Cousins in the City

What the heck?  I cannot stand the fact that it has been warmer on the east coast than here!  And to add insult to injury, last night was the beginning of a 6 day straight down pour and highs in the 50's.  All I see on facebook are friends from home posting pics showing it being 80 degrees today and talk of tops down and sun roofs open.  How is this fair?!

Ok - that's my rant.  And since I am still unemployed, the good news is that I get to stay in bed on days when all you want to do is stay in bed, the bad news is that I am getting a little cabin fever.  Perfect excuse for me to do some writing.

So I have some big news to share...I am going to have... a family member living in SF!  My cousin Danielle has accepted an offer for her dream job and is starting before the end of March.  This means she will be moving from LA (Santa Monica, specifically) to the city of San Francisco.  I am so excited to have a girlfriend to hang out with.  And so is Greg... he might be more excited than me to have someone else here to keep me company.   :)

Danielle arrived in SF on Feb 27th - Monday afternoon - her big interview wasn't until Wednesday.  This was great because her project was mostly finished and it gave us some time to hang out and catch up.  She met me at our house and we talked and caught up before heading out to town.  We went to Horizons for some apps, wine, and views and found out that they are closed for renovations until April!  (Better be finished by the time Steph and Heather get here Easter Weekend)  So we went next door to Scoma's - a first for both of us.  We got a seat by the windows so we still had a view, ordered a delicious Red Zin and some warm mozzarella.  We weren't disappointed.  It was perfect timing when we finished because Greg was getting off the ferry from work and all three of us went to the Seahorse for some more food and drinks.  Like any night that involves wine, one thing led to another, I ended up spilling wine on Greg's suit and somehow a little bit of dancing to a piano player happened.  We came home and hung out some more before passing out.  From what I can remember, it was a lot of fun and I was happy that Greg and Danielle finally had a chance to get to know each other for the first time without it being an awkward family gathering or big party.

On Tuesday I had an interview with an agency in Oakland that lasted 3 hours plus the hour it took to drive each way and Danielle had to do some finishing touches on her presentation.  We met back up in the city at her hotel for dinner.  She knows the city well and recommended a place in the Marina called Tacolicious.  We each had the Marina Girl Salad with grilled chicken which has to be one of the best salads I have ever tasted.  And the Margaritas were delicious too.  One of the best parts about this place was the scene.  It was packed with people our age and the city vibe was something I had been missing in sleepy Sausalito.  We had so much fun.

Monday Sunset in Sausalito

Tuesday night in City

With all the change that has gone on in our lives in 2012 already, this is just another sign that things are moving in the right direction.  Always follow your heart and do what you believe is right for you.  Timing is everything.  Danielle and I had been talking about the possibility of this happening since last year, but life doesn't always happen like you plan it.  There were major challenges we had to face, but in the end, the path led her here and we will be living in the same city for the first time since...1999?! And who would have ever thought it would be in California.  Life feels right and I can't help but think Nani and Pop are making sure we are okay.  :)

And for an update on my job hunt... things are coming along.  I feel really lucky to have gotten the opportunity to interview for 3 really interesting jobs and with 2 recruiting agencies.  I am still keeping at it and have a couple more prospects in the works.  It really is an emotional roller coaster, getting your hopes up and then being let down, or not hearing back from places you know you are qualified for.  I just have to remember that when the time and job are right for me, things will work out.  I have to have faith and Greg's support has been amazing.  I also thank those of you who have helped me on my resume, listened to me on the phone, sent emails and messages, given me advice and sending positive thoughts from across the country.  I don't forget it and am so grateful.

xoxo

Mish-Mosh of Activities

I have a lot to report so I am going to try to keep to the point as much as possible.  I have almost 3 weeks and 2 weekends to share with you, jam-packed because I have an adventurous, can't sit still for 2 seconds, rambunctious roommate named Greg.  And thank goodness for that.

I will start with the weekend of February 18th.  Greg's friend from grade school was here to visit for a night and go skiing with Greg.  They woke up early on Saturday (President's Weekend) to head to Kirkwood, and I decided to stay home and take care of some errands.  Sunday morning we woke up, took Ronnie to some scenic Sausalito spots so he could take some photos of the Golden Gate and maybe see some seals, then drove to Sam's in Tiburon, which I mentioned in the previous post for some Bloody Mary's and Brunch.  We had a good meal in the sun by the water and drove back to Sausalito.  We had some time to kill before Ronnie had to catch his flight so we did a little wine tasting before grabbing a beer on the deck of the historic Horizon's.   It was then time for Ronnie to go, so we walked him to his car and said goodbye.  He is a traveling man living it up.

