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!

Whitewater Rafting

Whitewater rafting has been on my bucket list for years, so when I made my summer must-do list, I was sure to include it! My sister, two of her girlfriends and I booked a day trip through Whitewater Adventures recently. Being newbies, we decided a cheap, easy rafting trip would be the best way to get our feet wet.

My sister did all of the communicating with Whitewater Adventures prior to the trip, and her experience wasn't ideal. The woman on the other end of the phone was generally rude and uninformative, and we didn't have any say in which wave of rafters we would be with. On the day of, we arrived at the stated start time, which turned out to be an hour before our wave was bussed up to the starting point along Upper Cache Creek. The raft we were given wasn't self-bailing, so every time we got through a rough patch of white water we had to make our way to the side of the river to hop out and flip our raft to empty the water (easier said than done!). The dry sacks holding our lunches leaked so our food got wet, although we weren't all that enthusiastic about the uncut rolls and slimy lunch meat anyway. 

On the last and biggest rapid, referred to by Whitewater Adventures as "The Mother," my sister fell out of the boat and went through it on her bum. She hit every boulder on the way down and came out at the bottom pretty banged up and with a potentially fractured shin. A couple of other rafters helped me pull her out of the river, but after letting her rest for a few minutes we had to put her back in the boat and finish out the last mile. When we got to the end, the two staff members collecting rafts and gear didn't seem in any way concerned that my sister was injured and weren't the least bit apologetic for having no first aid supplies on hand.

On the upside, Upper Cache Creek is beautiful! And we got the best upper body workout of our lives! The experience certainly didn't inspire me to pick up whitewater rafting as a regular hobby, but I'm really glad I gave it a try. 

If you were going to book a rafting trip with Whitewater Adventures, I'd recommend doing their weekend trip rather than the one day trip. The company seemed really more geared toward those who participated in the two-day/ two-night adventure, which included camping, a movie night under the stars, a dance party at the campsite, and two days of rafting. Those of us who were there for the one day rafting trip were just an afterthought to the staff.

Here's a list of things I strongly recommend you bring:

- A small bucket to aid in bailing your raft

- Shin guards and a helmet... I'm not kidding

- Water shoes

- A dry sack and a carabiner to attach it to the boat

- A first aid kit

- Don't bring a cooler in your boat even if they allow it

 

Birthday Fun in the Bay

One of my favorites turned 30 recently and I was so excited that she decided to spend her big weekend with me! It was a pretty great itinerary, so I'll give you the details in case you want to check out any of these spots of yourself...

Thursday: Dinner and sake bombs at Mas Sake, and wine and dessert at Bin 38. 

Friday: Tour and tasting at Anchor Brewing Company, shopping at the Louis Vuitton in Union Square and Laline in the Marina. Lunch at Burger Bar and dinner at Foreign Cinema (sit outside!).

Saturday: Bus tour from San Francisco to Napa, tasted at four wineries, and rode the ferry back.
Sunday: Bargain shopping at Nordstrom Rack and a fashion event featuring local artists.

 

 

  

Happy 4th of July!

I hope you all had a fabulous 4th of July! 

I celebrated with friends in San Jose with a poolside BBQ and far too much whiskey.

 

Old Town Sacramento

My sister, a childhood girlfriend and I recently spent a day wandering through Old Town Sacramento. My sister and I hadn't been in years, and our friend had never been at all!

Old Town is a charming, Gold Rush themed neighborhood in Sacramento full of shops and eateries. It also features a couple of museums and a railroad stop offering train rides.

Here are a few must-dos for your next visit!
- Taste the chocolate covered crickets at Candy Heaven
- Themed photo shoot at O'Grady's Oldtime Photos
- Grab a burger and beer at Fanny Anne's Saloon
- Sit on a bench with an ice cream cone from Turtles

Summer to-do List

I'm a big fan of lists. All kinds of lists. I make lists of things I can't forget to do each day. I make lists of things I need to buy and errands I need to run. My favorite sort of list are goal lists, like the bucket list I've been keeping since high school and reoccurring to-do lists for by year or season.

Here's the list I've already been getting a jump start on for this summer!

1- Bling out my old bikinis instead of buying new ones

2- Finally work up the courage to scuba dive during my Jamaica vacation

3- Fit back into my college jeans!

4- Sail on the Bay. Already bought a Living Social deal for it, just need to book a date.

5- Hit up every bottomless bunch on 7x7's list

6- Donate my collection of bridesmaid dresses. They depress me.

7- Go camping. I haven't been in three years and that's just silly.

8- Do a wine country day tour. The tourist kind, not the locals only kind.

9- Horseback riding. I probably haven't been since grade school!

10- Go white water rafting. Can you believe this will be a first for me?

Esquire - Best Bars in America

California made quite an appearance on Esquire's Best Bars in America list and, not surprisingly, a lot of those listed are in San Francisco! 

I do feel rather obligated to drink my way through them. Join me?

The Silver Lady

A 1961 issue of National Geographic featured an ad for the California Zephyr, also known as the Silver Lady, a passenger train connecting Chicago and San Francisco. The two-day, 2,500 mile route might seem painful to modern travelers, but during its 20 years of service, the Silver Lady was touted as "the most talked-about train in the country," The train featured themed Vista-Dome cars with large windows allowing passengers better visibility along their journey. 

Today, Amtrak runs a passenger service under the same name and following the same route. I priced out a ticket from Chicago, IL to Emeryville, CA on Amtrak's website and found the $300 price rather reasonable.

 ...so gay, so colorful, and so much fun, you'll think you're already in San Francisco!

I doubt back in 1961 the slogan for this themed buffet-lounge car was highlighting San Francisco's pride scene, but it certainly proves our grand city has always been a hot destination!

DIY Wireless Router Cover

I'm pretty sure we can all agree that the wireless router is the ugliest item in any living room or home office, so why not turn it into a chic piece of decor! I stumbled across a very lovely little blog with a fabulous DIY tutorial on how to turn an old book into a cover for your wireless router. 

You're welcome!

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.

Giants vs Brewers

Sunday was an unusually clear, warm day in San Francisco; a perfect day for baseball! 

A friend met me in the city to watch the Giants play the Brewers. Most of the game was fairly slow and uneventful with the Giants maintaining a one point lead, until the 9th inning when the Brewers tied it up. In the bottom of the 11th, Giants' batter Hector Sanchez finally knocked one out past third, an otherwise unremarkable single, but with bases loaded it was all he needed to secure the win. 

As the Giants poured out of their dugout onto the field in celebration, the little league team sitting behind us went wild, pulling off their jerseys and swinging them over their heads while jumping on their seats screaming.

Tea Bridal Shower

Erin and I have been friends since we were four years old. We met in Sunday School at a little church in our hometown. We've had oh so many adventures over the last 24 years; growing up at the same church and sometimes in the same schools, spending a summer in Nepal together during high school, an internship in Dallas, and in recent years plenty of visits back and forth between her home in Los Angeles and mine in San Francisco. She's a gem, and I couldn't be more thrilled to be a part of her big day - in Jamaica no less!

Last weekend was Erin's bridal shower, a tea party with flea market inspired decor. It was a very "Erin" tea, with every last detail well thought out. I'm not sure how her fiance will react when he realizes Erin registered for and indeed received every type of bowl and desert dish imaginable, but I'd say the event went off without a hitch and she got piles of fabulous gifts.