Two weekends ago, the park at the Salesforce Transit Center finally opened. My office is around the corner from the park so I have anxiously watched the construction, and I am so excited to have a pleasant place to walk during lunch breaks. The horticulture is impressive, it is well laid out, and there are even food options available.
Exploratorium
A few weeks ago, I noticed signs throughout San Francisco for the Inflatable exhibit at the Exploratorium. Since my family loves ridiculous blow ups, I immediately bought tickets for while my mom was in town.
The actual Inflatable part of the museum was fairly underwhelming - there were a total of five installations, including a very large person and a machine that looked like an octopus that was powered by computer monitors. The installations were all interesting and creative, but not worth the hype that had been made for the exhibit.
However the rest of the Exploratorium was great. It is a large museum on science and discovery, that has exhibits suited for all ages. One of our favorites was the ice exhibit, where they had a water table with a freezer underneath, and you could watch ice form through microscopes. There were also exhibits on cell growth, gravity and kinetic energy.
I may not go back for a special exhibit, but I will certainly come back to the Exploratorium. I even recently found out that they have adult night on Thursdays, so you can visit the museum without lots of kids running around.
Soul Cycle
I have always wondered about Soul Cycle. I have lots of friends who swear by it, but it always seemed like too much of a cult for me. And it is so darn expensive. But I decided that this summer was the Summer of Yes, so I added it to my list.
Yesterday I went with one of my husband’s friends and fell in love. I loved the loud music and dark room with candles, and have always loved inspirational coaching. The 45 minutes flew by and I loved being able to push myself. I definitely will take another class.
The one downside was that the emphasis was on pushing yourself not on form, and I woke up this morning with a pulled muscle in my neck. So I do recommend trying it at least once, but make sure to take care of yourself!
Mendocino
For my birthday last month, my mom and I traveled north to Mendocino for a girls weekend. We had the perfect get away filled with nature, great food and adventures. We stayed at the Heritage House, which had amazing views of the ocean and the largest bathtub that I had ever experienced. We went on two great hikes to the Van Damme State Park and the Jug Handle Natural Reserve. Most excitingly there was a very friendly goat on the trail who had gotten loose from a local farm. We had a delicious dinner at Cafe Beaujolais.
de Young Museum
Growing up, I was not a museum person. My family is all very artistic, so going to the museum was always a full day activity. Within the past few years, my love of art has significantly increased. I now have favorite artists and even find myself suggesting going to the museum with friends.
The de Young museum was incredibly large and filled with important pieces - I couldn't believe how much there was to see. On the 9th floor there is a room with panoramic views of San Francisco that is a perfect start to the visit, and my favorite piece of art was the Chihuly sculpture. There were also two special exhibits entitled Cult of the Machine and The Art of Propaganda that were incredibly powerful. I'll definitely be back to see more of the museum soon.
Gilroy Garlic Festival
In early August, I was able to check another item off of my California bucket list - the Gilroy Garlic Festival! If you don't know, Gilroy is the garlic capitol of the world and hosts an annual festival celebrating their beloved herb (is it an herb?). This was the 40th year of the festival, and it truly exceeded our expectations. We ate more food than I thought was possible - we started with the free garlic ice cream, then shared garlic fries, garlic calamari and a drink, and finished the day with garlic bread and a garlic peppercorn steak sandwich. It was a great cultural experience to discover this community event.
Point Reyes
Last weekend, we planned on going to the Muir Woods, but our plans were foiled! In order to avoid overcrowding, Muir Woods now requires that cars reserve a parking spot before visiting the park. Since we found this out right before leaving, we quickly re-purposed our plans and instead went to Point Reyes.
Point Reyes is a park a half hour further than Muir Woods, with incredible cliff views. We intended to take a 13 mile route to see a waterfall on the beach, but were not able to find the correct path. We instead hiked to a beautiful view, and saw the waterfalls from the top.
There are countless other trails, so we will definitely be back.
Palm Springs
A few weeks ago I went to Palm Springs for a work conference, and extended the trip to have a girls' weekend with family for my mom's birthday. It was the perfect getaway weekend in the sun, and Palm Springs has a very interesting culture. We stayed at the Holiday House, which was an adorable boutique hotel with a great location. My favorite activities were the Tramway, brunch at Cheeky's and Sunnylands on the Walter and Lenore Annenburg estate. We also visited the Moorten Botanical Garden, which was small but a fun visit. My photos are below, and I look forward to returning for another weekend getaway.