Three of us at Horizons (I know what you are thinking...I look amazing, right? Thanks) .

After all of that in the morning, Greg and I decided we should go hiking and camp in Point Reyes.  I was very excited for this since you can see the Grey Whale migration, Elephant Seals, and other amazing views from this place.  I was not so excited about the camping part, but what the heck.  So we went to REI, Greg's favorite store, and stocked up on some gear before taking the hour drive to Point Reyes.  We got there around 5pm, and were starving.  We went to a cute restaurant in the town and I decided to call the Park and try to reserve us a camp site.  Well, our spontaneity wasn't on our side because the whole park was full.  No vacancies for camping?!  Really??  Well it was President's Day weekend.  When we left the restaurant it was really starting to get cold and I was tired.  We decided to call it a day, head home, and come back the next day.  Yay for nights in warm beds and not tents!

We woke up early the next day and headed back to Point Reyes.  The first place we went was the famous light house.  The drive to this destination was so pretty in and of itself.  The views were amazing and there were elk and cows everywhere.

A few cows drinking from a watering hole right off the road.

We made it to the Light House, parked the car and took the long walk down the cliff to see the views.  There was a Park Ranger station right before the 300 steps down to the light house and they had some history and facts in there.  They had 3 whale sightings earlier that morning and I was really hoping I might get to see one or at least a spray from a blow hole, but there was nothing.  The view was amazing still, and I'm sure you saw most of the ones Greg posted.  If not and you are interested in seeing them, just let me know.  Here is one of my favorites:

After the tiring walk back up the 300 steps, we got back in the car and drove to the section where you could hike to beach with the Elephant Seals.  At this time of year, the seals come back to give birth, ween pups for 28 days, mate and head back into the water to feed and gain the weight lost during weening back.  We learned that the seal pups are left to fend for themselves after the 28 days and there was a section of the beach where the abandoned pups gathered.  We also learned that only about 50% of the pups will survive and be back next year to start the process themselves.

Seals along the beach

Males are protective of their territory and don't let other males join them.  This is a young male and was planning his attack.

After our fun time watching and listening to the barks of the seals, we took a walk to the other side and started another hike.  The views from this were breathtaking.  Again - Greg has many pictures from his iphone he posted to facebook, but here are some of mine:

An elk we were pretty close to

There were tons of pine cones on this tree.  Reminded me of Cooper's dad's wedding toast and Steve.

We started to leave and on the drive out we saw a sign for an Oyster Farm.  I knew Greg would want to try some, so we took a detour and came upon this little gem.  I just watched Greg shuck the oysters, make himself bleed, and eat his delicious creatures.  I am not ready for them to be delicious to me.  It was gross in my opinion.

Oyster Farm

Going to town on the poor guys.

Drake's Bay Oyster Farm

Starting our journey home...Clouds are rolling in.

Friday of the next weekend we had concert tickets to this revived and renovated historic venue in Mill Valley called SweetWater which is only about 10 minutes north of us.  Maggie told us about it because Vinyl was playing, one of her favorite bands.  Tickets were only $15 so we thought, why not?  Greg can tell you more about the coolness of this place because he was so transfixed by the history and ambiance being a classic rock lover.  Here is a picture and you can see a video of their awesome sound on Greg's facebook wall:

Here is Maggie everyone!

Saturday morning we slept in and decided to take the short drive to Stinson Beach - only a couple exits up the 101 from us.  Even though its so close, it feels so far once you start climbing the windy twisty roads of Mt. Tam.  I was getting so car sick.  Once we got there, I had to eat something or else I might puke.  We found this cute little cafe where we got breakfast and coffee.  We then went to the beach.  Here is the first thing I saw:

After a short time at the beach (it was pretty windy and chilly), we parked at the Stinson Beach Civic Center and found this trail.  We followed the Coastal Trail, but somehow managed to hike a total of 6 miles that day.  Greg is working up my endurance and strength.  It is fun, so it doesn't feel like exercise, but it does feel like something the next day.

http://www.nrdc.org/greengate/outside/adv3.asp

We made it to the top of the forest and walked out to this view!  The hills are alive.....yea you know the rest.

We kept walking up and around the steep hills on the narrow trail and came upon this old car!  Definitely not a good ending for the passengers. Very spooky.   There is a windy road above this point, where the driver took his last breaths.

Sunday morning we took a bike ride to Le Garage.  My pictures from my walk during the week convinced him to go.  We had a nice breakfast then relaxed on the beach and watched paddle boarders, kids, and dogs play in the water.   It was not "hot" at all - these people are crazy!

