Flashback Friday

This time last year my folks came out to visit me in San Francisco. This is a table in a little Mexican restaurant that we went to for dinner one evening. My dad's hands are on the right, mine are on the left...we hold our hands in a very similar manner...

Flashback Friday

About this time last year, Samantha and I took the Ferry from San Francisco to Sausalito just so that we could go to Horizons Restaurant and sip champagne while watching the boats on the bay. It was a beautiful day and a great trip. These are the things that I do miss about leaving San Francisco.

Walking Across Golden Gate Bridge

I woke up this morning to gray, gloomy skies and I didn't think I was going to go out. However, as the morning progressed the sun started to come out and I pinged Samantha to see if she was still interested in going across the bridge with me. She had never walked across the bridge, even though she is native San Franciscan. I picked her up and headed out to Crissy Field. Once we got there, the day turned out to be beautiful. It was windy but the fog moved out for just the time frame that we were there, so I really think the gods were on my side. We walked out along Crissy Field and stopped at the Warming Hut. We purchased some water and coffee and then headed out. Here are some pictures of our walk over:

First a shot of the bridge from the start of the trail.

Here's a shot as we start to cross.

One of the support thingies.

One of the signs posted on the bridge.

A view of the bridge from the other side.

Once we got to the other side, we had to sit for a little bit and joked that we should call Sam's dad to come pick us up. The funny thing is that at about that time her folks called and when she told them where we were her dad DID ask if we wanted him to come get us. We didn't take him up on the offer. Instead, we hauled our butts up and headed back. Once on back on the city side, we stopped at the gift shop and did the total tourist thing....we bought t-shirts that say we walked the bridge.

I thought I had more pictures of the city from the bridge, but sadly my battery was going on my camera and I couldn't really validate that the pictures were being taken because of the glare. I highly recommend walking across the bridge on a sunny day, it really is a great experience.

Goings On

I know that I haven't been posting much lately, and I really don't have any excuse, other than I don't really have anything specific that I wanted to discuss. Nothing too terribly exciting has been going on in my world, at least not since I came back from the HCBC gathering in So. Cal.

I've had terrible computer problems with my work laptop. They were so bad that it got to the point where my baby had to be replaced and I'll never be able to get back into the flow of how I used to work. They couldn't rebuild it exactly, so I'm having to relearn where all my normal files are since I am used to just going to my short cuts. Today, for some reason, all of my personal folders in my mailbox are gone, and if they can't be recovered I am SCREWED!! I also lost my full version of Acrobat, which has now limited me in some of the things that I used to do. Ah well, that is one of the things that makes work interesting, huh?

This past weekend was a lot of fun, very relaxing, but fun. I walked over to a shopping center on Saturday and then had Samantha and her mom pick me up with Kenya, her dog. The three of us headed out to Crissy Field and had a great picnic of sparkling wine, salami, bread, and fresh mozzarella with tomatoes. We enjoyed the great weather and then took Kenya for a short walk along the beach. Saturday evening Samantha and I walked over to this Mexican restaurant that I've driven past a number of times. I thought it was a sit down place, but it turns out it is an order at the counter and they bring the food out. It was very tasty, but I not the best I've had.

Sunday, Samantha, Kenya, and I went for another walk. This time it was up and down some of the big San Francisco hills in the neighborhood. While we were only out for about 45 minutes to an hour, it felt like a much longer walk. I came home and ended up just hanging out around my place. I watched the Super Bowl, but wasn't really impressed with what I watch it for...the commercials. The game, on the other hand, was actually pretty exciting, even though I wasn't really interested in either of the teams winning.

That was about the weekend for me.

Saturday Was A Good Day

Samantha decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather that we are having in the city and take a trip down to the Ferry Building and then shuttle over to Sausalito for a drink on the water. We were going to go to Tiburon as well, but it turns out that there isn't a ferry that goes to both places (different companies) so we are already planning on doing that trip next month. 

