Give me sugar!!!

I love candy! Who doesn't love candy? It's sweet. It's cute. It comes in bright, colorful packaging. The sugar rush feels so good even if it might be followed by the dreaded sugar crash. There are not many candies that I don't love.  Unfortunately though there are some candies that I love but are difficult to come by.  One of these would be the amazing Green Tea Kit Kat that comes from Japan.

From Drop Box

My sister lives in Japan, and she sent some of these over a couple years ago. I have been hooked ever since. Seriously, so freaking delicious! Much to my dismay, it has been near impossible trying to find these outside of Japan.  Even with all the specialty Japanese stores in San Francisco, we have been in a huge green tea Kit Kat drought. Until now...

Enter Icandy

From Drop Box

This awesome little shop opened up a couple months ago in our neighborhood, just a few blocks south near 41st and Taraval. OMG, this place is heaven!!! They specialize in Japanese and American candy and snacks. Their selection is outstanding. They have candy I didn't even know still existed, like Now and Later. The first time I stepped foot in here I immediately fell in love. So much candy...

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

and hardly a miss in the bunch. I could do without all the dried fish snacks, but I know some people like those things. I certainly wouldn't want to deny anyone their dried fish. They have all the Japanese greats; Hello Panda, Pocky, mochi, and flavored Kit Kats. Of course I got some Green Tea Kit Kats, and also decided to try the Blueberry. Flavored Kit Kats are amazing, why don't they make these things in America?

I am so glad Icandy has opened even though I could see this place being totally dangerous. I feel like I could go in there and drop $50 on candy no problem. This place is totally one of my new favorite things and just another reason in a long list of why I love this city.

The Pizza Place

One of the greatest things about living in San Francisco is the food. There is no shortage of delicious food here. Even being a vegetarian, the choices are endless.

A favorite place of ours is just blocks away on 46th and Noriega. It is simply called The Pizza Place, and it is amazing. The Pizza Place does one style of pizza, thin crust, but you can get it meaty, vegetarian or even vegan. With your pizza you can enjoy a salad, french fries, or even braised greens.

While the greens are very tasty, our appetizer of choice is usually the Sweet Potato Steak Fries. These things are monstrous and come with homemade ranch and buffalo sauce. Both sauces are so good, it's always a dilemma trying to decide which one to dip the fries in. I usually just end up alternating every other bite.

From Drop Box

In true thin crust fashion, the pizzas here are ginormous. We always get the large so we'll have leftovers. This place has great toppings like roasted potatoes, mini tomatoes, carmelized onions and vegan pesto. Pictured below is the Besto with pesto, feta, roasted potatoes, and roasted red peppers. So totally scrumptious!

From Drop Box

In addition to the great food, the atmosphere here is totally laid back. They have cheap pitchers of PBR. A big screen TV to watch all the local teams. Mismatched plates and flatware that look they were picked up at various thrift stores. This place knows what it is and does it perfectly. I always love coming here, and am never been disappointed. I ♥ The Pizza Place

Gotta have a montage!

Happy Anniversary, San Francisco!!! We've been together four years now, do you still love me as much as I love you?

As promised, I put together a few of the pictures I've taken over the past four years. These are some of my favorite images. They have been carefully categorized and overly collaged by me in Picasa (sorry, I'm a little addicted to collages).

The City

From Collages

The Flora

From Collages

The Fauna

From Collages

Having Fun and Being Cute

From Collages

Cakes and Cupcakes

From Collages

Giants Baseball

From Collages

Battling the chill of the Fog

From Collages

We've come a long way, baby!

I'm currently working on a photo montage for our 4 year San Francisco Anniversary, which is TODAY! I figured it would be the perfect thing for this blog about how much I love this city. 

To be honest, it wasn't love at first sight.  It was a big transition for me and took some getting used to.  I was sad for a while being so far away from most of the people I really loved. Over time I came to love this place, and I think if we ever leave I will definitely leave my heart (or at least a part of it in San Francisco). 

Cheesiness aside, I found two great pictures to illustrate just how far we've all come in the past 4 years, especially the City of San Francisco.  4 amazing years and we've been through so much! 

