If You're Going to San Francisco...

You may have noticed my little hiatus from blog posting. Last week, I headed out to Oakland to study Mexican American history in the context of everything from Spanish colonization of California, to the labor issues surrounding the beautiful wineries of Napa and Sonoma, to the immigration debates emerging out of Arizona's SB 1070. After an intense week of study and subject related field trips, I met one of my closest friends in San Francisco for a weekend of fun.

From tasting anything and everything at The Ferry Building to a lovely rooftop party at the home of one of her friends, to a couple of delicious brunches and some wandering in and out of boutiques and restaurants in The Mission District on Sunday-- it was the perfect way to end a long week of lectures!

Should you find yourself in and around the environs of San Francisco in the future, I have included a few recommendations. Since I have been before and done things like Golden Gate Park, Muir Woods, Stinson Beach, Alcatraz, and other vineyards in the Sonoma/Napa area, this eclectic list is for the weekend traveler who is not interested in the typical tourist route!

Ceja Vineyards: After hearing their incredible immigration story, this vineyard becomes even more special. On your way up, stop both in Napa and Sonoma...too cute to miss and the food is delicious!

While Oakland has a bit of a bad rap, I found it to have a lot of similarities to parts of Brooklyn. There is a great hipster culture and, beyond that, some great food and sights. Check out the diverse and vibrant Fruitvale neighborhood if you have a chance!

The Ferry Building: I could go on and on and on and on...yummmm

Shopping in The Mission District: Some favorite stops included The Bell Jar, Therapy, a bite to eat at The Monk's Kettle, not to mention the three million design shops with which I just fell in love...

I hope everyone is having a happy Monday!

A Little Respite from the Workday

Rarely in the teaching profession do I have the opportunity to have a leisurely workday lunch. My lunches normally consist of something that I grab quickly at a nearby cafe and eat in my classroom rapidly in the presence of students, punctuated by comments during meetings, or, occasionally, if I am lucky, peacefully on the terrace outside of my building. This is why I really appreciated my work lunch today. We had professional development and so we had a little more flexibility when it came to lunch time options. That said, my colleagues and I did slip slightly shamefully back into the meeting a few minutes late; however, easier to do that than come late when there are students waiting eagerly for you to teach!

With two of my favorite co-workers, I headed over to Lincoln Center where, in the Film Society of Lincoln Center there is an adorable cafe called "Indie: Food and Wine." What a respite from the day! I ordered the most delicious turkey club sandwich. On it: bacon, lemon mayonaise, bibb lettuce, green tomato and...wait for it...potato chips! It was so good! In addition, I learned from my co-worker that you can actually get food in the cafe to go and bring it into the movie theater. I am definitely going to need to do this as that is a major upgrade from my usual movie theater fare of greasy popcorn and/or sour patch kids.

From the Indie Food and Wine Website 

While there, I also picked up a brochure for the Human Rights Watch Film Festival. While all of the films look amazing for different reasons, I would really like to see Little Heaven. Check it out!

One more workday this week...
Here's to Fridays!

Summah Summah Summah Time...

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!! Despite one minor annoyance, this weekend was lovely! The weather was picture perfect and it was a great kick-off to summer!

I definitely recommend Miss Timmons' School for Girls. The plot was compelling and full of intrigue. From the opening page, the reader is drawn into the events of a night in the narrator's past...As characters come forward, readers are swept into a journey to figure out what happened to the body that mysteriously washed up on the shore one fateful night. A fascinating read filled with vivid and lyrical language. This was my poolside read on Saturday, as I lounged with the fam catching up, eating cupcakes, and enjoying conversation and the warm sun. I also got some great new recommendations from my librarian sister that I am excited to read and share.

A poolside cherry chocolate cupcake with the fam

Woke up to a delicious brunch at M.'s family's house on Sunday. The brunch was a tasty juxtaposition of sweet and savory flavors. For sweet, there was apple stuffed French toast, freshly baked banana bread, and a colorful fruit salad in Memorial Day weekend-appropriate colors--delicious and patriotic! For savory, there was the most flavorful yet light crab quiche. Yum...Yeah M.'s mom is kind of Martha Stewart--minus the financial scandal and prison time!

After brunch we headed out to enjoy the charms of a quaint New England seaside town. After a lovely stroll around the town (where I dreamed of future beach houses!), we had a glass of Rose on the dock with M.'s parents as we sat overlooking a peaceful harbor filled with passing sailboats.

Love beach roses!

Sights along our beachside stroll...

Seaside cottage?? Yes, please!

A red, white, and blue Adirondack chair to commemorate Memorial Day

My train ride home reading, which continued the beach house dreaming...

This morning, back in New York City, M. and I went to brunch at one of our favorite neighborhood places, and enjoyed a stroll around a quiet, almost desolate (well, by NYC terms) city. All in all, a lovely weekend and I hope that all of your weekends were just as restful, relaxing, and rejuvenating! Welcome Summer!!

IPhone photo with turn-around camera feature=Distorted head shapes and sizes! 

Friday Footnotes

Last week's Friday Footnotes were a little late. This week's Friday Footnotes are a little early in anticipation of a long weekend of fun...

Here's what I am loving on this Memorial Day weekend Friday...

The Official Kick-Off of Summer...Planning to head out of the city for the weekend to spend some time with the family lounging by the pool and, perhaps, sneaking in a wine tasting and a picnic at a local vineyard. 

Plans to Make my First Visit to a New York City Beach...Believe it or not (those who pay any attention to pollution in New York City will probably believe it), I have never been to a local beach. A friend is organizing a beach trip this Memorial Day and I am excited to sit on the subway for a long time in order to see what an authentic NYC boardwalk looks like...

