Showering Lindsay with Love...

Okay, a little cheesy and old fashioned, but it's basically an excuse for an all female PARTY. Dave created invitations for Lindsay's bridal shower, to be held in Raleigh at the end of March. I think he did an awesome job and I'm thrilled with them! The idea is that each invitation has a different alphabet letter associated with it. Each girl brings a gift that starts with that letter (so a "c" might be a Cuisinart or a "CUTE martini glass" - get it?). Here is a peak:


And one more invitation to show off is that for the bachelorette party which will be held in San Diego over Memorial Day Weekend! This was the invitation sent to Lindsay's closest friends inviting them to fly to SD for a weekend. It included an itinerary of surf lessons, wine tastings and lots of necessary debauchery.

The Perk of 500 Square Feet....

So we discovered one of the (many? still TBD) perks of having a "petite" apartment. Our lease agreement states we must cover 80% of our hardwood floor space with either furniture or rugs in order to control the noise so it doesn't sound like we're throwing a rave every time we turn on the television or have a conversation. As we were first looking at rugs in shops around here, I was getting concerned because they all seemed to be at least $2,000 for a rug that we may or may not want in our next apartment.

The GOOD news about 500 square feet is that we only really need two 5'x7' rugs to cover the hardwood floor space in our living room and bedroom. We'll still need a runner for our hall, but that should be fairly simply to find. Home Goods came to the rescue and I picked up two rugs yesterday for just $200 each. We think they look really nice in the space and definitely add more warmth to the apartment.

Here is the bedroom (taken from bay window looking towards hallway door on right):

And the living room:


Our next steps will be to start getting art work and photos up on the walls to fill in the space and make it feel like HOME!

What the Hail Just Happened?

We continue to get mystified by the freaky San Francisco weather/geology/topography things they have going here. First the hills (post to come soon with picture proof of regular streets that have STEPS on them b/c they are so steep), then the earthquake, then last night we were watching TV (again...do you sense a pattern here?) and all of a sudden it was the loudest rain storm ever, so we went to the window and saw it was a HAIL STORM instead! Dave took a picture - it looked like snow had covered the street in a matter of minutes. Cars attempting to drive up Laguna (our side hill...I mean street) were swerving and getting stuck with their wheels spinning. Watching San Franciscans drive in hail is about as funny as watching communities in the South prepare for the blizzard of the century when Greg Fishel predicts the POSSIBILITY of a chance of getting 1" of snow. We might as well clear out the grocery store of their gallons of water and waterproof matches now... Hilarious.


Then, to top off the weirdness, we wake up to discover there was a landslide in North Beach at about 3am! Fortunately, nobody was hurt as 150 people were evacuated. North Beach is the "North End" or Little Italy of San Francisco and is about 1.5 miles east of our apartment:

Sure does keep things exciting!

Why I Love Polk Street, Part 2 (and you will too)...

Dave and I went back to Nick's Crispy Tacos today (see previous post) and enjoyed a delicious crispy quesadilla before heading down the street to a consignment shop called Cris. It was anything but pretentious on the inside, but had an easy-on-the-eye interior that segregates clothes based on color. Every item was either "gently worn" (meaning it still looks brand spankin' new) or still with tags on and the prices are very fair. I picked up this blue Coach suede purse for just $72! The owner namesake was working today and was delightful and quite welcoming. She suggested I look through my closet to see if I want to consign anything and I had to stifle my laugh as we all know she'd be horrified at my "Bill Cosby" assortment of sweaters (Dave's terminology). I think I'll stick to the shopping side for now, but it was a great spot that I intend to check back on often!

My Toes They Are A-Sparklin'...

Our friends Kelly & Michael came into town this week (our old neighbors in La Jolla) along with their soon-to-be-one-year-old son, Dominic. Kelly was great for me because she got me out running...and with a stroller at that! It's no joke, ladies...it's like running with an extra 35 pounds of weight on you. These SF hills LAUGHED at me as I attempted to run up them with the stroller! Fortunately, I got the hang of it (eventually) and made it back to the apartment successfully, even with a few scares of running into cracks in the sidewalk where I was sure Dominic was going to get projected like a human canonball out of the stroller. He was a total trooper and seemed to enjoy the scenery!


