Celebrating life with good food in San Francisco

Today I quit my job (!!!!!!!). More on that later, but it's a very good thing and I'm incredibly excited to be moving on. Given that my celebrations no longer include shots of tequila and an open bar tab, I decided to heed the Parks and Rec motto and treat myself (Cam helped) to two delicious meals in the city.

Plastic bags and insecurity

So the beauty of having a blog that is only read by those closest to me is that I have the chance to experiment a little bit. I wrote this for fun last week, after looking through some Facebook albums and reminiscing. Here's a rough draft of a short essay, and I'd love any feedback (Mom, Cam, Madison...:)!

Girls' trip to Tahoe: Wanderlust

When three of my girlfriends and I decided to spend last Saturday at Wanderlust, I was expecting hippies and heat and lots of skin, and that's exactly what I got. We lathered on the SPF to brave the 105-degree day, and headed to Squaw Valley for the all-day yoga (+nature + music) festival.

I wish Amy or Gliozzi were writing this because I think they might have a bit more positivity to contribute. I hated the Moby concert (I'm sorry but the last thing I want to do after moving my body all day - ok I guess the restorative class doesn't count - is jump up and down for two hours to electronic music). I was miserable for our hike to High Camp where we ran out of water in the first 30 minutes and had to continue climbing a rock face with the sun beating down on our thirsty, burned bodies.

That being said...

The most beautiful bouquets in San Francisco for way less money and effort than you think

 Feel like being nice without dropping $200 at Foreign Cinema? Flower delivery in San Francisco just got faster and cheaper, while not at all skimping on presentation.

Last week I received the most beautiful surprise bouquet from Cam - gorgeous spring tulips and sunflowers wrapped in burlap, tied with a ribbon, with a sweet note attached by a clothespin. I later learned he had only ordered them only an hour before from BloomThat, a new San Francisco florist that keeps costs low by focusing on simple beauty and efficient delivery.

From the website you can make your selection from two-three bouquets (fewer options = easy and fast), add a personal note, and then receive a text or email when your bouquet is en route.

It's really that easy to be thoughtful - now everyone go send flowers :).

I spotted a messenger outside of my office a few days later

Discovering the Northern Coast: Magic under the redwoods in Humboldt County

I just experienced the "Perfect Weekend" -- relaxing, taking in beautiful sights, and engaging in physical activity -- and no expensive plane ticket required. My perfect weekend was a mere car ride away, yet far enough from the city to really feel I was escaping the familiar.

Pit stop along the 101 to see the drive-through Chandelier Tree

Here's how easy it was: On Saturday, Cam and I headed north about five and a half hours to Humboldt County, that rural, deeply forested chunk of California that stretches from Arcata all the way to the Oregon border. We camped near Patrick’s Point State Park on Saturday night, and took in a redwood tree canopy tour on Sunday.

While you can easily find a place to watch the sun seep through the redwoods and bounce off the icy water as close as Marin County, isolation was the differentiating factor up in Arcata.

Saturday night, while watching the orange sunset from a turnout of a hiking in trail in Patrick’s Point, not a single person could be sighted on the beach below us. And Sunday, before our ropes course, we went to the beach and wandered through a quarter mile of dunes, set up our sleeping bags, and read several chapters of our books before seeing even one other person.

After reading on the beach Sunday morning, we headed to Redwood Park, where we participated in a climbing/zipping ground course. We then proceeded to climb 70 feet up a redwood (only about half of the tree’s height), and then zipline between three separate trees. Intrepid souls like my boyfriend Cam may opt to climb an additional 30 feet after zipping. From the ground, I literally couldn’t see him despite practically doing a backbend.

While our trip wasn’t a traditional let’s-leave-San-Francisco-and-go-somewhere-WARM getaway, it was invigorating to discover a place new to both of us, and take in the peace and quiet.

Who knew you could feel so far from San Francisco noise, with a minimum of preparation, effort, and money?

Plan-a-phobes, procrastinators, and spendthrifts take heed...the perfect weekend awaits. Minimal effort and money required!

You can barely see our guide on the second platform, and if you look about an inch (or, 20 feet in real life) up, you can barely make out Cam

Click through for more pictures and details...

Fun Friday round-up

This weekend Cam and I are heading up to Redwood National Park for some tree climbing adventures -- I'll be sure to share pictures next week! Have a great weekend, and enjoy some fun/interesting/inspiring links from around the web. :)

I want to move to France now.

Stop hating on millennials.

Have you heard of the November Project? It started in Boston but has come to San Francisco -- might have to check this out for an early Wednesday morning workout.

Really interesting read on abortion from a less-frequently-heard perspective.

What does your coffee say about you?

26 Awesome Things The Bay Area Does Right

Some of these popular baby names were surprising! I can't believe Atticus is #8 for boys -- I've loved that name for years but have never actually met anyone named after my favorite fictional character.

