Live like you're abroad: Legion of Honor and Land's End

A few weeks ago my friend Andrew and I decided to explore a new part of the city in celebration of his last day of freedom before beginning a new job. We headed over to the Legion of Honor, an art museum that looks and feels like you've just driven up the hill from San Francisco and straight into Europe. At the base of the  museum are several hikes, most famously, Land's End. While we didn't have time for the hike that day, this past weekend my friend Jaci was visiting from New York, and we decided to take advantage of a beautiful 65-degree Friday to do the hike (more like a nature walk). Land's End has some of the most stunning vantage points I've seen in San Francisco, which is saying a lot considering almost every neighborhood has an ocean view and some place to see the downtown skyline (perk of so many hills!). Once you get to the bottom of the trail, you can see Sutro Baths, the ruins of a bath house built in the 19th century. Going to the museum and hiking Land's End makes for a perfect San Francisco day trip -- culture, exercise, and breathtaking views all in the same spot.

Bat Kid saves San Francisco

Happy Saturday! I don't have many links from around the web this week, but thought I'd share what I did find (some are from last week). Yesterday, Mark, my brother and I headed to Civic Center to see Mayor Ed Lee give 'Bat Kid' the key to San Francisco. I'm sure many of you followed the story, but 'Bat Kid' originated as a 5-year-old's dream to become Batman through the Make-a-Wish Foundation. The story went viral, and by the end of the day 20,000 San Franciscans, clad in black and yellow and boasting homemade signs, had turned up to cheer on our little hero. I usually ignore Twitter, but I cried (literally) reading through the feed last night -- every athletic team, magazine, author, and friend I follow seemed to have something to say about how Bat Kid had warmed their hearts. It was a great reminder of all the good in the world, and a wonderful break from how depressing the news tends to be on a daily basis. Thanks for making the world a little bit kinder, if only for a day, Bat Kid! 

Actors who are fluent in other languages. 

Kids react to gay marriage. 

Travel startups you might not have heard of. 

Changes women go through in their twenties. I definitely identified with many of these...

So cool: Color added to historical photos. 

Well, you could never call this girl boring. 

Have a great weekend!

A night in Austin, TX

I spent the last week in Houston with my family, and Cam was nice enough to meet me in Texas for the weekend. I was feeling a little cooped up after six days of a 9pm bedtime and countless hours of Fox News, so I suggested a little road trip to Austin. We arrived in Austin at 6:30 Saturday evening, and were gone by 10am Sunday, but we absolutely loved our 15 hour adventure.

I had my heart set on eating at Qui, a restaurant owned by Top Chef Austin winner Paul Qui (as an avid Top Chef fan, this was a must-do). We were told there would be a 2.5 hour wait, and even though Cam was starving, he agreed to adding our name to the list as long as we could grab a quick snack. We grabbed tacos from a food truck across the street, and it might have been the best taco I've ever eaten. Things were off to a good start when we headed a block over to the White Horse, a cowboy bar with live music and dance floor filled with two-steppers. After a few beers, we headed back to Qui and had one of the best meals of my life (I know I'm going crazy with the superlatives here but seriously, the food was so, so excellent). The menu was exotic but every small dish they brought to our table was delicious....from a more basic yet elevated ceviche, to the cheddar cheese ice cream sandwich we had for dessert. If you go to Austin, you MUST, MUST, MUST eat at Qui.

After dinner we met up with Colby, a friend we both met while studying abroad in Barcelona. We had already been to "trendy" (or "ghetto," depending on who you talk to) 6th Street, the up-and-coming neighborhood that's home to Qui and White Horse. Colby told us about the difference between East, or "dirty" 6th, and West 6th, which is more classy and less fratty. We went to a bar on each and had a great time listening to bands and catching up with an old friend.

My parents are retiring to Austin in 13 months and I can't wait to explore more of the city and surrounding area. Cam and I have already decided that we need to start doing Youtube two-step lessons in our living room.

I know it doesn't look like much, but seriously best taco ever.

