Week of Febraury 21st, 2011: Mamacita's

This post comes courtesy of Miss Elissa - my "work bestie" as she likes to put it. Now all of my other coworkers are going to be jealous...

Anyways, my dear friend Elissa was celebrating another year on this planet and I thought it would be nice to show her a night on the town. There are a few things Elissa is always asking about doing - going to Mamacita's and going out for dancing and girlie drinks in the Marina. She made it really easy for me to figure out what to do for her birthday.

Mamacita's is a high end Mexican restaurant in the Marina district of San Francisco. We decided to start our dinner with some simple chips and guacamole. The guacamole also came with salsa and both were really delicious. I know, it's pretty simple to gush over guac and salsa but you have no idea how often they get messed up. I can't tell you how many times places have tried to pass some liquidy, creamy mess off as guacamole. Real guac has avocados in it and just enough spice to give it some kick but not to mask the green fruit. Yes, it's a fruit. Look it up. Salsa can come in a variety of ways, but I think that when you're bringing some for a table of varying pallets to share, you want one that's not too chunky, not too liquidy, not too spicy, but with some kick. But I digress... (some how this is turning into a food blog and I'm hopped up on caffeine so I'm being a little aggressive...)

To compliment our meal we got a pitcher of mango margaritas and they were definitely tasty as well.For entrees Elissa got chicken tacos and I got shrimp tacos and both were really good as well, but not too memorable. I had forgotten what I'd ordered a few days later when I was trying to take notes for this blog...

For dessert, I made sure to sign language to the waitress that someone at our table was celebrating their birth and that embarrassing singing was going to be needed. No really, there was lip reading, pointing, actions, everything and a lot of Elissa asking me what I was doing.

Thank goodness the waitress understood my gibberish and she brought out a beautiful Molten Chocolate Pudding with Dulce de Leche Gelato. Although the restaurant wasn't nearly embarrassing enough when they brought out the dessert, it was so incredible that it was completely worth it. Seriously, I would go back just for this.The waitress said it was a customer favorite and I can see why.

All in all, the restaurant is really good, but maybe a little overpriced for what they do. I think I've heard that they have happy hour deals. If so, I would go then because nothing tasted bad.

Sorry for how awful the pictures are! When I have some time I'm going to try to fix them.

Week of Febrauary 14th, 2011: Artopia

We're two weeks away from my test - you know what that means, right? Soon I'll have no excuse for not posting! It also means, you'll probably see a few posts this weekend because we all know what happens when you need to buckle down and study - everything else. Procrastination is amazing.

Artopia is an event that I found out about through my SF Weekly deals. If you're in SF, I suggest looking into their Voice Deals of the Day. This isn't a shameless plug (I get nothing from them). While some of their deals are the typical restaurant ones, they also have a lot of events that are usually $10 or so and have open bars. I've been to a few already and it's a good deal. So when I saw a $10 deal for an open bar art event a few blocks away from my apartment, I grabbed my friend, Oleg, and decided to check it out.

Now when most people go to an even that is clearly marketed as an "open bar" event, they tend to go inside and head straight to the bar to capitalize on this. Of course, we followed suit but upon arriving at the bar, I noticed someone paying for their drink. Since Oleg and I each had less than $10 on us and the place didn't take card, we decided to hold off and go check out the exhibits.

We walked around and quickly noticed that the "ARTopia" event, didn't really have a ton of art and we were able to see most of it rather quickly. There was an upstairs area that had a couple large pieces, and a hallway that had an interesting rope piece (which I immediately took pictures of and sent to a climbing friend). There were also some fun, Clue-esque bird pictures that I really liked although the concept seemed lost on a lot of people that were walking by.

Around that time, an announcement was made that the open bar was closing in 30 minutes. That announcement was immediately followed by some intense glaring from my friend. Turns out the "paying" that I had seen were people ordering complicated drinks, but beers and normal beverages were still free. Oops...

At least, we didn't have to pay too much for my mistake as we quickly learned that the bar had no problem giving you a few drinks "for friends." 4 beers apiece later, we were happily standing at a table, appreciating some art and talking about life.

All in all, it's always fun to go to a random event and enjoy a few drinks on a Wednesday with a good friend. This event was a little more crowded and less organized that some that I had been to before, and we didn't stay too long after we finished our drinks.

May 2nd, 2011: Growing Up

This may be the only post that goes out of order, but I like to write them as they come sometimes and I don't want to post this one a few months from now. This post will only be relevant today. This post is about growing up.

Today was my 25th birthday. I always pictured my life at 25 and without going into too much detail - I thought my life would be much different than it is. I've spent so many birthdays trying to make everything perfect - throw the perfect party, have everyone show up, feel popular and be at the "right place" in my life. I don't have any of that at 25 and I've never felt more content with where I am.

I live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, I have a job that allows me to live a very comfortable lifestyle, but most importantly I am surrounded by great friends and family. I spent so many birthdays trying to get everyone to come to my birthday parties, to plan something that would make everyone happy, and I was always the one unsatisfied. This year, I am spending my birthday the way I want to. The people that care about me will and have been there for me. If someone can't make it, that doesn't mean they don't care. If someone doesn't care, forget 'em. I will always be inviting and a hostess (its in my nature, you should see the rest of my family), but I'm not going to take things so personally.

My life is far from perfect but it's a really good one. I'm finally in a place where I know that I need to make myself happy before I can expect anyone else to. It took 25 years but in think I'm finally growing up.