonder?) ended the proceedings. It ended up being a late night after I was locked out of our hotel room, Colman snoring too loudly to hear me knocking.
Thank you Emily, Niall and Katie May for a lovely wedding and party. Congratulations! and we’re delighted that you had such fun staying in our apartment in San Francisco (still haven’t found that kilo of prawns, Niall) and in Northern California on your honeymoon.
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Bird of the Month
While staying at Tankardstown in Co.Meath, we hit an amazing couple of hours of late afternoon brilliant sunshine – the autumn light was extraordinary. Then a front of cloud appeared over the woods, and on cue a clamour of rooks (Corvus frugilegus) burst out of the trees and whirled above my head in a lazy spiral drifting on the breeze, creating endlessly shifting patterns. Very evocative of a time and place.
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Mural of the MonthStencil of the Month
Only in San Francisco would you find this graffiti…Bumper Sticker of the Month
We were shocked to the marrow to see this on our walk in Armstrong Redwoods in Sonoma! Very very rare sighting indeed.
Love and hugs
Nadine and Colman xxx
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