Enjoy your weekend.

Moving day + grad application due (both on October 1st) = busy week and not a lot of posts. Enjoy this round-up of some fun links from around the web!

I didn't watch the Emmys, but Will Ferrell is so awesome. 

Such an interesting, thought-provoking question: Are You Living Your Eulogy or Your Resume?

I laughed out loud just reading this headline. 

What goals do you have for the remaining 99 days (now 96) of 2013?

As a HUGE Dexter fan, I was slightly disappointed by the series finale. Here's how the former producer would have ended it. 

Funny: The Five Worst Girlfriends in Literature

How to Plan an Adventure (I wish this was on my to-do list right now).

I loved this article on how everybody's always so busy. 

"I can't help but wonder whether all this histrionic exhaustion isn't a way of covering up the fact that most of what we do doesn't matter." Hmmm. 

Let's talk about free online education

I've mentioned online classes before but I wanted to do a round-up on how many great, FREE (or at least inexpensive) ways there are to learn something new on the internet. From calligraphy to roasting a chicken to entire college courses, there is almost always a way for you to hone in on whatever that skill is you've been looking to improve or gain. Here are a few online "schools," and my suggestions on some classes that look awesome.

1. Khan Academy

Taking the GMAT? Here's are some free videos that will help you through the trickiest problems in official GMAC GMAT review book.

I've recently felt like art history is like golf -- a good skill to have, because you never know when it might come in handy in a social situation. Brush up on art history with one of these ten free courses.

2. Coursera

Coursera offers college courses from universities and professors around the world, for free. While they can't offer actual college credit, it's a great way to dip your feet into some different subjects and areas of concentration before taking the very time-consuming and costly plunge.

The Music of the Beatles - University of Rochester

Plagues, Witches, and War: The Worlds of Historical Fiction - University of Virginia

Care of Elders with Alzheimer's Disease and Other Major Neurocognitive Disorders - John Hopkins University

3. creativeLIVE

Most of these workshops are free, though you can pay to have anytime access (typically $30-100).

Redesigning Your Website or Blog

What the Most Successful People do Before Breakfast

Overcome Fear to Get What You Want

4. Skillshare

The Art of Modern Calligraphy - $20

Show Us Your Balls: Meatball Making with The Meatball Shop - Free

Humor Writing: Become the Next David Sedaris - $25

(Photo found here.)

Live like you're abroad: Nob Hill

The whole purpose of "Live like you're abroad"is deviating from routine. While I have been hearing about yoga at Grace Cathedral for over a year now, it's just so much more convenient to walk two blocks down my street to my local yoga studio -- where I can leave my house five minutes before class starts. With my new mantra as my motivation, I went on a two mile run (it's so sad how easy and close it looks when you type it) to Nob Hill, where I spent Tuesday evening enjoying peaceful yoga with live music and the sunset seeping through the stained glass windows, followed by a delicious Italian dinner  with my friend Alysse. My old boss recommended Nob Hill Cafe months ago, but again, it's much easier to take a right turn out of my house where I find myself in Little Italy with zero effort. His claim that it boasts the best Italian food in San Francisco did not disappoint -- we shared a ceasar salad and gnocchi bolognese and it was absolutely delicious.

Nob Hill Cafe is dimly lit and romantic, and while I only felt a little awkward in my yoga spandex, it would be the perfect place to dine before or after having drinks at Top of the Mark. While it is touristy, the panoramic views of the city are unmatched -- and when live music and bay views are involved, I don't even mind spending an extra few bucks on a glass of wine.

My time spent in Nob Hill is obviously significantly less than in the Sunset, but even spending an evening there made me want to discover more -- and that's the point.

Friday round-up

I hope everyone had a great week! I've had a fairly productive last couple of days, and Cam and I are headed up to Tahoe to work all weekend. -___- I have to finish up some essays for grad school applications and Cam has a huge deadline at the end of September, so at least we can keep each other company as we stare at our computers for 48 hours!

The photo above is a note we found in the Jetta's windshield last night (totally thought it was a ticket). We park in this illegal spot right in front of Cam's garage, and instead of this guy being a total douchebag and telling us to get the f*ck out of his way so he can park in his legal, valid spot, he wrote us a nice note and even got us a Starbucks card! I was so touched -- it's a great reminder that amidst all of the war, shootings, and chaos, there are kind and patient people everywhere.

