It was a good excuse

I'm feeling good, partly from dinner last night and mostly because I took today and tomorrow as vacation days - so I don't have to return to work until Tuesday.

My dad gave us a gift certificate to Cote Sud, a Fronch bistro in the Castro. So I made reservations for Valentine's Day. We don't normally go out that day, but what the heck.

It was nice. Not spectacular, but nice. The food was good and the service was excellent. I wouldn't be in a hurry to return given the vast number of restaurants in San Francisco I would like to try, but I'd certainly recommend it to others.

Amusing note: I wore my navy suit and grey fedora. As we got out of the cab, people in the bar next door saw me through the large windows - and everyone's head turned. I guess guys in hats aren't all that common. Heh.

Any plan vhere hyu lose hyu hat eez a bad plan.

I like my hat. We found this in a vintage clothing store - it fit, and it only took a bit of time wearing it for the wife to persuade me to buy it. I often wear it to the farmer's market; it keeps the sun off, and I occasionally get stopped and complimented.

vintage Lee fedora

The couple who owned the store retired and moved to rural Oregon, where he now makes custom hats. I took the plunge and ordered a new one, similar in style to my vintage but in a midnight-blue beaver felt, like this one from his store:

It'll take a bit, but not that long, and his prices are amazingly reasonable. The only downside is that I'm mailing my fedora to him so he can copy it without my doubtless-inaccurate descriptions and measurements.
It'll be nice when it's done. And then I'll really need the violin case to go with my navy pinstripe suit.