This little boy sat down next to me, started swinging his stick and singing songs.  So cute!!

As always - thanks for reading!

Operation: Make Some Friends!

I am so happy to report that Greg and I met an awesome couple.  We spent the first Saturday in February with them - first meeting for lunch at this cute place in Noe Valley (pronounced No-EE) called Fresca.  They have an awesome brunch menu and you can get bottomless mimosas for $10!  Have to remember that for when friends come to visit.  So anyway, we met Maggie and Rado through a friend of mine from the Chamber - Roseann.  She used to work with Maggie and connected us through email before I left.  Maggie and I finally made plans and she was a refreshing reminder of home.  Rado is from Manhattan and they lived in Ardmore for a few years before deciding to move to San Francisco.  Maggie works for Pixar and Rado is a musician.  He and Greg share a love for music among other things.  Rado had a gig that night, so we decided we would check it out.  At about 10:30 we went back to the city and met them in the Mission District at a small venue where Rado was playing guitar with his 11(?) person band.  They had a latin dance music kind of sound and there was an interesting crowd - mostly hippies, that filled the place to the brim.  We found Maggie and a spot in the back and watched with a few beers.  I figured out when we were there who Maggie reminded me of every time she spoke.  It was bothering me the whole day because I couldn't put my finger on it.  Finally it came to me...Tina McKnight!!  Maggie is from Clifton Hights, which is close to Springfield.  You Delco girls all sound the same!  :)  She didn't know Tina, but I was just glad I figured it out.  The band was done playing around 11:30, so we followed them to another party around the corner.  A house party I would find out.  The house was on the corner and you walked into this room from the street (doors were wide open) and there was a DJ in the corner playing music from an macbook and white paper lanterns hanging from the high ceiling.  The floors and walls were all white and next to the DJ was an old organ. Everyone was just dancing and having a good time.  I had to use the facilities, so I walked to the back with Greg towards a hallway and opened the first door - oops, a bedroom.   Then we walked through the kitchen and found a short line for the restroom. I was a little grossed out and couldn't believe people lived here.  We danced a little more before deciding we were tired and headed home.  Definitely an interesting day - discovered a lot of culture and had a great time with Maggie and Rado.

We were very excited for Sunday since it was Super Bowl time!  The game started at 3:30 for us and we were heading down to Matt's in Redwood City.  I was making Rox's Buffalo Chicken Dip for the first time so I was excited to try it out and a little nervous it wouldn't come out as good as hers does.  We woke up kinda early as usual and since it was a nice day we decided to take a walk around the water.  Sausalito has a little boardwalk along the bay where all the boats are docked in the marina.  At the end of the boardwalk near the ferry is a park with some benches where you can sit and watch the sailboats floating by on the water.  There a a few awesome houseboats that we were admiring and imagining our life if we were always rocking on the water.  Here are pictures of some of our favorites:

The Wooden Shoe - beautiful stained glass windows on the sides and the faux wood deck.

Other side of the Wooden Shoe with the owner staining his railings.  Good move getting the deck re-done so no more of that!

The Taj Mahal houseboat at the end of the dock.  So ornate and cool from the outside!

We also walked to the Sausalito Farmer's market and got a fresh roll of French Bread and some fresh tangerines and oranges before walking home to get ready for the Super Bowl.

Here is a pic from our little party at Matt's house.  He is taking this pic with his phone.

From Left to Right: Lisa, Simon, Emron?, Me, Saiad? (Matt's Roommate), Greg, and Rich

The Buff Chicken Dip is in the center surrounded by Tostitos, Carrots, and Celery.  It was a hit!!  Thanks Rox! As you can see...no real fans here.  Where is the fanfare and all the gear?  HA.

I have been trying to find some ways to volunteer to meet people and network.  Maggie told me about this awesome website, onebrick.org that gives you a list of organizations that are looking for volunteers for a few hours.  The kinds of volunteering you can do ranges from serving and bussing tables at soup kitchens to helping organize wine festivals.  The first one available was to help a local community garden - Corwin Community Garden in the Castro district.  They said they would supply us with all the tools and gloves, etc and told us to bring some cash for socializing after.  It sounded like something we would enjoy so we signed up.  It was a bit of a cloudy drizzly morning, but thankfully the sun ended up coming out.  The garden was kept up by this couple who lived in the apartment complex next to it.  They had put so much love and effort into it over the past 15 years and this was the first time they had a group of people giving their time to help them and they were so thankful.  It was a fun day and we did meet many interesting people.  Greg and I got to weed and prune some trees.  We met a girl named Lily who is really cool and we hope to hang out with her again. Here are some photos from the day:

Garden had awesome views of city

Me working hard while Greg plays paparazzi

Pruning a tree - attempting to give it a pyramid shape.  Ha yea right.