Kelly's birthday was this week and we went to a "nail bar" called Lush Life on Fillmore to celebrate. Let me tell you, this puts a whole new twist with the mani-pedi experience. It's less formal than a spa, but way more pampering than the typical drive-thru mani-pedi place. Gone is the fear of contracting some inhumane disease due to disinfectants not properly being utilized, replaced by someone greeting you by name at the door and asking if you'd like some jasmine tea during your treatment. They even give you the nail file and the pumice-sponge (the thing they use to tickle-torture the bottom of your feet) in an package at the end. I highly recommend it! The cost is a little higher than the hygienically-challenged regular salons ($25 for a pedi, $15 for a mani), but you leave feeling refreshed and truly pampered.

Shakin' It Up...We Survived Our First Quake!

So Dave and I were enjoying our Friday afternoon, watching Sarah Silverman's latest DVD when we felt a SHAKING in the apartment! The glasses on our bar clinked together and it felt like someone gently shook our apartment building. Sure enough, I searched in Google approximately 3 minutes later and found this site which confirmed the earthquake we just felt!

http://quake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Maps/San_Francisco.htm

It was of course a little one...nothing like the Great Earthquake of 1906.

I feel officially christened into San Francisco life!

Switching Things Around...

As we continue to unpack box after box (seriously, how did we fit all of this into our last apartment??), we decided the Gallery Desk we originally bought for me from Room&Board was not as practical as we had hoped and really too large for our bedroom. So I started scouring Craigslist and once again, it did not fail me! It truly is amazing the quantity and variety of things one can find on Craigslist. I love it! So I emailed a girl at 4:00 yesterday, went by her apartment at 5:30pm and by 5:35pm we had a desk in our car for $70! It is a perfect size for me and I already feel better that I have somewhere for my office "stuff" to land. Check it out...this is the view from the bay window looking towards the door to the bedroom (on the top right corner):

I Eat, Therefore I Run...

I really owe it all to my girlfriend Elizabeth. I could do a "Top Three Reasons Elizabeth Is Not Really My Friend", but after knowing each other for the last 18 years, I don't think she'd have much trouble proving me otherwise. Here's my secret (or not much of one): I have NO self-control when I make cookies at home. The raw dough is just too good to pass up! Elizabeth comes into the picture because she introduced me to Yellow Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies last year while we were in Raleigh. They are a divinity of SWEETNESS that is quite close to perfection. I decided to make said cookies this weekend for my friend Kelly's birthday party. MISTAKE! Telling me to just have a taste is about as effective as telling Britney to reconsider the Bic on her haircut...it's just no match for willpower and common sense.

So here, my friends, I will pass along to you the recipe from Elizabeth. I warn you to proceed with caution and not to make these if you are home alone with nobody there to look at you with scolding eyes:

Yellow Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Ingredients:
* 1 egg
* 2/3 c. vegetable oil
* 1 box of yellow cake mix
* 1 c. chocolate chips (regular or dark)
Directions:
1) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Mix egg, veg oil and cake mix together.
3) Stir in chocolate chips.
4) Eat portion of batter raw until sick to stomach, then place remaining half in cookie-size chunks on cookie sheet.
5) Bake for 6-8 minutes, cool and enjoy!