Love this article: Parties We Should Have Instead of Weddings. The graduation shower is brilliant!

Authors share their picks for best summer reads.

So, so wonderful. Made me cry.

17 Phrases you're probably saying wrong...#s 2, 11, and 17 kill me, and I'm guilty of #4.

(Vintage Photo of the Wawona Tunnel Tree)

Hump day coworker picnic (with homemade gazpacho!)

I always look forward to 1pm on Wednesdays. You're officially halfway through the work week, and only an afternoon separates you from evening free time and then Thursday. This week, my coworkers and I decided to start enjoying Wednesday before 1:00 -- with a lunchtime picnic.

Tahoe day trip: Sugar Bowl to Squaw on the Pacific Crest Trail

I'm back after an incredibly relaxing and gorgeous weekend in Truckee with Cam, my parents, and our friends Cat and Tucker. We had a great time hiking, sailing (Cat and Tucker met on Princeton's sailing team and showed us their skill on Donner Lake), kayaking, barbecuing, drinking beer, and lounging. All in all, it was pretty much a perfectly American way to ring in Independence Day.

One of the highlights was hiking a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail, which has been on my bucket list ever since hearing about Cheryl Strayed's novel, Wild. We hiked 15 miles from Sugar Bowl Ski Resort to Squaw Village, and we completely lucked out with 70-and-sunny weather and wildflowers in bloom across most of the trail.

The hike is a long one, but the terrain was not overly difficult. It took us about 6.5 hours with a 20 minute stop for lunch. Click through for more pictures and details...

Best girls day: Eating locally (and extremely inexpensively) in Suisun Valley

This past weekend, Aly, Olivia and I drove up to our friend Amy's farm in Suisun Valley, about 45 minutes northeast of San Francisco. Visiting Amy's house always makes me want to eat more healthfully and be more environmentally conscious. Their house is gorgeous, and on the property is a vineyard, as well as smaller patches for growing tomatoes, lavender, basil, etc. Amy and her mom are always serving dishes that incorporate all of the fresh food from their and their neighbors' farms.

The pace of modern life

The other day I was staring at the traffic on Mission Street, listening to the cars honking their horns, and I started daydreaming about what the intersection might look like 100 years from now. Will it be empty because everyone is teleporting? The cars will inevitably be sleeker, smaller and certainly more energy efficient, right? Will there be flying cars like in The Jetsons?

Yea or nay: Literary tattoos

I'm very wishy-washy when it comes to tattoos. Sometimes I get jealous of people like Cam's sister Kirsten, who will just get whatever sounds fun and cool to her at the time (I'm way too anxious and overly analytical). Other times I completely cringe when someone is explaining the meaning behind a very large, very ugly tattoo that is some mix of the American flag, a tombstone, a Bible quote, and a family crest.

In the past, whenever I have contemplated getting a tattoo, the second, almost immediate image that comes to mind (first being how awesome and unique my more-than-likely-highly-unoriginal idea is) is me in my wedding dress. I can't help it, but every time I picture inking up my arm or shoulder blade, I picture how it will look in the wedding portraits of my first dance with my dad.

That being said, I really loved some of these literary tattoos on Mighty Girl. I love the Peter Pan tattoo pictured above and I've always said if I had to get one, I'd want either 9 3/4 for Harry Potter or the tree where Boo leaves presents for Jem and Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird.

What do you think? Which book or author would inspire your literary tattoo?

Belated weekend round-up for a short week

I typically post a round-up of inspiring/hilarious/interesting/noteworthy/motivating links from around the web on Friday, since people typically don't blog new material over the weekend. I didn't get around to it on Friday, but after taking a look around my office today (4th of July week + BART strike = NO ONE there) I figured if anyone is in the same boat, you might need some web distractions as well. 

Here are some of last week's finds, and the photo is what I saw driving back into the city on Saturday -- so proud to live in a city that celebrates and encourages diversity, equality, and massive block parties. 

Top 5 regrets of the dying...if I were to die tomorrow, I'd definitely relate most to #1 (cause God knows expressing my feelings is not a problem of mine...).

Power to the English majors!

The perfect read for anyone who is getting really, REALLY annoyed with all of the "Top 10 habits of happy people," "Top 20 things I wish I had known in my twenties," etc., lists. (Takeaway: Do whatever the fuck you want.)

Real life love stories from Quora.

Clueless quotes still bring me back to a time when I had no idea what was going on in the movie and laughed anyway. Ah, to be young and innocent (and watching really inappropriate movies that my parents clearly hadn't pre-screened).

#StandwithWendy

Should I be embarrassed that I spent 15 minutes Googling to see whether or not this really happened...?

My friend Jacqui, who is both creative and productive, sent me this list of inspiring books.