When our time was up, Reggie gave us all incense and we said a blessing to the garden.  He insisted that the power of positive thoughts and everyone saying the same thing at the same time can make significant impacts.

We went with a group of 8 people from the volunteer group to the Sausage Factory  (fitting name for a restaurant in Castro district) a couple blocks away and got some lunch and a beer.  Greg and I were going to go find somewhere that was participating in San Fran's Beer Week, but we found out we were an hour early still for that.  We felt a wave of tiredness at the same time and decided to head back to Sausalito and take naps and try to make it out for the night.  The naps were great but we did not feel like heading back to city.  We still had the gift card Michelle gave us to Sushi Ran so we decided to take advantage of that.  We sat at the Sushi bar and Greg got the Chef's Sampler.  We got great treatment because every piece of Sushi Greg got was explained to him in detail.  He ate like a king - all of these crazy fish delicacies.  I stuck to my standard rolls which were delicious and I was happy too.  Thanks Michelle!  Greg was definitely loving you this night!!

The next day we got up and took a drive down to Santa Cruz.  Greg brought his surf gear and we planned on checking out this Mystery Spot since I had it on my bucket list ever since Shannon Harder went there and told me about it.  Check the website out for more information, but it is this 150m diameter area in the woods that can't be explained.  Things are not level even though they appear to be and trees that should grow straight grow in a corkscrew.  Greg is skeptical, but the feeling you get there is so weird.  I have a strong stomach and it made me queezy.  Here are some pics of what I am talking about:

I tried this and I almost threw up.  He is standing on a ledge that is level, but as you can see, he has to lean forward to keep from falling backward.  Weirdest feeling ever.

Volunteers lined up in height order starting from 5'3" and working up every 2 inches.  I am 5'7"  so I had to go in the middle.  The tour guide demonstrated that the board we are standing on is level by putting a level device on it for everyone to see.

And then we had to switch order (I got to stay in my same spot).  Look at what happened to our height!  We are now all the same!!

So after that experience we drove out to the beaches of Santa Cruz.  The waves were going off! as Greg would say.  Matt was on his way down to meet up with us so he was very excited.  There was a high school surf competition going on and there were girls and guys doing amazing things in the water.  It was very windy and cold so I stayed in the car while the two crazies got in the water.  Luckily we found a parking spot facing the water so I could watch them from the comfort of my vehicle.  I did get out a few times to take some pictures.

That's Greg right in the center.

That black dot is him taking a wave down to meet Matt

After they were done surfing we got a bite to eat at this placed called The Reef in the town of Santa Cruz. They had a huge movie screen playing surf videos and a live band.   Another fun weekend in the books.

'Tis the season - Job-Hunting and Football

Un-packing, Job-hunting, Football, Explorations, and Cooking are a few of the major things going on in my life.  As of now, I have squeezed my stuff into a closet, a new wardrobe from Ikea, and a bin under the bed.  I am still waiting for a shelf to be put up in my closet, but we are waiting to borrow some power tools.    Greg had the apartment set up very nicely before I even got here, so except for some area rugs, extra things for the bedroom, and a few kitchen accessories, we are good to go with all the essentials.  It is very comfortable and cute, our little one bedroom, one bath place.  The kitchen is a very good size and the bathroom has a glorious rain shower head.  If you know about my habit of taking too long in the shower, you can imagine how bad it is now.

The hunt for a job is still on.  It was looking very promising in the first 2 weeks I was here as I had gotten interviews for two positions I was very interested in.   Unfortunately, neither panned out.  I have been spending a lot of time working on improving my resume and sending it out to job postings I find on LinkedIn, Craig's List, and specific hotel company websites.  I have also been looking for volunteer opportunities to start networking.  It has been exactly a month that I have been here, and I am starting to get a little anxious about finding something.

So enough about that boring stuff.  We have had some fun weekends here in the Bay Area.  Greg and my first weekend alone together was fun.  We had a nice little Saturday at Ikea where we picked out my wardrobe/armoire thing, a plant for the living room, and some other little things.  On Sunday we took a drive to Mt. Tamalapais, better known as Mt. Tam here, and went up and up, around and around until we came to a spot along the road to park.  We got out and took a steep hike up a hill and came upon some beautiful views.  From up here you could see all the way out to the Farallones.  I just finished reading The Devil's Teeth, which is all about these treacherous, uninhabitable islands and the Great Whites that feed there every year. 