We left the Mission District around 11:30 on BART (the subway in San Francisco) and arrived at the Embarcadero about 11:50. We walked to the Ferry building where they were holding their weekend Farmer's Market. Inside the Ferry Building there are a number of permanent shops, but outside a lot of the area farms come into town and peddle their wonderful fresh foods. Here is a picture of the inside of the Ferry Building: 

We bought our tickets and had some time to kill before the ferry left so we wandered around the market. Across the street are a number of arts and craft vendors. There were some very pretty jewelry pieces and pictures. We also tasted some of the samples that the shops had available, yummy fruits and jams and olive oils. However, it was soon time to board the ferry so Sam and I headed to the dock. 

Once on the ferry, she and I sat on the upper deck and enjoyed the sun. Here are a couple of shots from the ferry: 

Bay Bridge Off The Boat

Boats Out On The Bay

Samantha and I on The Boat 

We landed in Sausalito and walked around a bit finally ended up at Horizons restaurant and had a nice drink and an appetizer while over looking the water. 

Samantha and I then headed back over to San Francisco. More Pictures: 

Golden Gate Bridge

Port of San Francisco

After the trip to Sausalito, Samantha and I headed back to her place where we had a fire in her fire pit: 

For dinner Samantha and Rick, her gentleman friend, took me to an Ethiopian restaurant, Cafe Colucci, where I had the opportunity to try a whole new cuisine. While some parts of the meal I enjoyed a great deal (the chicken, shrimp, and I think I would have liked the lamb except it was too spicy for me, I liked the Buticha and Salata), other parts, like the bread stuff that is used to eat with (there is no flatware), I really didn't like. 

Afterwards, we headed home, they dropped me off, and I basked in the great day that I had. 

Karaoke at the Mint

On All Hallows Eve, Samantha and I joined some friends at a karaoke bar called The Mint. After some liquid courage, Andrea made it up onto stage with Lewis Fernandez (a.k.a. The Artist Prince, the Purple Rain years). 

We performed a powerful rendition of the classic Summer Lovin' from the award should-have-been-winning film Grease. Surprisingly, Lewis performed the Danny Zuko part and I played the demure Sandy (does anybody know what her surname was?). It turns out, after looking at the picture, that we will need to return to the stage and perform The One That I Want, as I just can't seem to pull of "demure". 

Aside from the singing there was dancing and all around merriment had by all those in attendance. In fact, here is some of our group dancing: 

That would be Austin and David our Irish contingency performing their own rendition of River Dance... we'll just call that Celtic Thunder in San Francisco!!

So, ABBA has one more thing that she can scratch off her list o' things to do before she shakes off these mortal coils (in 30 or 40 years!). 

Thanks to everybody who talk me into moving out of my comfort zone!!

Circus Bella at Dolores Park

Yesterday Samantha and I walked up to Dolores Park because there was an Independent Arts festival and our friend, Abby, was performing along with her circus, Circus Bella. The performance was fabulous and I am so going to sign up soon to learn how to do the flying trapeze. here are some pictures, I didn't get a really good one of Abby on the trapeze, but this will give you all an idea. 

Abby On the Trapeze

David Hunt on the Slack wire

Bronker Lee as the Human Beatbox

Big Blue Bunny Enjoying the Show

The Whole Troupe at the Finale

Dolores Park was beautiful. The weather was perfect and I even got a little color on my shoulders and chest. 

Oh yeah, we also saw a wacky, naked guy dressed in only a sign protesting the war: 

There is NO PLACE like San Francisco!!

Dang You, Sam!!

I say that in all love, but Sam is the bane of my existence. She convinces me to do things that I KNOW I'm not going to enjoy and don't really want to do, but for some reason I end up being addicted to whatever it is. Here are some examples:

Hummus - I never tried it before until she took me to Medjools and I tried it. Yummy, especially with grilled flat bread.

Sparkling Wine - It isn't that I didn't like it, but I'd never really tried it before. Now I am completely hooked.

Kir Royales - See above regarding Sparkling Wine, because it is just an extension.

Guacamole - I never thought I really liked it, until she made some fresh with homemade chips. I only like hers so far and as long as I have it with homemade chips.

Grilled Vegetables - Well, vegetables in general. She has shown me the light regarding things like squash and peppers. Of course, the Queen's husband had a lot to do with introducing me the joy of grilled veggies!!

