Holidays / Vacation

Union Square, SF

The past few weeks have been filled with holiday get-togethers: there was the ugly sweater party, the champagne party, a Santacon party, a birthday brunch, and an old-school-hip-hop dance party (gotta love SF).

I'm getting ready to take the next couple weeks off and end the year by catching up with friends and family on both coasts. Before I hop on the plane, I had to get some adulting done: cleaning up the apartment (which I try to do before any travel, as well as before each new year), drawing down on the food already in the fridge but having some staples in the freezer and cupboard ready for when we get back, and taking care of bills. Also, remembering to take some Airborne.

I'll probably write about the year-end activities and travels next month - in general, my only plans/responsibilities are to soak up time with loved ones and chill out. Hoping everyone out there gets to do the same.

Cheers :)

November Wrap Up

November was a mix of new and old: I went to my first-ever NFL game and also did a 5K fun-run with friends from the office (okay, I've run races before BUT this one was different). I also went bowling with friends (before they dropped me off at the airport!) and hung out in Dolores Park for the first time in a couple months... gotta love the warm temps in mid-November... and visited home for almost a week.

October Wrap Up: Music Month

October was about simple pleasures - live music, gatherings with friends, and spending a personal milestone in Big Sur.

September Wrap Up

Gloria Ferrer winery, Sonoma

Another wrap up post, another moment of disbelief that another month really has gone by. With a lot of hot weather ("hot weather" will always remind me of Uli from Project Runway Season 2) for San Francisco and the surrounding area, the theme for September (besides finding a fan for the apartment) was being outdoors and exploring different parts of the city:

August Wrap Up - NorCal Summer

urban sidewalk garden, Mission district

Lately, I haven't had much free time during the week outside of work and work-related events, so I've particularly savored any down time. And while I took a few much-needed moments to space out on the couch as well as to clean and organize my neglected home, I also wanted to continue taking advantage of free time to hang with friends and explore the area. I've gone around the Bay Area a bit (floating down the Russian River, barbecuing at China Beach in Marin, chilling out in Half Moon Bay). In the city itself I've mostly stuck to my part of town, going to a couple more Giants games, checking out some new-to-me restaurants and bars, and trying to avoid Karl the Fog during the month of Fogust. A while back I read this post on Apartment Therapy and realized I adhere to the mantra: "The city is my living room." In words and pictures here is what August looked like:

(late) June Wrap Up

flower arrangements by Bloom That for Negroni Week

I like to have a recap of each month so that I don't just let it fly by without some reflection, or at least acknowledgment. Summer is flying by, though, and so much has been happening, and I can't believe it's July (wasn't it *just* MDW?).

June went by so fast because there was so much going on. It started off with Negroni Week, and a friend & I got to attend a special party thrown by Women & Whiskies. I hosted a couple events for my grad program (one bringing together alumni, and another for our incoming & current students interning in the Bay Area this summer). And I also attended batting practice with a couple friends before a Giants game, and we got to walk along the field before the game started!

pre-game!

For more nature-oriented activities, I went camping (for the first time!), up at Lassen. It was quickly followed by another camping trip at Marshall, part of the Point Reyes National Seashore. On the first trip we had a cabin that we drove up to, but for the second trip we kayaked to the beach and set up tents along the shore. Our tent was on a bed of clover and protected from the wind/mist under some pine trees. In the past couple months I've gotten a sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and tent... basically I can go anywhere now.

camping @ Marshall, CA

Farewell to a fun June, and cheers to a great upcoming July!

May Wrap Up

sunset at Bodega Bay

Some favorite moments of May: witnessing dear friends celebrate marriage; having my best friend visit from out of town; celebrating my husband's birthday with a weekend getaway and hiking among redwoods; and as always enjoying San Francisco during meals with friends and meandering through the Mission. I'll be at a music festival this weekend, which is the best way I could think of to start the summer.

April Wrap Up

Well, last month felt like a blur. There were milestones to celebrate with friends: birthdays, a baby shower, and I kicked off May with a wedding of dear friends last weekend. April started with Easter weekend, and ended with watching the team my husband coaches win against their biggest rival in the last game of the season. (Then May started with watching them win their league championship, in double OT!) My favorite activities in April included volunteering at the Boys & Girls Club (an event I set up through my office) and seeing The Book of Mormon. And in between all these things there was work and sleep and such...

personal photo

March Wrap Up

I've been having this feeling all winter where I think it's more like May or September, maybe because the climate is so mild... I keep pinching myself that I haven't been buried in snow like the East Coast. Now it's actually Spring which means glorious 65,70-degree weather in the Bay Area. Granted it gets cooler in the evening, particularly in San Francisco, but it still feels great to get home from work with the sun still out. Here's what's been going on this month:

Not Shopping & February Wrap Up

San Francisco from my roof

As of Feb. 3, I was done shopping. That day I bought some more workout clothes (since I have been working out more frequently and hate doing laundry) and flip flops (to replace my 3-yr-old pair that broke recently), and realized, there's just nothing else I need to buy. Taking a cue from le nife en l'air and zero waste home I figured I would institute my own shopping fast and wait until at least April to buy new clothes. I certainly have plenty of items in my closet, and I've spent the past year building a more cohesive and versatile wardrobe, so here's the time to use it, right? Well I've already been tempted to get new items (that I'll definitely use), but I'll see how these two months go.

So what else have I been doing besides not shopping? Somewhat related, I read The Clutter Cure article in the NYT, which starts exploring why it's so trendy to de-clutter and to be more minimalist (hint: it's deeper than just combating materialism). At work, I'm moving to a new team, which means I'm moving to a new desk... so I am getting rid of some old clutter and decorating my new space! It also means, work-wise, I'm kinda pulling double duty right now, what with training the people who will take over my former assignments as well as learning my new ones. The transition period is almost over, though, so soon I will be fully entrenched in my new job.

In addition to Pilates, I started doing TRX workouts... If you think planks are easy, just try them with your feet hanging from straps. I have always been the kind of person who needs to switch up the workout routine or else boredom kicks in. TRX and Pilates have been good complementary workouts. And the endorphins boost is worth the soreness.

This month I also got to:

• catch up with former classmates
• celebrate an early Valentine's Day at a San Francisco restaurant named after a New York town
• say farewell and best wishes to work friends moving on
• experience Mardi Gras (again) in Nola to celebrate an old friend's birthday, and 
• watch a lacrosse game on a beautiful day with good friends (we were all there cheering on the team my husband coaches... and they won!).

So that was February. A short, but full, month.

 

delicious burrata & octopus salad from Dobbs Ferry SF

January Wrap Up

What a January! Even when it seemed quiet it was a busy time (busy in a good way, though). And the fact that it was 70 degrees on the last day of January reminded me why I love living in California. Here's what's been going on this first month of 2015: