Ozomatli and SMOD at Stern Grove

Stern Grove Festival is celebrating its 75th season! 

Yesterday, a few coworkers and I watched SMOD and Ozomatli from our company's sponsor table. It was quite a different experience from the previous week, when the SF Ballet performed. SMOD opened the show with such energy that concert goers immediately poured down to the front of stage, jumping and clapping to the French African beats. At the end of the show, Ozomatli gave an encore from a large rock in the middle of the park. Fans swarmed around them cheering and dancing.

 

SF Ballet at Stern Grove

Stern Grove Festival is celebrating its 75th season! 

Yesterday, a girlfriend and I enjoyed the SF Ballet from my company's sponsor table. It was a perfectly overcast 65 degrees, and every inch of the park was covered with blankets and picnic baskets. The ballet was beautiful and inspirational, and the event itself a reminder of how lucky I am to live in such a wonderfully creative and diverse city.

 

Pixar

Friday afternoon a few coworkers and I were lucky enough to get a tour of the Pixar campus in Emeryville. I've always thought that it must not get any cooler than working in a brewery... until I saw the setup at Pixar.

Each department has full creative control over the theme and decor of their individual offices and common areas. I was thoroughly impressed with the creativity and quality of their work - a plane crashed in a jungle, a tree house, a dollhouse, a turn of the century saloon. Several departments had built fully functional, professional quality bars into their common areas, where they host happy hours and parties for coworkers. The campus itself boasts a soccer field, basketball and volleyball court, and a lap pool. One of the most intriguing features of the Pixar campus is the art - all drawings, paintings, stills, and clay forms from their staff, generated during the planning and production of Pixar films. Most of the art is rotated out depending on which film has most recently been released. Currently, most of the art is from Brave, which is still in theaters.

 

 

 

I Love a Good Bargain!

I'm admittedly a shopaholic, which I generally justify by my love of bargain hunting. Sure, the actual purchase is always quite fulfilling, but no shopping excursion gives quite the same adrenaline rush as discovering something beautiful, something fancy, something expensive, but for an unbelievably low price. Not every woman has the patience to dig through piles and racks to find a gem, but for me, it's the only way to shop! 

I have yet to decide if it is a wonderful blessing or a devastating curse that there is a Nordstrom Rack within a mile of my work. Michael Kors and BCBG are Kryptonite to my checking account, but Nordstrom Rack generally carries a decent selection of both. I found this insane bargain on a MK handbag yesterday! Can I get a high five! 

 

Hey There Four Eyes

I've always had "perfect" vision, but noticed the last year or two that I was getting more frequent  headaches and tired eyes, so I finally bit the bullet and went to an optometrist. 

When Dr. Dagron asked how I found his office I told him, "I pulled up Google Maps and it was two blocks from work so here I am!" He stared at me for a moment and replied flatly, "Well that's a terrible way to find a doctor. You're lucky you found a good one." And he was right! The office staff are very friendly and helpful, and Dr. Dagron made my first ever optometrist visit a great one. 

It only took a couple of days to get a call saying my glasses were ready, but I was out of town over the weekend so I didn't pick them up until today. They'll take some getting used to, but luckily I only have to wear them when I'm at my desk or reading... for now!

Rooftop Slide Show

A carousel slide projector propped up on two cases of beer; two boomboxes stacked one atop the other; a white sheet taped haphazardly to a wall protruding up from the east corner of the building; an ice chest packed with Liberty surrounded by folding chairs; a video producer nonchalantly weaving through and around a dozen brewery employees. As the sun dipped below the horizon, we gathered near the ledge and cheers'd, twice actually, to be sure our video producer captured it just right.

Last night some coworkers and I gathered on the roof of the brewery to watch Tom, an Anchor old timer, show slides he took at rock shows in the 70's and 80's in Philadelphia. He timed out the slides to match music from each band. The concept was initially brought about for a video production piece that our marketing department is working on, and we certainly did knock that out at sunset, but after our videographer had captured all she needed, we kept the beer flowing and slideshows rolling well into the night!

Spice Cupcakes

Somehow my coworker Lynda made it to her 30's without realizing that women get a full week to celebrate their birthday! After all these birthdays of only allowing herself one day of birthday fun, we've been stretching her birthday out at the office. 

Today I brought her cupcakes with plenty to share. She wanted carrot cake so I made a first ever try of it last night and couldn't get them to turn out. I think the carrot shreds were too big? After running out of carrots I went for a spice cake instead, but still topped them off with cream cheese frosting and sugar sprinkles.

Technology and Change

It is undeniable that I'm heavily dependent on online services, everything from social sites like Facebook and online portfolios like Flickr to file sharing with Dropbox and downloading with iTunes. 

Last week I attended a brunch hosted by the Network of Executive Women and heard speaker Edie Weiner, who emphasized the shift from relationship based business to technology based business. I agree that the value in getting to know one's partners and clients on a personal level has decreased as computers are rapidly becoming our main form of communication and business process. Personnel turnover is far more rapid than it was for previous generations of professionals. However, the turnover in technology is frustratingly rapid as well. 

When I was in college, everyone used MySpace, until there was a shift toward Facebook. Twitter exploded, followed by Instagram, which was recently purchased by Facebook. Kodak Gallery was just sold to Shutterfly; and the list goes on. It is hard to be dependent on web-based services that are ever changing, evolving, selling, and merging. Thankfully, these kinds of transitions have only affected web-based services tied to me on a level of social interaction and convenience, and my professional life has remained relatively unaffected. I wonder, though, what is coming down the pipeline that might completely change workplace staples like Microsoft Outlook and Excel, or the way we utilize conference call services and engage in business travel.

I'm going to take Edie Weiner's advice and begin to regularly look at my business with "alien" eyes, being open to shifting the way I engage in my business. It is crucial to stay at the forefront of my industry rather than allow "the way we've always done things" to prohibit my company from anticipating inevitable changes.

Marin Headlands

Marin is full of great little trails, some of which weave right down to the ocean. My favorite is the Tennessee Valley Trail, just shy of four miles round trip. Half way out the trail splits for a while, a beautiful but narrow path on the left leading you on a flatter route, and a wider more steep path to the right better suited for bikes and horses. The two paths reconnect before reaching a pebbly cove where I like to sit and watch the waves for a while before heading back. To the right of the beach there is a foot path zigzagging up the hillside that leads to an incredible view of the cove. 

I don't get across the Golden Gate Bridge as often as I'd like (hello $6 bridge tolls!) but as I've told you before, Grand View Park, which is just blocks from my house, is a great spot to run stairs and get a 360 view of the city.

Easter Treats

Now that I've done cakepops for my coworkers a few times, I decided to change it up for Easter and do a throwback to my childhood with chocolate nests! There was some initial disappointment when I didn't walk in with cakepops, but as soon as I started handing out these little goodies everyone was on board. They're so quick and easy you have no excuse not to throw a batch together tonight!

INGREDIENTS

1 bag of chow mein noodles (I used the Safeway brand, Asian food section)

1 bag of Reese's chocolate chips

1 bag of Cadbury chocolate eggs

1 package of Peeps

DIRECTIONS

Melt chocolate chips. I like to do this on the stove top in a glass bowl over a pot of boiling water as opposed to in the microwave. While you can use the microwave, it's very easy to burn the chocolate. If you need to thin the melted chocolate (with the Reese's you will), add a little bit of Crisco.

Gently fold in 3/4 bag of chow mein noodles, being careful not to crush the noodles, until they're all coated in chocolate.

Use hands to shape the mixture into little nests on wax paper. Place the eggs in the nests before the chocolate dries so they'll stick and won't roll off later in transport. Allow nests to dry completely.

Decorate any way you like! I cut squares out of a roll of cellophane, placed a handful of decorative grass in the middle, topped with the nest and a yellow Peep, and tied it closed first with a twisty and then a ribbon.

Recipe makes 10 nests.

A Belated St. Pattie's Day

My coworkers had been giving me a hard time about not bringing them any baked goodies lately (it had been since Halloween!) so I promised them St. Pattie's Day cakepops. But, I wound up being out sick with bronchitis most of that week and it didn't happen. I decided to make it up to them with a belated batch of vanilla-almond cakepops dipped in green chocolate and topped with sugar crystal sprinkles. 

Better late than never!

Low-calorie Cocktails

I've been trying to cut back on my calories so I can slim down a bit before my upcoming trip to Jamaica, but working in adult beverage sure does present extra challenges to weight loss! 

I stumbled across this Shape article offering up some low-cal cocktails. I might have to give some of these a try!

Pomosa 

Ingredients:

4 oz. sparkling wine
1 oz. pomegranate vodka
Directions:
Pour chilled pomegranate vodka into a flute.
Top with sparkling wine and garnish with a strawberry.

Fiji Apple

Ingredients:
2 oz. sake
1 oz. spiced rum
1.5 oz. apple juice
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice.
Shake and strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass.

Cranapple Cobbler

Ingredients:
1 1/2 oz. TY KU Liqueur
1 oz. apple juice
Splash of sugar-free cranberry juice
Directions:
Stir ingredients together in glass.

Last Lunches

With the new year quickly approaching and fitness plans in the works, my coworkers and I decided to celebrate our last week of 2011 by gorging ourselves with all of our favorite lunches before they become forbidden. Here's our hit list, in case you're not starting a diet and want to check these spots out for yourself. Oh, and, make sure you order an Anchor Steam with your food at any of these places!

MONDAY - The brewery was closed, but I'm sure we all ate a ton of leftover Christmas goodies

TUESDAY - Goat Hill Pizza in Potrero Hill, half Meat Lover's and half Hilda's Favorite

WEDNESDAY - Jerry's Crispy Tacos at Dos Pinas in Potrero Hill

THURSDAY - Pupusas at a Salvadorian joint in the Mission called Balompie

FRIDAY - Umami Burger on Union, I'm leaning toward the shiitake one but we'll see! 

 Happy eating!

Pop-up Magazine

Pop-up Magazine held their fifth issue at Davies Symphony Hall in downtown San Francisco on Wednesday evening. Pop-up Magazine is a deconstructed, live magazine format that is not photographed or recorded and the content is not made available after the event. It happens in that moment for that audience. A Pop-Up Magazine staffer told me the event sold out all 2,700 seats in just two hours. The official sponsors of Pop-up Magazine No.5 were Skyy Vodka and Anchor Brewing Company, so you know we were there to represent!

Around 5:30pm a few coworkers and I headed to Boxing Room for some pre-event munchies and brews. Boxing Room has only been open for a few months and boasts a unique menu of creole inspired foods. They also happen to have three of our beers on tap! We ordered one of everything on the appetizers menu and a round of Brekle's Brown, one of Anchor's newest beers.

After stuffing our faces with oysters and fried alligator, we headed a couple blocks down to Davies Symphony Hall. For two hours, an assortment of journalists, radio personalities and artists took the stage one right after the next for only a few minutes each, and presented on a variety of subjects ranging from war in the Congo to shark videography.

Happy Halloween!

I'm usually far more fun for Halloween than I was this year. Between feeling a little under the weather and work having been extra intense the last couple of weeks, I just didn't get into it. That being said, you know I never pass up an opportunity for holiday baking! A handful of us ladies at the brewery decided to dress up for work, and I couldn't help but add to the festivities by treating them to cakepops! 

Sunday I stayed in my jammies all day, cooked sourdough french toast, sipped mimosas, watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," and baked. Despite not feeling so great, it was pretty ideal.

 

I found some fun decorating ideas online, which were harder than I expected, thanks to the major fail that is Wilton edible ink pens, but I managed to knock out a bunch worth sharing. If I was going to do these designs again I'd probably cut out stencils for the jack-o-lanterns and use cake graffiti spray. For the eyeballs, it would have been easier to toothpick on red food coloring and let dry, or even pipe on really thin lines of red chocolate.

Spice cake pumpkins, White cake eyeballs and mummies

 

A Day of Brewing

Yesterday I had the opportunity to shadow Dave, one of our fantastic brewers! It was a long, hard, sweaty ten-hour shift, and by the end of the day I was covered in hops and hives, but the experience was well worth it! I wish I could say I am now an expert on craft beer, but there is so much more to the process than I ever realized.

Updates!

I've been a major blog slacker! My last post was in May! So let's get caught up.

After two years with a major retailer and a year and a half on the broker side of the CPG industry, an opportunity surfaced to move not only to the manufacturer side of the business but also into the highly desirable world of adult beverage. Another huge positive for me was being able to move back to San Francisco, the only place I've ever felt at home!

Anchor Brewers & Distillers

Last Wednesday, I said farewell to my old office and to the dear friends I made there, and first thing Thursday morning I loaded up a U-Haul truck with the help of three friends from Portland. Worth noting: They took an entire day of their road-trip to do that! I don't think I've ever laughed so much in one day, let alone enjoyed a move so much (this was my 20th move, so I can say with certainty that moving is not fun). I'm so glad I gave myself a four-day weekend to move because unpacking was a ton of work! Monday was my first day at the new gig and, as far as I can tell, it's love.

My Oregonian laborers

I am happy. Very, very happy.

Easter Bunny Cupcakes

Here's a sweet treat I whipped up to spread a little spring cheer at the office!

Spice cupcake with vanilla frosting. The ears and bows are made of chocolate I melted and piped onto wax paper. The baskets I scored at Michael's in the dollar bins!

2010 thus far

Perhaps a "hello" to the new year is long overdue considering we're now in the first week of April, but despite the steady stream of protesting emails from friends and followers, I haven't felt inspired to blog since Christmas. The jury is still out as to whether 2010 is going to bring more success than the trying year before it, but regardless, I have already found myself enjoying exciting new opportunities and friendships that easily outweigh the anxiety of a still failing job market.

In March I attended the Southwestern Photojournalism Conference in Fort Worth, Texas, as I have every spring for three years. This year was extra special since Esther Havens was invited to speak for the first time. Esther's message about the newly emerging genre of humanitarian photography became the central theme of the conference, and she something of a celebrity for the college students in attendance. I was so proud of her! If you haven't already begun following Esther's work on your own or through prior blog posts of mine, I encourage you to do so.

