Sand Dollar Graveyard

Saturday morning I went for a leisurely walk on Ocean Beach with Kayla and Brenda. All three of us have the "resolution" to kick our booties into shape and we've been making a pretty good effort (just this week) at meeting that goal. We elected to walk Ocean beach, Taraval to the Cliff House and back. It was a great walk with good company and great conversation. Not to mention a BUTT load of amazing dogs along the way. I couldn't take a walk on the beach without my camera, so of course I snapped away. Here are some of the highlights!

Brenda and Kayla

Sand Dollars

It was freezing. I call this dedication. 

Sand Dollar Graveyard

Sand Dollars Broken to Peices

Sand Dollar Graveyard 

Drift wood 

Drift wood giraffe head 

Cuties!!

Bird Poop Island

Flickr Friday: its all been in your mind

its all been in your mind, originally uploaded by holly henry.

This photo really speaks for itself. I was browsing Flickr and came across this gem. This is part of Holly Henry’s set entitled “Welcome to the Psych Ward.” It also reminds me of the days where I’d rather tear my hair out then get out of bed. These are the restless nights filled with endless tossing and turning. When there is something on my mind and you just can't let it go, it just playing on repeat all night long. It feels like an illness. This photo expresses that feeling to me. It makes me feel like I should be committed to the psych ward. Click on the photo to hear her story.

I Love Her

Words can not describe how much I love Adele. Her voice is out of control amazing. This video is stunning. I can not wait till the album comes out on February 22nd. I had to share. Do you love her as much as I do?

Volunteering to get my ass whooped

Whooped into shape that is! As per my resolutions that aren’t really resolutions post, I’ve begun my journey to the dark side. That’s right, I’ve begun working out. This week my friend Kayla and I decided to try a one week free of cardio kickboxing class at One Martial Arts on Taraval. On my way to the bus stop I was feeling anxious and my anxiety went through the roof! I’ve never done a group fitness class before so I didn’t really know what to expect. Am I going to be able to keep up? Am I going to throw up from nerves? Is my asthma going to act up?  UGHH!! In order to clam my nerves I whipped out my camera phone and snapped a few photos to relax and keep me focused. The mood was very calm outside and I felt like capturing that in a photo would help calm my nerves. 

Once I met up with Kayla we joked about what to expect and how we were going to die half way through. We got to One Martial Arts, signed up for the free week trail and class was about to begin! Let me tell you, it wasn’t a walk in the park. I learned two things about myself. One, I have absolutely NOOOOOO coordination anymore, it’s embarrassing. And TWO I was determined. I didn’t want to give up, no matter what. What’s the point of working out if you don’t push yourself? Of course, I took a few breaks for water and completed the tasks to the best of my ability, but I didn’t give up. I’m proud of myself for that. I’m looking forward to more cardio kickboxing in the future. One week free trail be prepared to be defeated!

It's a Hell of a Town! Final Thoughts

Ah! So as you can see from days one, two, three, four and five, New York was a blast! We ate some great food, met up with friends and saw the sights. I wish I took more photos! There was so much to take in, but sometimes it’s better to just absorb it then try to photograph every little thing you see. Also, when it’s 27degrees outside you aren’t very motivated to whip your camera out at a moment’s notice. Your fingers freeze! And call me paranoid, but I was afraid to wear my camera around my neck for fear of it freezing into a million pieces.

Well, our sixth and final day was spent getting food in SoHo, attempting to go into some shops, and going to Russ and Daughters to get some bagels. Brenda and I were leaving that evening to go back to SF and Kayla and Devin were staying for a few more days, so we ended up splitting up. Brenda and I went to SoHo and grabbed coffee and crepes, got some delish bagels and then “attempted” to shop. I was SO not in the mood to shop. It’s so annoying to go into a warm store, get so hot you can’t move and then go back into the cold. Not to mention, by the end of the trip I was basically broke and had no money to shop. It’s not very motivating to be in a store when you can’t buy anything. Anyways, our SoHo trip was short lived, mostly thanks to me. So sorry Brenda, I know you could have shopped all day!

Russ and Daughters! Great Bagels!

After SoHo, it was back to Time Square to do some final souvenir shopping and then back to the hotel to finish packing up and head to JFK, get on a plane and arrive back at SFO!

All and all it was an amazing trip! However, there are some things that I wish I did, like take a boat ride around the statue of liberty, go to the Empire State Building, see ground zero and visit Wall Street. There were things that I loved about NY like the bagels, our morning Starbucks runs, Broadway and easy access to shopping pretty much everywhere. I REALLY disliked that there weren’t toilet seat covers, like anywhere. Also finding a liquor store was hard. Not to mention the odd hours. You could only buy wine and hard liquor at a liquor store, no beer. Beer was only for sale at convenience stores. SO WEIRD! Totally not used to that. As we were in NY we also made a few observations about the people. They like to yell at each other on the phone and for the most part a lot of New Yorkers are rude, at least the ones that we ran into, with the exception of the guy that worked at the corner kiosk.