Here are some fun links, and have a wonderful weekend!

Do you live in New York and want to make a shit ton of money over Super Bowl weekend?

I want a leather jacket so badly for fall.

The Habits of Supremely Happy People

I love all of Simon Rich's short stories.

I ordered this as a pretty coffee table book and I can't wait for it to arrive.

How to get served first at the bar.

I've mentioned before how much I love Top Chef -- here's an interview (and a recipe!) with Top Chef Master's host Curtis Stone.

The most beautiful birth announcements.

Why We Travel. To quench your Friday wanderlust.

Cam's Santa Cruz birthday celebration

For Cam's 25th birthday he decided to buy himself a new wetsuit at O'Neill's flagship store in Santa Cruz. I thought it would be fun to make a weekend out of it, so for his birthday present I rented a cool beach cottage on Airbnb for Saturday night. We made the Jetta even more ghetto with a DIY surf rack, then headed down to Santa Cruz. We found a wetsuit, ate burritos on the beach, went for long walks, watched a movie in our cozy cottage, and Cam surfed while I read on the beach. Here are some photos of our relaxing weekend...

Hello from San Francisco + blog exchange

How great are these San Francisco-themed postcards? I bought them at Park and Pond, a San Francisco gift shop where all products are produced within 100 miles of the city. It's the perfect place to go for non-kitschy SF souvenirs, and it's located right down the hill from me on Grant Street in North Beach. I sent one of these postcards to each of the people that hosted me in New York/New Jersey a couple of weeks ago -- I thought they were the perfect "sending love from San Francisco" note, especially with the little red balloon :).

Speaking of love notes, I recently did a 'blog exchange' with Julie Kesti, an artist, traveler, and bodyworker who writes about her adventures on her website. I loved living vicariously through Julie's experiences as an expat in Shanghai, and I especially loved (and subscribed to) her Friday love notes. I obviously read a lot of blogs for pleasure, but the exchange was fun because I got to view Julie's blog through a more critical (hopefully helpful) eye -- I'm excited to see what advice she has for me as I continue to grow, change, and maybe one of these days *share* Tales for Scout.

Live like you're abroad: The Sunset District

For this week's "Live like you're abroad" post, I'm sharing some of the wonderful places I've frequented over the past year since Cam moved to the Inner Sunset. Cam was moving from NYC and had only been to San Francisco once, so I was very nervous when he started sending me Craigslist listings for the Sunset. "Umm....it's like really foggy and far away," I would tell him while shooting over emails for listings in Pac Heights or the Mission.

He ended up in an apartment just one block from Golden Gate Park and a block in the opposite direction from the N-Judah Muni (which gets you from downtown to the Sunset in 20 minutes), and I have to admit, I was wrong about the Sunset. There is so much to do and everything is close, so there's definitely a city feel, just without the noise and tourist traffic.

Click through to learn more about what to see and do in the Sunset...

Have a happy weekend.

How was everyone's week? The good thing about studying for the GRE Literature Exam (subject test in order to apply for Master's in English programs) is that "studying" constitutes reading and rereading classic novels and poems -- rough life. I'm simultaneously checking books off of my and Kelly's classics list ; I finished Jane Eyre and launched into A Farewell to Arms (can you tell from the picture?). Cam's birthday was on Wednesday and I got us a place in Santa Cruz on Airbnb for Saturday night, so I'm looking forward to reading and relaxing beachside this weekend. Have a good one and here are some fun links from around the web:

Ja'mie is back! Ja'mie is back!

Anna Wintour making classy decisions.

Speaking of Anna Wintour: Jimmy Kimmel's take on fashion week.

An older article, but I have been wondering who the betches are....

I have a goal of becoming really good at calligraphy right before everyone I know starts getting married and needing fancy handwriting for addressing invitations.

For anyone else in a transitional period (thanks for sending, Kelly!).

I just discovered this blog and I'm digging the daily writing prompts and free ebook on writing essentials.

I've mentioned this before, but if you don't already subscribe to theSkimm, you should.

I love listening to Stitcher, and here's a perfect article for finding the best podcast for you.