The most exciting new thing 2010 has brought into my life is a news writer position with YoProCo (Young Professional Connection), an online news source for young professionals set to launch at TechCrunch in New York City this May. The publication will also be a place where young professionals can follow the success of select peers who are emerging as industry leaders and innovative entrepreneurs.

I am one of many young journalists who was hurled into the news industry during a time of total upheaval. Newspapers are on their last leg, stock photography is no longer lucrative, and staff jobs have become few and far between as outlets rely more heavily on freelancers. I have blogged before about how we absolutely must view this season not as the devastation of news media but as a rebirthing that we are incredibly privileged to participate in. The best way to experience personal success in this industry is to jump on board with whatever innovations are going to become the standard of news media in the near future. I believe that the convergence of social networking, internet technology and traditional news media is the future of the industry.

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”- Lucius Annaeus Seneca

The Adventure of Failure

I have started and restarted this blog a dozen different ways attempting to draw from some analogy that would mask the more venerable and personal aspects of its origin. Screw the analogies. This blog entry is about the raw ugly hard part of life that I don't usually send off into cyberspace for fear that it will taint others' ability to view me in a strictly professional light. However, I honestly believe that the most precious thing we have to offer one another are our stories, because in doing so we can inspire, motivate or even provide accountability to those around us. So allow me to begin by saying 2009 was not my year.

If you had asked me at 21 what the next ten years of my life would look like I'd have told you that I was going to finish my degree, get a job as a photojournalist, travel the world, fall madly in love, and that the rest of my life would be a long string of momentous occasions. Because why the hell shouldn't it be? Here's the truth. Two men have loved me enough to marry me, and those same two men have cheated on me and left me. For five years I immersed myself in all things journalism only to spend two years working in a corporate cubicle before watching my career swirl down the drain before it had really even begun. There are days, today even, when I allow the doubt, the defeat and the resentment to creep in and take hold of my mind and my heart. There have been countless times in my life when the only thing that kept me pushing was knowing that there were people who cared what happened to me even when I didn't. Perhaps that's the trick to a good life; always surrounding yourself with people who are supportive and love you through the tough stuff.

So back to 2009... After a year and a half in my cubicle I had gotten stir crazy and was itching to go back to school. My company had an opening in Tempe, AZ and would help me pay for my MBA at Arizona State. I told myself that if I got that opening it was a sign - I was meant to go. So when I got it, I did. Perhaps I should have seen the red flags popping up when HR messed up my transfer paperwork, or when my car fell off a U-Haul trailer just shy of Palm Springs on the drive over. I tried to stay optimistic and just passed it off as clumsy luck. As my three months in AZ slowly crept by, I found myself dealing with endless HR problems, drama with my ex back in CA, and even went into kidney failure thanks to the triple-digit dry desert heat. I threw in the towel. I shoved as much of my belongings as would fit into my Ford Focus and abandoned the rest. I headed back to NorCal, but this time through Vegas because, hell, who wouldn't have needed a weekend in Vegas at that point. Upon arriving home I didn't even apply for unemployment because I couldn't imagine it taking longer than a couple weeks to start working again. Four months later I found myself caving in and accepting a job pushing papers in a small office for barely over minimum wage. I worked hard and learned quickly and my financial situation slowly began to get better, but only as my personal life once again fell to pieces.

I could easily end this entry there and wait patiently for your, "I'm so sorry!" and "Keep your chin up!" replies, but that's not the point of this entry at all. The point is that 2009 might have topped my list of disastrously disappointing years, but it has been jam packed with adventure.

I went to a rave in Mexico City and got drunk at a soccer bar with the locals. I attended my second Southwestern Photojournalism Conference in Dallas. I had an action packed road trip to Arizona. While I was there, I got to deepen my friendship with one of my dearest girlfriends and hung out with cousins who I grew up only visiting every couple years. I watched the sunset from the top of "A" Mountain and played volleyball in Lake Powell. I road tripped to Vegas... twice. I spent a weekend helping my college best friend pick out a couch for her new apartment three blocks from Venice Beach. I went to a fashion show with an old friend who didn't mind sharing a bottle of cheap wine in soup cups. And perhaps most incredible of all, I watched my nephews start preschool and was able to be around when they began using all sorts of smart words.

2009 can't have been a bad year, it was just a year full of the unexpected. The author of "Eat, Pray, Love" wrote about how agonizing her transition was from who she was before the one-year adventure that became that book and the woman that book allowed her to be. By being stripped of everything she had, including her financial security and her relationship, she found a new and better woman inside herself and began to thrive. I challenge you, I challenge myself - Let 2009 not be a year of brokenness but a year of refiner's fire that segways into a 2010 overflowing with blessings and success.