Month: November 2014

The Cost of Realizing a Dream

/ A. K. Carroll / Leave a comment
  • IMG_1950Pencil skirt on sale at Banana Republic: $20
  • Must-have black turtleneck that can make the jump from casual to classy with a single accessory: $20
  • Black high-heeled boots that have survived four years and multiple trips abroad: $40
  • Anne Taylor sunglasses that cover half of one’s face: Free with a birthday coupon to the LOFT
  • Gas to cover the 20-mile, 33-minute trip from Lafayette to San Francisco: $3.48
  • Toll for the Bay Bridge in the afternoon: $4
  • Finding parking in the Mission in the middle of the day: 15 minutes, $0
  • MacBook Air on which to document all things noteworthy: $1201.05
  • Almond milk cappuccino at Sight Glass Coffee: $3.81

    The pleasure of arriving early, staking out a table and sitting in the sunny spot of San Francisco coffee shop, sighing over latte art and dreaming up interview questions for the wine editor of the San Francisco Chronicle: Priceless

  • iPhone 5C to command one’s life: $99 (with CA tax: $170)
  • Gmail App: $0
  • Panic at realizing you have been waiting at the wrong Sight Glass location: 6-9 months of a potentially long life
  • Google maps App: $0
  • Journey from one Sight Glass to the next: 7 minutes (in traffic: 12 minutes, while speeding: 10 minutes)
  • Parking in SOMA: $3 an hour
  • Learning to speed-walk in high-heeled boots: 3 years
  • Journey from parking space to original destination: 3 minutes while texting
  • Knowing how to wing it when you are late and shoot the breeze with a total stranger: 8 years of dishing out articles
  • Time left to extract a story from Jon Bonne concerning the New Wines of CA: 15 minutes (time taken: 12 minutes)

    Realizing you are capable of holding your own while discussing esoteric wines and feeling like you might actually have a future as a journalist: Priceless