Week of February 28th 2011: Bisou and the Castro Theater

I suppose it's fitting that I write about the Castro Theater during Pride in SF. The Castro Theater is one of many incredible landmarks around San Francisco. The Theater plays lots of classic, old movies so when it was suggested that I check it out for my blog, I knew I had to pick the perfect movie to be my first there. So when one of my favorite classic movies - a timeless tale of love, family, and transformation - came along, I knew I had to go. That's right - I went to The Little Mermaid Sing-Along.

But let's back track a couple of hours. As a belated birthday present, I decided to take my friend, Shannon, to an endless mimosa lunch. We decided to go that day so we could see the movie together as well. After some Yelping and Google Searching, we came across Bisou, a cute French inspired brunch spot. It was a great choice. We were lucky that we beat a lot of the Sunday brunch rush (although there was already a table filled with another group of Shannon's friends) so we got great service the whole time. In addition to our endless mimosas, we got incredible food. I got some crab eggs benedict and she got a croque madame and they were both super tasty. To top it off - our waiter topped off our mimosas even after we finished eating.

However, we couldn't stay and hang out too long because we had to make our movie! After getting our tickets, we were handed Little Mermaid goody bags for the show. They were filled with bubbles, crowns, necklaces, glowsticks, and dinglehoppers.

The whole movie experience was so fun. I think the best part about the theater is that ability to see a movie that came out before you were born (or in this case, when you were just a little kid) and have the chance to see it on the big screen again or maybe the first time. I definitely recommend that everyone check out the theater's calendar each month and try to make it to one of your favorite old films. I'm sad that I didn't look at June a little earlier. They played my favorite movie, Vertigo, for 3 days straight. It would have been wonderful to see that on the big screen.\

And now I'm finally through the February posts! It only took me three months to get through February and a lot more went on in March - I'm never going to catch up am I?

Well - I have another vacation coming up. I'm going to spend a week or so in Southern California visiting family and taking it easy. I have a few new things planned but if you're in LA, SB, or SD - I'm headed your way and would love to see you. If not, that's more time for me to write.

Week of February 28th 2011: Candybar

What do you do when you have Groupon expiring in a week? Well, you grab one of your closest friends and make sure you use that sucker.

Candybar is a little spot that my friend Elissa had told me about before. It's known for champagne cocktails, amazing desserts and board games. Since she told me about the place and loves all of those things (and we were still celebrating her birth), I thought it would be fun to bring her as my date.

Our timing was rather impeccable - we got there shortly after a tour bus full of young professionals. Although we had to wait a while, it was actually kind of entertaining. The "bus" was actually this comically old green bus and all of the participants of the group were dressed in their best suits and cocktail dresses. They all also had name tags on that had 3 random facts about themselves. It was pretty fun to watch until they cleared out and we were able to get a table.

We were finally seated and decided that the most appropriate game at Candybar was clearly Candyland. It should be obvious as to how we chose the colors of our pieces...

We decided to start off the night with two lemon drop shots which were really delicious. Then we ordered a couple of champagne cocktails each. I go the Mango Tango (champagne and mango) and the Jasmine Sparkle (champagne, jasmine and lemon).

For our dessert meals, Elissa got a really good flourless chocolate cake. I decided to get the panna cotta. I'm not sure that I'd even had panna cotta before but it came with a macaron so I was sold.

With our cocktails and desserts, we decided to play a few rounds of Sorry! After we both won a game, we decided to call it a night.

Overall, the bar is really cute. It's a great place to go and have a laid back date night or just spend some time with a friend - just try to avoid the party bus crowds.

Week of February 28th 2011: CSSC - Four Barrell Coffee

I'm sure you were all thinking that as soon as I finished my test, the number of posts would just explode. Unfortunately - free time is something I don't do well and have had trouble finding some. I also lost my notes (bet you were wondering how I remembered things from so long ago) somewhere between here and the UK. Thank goodness this was a spot I thoroughly enjoyed.

So, spoiler alert - There are only like... 6 posts in my coffee series and I didn't study one of those times or get food another. I did really like checking out places though and had no less than 50 or so coffee spots on my list. I was thinking of just dropping into some locations and reading for a couple of hours. I figured most 20-somethings looking for good cafes aren't studying anyways.

Without further ado - Four Barrel Coffee.... is amazing.

Taste - 5. My creamy latte was delicious. I dropped a few sugar cubes in there and really enjoyed sipping it while reading my study guide.

Buzz - 4. It was good and I was able to focus but Blue Bottle was still stronger. I think Blue Bottle is going to be my benchmark for strong coffee. If something can top Blue Bottle then I may need a new ranking scale.

Presentation - 4. I've been mostly ordering latte's just to see if they make pretty patterns in the foam. I wasn't disappointed. I guess you get a 5 if there are fireworks and anti-gravity tricks happening. Yes, I will eventually have a 5, but that's a story for another day.

Ambiance - 5. The space is really cool. I always think dark wood in a coffee shop makes it feel warmer and more comfortable. In addition to that homely feel, Four Barrel had a lot of artwork on the walls. Some of it was kind of erratic but it was fun to look at. There was also a cool rope/light fixture in the windows that I loved. If I ever get a pirate ship movie theater, I'll need to look into getting some.

Food - 4. I got a really nice toffee chip cookie. And by really nice I mean it was delicious and gooey like a cookie should be. My only issue was the size. If it came in Specialty's cookie size, this may have been a 5.

Selection - 3. For a coffee shop, not bad but there was a short list of coffee drinks, a shorter list of tea drinks and a handful of special blends. Plus, the food was limited to a dwindling display case.

Study - 5. This was probably my most productive cafe. At first I thought the music may be too loud, but it was actually the perfect volume to drown out the chatter. I grabbed a window seat and had plenty of space to layout my books. There was a lot of seating so I didn't feel rushed or like I was inconveniencing anyone.

Novelty - 4. How did an artisan coffee shop in the Mission get such a high score for novelty, you ask? It goes back to ambiance. Anyone can set up a coffee shop and say that they serve the best imported, specialty, fair-trade coffee in the city but if you can also create a warm environment where people feel welcome to relax and read for a bit, then that's kind of special. I would go back any time for a coffee, or to hang out. People had kids, dogs, laptops, newspapers - so many different kinds of people felt welcome there. That is hard to find.

Overall - 5. I was really close to giving this place a 4 based on the cumulative score, but if I liked this place so much and didn't give it a 5 - what would deserve the top score? This is a great coffee shop with friendly baristas, a good crowd and it's in walking distance. I don't really know what else I could ask for!

..but seriously - how awesome was that pirate ship movie theater?

Optimized for Mobile Viewing!

I've seen in the stats that some of you are reading this on Blackberries or iPhones so now I proudly present - Mobile views! If you're reading this on a smart phone, it probably looks a lot nicer than before. Now you can follow my rantings from anywhere with no excuses.

Also - my test is over now so I'm going to try to get to my backlog of posts. I've had a crazy few days so it might be a little bit before I can tackle my looming lists of new things that I have to write about, but they will come to you as soon as I can.

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.