Walking the Dish - I hate doing this every time I start, but when I finish I feel the best ever!!

Calistoga, CA - The beauty of this place and the hot spring pools and the good food and the jewelry there. We are planning another trip up there in the Fall....can't wait!!

Pilate's - I finished my third session this morning and while it hurt like a bugger it was also wonderful. I went ahead and set up more sessions through the end of the month and am looking into some classes!!

Riding the BART - I did that for the first time all by myself today and that is definitely the way to go if I work in the city and also if I work across the bay in Oakland. "On the BART line" is one of those things that is now a prerequisite for any job I take.

While I'm certain that this isn't everything that Sam has introduced me and I'm certain that there are a number of other things that she'll will force on me in the future, but that is all another blog. For now.... Dang You, Sam!! Thanks for learning me how to survive in the big city!!

I'm Gonna Have to Move....

I just came across an article that shows the top and bottom cities to be living in for certain jobs based on salary and cost of living, and I think I've made a big mistake....

I looks like Dallas is in the top of the majority of the categories and San Francisco is in the bottom of practically everything.

Well, Mom and Dad, looks like I may be heading home in the near future, even though I did just get settled into my great new place in the city....

Pics From Carnaval

Yeah!! I finally found the thingy to attach my computer to my camera and I was able to get my pictures from Carnaval saved and can now post some of them!!

Here is the lady selling food in front of her house and the cops shutting her down.  

Lady

Cops

Here are some dancers from the parade.

Aztec 

Kids

Adults

Girls on Stilts

Women

And here are some floats.

Drummers

Masks

Rainbow

Dancers

Lots of fun stuff. I only wish I would have had more room on my memory stick so that I could have taken more pictures, but that was poor planning on my part.... What a surprise!!

Carnaval Update

Carnaval is starting to wrap up, and I've been thinking about my list of 22 a la The Queen and The Champ. I know you all wanted pictures, but since I cannot locate the little cable thingy I can't upload them. I'm very sorry about that my dear readers....

1. Friday night at midnight crews showed up to build the tents on the street, right outside my window. 
   
2. Saturday morning it was raining and it didn't look promising. 
3. A lady across the street set up table to sell homemade tamales and other foodstuff. 
4. The cops closed down the lady across the street pretty quickly. I guess even at Carnaval, you need to have a permit to sell food on the street. 
5. The rain stopped on Saturday, but the crowds weren't out in full force. 
6. Outside my window was a dance floor where they had break dancers for a while and some Japanese drums performed for a period. 
7. By 5:45 PM Saturday night, the crowds were cleared out and things were coming down. The SF police were very good at moving folks along. 
8. Sunday morning the sun was up and it was a beautiful day, not too warm, not too cool. 
9. I went to the parade, which was about two blocks from my place. 
10. The parade was a very community oriented event. Lots of dance troops from what looked like community centers and neighborhood schools. 
11. Saw a teacher dancing the Samba in the street with her students wearing a halter top, sparkly skirt, and full back tattoo. I immediately wished my sister was there to ask if any of the teachers at her school would do that. 
12. Saw lots of feathers and sparkles, lots of drums, lots of skin, lots of color, and lots of happy people at the parade. Great dancing, cute kids dancing, beads being thrown. I love parades!!
13. I was frisked trying to get back to my apartment. Okay, not frisked, but metal wand detector and my purse looked into. 
14. Had a psychic reading. 
15. Registered to vote. 
16. Walked past the port-a-potties to go up to my place to use my own private perma-potty. 
17. Met my neighbor across the hall as I was leaving to go back down to the street. 
18. Went and checked out the booths up and down the street. 
19. Thought about buying some food on the street because they had some great smelling stuff, but because I'm a little phobic about that I just smelled the smells and imagined what the food was like. 
20. Tried on a hat made out of hemp and saw booths of 420 friendly paraphernalia. Bought a pewter ring and then headed back up to my place.
21. Watched a Latin dance-off from my apartment window. I mentioned there was a dance floor right below my window. 
22. It is now 6:45 PM and they have cleared out the crowds again and are already tearing down all f the booths and tents. 