Lands End & Sutro Baths
On Saturday, I had the perfect San Francisco day. We went up to Potrero Hill to see if we'd like to live in the neighborhood next year, and found an area that we loved. We then went to visit my husband's aunt, and then went on a walk at Land's End. After a great walk, we went to the famous Mission Chinese for dinner. When we first moved to California, I thought that we'd have days of exploring and hiking, and I was so happy to spend a day doing just that.
If you have never been, Land's End is a park in the northeast corner of San Francisco within Golden Gate Park. The park has incredible views of the Golden Gate Bridge, and has a two mile round trip walk to the end of a cliff. One thing that I especially appreciate about San Francisco is the ability to experience the wonder of nature without leaving the city.
At the start of the Land's End Trail are the Sutro Baths. The Sutro Baths was once the largest indoor swimming establishment in the world. The pools were filled with the ocean tides, and contained seven pools of varying temperatures. However the baths were not profitable, and were closed in 1966. Months later the pools burned down in suspicious circumstances, and have never been rebuilt. All that remains are the walls and ruins, which you can explore especially in low tide.
What is the perfect day in your town?
Kingdom of Colors
Another exhibit that I went to while in Washington DC was Kingdom of Colors at Artechouse, an "immersive visual experience" by French filmmaker Thomas Blanchard and artist Oilhack, soundtracked by Lyon-based composer Leonardo Villiger. It's hard to describe the wonder of this exhibit - it was very simple but incredibly powerful. In order to experience the exhibit, we downloaded an iPhone app that made the visuals into virtual reality. For example, the first of the photos below is what one of the walls looked like with my phone and then with the app.
Once we entered the exhibit, there was a bar serving drinks that became virtual reality in the app, and the main room had projections of a video art piece. If you have seen the advertisements for the iPhone X, the video is very similar. In the side rooms, there were other interactive exhibits and activities.
The Kingdom of Colors exhibit ends tomorrow, but Artechouse has other great exhibits coming soon.
Butterfly Exhibit
While I was in DC for Thanksgiving, I went to several of the museums on the Mall. My favorite exhibit was the live butterfly exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. For only $6 per ticket, we went into a room with hundreds of butterflies flying around. The greatest part was that several butterflies even landed on my head!
Half Moon Bay
Posting about the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Fest made me realize that I never posted my original blog about Half Moon Bay.
Half Moon Bay has a special place in my heart; it’s the first place that my husband and I visited when we were considering moving here and is my favorite get away when I need to be near the ocean. The nearest Dunkin Donuts to me is also in Half Moon Bay, so it’s a definite bonus that I get to have my favorite coffee on the trip. There are also a dinosaur garden and some great greenery’s on Route 92 that are worth an amusing stop.
Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Fest
I did it! I checked another event off of my California Bucket List! And the Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin Festival did not disappoint. Being in Half Moon Bay is always amazing, but the festival even exceeded my very high expectations. There was art for sale, there was food, there were performers and most importantly there were pumpkins! The header photo is of me on the winner of the pumpkin competition. It weighs 2,363 pounds, and is the largest pumpkin ever grown in the United States.
The festival continues tomorrow (October 15) if you are in town, or mark your calendars for next year. I already have!
Bottle & Bottega
In order to open up my creativity, I recently started reading the book The Artist's Way. The assignments of the book are to write three pages in a journal every morning, and to go on an "Artist Date" on your own every week. My artist date this week was painting. Painting can be a trigger for me - my grandmother is a very talented painter and I grew the belief early in life that I was not a good artist. But this Saturday I began to tear down these negative beliefs!
Bottle and Bottega recently opened a franchise in Redwood City, and they hosted a free paint class to get the word out. The class was hosted at Portobello Grill; we arrived at 11 and ordered lunch, and then the class begun. Instead of the entire group painting one canvas, each person was able to select what they wanted to create. I painted a little owl, and the instructor helped me create something that I was actually proud of.
The owners of Bottle and Bottega are hosting more free events on October 13, 22 and 29, and are taking reservations for full classes and private events.
Sausalito
Yesterday we drove up to Sausalito to meet up with one of my cousins for the afternoon. The drive was long, but once we were over the Golden Gate bridge I was so glad that I had agreed to make the trip. We met up at Bar Bocce, which is BYOB on the beach, and caught up for a few hours. It was a perfect September day, and I was so happy to be on the beach.
