In the Neighborhood

A rainy day in The Sunset

What a glorious day in my home hood, the Outer Sunset. It was my friend of 25 years’ Birthday so I took her out for a coffee and lunch date. We started at Andytown, a new local coffee house. They make all of their own delicious pastries too. It is definitely the new hip spot to be in The Sunset. Devil’s Teeth is also one of my local faves as well. Their breakfast sando is out of this world, and served on homemade biscuits. Don’t forget to ask for extra avo! But let’s get back to Andytown which has a warm and intimate feel when walking inside. The baristas were all v friendly, not pretentious (which was delightful) as some baristas are sometimes. I ordered my usual, a non fat latté and my friend Kayla got their Snowy Plover. If I would have known about this magical drink I would have thought twice about ordering a regular latté even though the latté was incredibly delicious. Let me fill you in on this drink. Well it’s sorta like a coffee root beer float almost. Pellegrino over ice, a couple shots of espresso, a little brown sugar, topped with in house made whipped cream! Insanity! We got our drinks and were lucky enough to score a spot at the big communal table at the front of the shop. It was so cozy just drinking our coffee on a cold and stormy day, watching the rain go by. Quite the romantic BFF date, lol.

Off we went to have lunch at Outerlands. We shared the everything plant bread with a fried egg, goat labneh, with smashed avocado and the brisket sandwich with pickled onions, niçoise olive, gems with added avo. I am truly the avo queen. The highlight was the bourbon hot cider we ordered. It was perfect for the weather we were having.

Lastly we took a little trip to the General Store on 46th and Judah. I literally want to buy everything in this store. They carry everything from potted plants, to books on interiors and design, stationary, essential oil products, dainty jewelry, and vintage clothing. They’ve turned the backyard space into a little zen garden with a greenhouse for growing succulents. After all, succulents are the ideal dream plant for The Sunset. Moist from the fog everyday, all day. Feel free to relax and read a book at the long wooden table out there too. You’re even welcome to bring your Trouble or Andytown coffee with you!

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March 14, 2016 by
Mangia!, Travel

Winter in California..

Okay, so maybe I’m a wino. Had a late bday/double date weekend celebration a couple weeks back. So naturally we ended up in Sonoma. This has been quite the month of hot weather in the bay and when we were up in Sonoma I definitely didn’t mind. Thank mother earth that she has now graced us with some lovely rain clouds again! This past week I’ve been a hermit at home and have been loving every single minute of it. Saturday we started out with a nice sunny morning walk to my go-to coffee house, Barking Dog Roasters. A latté, a Whole Foods run and off we went to have our picnic and first tasting at Cline. I’ve tasted here many times before but I guess I haven’t tried their Viognier. Very crisp, dry, and light in citrus. It was quite the favorite amongst the four of us, so we decided that would be the paired wine for our picnic feast. After Lunch we made our way to Jacuzzi where we hung out in the back of the winery where the vineyards are and all of the sudden I see a sea of farmers hiding and munching on grass in the vines. What kind of farmers are these, you ask? Hundreds of Sheep!! Baby lambs, mamas, papas, they were all incredibly adorable.

That night we went out to my fave Italian spot in the square, Della Santina. It’s a family owned restaurant of 25 years and boy, is it something. I’m slightly picky when it comes to italian food since I grew up eating the good stuff my Nonna would make. Always fresh homemade pasta and sauces. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Della Santina for sure does italian justice. Their homemade gnocchi is unbelievable. When it comes to gnocchi its such a difficult pasta to get right. It’s even hard for good italian restaurants to get it perfect. We brought with us a wine I bought in Montepulciano, Italy a couple of years ago. It definitley added some extra authenticity to the dinner experience. Salute!

Sunday, before heading back to the city we drove up highway 12 to see if we could enjoy a couple last tasting rooms. We started at Chateau St. Jean and then found ourselves at a gorgeous farmhouse up on a hill. I was in full swoon as we drove up to the house. We walked into the high ceilinged room got a glass of wine and relaxed on the huge porch surrounded by vines. Is this heaven? Uh, I think yes! This little calico lady was taking a nap right next to us on the porch. This cat literally had my dream life. Naps in the sun whenever I pleased, constantly getting my head scratched, food, and frolicking through nature on a big beautiful property. Honestly, what could be better? Arrowood, I’m forever hooked.

 

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March 7, 2016 by
In the Neighborhood, Mangia!

Treasure Island Flea

Had a pretty remarkable day at the market on Sunday. They have recently really upped their game. Over the past few years this flea market has gotten bigger and better each time I’ve gone. Bringing in live music, local food trucks, tons of vendors and you can even bring your furry friends from home. There were dogs everywhere! Big ones, fat ones, little yappers, fluffy ones, wee lil pups, I love em’ all! Someone even brought a baby lamby. My friend Rachael and I crushed with the vinyl scene. There were so many killer albums, in good condition for the right price. It’s like candy for some people, well maybe we’ll say chips instead, I’d choose chips over candy any day. Ok, so it’s like chips, you can’t have just one. It’s impossible for me to just buy one record. So 21 albums and 150 buckaroos later we made out like bandits.