As I watched the parade today I really want to participate next year so I'm going to have find a community group where I can go volunteer. 

Again, sorry that I don't have pictures yet. I'm probably going to have to go buy a new camera and take my current camera memory cards and see if I can find a place to get them down loaded. 

Carnaval Festival

Here is some interesting news from this country mouse in the city....

I received a notice from my building manager last week that said the east garage door will be blocked this weekend and therefore I will not be able to park on the eastern half of the garage. I wasn't really all that concerned about it until this morning when I was talking to my boss about the notice. She asked "why are they blocking it?" I respond with "I don't know, I guess there is some neighborhood festival going on, let's see.... the notice says 'the annual, Carnaval Festival...." I didn't even get the chance to finish what I was saying. Her eyes popped out and she was "does the parade go by where you are? Can you see the street from your window? I've always wanted to come up to the city to see Carnaval."

I look at her as if she has grown a second head and am like "WHAT?" Turns out that right outside my window this festival will be going on all weekend. Check out the link http://www.carnavalsf.com/index.php. If you find the map and in order to give you a little perspective, I live at the corner of Harrison and 23rd.... It ain't gonna be a quiet weekend for me!!!

The HOD is gonna be party central, I'll only charge $5 to use my bathroom rather than the port-a-potties on the street!!

With any luck I'll get some great pictures and will post them up here next week!

Country Mouse in the Big City

As promised, here is my follow-up regarding dinner Monday Night.

You will recall that I had a terrible day dealing with PG&E and my crying fit. Well, after they were all gone, I was feeling MUCH better and was bound and determined to enjoy my dinner at Sam's friend's, and now mine, Fabrice and Sophia's house in celebration of Fabrice's birthday. Sam and I decided that we would go in together and bring a nice bottle of wine, so she told me what kind to get and I went trekking through the 'hood to locate BevMo. It turns out BevMo is less than 2 miles from me, which I haven't decided if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I wander around BevMo with my note of the kind of French wine I am supposed to get, looking like a big dork, but not quite as crazy as the homeless guy getting the MadDog 20/20 who was the other customer at the time. I locate what I need, get a gift bag, pay, and head out for home.

After running home and changing into jeans and opting against the 4" killer boots for shoes that are slightly less dangerous, I played with my hair and all the various products that go in said hair (wax, paste, gunk, and clay). I then walked the short 5 blocks to Sam's house.

She and I determine that it is a lovely evening and that since Fabrice and Sophia are about 1.5 miles away, we'll just walk to there place. I mean, that is one of the benefits of living in the city, right? Neither of us considered the fact that we are living in a city of hills, and not your wimpy hillocks, HILLS. And, of course, our destination is at the top of one of these hills. About half-way through the walk Sam and I are kicking ourselves for not bringing along a cork screw because we were pretty certain that Fabrice really would understand if we cracked the bottle of wine before we actually go to their place....

Eventually we arrive at the summit. The other guests are arriving at about the same time, thank God they were all pretty much European and work on a different clock than my Midwestern upbringing which would have considered arriving for dinner at 8:30 as being very late and actually eating at 9:00 or later just crazy. There was wonderful jazz playing in the background and great wines being poured. Lot's of laughter and kisses and greetings, and all these people made me feel so very welcome in their world.

We sit down to dinner, which started with mussels and sausage, then moved to roasted lamb stuffed with goat cheese and basil (I think), and topped off with what I call a banana split birthday cake (banana cake, whipped cream, fresh strawberry all layered together). The wine continued to flow freely as did the conversation.

Most of the folks at the table are quite the world travelers, so they were all regaling one another with their experiences and mostly the funny trials and tribulations that happen with traveling abroad. It was a great evening, relaxed and friendly.

As things were wrapping up, around 11:30 on a school night, Sam and I determined that we were not looking forward to the walk home, even though it was going to be all downhill. Luckily, Sam had the brilliant thought of asking for a ride from one of the folks with a car. And even better, these nice gentlemen didn't give it a second thought to schlep us home.

All in all, it turned out to be a wonderful experience and this country mouse is truly enjoying all the aspects of San Francisco life!!