So this brings me to the age-old philosophy of "I Eat, Therefore I Run" where we started. The good news from my cookie escapade is that it did force me to go on a 7+ mile run yesterday! I finally did it -- I touched the Golden Gate Bridge! It's about 3+ miles to the trail where you run uphill to get to the bridge (all the while dodging hordes of tourists has to be another 50 calories or so), then you reach the top and it's instant gratification of beauty. You can see the surfers, the beach, Sausalito (town on other side of the bridge) and so much more. I walked onto the bridge and stood there for awhile which got me thinking of the facts I read just the day prior:
* The GGB is 1.7 miles long including the approaches.
* It suspends approx. 225 feet above the water.
* The bridge is designed to sway 27 feet from east to west in high wind or earthquakes.
* In the 1930s when it was built, bridge builders expected 35 casualties during construction, yet they only lost 11 men thanks to a net-device they created under the bridge, which saved the life of 19 men.
* Today, there are an average of 19 suicides per year off the Golden Gate Bridge. That is approximately one suicide every two weeks. 2006 was a strange year where the average rose sharply to 34 suicidal deaths.
* In lighter facts, in 1937 the toll was 50 cents each way. Today it is $5 southbound and $0 northbound.
* 38 painters work on the bridge year-round. In addition, 17 ironworkers are employed to replace corroding steel and rivots year-round.

So, get those running/walking shoes on because we are definitely hiking up there on your next visit! Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera with me on that run, so I suppose I will have to try again and bring one with me!

It's a Mini-Me Couch!

We wanted to give an update that all is right with the world once again. We were able to GLADLY pack up our beach chairs because we bought a COUCH yesterday! It's not the posh one from Room&Board that we originally intended, but we picked up a red love seat off CraigsList for $260 that should do the trick for now! The size visually fits the room much better than the full-size sofa.

Our plan is to try it out for a couple of weeks to see if we can deal with this size, then decide if we want to purchase the Jasper (our previous dream couch that didn't fit through the door...I'm not quite ready to laugh about it yet so please refrain) in a smaller version or not. Dave spent a couple of hours yesterday vacuuming and sanitizing (hey, it's CraigsList...who knows where this couch has been!) and now we are happy-go-lucky once again. At this rate we should have butt indentations by the time our first visitor arrives (hi Mom) in two weeks.

Beer, Cheese and Cupid...a Wonderful Mix

For Valentine's Day this year (the night my father calls "amateur night"), we decided to try something different and got tickets for a beer & cheese tasting at Rogue Ale House. That's right - EIGHT courses of beer & cheese! Well, technically it was six courses of beer & cheese, then two courses of beer & some form of chocolate - decadent! Here is the menu for the evening:

It was open seating, so two strangers sat next to us and we chatted throughout each of the courses. It was sort of strange to share what is supposed to be the most romantic evening of the year with complete strangers, but it was also refreshing and certainly great for Dave & me since we only know a handful of people here! What our real goal for the evening was to do a site inspection of Rogue and see if it will be up to par for my future-brother-in-law, Jon, and his beer connoisseur palate. Rogue certainly lives up to the reputation and we also got a tip to go to Toronado, a supposed hole-in-the-wall in the Haight district known for its amazing selection of local brews. Here are a few pics from the night. We counted several of the courses:

Things get a little more shaky after #5 and #6...

...but they sure do clear up nicely when #8 is served with a homemade macaroon!

Another Day, Another Running Route...

I have now gone northwest and southeast, so I decided to go northeast today in my running venture. I of course Googled it first for safety purposes (safety being when I think I'm going to run 4 miles and end up at 6, I don't want to again have a mental heart attack). The route was from our apartment to Fisherman's Wharf and it was wonderful!

The trip TO Fisherman's Wharf was really great. I went around 8am and the entire route was clear of tourists (not that I have anything against tourists - I AM one with my stockpile of 10 San Fran books on hand at all times!) and I got to see various workers gearing up for the day -- fishermen bringing in the fresh catch, Boudin Bakery making their first loaves of sourdough bread, etc.

The trip home was an uphill battle about 1/3 of the way. I could swear I was actually going backwards faster than I was forwards. The top of each hill just seemed like yet another mirage where it seemed so close and yet took forever to get there! Nonetheless, I'm happy to have another route in my repertoire!

At Long Last...Furniture...Almost.

Well, our precious cargo (aka Room&Board furniture) arrived this afternoon! The good news is that we have a beautiful bookshelf and Dave's desk which will be great in our apartment.

The not-so great news is that our Jasper sofa would not even fit through the doors of our Victorian apartment! We measured ahead of time, but there is this wooden "chair rail" molding that goes around the perimeter of each room in the apartment and that is what held up the delivery guys from getting it through. It also prohibits my "desk" (desk and bookshelf in one) from lying flush against the wall, so that will likely get returned as well.

