Kevin and I are now back home, having taken our time over getting back to the Bay Area.

Much of this weekend has in fact been spent on my second favorite hobby (after reading), which is Shopping. On the way up we stopped for lunch at the Westfield mall in Fairfield. This was notable for two things. Firstly we actually had good fish ‘n’ chips. It is rare to find anywhere in the US that sells supposed British-style fish ‘n’ chips and manages to a) have decent sized piece of fish, b) make good batter, and c) serve chips rather than McDonald’s-style fries. This place managed all three. Well done them. And also we found a Gloria Jean’s coffee shop. This is the first time I have seen one outside of Australia, though a little web searching has shown that they are actually an American company. Weird how this franchising business goes.

On the way home we stopped at the outlet stores in C/o/w/t/o/w/n Vacaville. This was a great success (and not too hugely expensive). I was delighted to pick up a cashmere sweater for $50 (reduced from $128), and I may well wear it to BASFA tomorrow. I’m not saying anything more about The Dress. This is partly because I’m hoping it will cause major jaw-dropping when I wear it to a convention, and partly because most of my girlfriends will want to kill me when they find out how much I paid for it. Best. Ball gown. Bargain. Ever.