San Francisco

Back in 2010, I went to San Francisco every other week for work. Here's a picture taken outside the window of the very tall building I worked in. The highlight of these trips was walking to The Ferry Building for lunch each day. It was filled with great shops and lunch spots. It was my first encounter with Blue Bottle Coffee; I loved the simple blue and white branding. 

Beautiful Maui

Went to Maui recently for 7 days and re-familiarized myself with relaxation. It is so slow and balmy. The second to last pic was taken up at Haleakala National Park, and the LAST one was the beginnings of the three hurricanes that threatened our departure. 

The first two pics are my vistas, left and right, from the beach in front of the house we stayed in; taken just after sunrise. We stayed on the north shore in a quiet residential area.

Berkeley & San Francisco

A recent trip to Berkeley started with a visit with a friend and lunch at the Blue Barn Gourmet. Then I met another friend and heard her thoughts of taking the Trans-Siberian Railway. Alone.

We also talked about (the following was pulled from this article) a landmark UCLA study that suggests when women hang out together during stressful times, the hormone Oxytocin is released as part of our stress response. This response encourages the two friends to perhaps add in a few more women to widen the group, which releases more of this hormone and further counters stress and produces a calming effect. I can only imagine things getting really rough and a bunch of women hoarding up, growing into a huge crowd.
Sadly, for our menfolk, this calming response does not happen, says Dr. Klein, because testosterone—which men produce in high levels when they’re under stress—seems to reduce the effects of oxytocin. Estrogen, she adds, seems to enhance it. Pics from the trip:

Esalen

To go to one of their weekend retreats...definitely on my list. You can see a little of Esalen here in the final scene of Mad Men, topped off with the coke commercial that raised a stir by many. Here is a book about Esalen I'd like to check out.

Portland Travelogue, contd.

One of the first things we did in Portland was to stop by Washington Park. It was raining (I won’t keep saying that because it applies to all of the days we were there) and pretty cold, but we explored the park in all its green, lush splendor. We saw a blue spruce in the middle of this green field of grass. It looked otherworldly. The international rose test garden was vast. There were blooms in the rose garden, albeit soggy. Must go back.

The gorgeous doorway of the Tiffany Center building.

Shiny streets, freshly washed down with rain.

The van in this picture, as only Portland can provide.

Most amazing bookstore ever.

Birthday in Portland

For my birthday this year, the hubs threw out, “hey, y’wanna go to Portland for your birthday?” To which I replied, “Yes!” I’ve been so curious about the city for so long, for reasons like: the Portland-based blogs I read, like this one and this one; a friend who was born there and went to college there; and of course the show Portlandia that spoofs so many things I consider regular life, like: asking the provenance of a part of your dinner (um, not to this degree, but…), loving owl and bird-inspired stuff and micro brewed beer, and that 1890s look--and so many other things that are so Portland.
So, go we did, and had lots of fun, most of which included eating and drinking, and dodging rain drops—of which there were many.
Below, a tabby sighting on a little side street near Tasty n Sons.

Off the plane early (9 a.m.), and straight to Tasty n Sons, a restaurant that was recommended and serves up some amazing brunch fare. The coffee was great, but what about the little bottle for the cream. Cute factor times ten.

I had the Fried Egg & Cheddar Biscuit with smoked sausage. I left my vegetarian tendencies at home and went for it. That biscuit was incredible. Flaky, herby, cheddary goodness.

James had BBQ Chicken Hash with onion sour cream and an over easy egg. We stabbed the egg pre-photo.

But, we didn’t stop there. We had brunch dessert: a Chocolate Potato Doughnut with crème anglaise. And, yes, we did sop up every drop of that pool of deliciousness that the doughnut was sitting in. We shared it—that wasn’t easy. Hey, wait, you’re taking an extra crumb!

And that was just breakfast. More updates to follow. I don’t want you to get too full.
Peace, love, and Portland,
Robin

Miami Adventure: Warm and Sunny

I was in Miami recently for work. After the exhausting 4 days of the sales kickoff meeting, I was able to have a relaxing couple of days with my niece and sis-in-law. We roamed the shops of Bal Harbour; which I remember as a kid before they were renovated. We stopped for lunch at Savarin and I had an amazing salad with white asparagus and watermelon radishes! They are so delicious and really beautiful. Check out the colors! The orange was a paper thin shaving of carrot.

The restaurant also had a beautiful case of macaroons:
I’m not sure what a “Cassandra” is, but they were certainly boxed up nicely.

We stayed at the Fountainbleu, and this was the view from the window. The water was so blue and gorgeous…
The floor looked like it was covered in little bow ties…
When I was little, I remember going to the Fountainbleu with my Dad. Here’s what it looked like then:

And, here’s how it looks now: much snazzier, but still retaining the old feel:

I love revisiting places I know I’ve been a long time ago. I can feel the edges of those moments somehow, as if they’re reaching out to touch my soul again. Who knows, maybe Dad was there walking that day alongside me.

Day Trip: L.A.

We ventured to the City of Angels, shopped All Saints, Kitson, and had lunch at The Ivy restaurant. We had salads and relished the lovely interior. 

The hand painted dishes, and their fresh everything, served with warm bread and salted butter. It's heaven in a booth. Below is a mantel in one of the other rooms. Every table has gorgeous little teapot vases with garden roses and sweet peas. 

A secret walkway.

The window at MARNI.

Amazing courtyard.

End of Weekend Catch Up

Fall is upon us, and I’ve been away for what seems like a full season. Work has me at the computer a whole lot, with little time to blog. Fortunately, I keep snapping pics, waiting for a night like this to catch y’all up!!!
Figs. That’s a good place to start. Our fig tree, the one that was basically a little stick with a few green leaves on it for the first year, has gone wild! I’m so glad it rallied. And these delicious beauties were the recent harvest. They were so crazily good. Picked them on a cool morning. So good.

Strawberries! Also home grown. I have four pots on the potting table and they just keep putting out the berries. Fun to take a break from the computer during the day and walk outside and nab one. A sweet distraction from writing about technology!

Peaches. And, how gorgeous are these? Not home grown, however. But delish nonetheless… A Whole Foods bounty. They smelled divine.

The “L” train in Chicago. I was there recently for work. What a great city. Gorgeous architecture everywhere.

This is the Tiffany Dome – it’s in the Chicago Cultural Center. Such a beautiful building.

My sis-in-law and niece met me in Chicago for some family fun. It was so great to spend time together. We had dinner one night at The Girl and the Goat. The chef was a Top Chef winner. It was quite the carnivore’s haven, but really, really good.

My favorite San Fran eating spot. I was there last week. A salad from Il Cane Rosso. Everything they make is so fresh – like they pulled it out of the ground 2 minutes before you get there.

Hope this finds everyone well! I’ll stop by and say hi soon!
, Robin