We then had an early dinner at Salito's next door. We started with a delicious cheesy bread bowl (pictured below) and then each had a sandwich. After dinner we took a walk up to the ferry terminal and back, and then got back in the car. It was a very short trip to Sausalito, but I will definitely be back.
Monterey & Carmel
Last weekend, my husband and I drove down to Monterey for our second wedding anniversary. After a stressful summer and a long few weeks of being long distance, it was exactly the get away that we needed.
We stayed at the Wave Street Inn in Monterey, which was very simple and so close to the ocean that the seagulls were very comfortable on our balcony. But it was located very close to Cannery Row, and a perfect home base for a weekend of exploring.
View from our hotel
On Friday, we arrived in the early evening. After checking in and unpacking, we walked downtown for dinner at the Crown and Anchor. One of the websites described it as a British pub in a ship, so I had pretty high hopes, but it ended up being just a pub with lots of nautical decorations. But the food was delicious and it was a great way to start the weekend.
On Saturday, we slept in and then started our day with donuts from Red's Donuts that we ate near the water. We then got in the car for a day of driving and adventures.
First was the 17 Mile Drive through Pebble Beach. There is a $10.25 fee but there are 20 sites that are well marked and maintained, so I found it to be completely worth the cost. We walked through the woods at Huckleberry Hill, we strolled down the beach at Spanish Bay, and I was able to take photos of the Lone Cypress. Unfortunately there was no parking available at the Ghost Tree, so I need to come back to see it!
After the 17 Mile Drive, we continued south to Carmel. We had lunch at the Carmel Belle, then walked the neighborhood. We purchased some art for our apartment by Jeff Daniel Smith and sampled candies from the Cottage of Sweets.
Once we had explored Carmel, we then went on a hike at Point Lobos Reserve. The views were very similar to the 17-mile drive, but it was great to be in un-interrupted nature for a few hours. On our way back to Monterey, we stopped in Pacific Grove to find the Kissing Rock. The Kissing Rock is two rocks that have worn down over time, and now look like two people kissing. It was challenging to find (it's near Esplanade Park, not Lovers Point Park), but was a cute tourist destination.
Once we got back to Monterey, we were very tired so just had chowder at Fisherman's Wharf and then went for pizza. When we got back to the hotel, my Fitbit recorded that we had walked 11 miles!
On Sunday, we had brunch at Cafe Lumiere, a hipster coffee shop inside of a movie theater with instagram-worthy food.
We then spent the rest of the day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which was worth the very expensive admission, and then drove home.
AT&T Park
A few weeks ago, my office had an employee appreciation event, and I was able to check Taking a Tour of AT&T Park off of my California Bucket List!
The event was held on the bleachers with lunch on the suite level, and I was able to take a tour of the park! The tour included the press box (the computer in the room with the big windows is where the official score keeper sits!) and the visiting locker room. The tour was only 20 minutes so I would only recommend for big baseball fans, but it was great to be able to see parts of the stadium that we don't see when watching the game.
What is your favorite ball park?
16th Ave Tiled Steps
When I first came to San Francisco for job interviews, I had a jam packed week and needed to schedule an hour to unwind. After some Pinterest browsing, I came across the 16th Avenue Tiled Steps and added it to my itinerary.
The 16th Avenue steps were built in 2005 by Irish ceramist Aileen Barr and mosaic artist Colette Crutcher, and were paid for by 220 residents. There are a total of 163 separate mosaic panels created, one for each step riser, made of over 2,000 handmade tiles and 75,000 fragments of tile, mirror and stained glass.
If you climb to the top of the stairs and then go up two other stair cases, you come to Grandview Park, with 360 degree views of the city. You can see the Pacific Ocean, Golden Gate Park, the Financial District, and, if you it's a very clear day, can even see the Golden Gate Bridge.
Public Open Spaces
I don't spend enough time outside during the week. I get to work, sit at my desk, and there are days that I don't step back outside until I walk to the train at 5 pm. In order to combat this, I found a list of rooftops that are open to the public and have been gradually working through them on sunny days.
My first rooftop was 150 California Avenue. If you take the back elevator to the 6th Floor, you are transported to a tranquil rooftop. You are greeted with beautiful flowers and a large metal arch. It is usually not crowded, so is the perfect place to have a quiet lunch or take time to reflect.
What are your favorite secret spots?