Yeah, I'm guessing it won't look anything like this San Diego beach...

Brunches: The book I just finished pokes fun at brunch calling it an activity that one should only do when they are too old to do anything else. I wholeheartedly disagree as I love brunch and brunching. Looking forward to a couple of brunches on this summer weekend opener...

Frenchie's face when he realizes we are going to Connecticut: It is hands down his favorite place and he makes it known when he jumps into his carry-on bag to head home...

He might look sad here but...

P.S. Last night's Pony Bar excursion has me excited about our new local watering hole...

Happy Friday and Happy Memorial Day Weekend! Enjoy your barbecues, beach trips, and books!  

Friday Footnotes (On Saturday Morning)

Yesterday was busy, busy and therefore, "Friday Footnotes" needed to be done over Saturday morning coffee! It is a gorgeous day in New York City and I am headed out for a walk in a moment, but in the meantime, here are some things that I am loving on this lovely day:

LitCrawl Brooklyn "Where Literature Hits the Streets:" Heading to Cobble Hill tonight to hear some book readings while sipping on some cocktails! There is nothing I love more than events that surround books, readings, and wine!

Image Via

Paper Source: The other day while taking a different route home from work, I discovered that one of my favorite paper stores is coming to a neighborhood near my place of employment in June...Yay! That said, since that won't happen until June, I figured that this afternoon, before I head over to the LitCrawl, I will make a stop at the Brooklyn location. In love with this bicycle gift wrap! Until I have the patience to make my own, like this adorable Etsy shop craftsperson, I will stick to Paper Source's cute paper...

Speaking of bicycles, how fun is this necklace I ordered from this Etsy shop?!

San Francisco: Just booked my ticket to San Francisco for almost exactly a month from today! Yay! Time to start planning... :)

Currently Reading: Jonathan Franzen The Corrections. I'll let you know how it goes!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Water Taxis, German Beer Gardens, and Picnics in the Park

Although one never wants to wish time away...it is increasingly difficult not to find myself counting down the days to Memorial Day Weekend. White pants and barbecues, summer s'mores and fire pits, sandy beaches and strawberry banana smoothies are calling my name... The weather was gorgeous today in New York City and I am spotting more and more maxi dresses and sandals...yup...summer is on its way in. I can feel it!

M. and I headed to Brooklyn Saturday via New York City's latest transportation craze: The water taxi. The views were stupendous, the wind was in our hair, the salty water spray was splashing up against our faces...well, eww...that part was actually disgusting, but you know, the rest was great. We took the ferry a couple of stops making our commute to Williamsburg an amazingly fast 15 minutes. 

Once we arrived, we stopped at Smorgasburg. I know, I know, I just went last weekend you say. Well, M. had never been and I felt that his life would not be complete without sampling the delicious food there. It had nothing to do with my intense craving for another Asia Dog...

While there, I also got this amazing lemonade. It sounds simple, but my cup of lemon lime basil lemonade was out of this world...

From here, we headed to Radegast for an authentic German beer in the beer garden. One turned into two and, when a couple of my friends who live in Brooklyn came to meet us, that turned into three and well...the night progressed from there. M. and I were laughing because this beer hall has authentically captured the German beer hall spirit and ambience. We reminisced about our trip to Munich back when we were wee twenty-two-year-olds. We arrived in Munich and all of the hostels were booked so we had to stay at this bizarre "hotel" that was way above our budget at the time. We went out that night to Hofbrauhaus and had a few of their gigantic beers and then realized we had both had a little too much and couldn't find our way back to our weird hotel. After some distress and wandering, we finally made it only to find that, in this bargain hotel, they turned out all of the hallway lights after midnight. After stumbling our way back to our room, we fell asleep and woke up the next morning to find a cot blocking our door. On this said cot, was a young man passed out with green shaving cream all over his face. We never did figure out what to make of that, but happily checked out early that morning whereupon we headed to a hostel that was in a convent and I won't even get into how strange that experience was...

After a nice long run this morning, M. and I headed up to the park for a picnic. Frenchie contentedly played with his ball and M. and I ate and enjoyed the scenery. 

All in all, a lovely weekend...Happy Mother's Day to everyone out there! 

Friday Footnotes

Thankfully, beautiful weather is coming this weekend.  My umbrella has had quite the workout this week! On that note, here are some things I am loving on this Friday...
The brownie cupcake from Crumbs that was lovely with some MarieBelle hot chocolate that I picked up last time I was in Soho...

Mussels...As I have mentioned before, I love mussels so much. They completely remind me of summer and of the beach and there is just no happier thing!! I cannot wait for my Saturday night dinner plans at The Mussel Pot! There is even an adorable little garden in the back of the restaurant...can't wait!!!!

Peonies...
They might just be the world's prettiest flower. The ones (via Oh Happy Day) in this Paris flower market look delightful!

Those amazing things that you can seemingly do only in New York City like the NYC Rooftop Films...

What a great way to spend a balmy summer night!
Happy Friday!!

Friday Footnotes

Things I'm loving on this fabulous Friday:
The Etsy shop Cosas Minimas by Blanca Gomez. Adoring these two prints!

This happy wallpaper that I can just see on the walls of my future dream beach house!

Oh how I adore this vintage typewriter that I can just see on my desk...

This stationary from one of my favorite paper places: Rifle Paper . Seriously...how adorable is this stationery!?

This book that I can't wait to read! A Jane Austen Education by William Deresiewicz.

Lastly... my top secret weekend plans. It's my mom's birthday and my sisters and I have a great weekend planned to celebrate! Happy weekend everyone!