From Collages

Theses two photos were not planned.  The first is the construction of the California Academy of Sciences as seen from the De Young Tower taken shortly after Nik and I moved here in August 2006. The second is the finished California Academy of Sciences taken from roughly the same spot in the Tower in Spring 2010.  I found these last night looking through all my photos and thought it was so appropriate for today.  Stay tuned for more amazing photos from the City by the Bay!

Favorite Spots: The Rooftop Garden @ Mission and 1st

Cubicles and offices can be dark and gloomy. They can leave you dreary and out-of-touch with the natural world. There are days when I'm not even sure if the sun is shining because I'm trapped in my office behind a computer screen. With such conditions, it becomes absolutely necessary to escape at lunchtime and enjoy the outdoors.

Downtown San Francisco is not exactly jam-packed with green spaces, but they do exist. My most favorite, or at least the best and closest one to my work is a rooftop garden off of First Street on Mission on top of a parking garage. This is THE spot to go to grab some rays and enjoy your lunch. There are trees and flowers and grass; it feels like an oasis among the tall concrete and glass buildings. It's not a secret place, and on sunny days can be quite crowded, but nothing can really deter me from coming here.

If you need some structure, there are a few tables and chairs. If you want to lounge around, there are a couple large, grassy areas suitable for a laying about and getting a tan. You'll definitely see a few suits taking brief naps here on the nicest of days.

I really can't think of a bad thing to say about this place. I kind of wish they had compost bins along with the trash and recycling, but that is seriously the only negative for me. Some weeks I come here every day. The sunshine can be quite addictive. Even when I don't make it out to the garden, it's reassuring knowing it is there should I need a swift kick of vitamin D or just to see some flowers in the midst of the concrete jungle.

Picnic in the Park

From Collages

I've always been a sucker for a good picnic. When Nik and I lived in Omaha, I made it a point to purchase a cute picnic basket (a Pier 1 special) to use for all my future picnics. A picnic basket is a necessity for the serious picnicker; I always wanted to be a serious picnicker.

Over the years, I've definitely packed some great picnics. During Nik and I's first picnic, I introduced him to brie and he's loved it ever since. I like to keep my picnics simple with small, snacky dishes, and I always throw in some bread and cheese, perfect picnic food.

For today's picnic I had a lot of fresh produce hanging out in the fridge from our CSA box that I wanted to incorporate. The menu consisted of:

Fresh corn salsa with tortilla chips (basic pico de gallo recipe with fresh, blanched corn added)
Spring Mix and strawberry salad with croutons and strawbery balsamic viniagrette (recipe from Vegetarian Times with a few tweaks)
Baguette with brie cheese
Double chocolate brownies
Sparkling Italian white wine

The food was so pretty and delicious. Simple and elegant as picnics should be. Thanks to Nik we had a great secluded spot in Golden Gate Park to enjoy it all. He found a nice clearing, right off of Chain of Lakes. There may not have been any sunshine, but it was a perfect picnic.

SOMA Sunshine

From Drop Box

Summer and sunshine are two things that really don't go together in San Francisco, especially for me a resident of the western edge of the city, a fog shrouded neighborhood known as the Outer Sunset. Each morning I wake up to grey skies and chilly ocean breezes. I put on cable knit tights and sweaters. There is no sunshine and it most likely isn't warm. I make sure to bring a jacket and put gloves in my purse because that ocean wind can go rogue at any moment. I board the N-Judah and it whisks me away to a totally different world, the bayside of the city.

In the summer the bayside can be foggy too, but it can also be sunny and awesome and the complete opposite of what is going on in the Sunset. I take my lunch break from work outside because that California sunshine is too good to waste and too precious to let go when you live in the City. At the end of the day I choose my method of transportation, either the train or the bus. Lately, I'm totally into the bus because the train feels so claustrophobic at rush hour.

Taking the bus means waiting at the soon to be defunct Transbay Terminal, a place that really deserves its own post because it is just that crazy of a place. While there are times you will run into crazy homeless people screaming at nothing, it's usually pretty uneventful. It is also the last few moments I have to soak up some sunshine before heading back into the fog. Yesterday as I waited for the 71-L the sun was in full effect. Glorious SOMA sunshine is amazing and it definitely helps keep the SF summer doldrums at bay.