Love

I've been dating this wonderful and talented man for 2 years now.

I'm a lucky girl!

A Few of My Favorite {San Francisco} Things

I have been pretty busy with the end of semester grad school stuff. But this past weekend I did make some time to get out in my city, and I was reminded of a few of the many reasons I LOVE San Francisco!

Like this amazing fire escape for an apartment building down in the Mission. Yup, it's a twisty slide!

Or the Sunday Farmer's Market literally out my front door. Fruit, veggies, nuts, baked goods, flowers, fish, all from local, small-time producers. Yummy and a great place to mingle with the neighbors!

And Mission Thrift, the greatest place to find costumes and vintage clothing for such events as Halloween, or the upcoming Bay to Breakers {best holiday Ever!}.

Finally, my favorite restaurant in the city - Banana House! They make the absolute BEST yellow curry with tofu I've ever had. And I kinda crave their peanut dressing like crack.

So if you ever find yourself in San Francisco I highly recommend checking out some these places. And if you are looking for any reasons to move to San Francisco, feel free to add these items to your Pros list.

Free Cone Day!!!

Today is the annual Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's! You can click here to find a location near you. Or if you're like me, you already know exactly where all 5 shops are located in your city.

For those of us in San Francisco, Free Cone Day could not have come at a better time. It's been in the 80's here for the past couple days, which is almost unheard of! We San Franciscans are not quite sure what to do with ourselves. For instance, what is that sticky substance that forms on my skin the moment I walk outside? Am I melting? Or what's the deal with wearing shorts and tank tops to the beach? The beach is a place for hats and sweaters and mittens. Hot weather is so bizarre.

Such A Good Boyfriend...

All week Dannon had been telling me about a little surprise he had planned for Saturday afternoon. He would not tell me what it was or even give me clues! So, of course, I was full of excitement and anticipation. Turns out, he had heard of a little concert by a little band called Silversun Pickups {eeek!!!} playing at a record store in Berkeley. It was free and we got there just in time to snag the most perfect spot right in front of the little balcony on which they were playing.

I have been wanting to go to a SSPU concert for years, but they never seem to play shows in the Bay Area. Dannon is the best boyfriend ever!

Afterward we roamed around the Berkeley campus a bit and then headed home for yummy Little Star pizza with Kristin and Larry. Then we were off to another concert by our good friend Ian Shaul.

Life is wonderful when it's full of music!

April 18, 1906

Tomorrow is the 103rd anniversary of the great earthquake that destroyed my wonderful city. Scientists are not quite sure exactly what the magnitude was, but they all agree it was somewhere around 8 on the Richter scale. This earthquake leveled thousands of buildings, set off fires that lasted for days, killed countless people, and set free a whole bunch of parrots. Several times a year officials tells us that we should be prepared for "the next big one" any day now. Not to worry though, my house has been retrofitted and my earthquake kit is stocked! What an adventure that will be if I'm around for it.

View of the fires in downtown SF from Alamo Square {right by my house}.
View from Nob Hill.
{pics borrowed from here and here}

LED Sheep

My friend Mike showed this to me last week and I've watched it over and over since then. It's completely ridiculously Amazing! Make sure you watch the whole thing because it just gets better and better.

Easter Weekend

Hope everyone had a lovely Easter! Dannon, Larry and I helped out with the music for Second Wind's Easter Special on Saturday.

Then on Easter Sunday Larry and I enjoyed the beautiful weather in the city, while Dannon celebrated his gift of salvation by shredding the slopes of Northstar. Although, I'm not sure I would like Northstar very much because of this:

Oh there is definitely swearing in snowboarding! Especially on and around the chairlifts!

Hope your Easter Weekends were full of loveliness!

Hi Ronin!

My sister had her new little baby yesterday {child #5}! Welcome to the world little Ronin! And good luck!

One Man's Trash is Another Man's... Sculpture?

After the Horse and Dachshund races, we walked over to Eastshore State Park, which is right next to the track. Eastshore is such an awesome place - a former landfill turned park. There are plenty of little trails through grassy knolls and flowers, but the coolest part about Eastshore are the sculptures. I'm not sure if the artists are commissioned or if people just go down and create on their own, but there are about a dozen sculptures built out of scrap materials such as metal and driftwood and any other trash found in the park. Plus, all the sculptures are massive, as if a colony of Driftwood and Metal Giants settled there.

This woman is the first sculpture you see coming over a hill. I always get the urge to run and jump into her arms.

I have a habit of running into dragons on my hikes...

Urgh! Will you stop taking pictures of me, I'm trying to work here!!!

Here is my new favorite -- a Samurai!

There are plenty more sculptures to see, so if you are in the Berkeley area, go check them out.

A Day At The Races!

Sunday I went with my friends Larry, Lynne and Leticia to Golden Gate Fields, the local horse track in Berkeley. Every Sunday is $1 day, which makes for a super cheap and super fun event.

We had a perfect view of the finish line.

Such a perfect view that I actually captured a photo-finish! This race was so close we had to wait 5 minutes while the officials studied the photo. If you click on the photo below you can clearly see the winning nose {he's the one with the pink jockey}.

Larry and Lynne bet a few bucks, and ended up breaking even. I'd say that's a good day at the track.

This Sunday was extra special because in between the horse races they had Dachshund races! It was the most hilarious entertaining thing! They put the dogs in a teeny tiny gate with their owners down at the finish line, enticing the dogs with treats and toys.

As soon as the gates were open they took off running. The funny part was that it was utter chaos when they left the gates. Some of the dogs ran towards each other, some ran circles, and some ran in the wrong direction past the gates and far down the track. {Click on the photos for ear-flopping views!}

Such as this little guy, who got close to the finish line, turned around and happily ran back to the gate, tail wagging.

I've never liked Dachshunds, but I have to admit, out there on the track they were absolutely adorable!

Lovely Spring Music

I've been listening to these bands all week. Perfect for these lazy sunny San Francisco afternoons. Click on the name to hear their music.

Horse Feathers
Samamidon

Adem

Fail Blog

Don't you love it when you laugh so hard your stomach hurts and it's hard to breath?! Laughter really is great for your body and soul. One of the things I love to do when I need a good hearty laugh is scroll through the ridiculousness on Fail Blog. Such as:

Dartboard Fail

Reason for the Season Fail

Meat Fail

Cannibalism Fail

Crosswalk Fail

Breakfast Fail

So Long Dannon...

Dannon hurt his hand snowboarding and hasn't been able to work much this week. So what should one do when they can't work? Why take a spontaneous trip to LA for an architecture conference, of course!

He came over last night to say goodbye. Isn't he such a sweet boyfriend?


Until Sunday my Dear!

Happy April Fool's Day!

And a Very Merry Birthday to Devon!