Me, Chef Paul, and Cam

Cam and Colby on 6th St.

Big Texas sky

A few pointers for not-getting-screwed in finding a roommate on Craigslist

A few weeks ago I alluded to a blow up between me and Cam's roommate. I'll try to be concise: Cam found David on Craigslist and invited him to move into the vacant room in his apartment, David was on a month-to-month lease, Cam asked him to move out with 6 weeks notice, David refused. Insert a lot of landlord emails/phone calls and research on tenant rights, and we arrive at the night when David (for the second time) refuses to move out and tells us to "lawyer up." Even more frustrating than the mere toolishness and gall in using this asinine phrase is the fact that he was citing money as the necessity behind him staying in the apartment -- as most people have figured out by now, lawyers aren't cheap. 

Skimming over the embarrassing details, insults and objects were hurled and David finally assented to move out based on the fact that he had now discovered that were he to stay, his new third roommate (aka ME) is batshit crazy. (He also defriended me on Facebook the next day...)

I think giving advice at age 25 is awkward -- I try to stay away from it. I have so much more life to live, more obstacles to overcome, HOWEVER, recapping my very recent and embarrassing experience has caused me to want to share a few roommate pointers that I've learned from the David fiasco. 

1. If you're finding a roommate on Craigslist, make him sign a month-to-month lease. Luckily when Cam's landlord sent them the lease to co-sign, Cam had the foresight to respond quickly that he would take full responsibility, and create a second agreement for David to sign, making him a monthly tenant. Had he not done this, we would still be having awkward family dinners with David the unwanted third wheel. 

2. Establish house rules BEFORE interviewing potential roommate candidates. David smoked A LOT of pot in the apartment. Every time I came home from work, the apartment smelled like a Humboldt County farm. Neither Cam nor I would freak out at an occasional joint in the house, but had Cam mentioned in their initial meeting that this was not a frat house -- Mr. Club Card probably would have continued on his search. 

3. Also regarding house rules (and frat behavior), guest protocol need to be established early on. To preface this, David's brother had visited the month prior, and as Cam and I were in Peru, Cam gave him full reign over our bedroom. In the true turning point of the David Disaster, Cam's sister and her boyfriend were spending the weekend with us, sharing an air mattress on the living room floor.  They were asleep, yet David turned on all the lights and told Mariska that, "it's Saturday night in San Francisco...you should find somewhere else to sleep." And then hosted his party around her air mattress. 

4. Actually review your city's tenant laws. The scary part of my story is had I not exploded and genuinely scared David, he would have actually had a case against us in his fight to stay in the apartment. According to San Francisco tenant laws, simply getting in touch with the landlord regarding repairs (seriously?) puts you on the same playing field as the person who actually signed the lease. WTF. 

The story has a happy ending: David moved out and we haven't heard from him since. This was definitely a rant, but hopefully has a nugget or two of hard-learned wisdom for anyone else about to embark on the adventure that is seeking Craigslist roommates. 

(Image found here.)

North Bay Sunday

This weekend was Mark's birthday, and his brother, PJ, flew in for the occasion. It's been great having Mark here as a kind of motivator to get up and do things, since Cam and I both enjoy relaxing and staying in maybe a little too much sometimes. We started the weekend going to see a DJ on Friday night, kicked off Saturday morning with bloody Mary's at The Tipsy Pig and ended it at Zeitgeist in the Mission, and headed to the North Bay yesterday to eat and drink at Lagunitas Brewery. While we had planned to go to Muir Woods, we didn't really factor in daylight savings, so we got there as it was closing (just in time to snap a few pictures and see a few Redwoods). Despite all of us being absolutely exhausted last night, it was a very successful start to Mark's 26th year. Now I'm off to Houston for a week, and hopefully Austin for Saturday night with Cam to celebrate our year and a half anniversary (I know that's not a thing but I'll take any excuse to celebrate and explore). 

Lagunitas Brewery tour

...And one of Cam and Olivia from Friday night because it's adorable