From left to right: Nicole Cliffe, Baby Cliffe, Self, Sister of Self Laura Ortberg Turner (colloquially known as The Moose, for reasons that have been lost to time). Pictured in background: a great deal of Klondike bars, as this selfie was taken at the frozen novelties aisle at Target.

This is Nicole’s first time visiting the Ortberg central offices in California and thus far things have gone swimmingly. Nicole and Mallory’s dad bonded over their mutual and extremely specific love for Norman MacLean’s Young Men and Fire. Together we watched the first 50 minutes of the profoundly excellent Libeled Lady before retiring at 9pm (the final 50 minutes were put off for later, due to reasons of sleepiness). Together we threw the yellow dog Baxter in the pool, to the amusement of all.

Tonight — most thrillingly of all — we are going to meet some of you, our very own readers, for the first time. Here is the open thread with the specifics. For those of you too lazy to click (or who are perhaps trapped under something heavy), we will be convening from 7 to 9 pm at the Thieves’ Tavern in the Mission. It is just off of BART and very low-key, which is important because if one were to draw a graph of Toast demographics, the majority of the dots would fall in the “More Cozy/Anxiety-Prone” quadrant. Come by, even if it’s just for a few minutes, and say hello to one another. It’s going to be a lovely time; I am delightful.