Home.

More and more, I'm finding myself choosing to stay in, read a book, and do nothing but relax. Like any major city, San Francisco has more to offer than someone can do in a lifetime, so for a while I felt guilty - like I needed to be doing something new and different. Of course, I'm still trying to do at least one new thing a weekend, but I have to say, it's sometimes nice to stay in and just be...home.

Northbeach

Even though San Francisco is relatively small (7 x 7), I still find myself in the same areas, even on the weekends. Even though I love the Castro, the Mission, Hayes Valley, Duboce Triangle, and the Lower Haight, there's so much more of the city I want to familiarize myself with. SO...

This afternoon, Katherine and I drove over to Northbeach to enjoy a lazy, rainy day of shopping, eating (and girl did we eat), and exploring. We checked out Mashka which was sups cute then walked around trying to choose from one of the (what seems like) thousands of pizza/Italian restaurants. We finally made the decision to have cioppino at Sotto Mare. Can I just say that it was the best cioppino I've ever had?

Afterwards, we enjoyed (I'm embarrassed to admit) a cannoli AND gelato AND coffees - as if $45 worth of cioppino, not to mention bread and pasta and a bottle of wine. Like - this is not normal behavior...

Roosevelt Beach

This past Saturday, my long time SF besties (Katherine, Matt, and Adam) and I got together for the first time in what seems like forever. We decided to cook brunch at Matt's then head down the peninsula to Half Moon Bay to enjoy the warm(isn) weather by the beach. It was so great to get out of the city and enjoy nothing but the sound of the ocean...and Lady Gaga's G.U.Y.

In all honesty, I'm not really sure if there's anything better than best friends that you can be your true goofy self with, wine, snacks, the beach, and jumping pictures. One thing we could all agree on - life is good, we are lucky to live in...mmm...the best state ever (and have each other I guess).

SF FIND: Illy

I typically work in Mountain View, CA onsite at my two new clients' locations, but occasionally (whenever I can) I'll from from one of their downtown SF office (cutting my commute down by 75%). Umm - yes please.

Since I was able to work in SF this morning, I had a quick coffee date with my friend, Katherine (before I jumped on the subway heading downtown) at a new espresso shop in The Castro: Illy. No, it's not SF local, but it IS amazing with such a great clean, funky, airy ambiance. Obviously, it was the perfect way to start this beautiful Friday.

Steven Allen

View from my living room window

Over the weekend, I treated myself to some essentials: new boots and glasses. Neither of them I needed. Both of them I would have killed for.

It was the perfect SF rainy, cold, winter day this past Saturday - a rarity considering it's usually pretty perfect. I got up, walked to a coffee shop down the street for an overpriced latte and muffin, then headed over to the Steven Allen store in Hayes Valley "just to look around" on the way to the Mini dealership. After buying the Willard Glasses in Matte Red, I was leaving when a pair of Thorogood X boots caught my eye. I literally walked right back into the store, asked for a size ten, checked out again, and left with a pair of boots I've been looking at for 6 months. Granted, I wanted the Redwing version, but since these are essentially the same exact thing (but 100 dollars off) how could I resist?

#oopsididitagain

Wedding According to New Orleans

Over the Christmas break, I was the date of the maid of honor for my friend, Mary Grace's wedding in New Orleans. Umm...she nailed it. The church, reception, dress, bridesmaid's dresses (gold sequin - YAS), on and on were all PERFECT.

The wedding was at Immaculate Conception (across from the Roosevelt) so obviously I had a cocktail and saw the lobby of the gorgeous hotel decorated for Christmas before walking into the church. After the ceremony, we party-bussed over to the reception at The Omni Royal Hotel in the French Quarter where we drank and ate and drank and danced and drank all night. I love weddings in general, but this one was really great. She did an amazing job - and of course none of us were surprised.

The next morning, I struggled to get up, walk around the quarter enjoying it for it's beauty and uniqueness, had a bloody mary, and headed back to the Northshore for the rest of my vacation. Perfection.