List 89

Love: Rookie Yearbook One, which gathers the best of crazy-talented, crazy-precocious Tavi Gevinson's teen girl site's content from September 2011-May 2012 into one well-designed package. I love Rookie's use of monthly themes("Secrets," "Girl Gang," "Transformation"), its writers' breathless discovery of, and quasi nostalgia for, things I actually did grow up with (the band Heart is "Literally, the best thing ever"), its exploration of the emotions and angst of teen girldom ("How to Approach the Person You Like Without Throwing Up," "How to Look Like You Weren't Just Crying in Less Than Five Minutes," "How to Survive a Small Town") and its mapping of the all-important little details ("Midnight Snacks: A Taxonomy," How to Clear Your Room In 10 Minutes.") Rookie Yearbook One is hands-down one of the most fun and vibrant things I've read through in ages.

Like: Portland's Olympic Provisions sausage. Double like that you can now buy it in certain Bay Area gourmet shops, like Oakland/Berkeley's Pasta Shops.

Discovery: Temescal Alley, or, as Erich brilliantly dubbed it, Hipster Deadwood.™ Tucked away behind Pizzaiolo, parallel with Telegraph Avenue, it features, among other things, a solid mid-century antiques store, a vintage clothing shop, a dry goods store, a horticulture shop (for your terrarium needs), and, yes, a barber shop.

Obsession: Horses.  Back when I was a kid, like most girls, I spent hundreds of hours playing with horse models, reading horse books like Misty of Chincoteague, and researching the feasability of turning our garage in Milwaukee into a stable (a no-go).  Stella is now playing with my old models, which had been carefully boxed in the attic all these years, and for her birthday was given a wonderful gift by some good friends, the next best thing to having her own horse: partial sponsorship of one at Sunrise Horse Rescue in Napa, outside St. Helena.  The horses they've saved have heartbreaking stories with happy endings.  This weekend we decided to contribute toward the upkeep of thoroughbreds Richie and Stryder, and plan to visit them every couple of months.

Complaint: After years and years of avoiding it, I'm going to have to suck it up and subscribe to Showtime because of Homeland.  We are rolling through Season 1 on DVD, it's gripping, the acting is bang on, and we just can't bear to wait a year with the promise of brand spanking new episodes starting this weekend.  This will likely push our monthly Xfinity Xtortion/bill past $275.

List 88

Love: The Cato-Clouseau scene from The Pink Panther Strikes Again. One of the great physical comedy bits of all time, I'm reminded of it daily watching Clara and Fritz stalk and attack each other around our house.

Like: Craspedias, the Nelson Bubble Lamps of flowers, which look as clean, modern and nice dried as they do when they are fresh. 

Discovery: The next must-try San Francisco restaurant meal, this one from the new spot Rich Table in Hayes Valley. To start, watermelon and squid salad with olive vinaigrette. In the middle, order two different pastas and trade bowls half-way through - we had both the rigatoni with smoked eggplant and ricotta and the spaghetti with peas, mint and goat cheese. To finish, their caramelized olive oil cake with roasted strawberries and cream cheese.  (The menu is seasonal so it's likely these particular versions are gone, but the variations are bound to be as good.) Rich Table also has stellar cocktails and a well-done rustic-y space.

Obsession: Traveling to Ghent and Bruge, thanks to last month's issue of Travel and Leisure.  Sometimes one photograph is all it takes and you're desperate to be somewhere.

Complaint: That the excitement of back to school - buying supplies, finding out who's going to in your class, picking out what you'll wear the first day - can only be experienced vicariously now.  Sharing in it is one of the cool parts of having a kid, but it can make you ache for those innocent, carefree days of childhood yourself.  

Stella's back-to-school shirt from Gap Kids

Her new backpack from American Apparel