AN AFTERNOON IN THE (SAN FRANCISCO) MISSION.

Friday was an amazing, warm, and sunny day.  Perfect Northern California spring weather...Raf was heading to the city to attend a meeting, so I decided to tag along for the BART ride, but hopped off in the Mission.  I seriously love this neighborhood.  It is a bit like Brooklyn, lots of old school people who have been in the neighborhood forever, mixed in with a serious creative vibe, amazing bakeries, restaurants, bodegas, hip shops, neighborhood bars and a heavy dose of hipsters :)  One of my favorite restaurants in the city, Gracias Madre (organic,vegan Mexican food) happens to be in the heart of it all, along with my favorite thrift store, Thrift Town.

I was mostly hoping to hit up the thrift and then head over to Bi-Rite Market to pick up some organic citrus fruit (I've been craving kumquats) and then head across the street to get some Bi-Rite ice cream from the Creamery and then to Delores Park to relax in the sun a bit.  I ended up spending some time thrifting, but then wandered in to an AMAZING fabric store in the basement next door and picked up some great things for some new jewelry designs I have been working on.  Then I headed over to Bi-Rite, and realized I was a bit dehydrated, and ice cream was probably not the best choice.  I got a coconut water (so yum and refreshing!), some kumquats and mandarinquats (a hybrid, obviously) and headed past the creamery :( and over to the park.  The park was PACKED with people celebrating the amazing weather.  I got a few pictures of the crazy scene (folks selling their wares, barbecues fired up, hippy drums being played, a crazy guy hip thrusting at the crowd--creating a roar of cheering...you name it...Raf called saying that he was done early, so we decided to meet up at a BART stop and head home together.  We had a nice ride/walk home (after stopping to do some Capoeira on a patch of grass and then hanging out with some squirrels who just received the best gift--a bag of peanuts!)  It was a lovely, lovely day...I love living here!

MORE AUSTRALIA.

(Relaxing in the sun on this crazy tree).

Hey there, it is our last day here before journeying home bright and early tomorrow morning (no really, our cab is picking us up at 5:45am). It has been lovely, for real. In two weeks, I have met more nice people than I can believe. I had the pleasure of cooking again at the Coop (I got to make up a recipe to feed 100 people--I made sesame broccoli salad!) and also got to help chop for their monthly Acoustic Soup night (a big pot of soup, some sides, bread, and beers along with a bunch of live acoustic acts, all within the Coop--so cool and reminded me of our old Ithaca Soup and Spin record listening nights...sigh...). We also has the pleasure of being invited to a few lovely dinners at the homes of Raf's fellow (new) research buddies. We had an epic, day long bike trip around the lake and the city, a trip to a park in the bush (Tidbinbilla) where we saw more kangaroos than I knew what to do with. We saw beautiful black swans, black cockatoos, and more white cockatoos, magpies, emus, pelicans and parrots (all running/flying wild and free, people!). I did a lot of walking around, a lot of cooking, maybe just maybe ate too much fresh bread, tried new foods (fresh passion fruit, lamingtons, a flat white coffee (or 3) and a tempeh/tofu blend to name a few), and got a bit of jewelry making done. Overall, it was a really, really great trip and I'm really, really glad I tagged along. :)

My buddy hung out on my leg for 15 minutes before flying away!

A snack break mid bike ride.

Bike path collapse (which led to crazy, pushing bikes up a steep hill to re-route) due to flooding the week before.

Park/lake in the center of the city.

Nerd Alert!  :)

Lake.

Majestic black swans.

Yep, another swan photo.

Emu.

I forgot what this bird is called, but it is rare and protected.

Kangaroo in Tidbinbilla.

More kangaroos.

Bob, Angharad, & Raf resting in the shade on the giant rock.

Crazy trees (which only grow like 9mm a year and look like they are dancing)!

Beginning the trek up the hill at Tidbinbilla.

Mountains and Flintstone bench.

Kangaroo explosion. No really, we were footsteps from hundreds of them all day...

Hey!

Pelican.

Sweetie amongst giant rocks!

The biggest of them all!

Yup.

Passion Fruit. Eat when fragrant and wrinkly!

See?

Raf HATED it. I loved how it smelled. The taste was meh, and the seeds you swallow were weird in texture...

My favorite (and frequently frequented) bakery...(I'll miss you--sniff, sniff).

SANTA CRUZ WEEKEND.

We had a lovely visit with our sweet buddies, Beth and Andrew in Santa Cruz this past weekend. We couldn't have asked for better company or weather--perfect for all of the garden and farm touring we did. Beth is a fabulous cook, it was so nice to eat her food again and crash at her adorable place...and Drew, thanks for the killer, large brunch coffee and farm tour! We have so much fun with these guys and can't wait to come back again soon...Santa Cruz is a dreamy, laid back, surfer town--you should check it out someday! :)

Beth firing up the stove for brunch omelettes.

Drew French pressing it up!

Relaxing at Chez Beth.

Mesmerized by the steam.

Mesmerized by the sunny view.

Omelette hands.

Pear, orange, and pomegranate salad.

Cute hosts.

Omelette fixins'.

Porch herbs.

So yum!

Cute entryway path and gate.

Steam and orange & blue combo.

Kiwi trellis in Beth's backyard.

Amazing raised beds in Beth's backyard. And there are super cute ducks wandering around too--I couldn't get close enough to them to get a good picture.

Chard!

Webby oranges.

Where's Waldo--err, I mean Drew?

YOSEMITE: PART I

Raf and I adventured in Yosemite this past August. We had been wanting to get out there ever since I moved here over a year ago, so it really was a special treat. And wow, that place is incredible! It is only about three hours away, so we are hoping to make it at least an annual trip. There is really so much to see, and the park is huge, so we could really use more time there. Anyway, we stayed in a little cabin in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and drove about an hour to the park both days. We spent full days there, and did a lot of hiking and exploring. I have a lot of pictures, so I'll break it up into at least two posts! Here we go...

Cute little cabin.

Good morning!

El Capitan.

Bridal Veil Falls.

The bottom of Yosemite Falls. This area was crawling with tourists (and in my worry-wart opinion negligent parents up the wazoo--seriously, people let their tiny kids crawl around very dangerous areas!). It was a really hot day, and we (and a million other people) climbed down into the rocks where the freezing water ran through. We dipped our feet, but it was so cold you could only leave them in the water for a minute!

We found this cool spot. Literally, it was about ten degrees cooler here. Raf took this picture because he liked the geometry of it.

Ahhhh....cooling off.

A nice nap on the rocks.

Off on a steep hike up the mountain! This was maybe halfway, but probably not even close. It was winding and a fairly strenuous climb, and there were little flies eating your face the whole way up, but it was TOTALLY worth it...

See? Spectacular! These photos do not even come close to doing this view justice. Holy cow...

Part II coming soon...