New series: Live like you're abroad

Wanderlust both defines yet eludes most of the twenty-somethings I know, and probably seeps into the minds and desires of decades I have yet to experience. We have a tendency to neglect our present surroundings in search of poignancy as it can be found elsewhere. Surely I will be able to find myself while hiking Machu Pichu or wandering the streets of Sao Paulo - but when did this idea of self discovery necessitate and depend on travel? I'm in no way saying that there aren't valuable experiences to be gained from going abroad. My inspiration for this piece, in fact, is the four months I spent living in Barcelona as a college student - the four best months of my life thus far. But upon reflecting WHY these months were so invaluable, I've realized that it wasn't so much where I was as much as how I lived. I lived richly and cultivated meaningful relationships and explored and took risks. This lifestyle is not unique to Barcelona, and I've recently wondered if we can't strive to found our every day lives by these principles that made life so much….happier. 

Twenty-something humor is almost founded on self-deprecation, there is always a cheap laugh to be scored by pointing out weight gain, discussing the monotony of an entry level job, or reliving the horrors of a failed relationship. These are never topics of discussion while traveling. There is too much to see, do, and uncover to focus on what's wrong, incomplete, or unexplained. Each day we explored a new part of Barcelona, and almost every weekend we had a trip planned to a different part of Europe - I even made it to Africa for a campout in the Saharra Desert. I now live in one of the most culturally rich and physically beautiful cities in the world, and routine threatens my sense of adventure daily. So my challenge to myself is quite simple: live like I'm abroad. I want to reconnect to the most meaningful point of self-discovery in my life even if I no longer have the freedom of a college student living on an allowance from my parents cushioned by a little bit of babysitting money. I want to veer away from the paradoxical and quite frankly confusing lifestyle that can define and envelop people my age and instead make every effort to live richly and explore. 

In honor of the five year anniversary of my arrival in Barcelona, over the next few weeks, each Monday I am going to post about my explorations around San Francisco and the Bay Area. I am looking forward to leaving the comfort zone of my pizza restaurant, my neighborhood bar, and my frequented coffee shop. I hope that in "discovering" different parts of my city, I can regain the feeling of wonder and motivation that I felt so strongly in Barcelona. 

Until the series begins on Monday, here are some of my favorite photos from my time abroad. 

Our favorite neighborhood bar, Pippermint - the glass sizes were every college student's dream

The Colosseum, Rome

Trevi Fountain

Oktoberfest 

Montserrat, Spain

Prague

The Sahara Desert

Yes, I needed to include two pictures of me riding a camel. 

Little did I know how meaningful this picture would become 5 years later: Cam, my best friend, Amy, and Cam's best friends from Colgate, Rob and John

Make your dinner reservation through Savored: Eating out with free discounts

Have you guys heard of Savored yet? Naturally, eating out at restaurants was one of the first sacrifices I had to make since becoming voluntarily unemployed. I was nervous about visiting my friends in Manhattan, since whenever I'm there we tend to splurge on delicious meals at trendy, expensive restaurants, and that was just reeeally not in the budget this time. Fortunately, my friend Megan recommended using Savored, which when you book through them (for free!), you can get discounts as great as 30% off on your meal. I hesitated, thinking that to take advantage of this we'd have to eat dinner at 4:30pm, but we were able to get a reservation for 6 people at 8pm at a fun Italian restaurant in Chelsea. Cam and I used Savored on Thursday when I returned to San Francisco, and were able to get 20% off of our meal just by making our reservation through the site (we also checked in on Yelp and got a free glass of wine - milking it). The site is really easy to use, and the only problem is that there isn't a huge selection of restaurants yet. If anyone in San Francisco is looking for a super nice meal on the cheap(er), Le Colonial is amazing and is offering 30% off to those who book through Savored. Bon appetit!

(Photo from less Scrooge-y days dining out in NYC)

Vacation Photos: New Jersey and NYC

After a week of radio silence, I'm back from an incredibly relaxing trip to visit Cam's family in New Jersey, and my friends in Manhattan. Highlights include Cam's mom preparing a beachy feast with the juiciest, biggest lobsters I've ever seen, a Bruce Springsteen cover band at a bar in New Jersey (authentic!), and walking the High Line in NYC with my two best friends. Oh! And while I wouldn't call this a highlight, I finally got the hang of (or strayed from my laziness and actually attempted ) the New York subway system...small victory. Aside from all of these fun activities, it was wonderful catching up with old friends and finally meeting the rest of Cam's extended family. Instead of a weekend round-up, I decided to post some photos from our trip - enjoy!