I have now gone four weeks without coffee. Or caffienated soda. I have noticed that I FEEL A LOT SLEEPIER.

But seriously, Sunday is the day when I get back on the bean juice. Mmmm. I plan to do it right: go to Peet’s and order a small latte and slowly go insane.

Yesterday I went to Nordstrom on my lunch break. One of the skincare counters in the cosmetics dept was having a free facial event to open their new day spa rooms. That’s right, FREE FACIAL. I was all over that. I was given a one-hour treatment, and man, it was nice. My facialist was this woman named Yvonne, and we had a great chat the whole time. I don’t remember all the products used, but one was a really nice deep cleansing clay mask, and while it was on, I had a hot washcloth on my face. Ahh.

I bought a couple things (had been planning to anyway since I have been sampling this line all month), got a ton of samples and a free gift, too. Oh and they put some makeup on my face. I usually wear very little makeup, if any, so I had to emphasize that I wanted it to look natural and neutral. She mostly succeeded.

Today, my skin feels great. I hadn’t actually had a facial in about a year. And the last one was free too — it was at a friend’s bridal shower.

Anyway, after that fun little treat, I decided to check out the brand new mall next door to the SF Shopping Centre. It opened yesterday. It is massive; I could really only explore a small fraction of it before I had to go back to work. It was kind of overwhelming, and I was disoriented the whole time. The coolest part was that they preserved the old Emporium architechure for the most part, primarily the gigantic, windowed rotunda.

I wandered into Bloomingdale’s. A jazz trio was playing a live set — in the cosmetics department. Every square foot was spotless and new, and the entire mall was absolutely packed. It was surreal, a sensory overload. And everything looked expensive, from the shiny, lipstick-shaped steel trash cans to the bathroom walls inlaid with a mosiac of tiny glass pebbles.

So. It is Friday. I am going to visit Brian for a little break later this afternoon since he is working the late shift. Outside it’s grey and cool, perfect weather for a long city walk in my trench coat.