If you can zoom in on this picture, the tiny dots in the center of the ocean's horzion line are the Farallones.

Martin Luther King, Jr weekend we had more visitors from home.  Ryan and Greg stayed with us for a few days so they could do a little surfing and skiing.  They drove to Tahoe the first full day they were here and stayed overnight.  Unfortunately there was no snow for them, so they just went on a hike and did boy things.  After some drinking and gambling, there was a little mishap and Minnis's shoulder got dislocated or something, so he was in pain the rest of the weekend here.  Some things never change.

We got up early one morning to head down to Santa Cruz, meet up with Matt and his friend Simon, so they could do a little surfing.  Santa Cruz is a great little town with a lot of things to do.  Here is a picture of the waves.

It was a little too crowded and the waves weren't the best that day -  which was fine because there were football games on that afternoon.  We went over to The Crow's Nest and got a table in front of some TV's and next to the window overlooking the coast, and watched the 49ers play the Saints.  The place was filled with spectators, but definitely not the showing of fan fare you would see during an Eagles game.  There were a few jerseys and some people wearing red here and there, but that was it.  Since Philly's playoff dreams were over, I decided to root for the 9ers and join in the excitement of this city.   It was nice to see them win.

The next day was the Giants/Green Bay game.  Greg found a NY bar in the city, so that is where we went.  We took the ferry and then hopped on the California Street Cable Car to get to Ace's.  It was my first time on a cable car!

They were excited too!

We got to the bar on Hyde Street.  If you are a Giants fan, this definitely is heaven on earth on playoff day.  The place was packed long before kick-off and we were glad we got there when we did.  They have great drink specials - Bucket of 5 - 16 oz Bud Lights for $12 that come with koozies.  And then they started grilling burgers and sausages outside and bringing them in to feed the crowd.  We had a good time and the Giants won.  This made for a happy group.

Ryan and I are the only non-fans, but we had a good time.

The rest of the time they were here, we hit some Sausalito local spots, like Bar Bocce and Smitty's.  It was nice to have guests and I know Greg was very happy to have his BFF's here to get crazy with.

The next weekend it was back to just the two of us - but it was filled with football fever!  The Niners were hosting the Giants for a fight for a spot in the playoffs.  I was able to hook up with Lauran and bring Greg and Matt to meet her and some of the Giants and their fiances.  We also met Tuck's agent and Mike Silver who writes the sports column for Yahoo!.  Everyone was so nice and friendly to us, that I felt compelled to root for them against the 49ers.  Had the Ravens beaten the Patriots, it might have been a different story, that and being back at Aces for this game I was catching Giants fever (only because my team didn't make the playoffs!).

Matt, Lauran, Justin, me, Greg

Ace's was even crazier than the week before, which we suspected.   We did not expect to meet so many New Yorkers who were in town just for the game.  Small world that NY is, Greg ended up meeting people that he had worked with on projects at other companies while he was working with JP Morgan.  Thankfully a bus was coming to pick a lot of these people up and drive them to the game.  It made for a little more room and an opportunity for us to grab a seat.

No one was grilling food for us this time, so Greg ordered 5 large pizzas, walked to pick them up, brought them back, and charged $10 for anyone who wanted to eat some.  He made all his money back in about 10 minutes and made a lot of people happy.  It was actually delicious - it is hard to find good pizza in San Fran.

PIZZA, New Yorkas, and Me.

The next weekend Greg and Matt wanted to capitalize on their season passes and the precipitation that had come down during the Giants/49ers game and go to Kirkwood.  Saturday morning we woke up early and Matt drove us in his new Acura the 3 hour drive to the mountain.  It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day and the resort was bustling.  They hit the trails and I hit the fire in the lodge.  I did some reading and worked on the blog until we met up for a great lunch and spicy bloody mary's.  After lunch they took a few more rides before we left.  I drove us home since they were exhausted.

Sunday Greg and I decided to take a bike ride along the coast to Tiburon.  Here is a map of our ride.

View Larger Map

Some photos taken along the way:

We wanted to get lunch and bloody mary's on the deck at the infamous Sam's Cafe.   Their website has a live camera of the deck at all times.  It was packed, but we were able to get a small table and some drinks and apps and watch the water and sailboats.  We rode about 15 miles total on Sunday.  Another good weekend.

And that's January in a nutshell...Thanks for reading! xo