Thanks again Kayla and Brenda! And Congratulations Kayla on graduating from SF State! (The trip was a celebration of her graduation.) I know you ladies had a blast! It was an adventure from start to finish. Here are my absolute 5 favorite photos from the trip!

RRRARRR!! T-Tex

Devin and Kayla

View of the city from Central Park

Top of the Rock



Drag Queen before la cage aux folles Broadway show



Thanks For reading about my trip! I hope to travel back to NYC soon, maybe even embark on another east coast adventure. What's next? Boston, Washington DC, Chicago? I guess you'll have to wait and see!

Love or Hate for Valentines Day

valentines day, originally uploaded by *omnia*.

I’m an avid reader of all things San Francisco. I read SFGate.com, Fun Cheap SF, SFist and 7x7 on a daily basis. I’ve had Valentine’s Day on my mind for awhile now and I came across this article on 7x7 and could NOT get over how funny this is. I’m not big on Valentine’s Day. I think it’s a made up holiday to sell flowers and chocolate, but for some reason this year I feel the need to do something fun/new/different. Clearly all the pressure for Valentine’s Day is on the male in the relationship. What he buys his girlfriend, what he plans out, how much he plans, how much money does he spend, etc. But what about every other day of the year? Shouldn’t he show his love for you daily? Why Valentine’s Day? I wonder who decided that you have to show affection just this one day a year.

Maybe I’m the type of women that’s been disappointed on Valentine’s Day so many times that I know better than to expect a parade in my honor, but I think it’s also unrealistic to expect so much from men. I’d rather have my man give me flowers “just because” rather than because he feels pressured to do so on Valentine’s day. Maybe I’m a rare breed of woman in my Valentine’s Day thinking, but I doubt it. Don’t get me wrong, if I was smothered with flowers, candies, card and a perfect date I’d be ecstatic, but I don’t think there needs to be so much pressure. How do you feel about Valentine’s Day? Do you embrace it or want to burn every box of chocolates at Walgreens?

It's a Hell of a Town! Part Four

Oh day four you were a lazy day indeed. Let’s just say that when you go to sleep at 6am it’s a little hard to wake up early and feel motivated. The plan for day four was to go to the Museum of Natural History, but that didn’t happen. We work up and started functioning around 3pm, found some food at a nearby deli and then watched TV until it was about dinner time. We also didn’t feel very motivated to move because Kayla’s boyfriend Devin was arriving from SF around 3:30pm, so we decided to wait from him to get to the hotel before we left to do anything.

Devin arrived as we were watching Bravo and he went off to hang out with his friends, we opted to go to dinner at Havana Central instead. And we ended the night by going to a comedy show in time square at HA! comedy club. Interesting show indeed. One comedian from Brooklyn pretty much only talked about killing homeless people while the other comics focused on male/female relationships and NY life. We got a few good laughs.

Unfortunately, I have no photos from day four. What a drag! But it was just a simple day that no photos were really necessary.

Day five on the other hand was a much more exciting day! We woke up around noon and Kayla, Devin and I headed to the Museum of Natural History while Brenda went to meet up with a friend for lunch.

The museum was out of control! There are artifacts from every part of the world, history about the earth itself and, the best part, tons of dinosaurs! It’s really a place you have to experience for yourself, but here are some of the highlights.

After the museum we took a little walk though Central Park. There is something so magical about that place in the snow during sunset. The colors are raw yet vibrant. The feeling is really like no other. Kayla, Devin and I walked though the park until it got too dark and then took the train back to the hotel. Here are some of the amazingly cheesy (Kayla and Devine) and magical photos I took.

The day ended with a dinner to a little place called 123 Burger, Shoots, Beer. Yes, it is exactly what it sounds like. $1 Burgers, $2 Shots and $3 Beers. Sounds too good to be true right? Well the burgers were mini burgers, the shots where mixed shots only and super small and the beers were only 7oz. All and All it was fun time with good company.

Oh what a wonderful time! Sadly, it was our last full day in the city. I'll have a wrap up of the trip tomorrow! 

Motivation for Monday

Oh Mondays, I have this love/hate relationship with you. I love starting off a new week, but I hate waking up early after two days of sleeping till noon and watching TV/football all weekend. In an effort to gain some motivation, I thought I’d surf Etsy for a few things that motivate me and keep me motivated for the work week ahead. Enjoy :)



Cancer-8x8 Art Print by MursBlanc



PRINT - Today is the day by thebigharumph

 

Keep Calm and Say Cheese Print by Queensspoof



I love you more then cupcakes 13x19 by ecceprints 



Enjoy the simple things by ParadaCreations




Snow White Nerdy 15 macbook by Vinylstudio

 
Yes, a random mixture of things, but the still keep me motivated and excited for what this week brings. Happy Monday everyone!