The local food truck scene was amazing. If you haven’t been to anything like Off the Grid or SoMA strEAT Food Park, hurry up and get there quick! So many options for good eats. One of my favorite things to do is to go ham and order one thing from each truck and share. As we were walking over to grab some lunch grub I heard a beautiful and  familiar voice. It was my good friends from Owl Paws! Was delighted to see that they were the local band playing at the market. They make some lovely music. Check out their latest video here!!

Since Treasure Island is between the city and Oakland, you can imagine the sea of coffee drinking, craft brewing, hipsters that come out to this every month. Take note of all of the succulents for sale, lol. Along with the hips, there are plenty of fams that come out for this too. Sometimes they have a little petting zoo for kids too. Fun, fun for everyone!

 

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March 3, 2016 by
Travel

Monday

Who says Mondays need to be a bummer? No Monday blues here when you’re headed up to wine country. This unexpected 70 degree winter weather has gotten me pretty excited for summer, not going to lie. Although, I’m really hoping we get at least another full month of the “el niño” California was promised.

We wanted to stay local to the Sonoma Square so we ended up at Sebastiani and Buena Vista. Sebastiani has a classic winery feel, constructed with stone and surrounded by greenery. I really enjoyed the tastings we had. Four out of the five we tried were excellent. I love reds but am mostly a white drinker. Their Sav Blanc, Chardonnay, Merlot, and Cab were my faves. The Sav Blanc was light, fresh, and not too sweet, perfect for a hot summer day. The Chardonnay, buttery with notes of butterscotch, yum! Merlot was smooth, very easy to drink..a lot of..haha. Cabernet was a little more full bodied than the Merlot but not heavy, still smooth and with a peppery finish. Fun fact: Samuele Sebastiani was a Stonemason by trade and used cobblestones from Sonoma to help build the streets of SF.

Buena Vista is the oldest commercial winery in California. It was founded in 1857. I fell instantly in love with this property. Had such an old feel about it, a cool secluded chateau. Our tasting started off with a sparkling rosé that was delicious! Rosé’s have been very popular the last two years, I’m sure you’ve seen The Fat Jew’s White Girl Rosé he made after the shortage in The Hamptons a couple summers ago. The sparkling vino was by far my favorite out of everything we sampled. On our way out, we stumbled upon a maze (no pun intended). The four of us raced to see who could get to the center the fastest. After indulging, you could imagine how hilarious this spectacle was.

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February 13, 2016 by
In the Neighborhood

Aquarius Season

Twenty eight years ago today an Aquarius was born. If you couldn’t guess, it’s me! Let’s get personal! In honor of this day I thought I should tell you a little more about myself and how I am as a human. I’m a believer in most Astrology and am known to ask what your sign is when I first meet you. Here comes Aquarius-101 (which I fit to a t).

  1. Aquarius woman is independent and seeks freedom.
  2. She is a thinker and a progressive.
  3. She is a lover of music, art and travel.
  4. She is a free spirit and old soul.
  5. Aquarius is an air sign, and as much, uses our mind at every opportunity. Mind over matter.
  6. Aquarians get a bad wrap for being “detached”. This isn’t because we are but because we only share our emotions with certain people.
  7. Aquarians are insightful and inspire others to reflect about life because we’re constantly thinking and questioning it. 
  8. We are honest and sometimes a little more blunt than we should be.
  9. Aquarius is the sign of friendship and are very loyal to those individuals.
  10. Aquarians tend to be nonconformists, we like to march to the beat of our own drum. 
  11. Aquarians love to experience life on our own terms.
  12. Once Aquarius’ mind is made up about something, it’s a done deal. We are very stubborn in what we believe in.
  13. We’re observers, and learn best this way.
  14. Aquarius is rebellious and question the norm.
  15. We are humanitarians and believe strongly that everyone was created to be an equal.

Now, enough about that. Here’s a little more about what I dig.

– I am a San Francisco native. The Sunset is my hood and the best district in SF (in my opinion, it’s way underrated).
– I honestly feel like I was born in the wrong generation, 60s & 70s were my time.
– I pretty much listen to jazz majority of my day.
– I’ve been dating my girlfriend for 9 years (she’s a Gemini, which is why we vibe so much).
– I went to Catholic School my whole life but am not religious.
– My favorite band is Tool .
– Pee-wee Herman is the best character of all time.
– I love nature and love to spend my weekends in Marin and Sonoma (as I’m sure you’ve seen in my IG pics)
– I love seeing a good metal show.
– I got my haircut with John Waters once.
– I have two cats. They are my children. A Maine Coon and a lil tuxedo black cat. My tuxedo man is a total ham (he takes showers with me lol) and is the most affectionate babe ever. I encourage you to adopt a black cat if you ever consider getting a kitty!
– I am Italian, German, Cherokee Native American, and Norwegian.
– Music is life and I love all genres except for new country.
– I love sleep and get at least 10 hours every night.
– I’m a high school dropout but somehow made it to where I am today.
– I love eating liver and can never pass it up when its on a menu.
– I’ve been backstage at a Marilyn Manson concert.
– My fave movies are Willy Wonka, American Beauty, and Forest Gump.

Happy February!

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February 11, 2016 by