The first pic is of the bookshelf for the LIVING ROOM.

The next picture is the combo bookshelf/desk for the BEDROOM:

Here is Dave's desk!

We're off to a beer & cheese tasting for Valentine's Day to drown our sorrows in beer (and we started it off with champagne at home first!). :-)

Mav-er-what?

The big news around here is that a out-of-this-world surf contest called Mavericks is going to happen sometime between now and March 31st. Here's the catch: the date is unknown based on the wave set and the surfers will only have 24 hours notice to drop what they are doing (from near and far, including Hawaii) to get themselves to Half Moon Bay, CA...about 25 miles south of San Francisco. Spectators can purchase tickets to watch the surfers from a boat or they also open AT&T Park for locals to watch the contest from the ball park. Swells are expected to hit at least 20 feet - incredible!

We Might Just Make a Runner Out of Me Yet...

I can't believe it myself, so I'm sure my runner-father is having a hard time believing that the daughter he had to practically force to exercise as a child is now jogging and enjoying it. When I was young, Lindsay was always the first one out of the gates, ready to go for a run or a bike ride with my Dad, while I was much more content scarfing down Twinkies while watching quality educational programming such as Nickelodeon's "You Can't Do That On Television". It's a miracle I tell you.

Yesterday I had two tasks to complete and after carefully Google Mapping my route, I set off on my way to check out a Holiday Inn on Van Ness that our friend will stay at next month and the ultimate journey down to Union Square where I read online that I can purchase MUNI maps so I can know where the (bleep) I am the 10 minutes a day that Dave and I are apart. I stopped by SBUX before heading out to tell Dave my route in the unfortunate event that I didn't return from my extravagant adventure (I am indeed a relatively novice runner in a new locale...no promises that I can make it to and from destinations), then set out on my 4-mile run. I am happy to report that it was lovely! I had a great time running south down Van Ness and east on O'Farrell. I must say, I was actually surprised when all of a sudden I was in Union Square, the hub of shopping for San Francisco. I happened to be there around 5pm (not the smartest cookie - way too crowded), but I did succeed in obtaining a MUNI map. And I can't say that I didn't ponder taking the BART back home in lieu of running, but it honestly seemed like a bigger effort to figure out where I was and how to get home via public transport than to just run it!

Vanity, Sweet Vanity...

Yes, we're vain. Nothing new there, but we spotted some must-have letters at a salvage yard this weekend that would be a great addition to our "French Bistro" kitchen.

We took them home and Dave attached them to a black board we had from his wooden desk that broke in the move. He mounted it this morning and - voila!

A Venture in ...Chandeliers

I know, I know...it's all very exciting, but just hang with me for a moment.

In our apartment, we have these wonderful high ceilings and not-so-wonderful overhead lights (see pic).


We're hoping that we can hire an electrician (opting not to go for the Russian Roulette idea of doing the electrical wiring on a 100 year old apartment ourselves) and replace the existing lighting with a chandelier in the living room and the bedroom. We've been on the hunt for a good chandelier and have also been shocked by the prices - anywhere from $350 to $5,500. We scoured eBay and Craigslist yesterday, but didn't really find anything that rocked our world. Last night, we headed to Walnut Creek (east of San Fran) to a store called Room with a Past that is only open four times a month(!) and has used furniture at pretty reasonable prices. We scored on two items there -- one is a wine bar that we'll use as our TV console and the other is a chandelier that needs crystals and new lights, but is in working order and the wiring is already modern! The chandelier was only $69 so we were thrilled. Here is a pic of it now...hopefully we'll have a "before" and "after" in a week or two.


As for the TV console, we hope this one will serve us well. We're going to put the DVR and DVD box in the open areas and probably remove the baskets and try to find something with lighter colors so it's not a black blob encompassing that entire wall. The wine bar/TV console was $200, about a fraction of the prices we've seen in downtown San Fran for similar pieces.

More updates to come!