Spring Jacket

I really like this knit jacket from Anthropologie

Priceless

Pretty people with pretty things in a pretty place.

Daily Interpol Obsession

Interpol blows my mind! This song is my current obsession.

Why Hide the Cord?

I am considering purchasing this lamp from MOMA. I have a really hard time finding floor lamps that I like, so why not go for something whimsical?

Snippet & Ink

My new favorite blog is Snippet & Ink. Kathryn puts together inspiration boards for weddings that make me wish I could get married again (to Tyler, of course!) My favorite is the Versailles Garden Party. I love the the picture of the chandeliers hanging from the rafters. It reminds me of the dinner party scene from the recent Marie Antoine movie.

The Home for the Holidays board caught my eye too since that's the time of year I got married.

Slow Hands :Interpol

Mark introduced me to Interpol on New Year's Eve. I can't get enough of their music! If I had to pick a favorite this song would be it.

Summer Reading

I love to read and I've been having withdrawals due to my lack of time to settle into a comfy chair and escape into a good book. I'm usually lucky if I can cab home from work, brush my teeth, and jump into bed in time to get eight hours of sleep before I start all over the next day.

Now that busy season is over, I get a little break. It even seems like I have more time after work than usual since the sun sets later. I've made a couple trips to the book store over the week and it's like being a kid in a candy store. It will probably take me a while to finish all the books I've purchased, but I just couldn't help it. I had to have them now!! Here's the list:

1) Love in the Time of Cholera
2) Persepolis
3) Jitterbug Perfume
4) The Woman in White
5) Tess of the d'Urbervilles

Any other suggestions or opinion about these?

Farmer Brown

How cool is this picture?! I used to live on Nob Hill just above Union Square and I always complained that the food in that neighborhood isn't very good. Well just in time for my move, Farmer Brown opened on the edge of Union Square and the Tenderloin.

The menu is packed with southern comfort. I had the fried chicken and mac & cheese. It was so perfectly crisp on the outside and steamy and moist on the inside. Tyler ordered the pulled pork sandwich and we shared a slice of the decadent pecan pie for dessert. The food was so rich and delicious. I didn't feel like eating until dinner the next day even after sharing an appetizer and dessert. Maybe it's good that I don't live close to this restaurant anymore, but I think we will find our way back occasionally. Just not before shopping for jeans!

Definitely Maybe

Tyler and I have both been pressing up against big deadlines at work over the past couple months, so we haven't had a lot of spare time to spend together. But we always try to leave work at 5:00 on Friday for a date. On one such evening last month, we saw the movie Definitely Maybe after an indulgent dinner at Farmer Brown.

I didn't have super high hopes because I'm almost always disappointed by romantic comedies, but we needed something light and it had a decent rating on Rotten Tomatoes so we gave it a chance. It was really good! I cried at one point and I almost never cry in movies. Tyler even enjoyed it despite the lack of guns, 30 minute battle scenes and violence. (Okay, so he is actually much deeper than I just let on. I'm trying to make the point that for a chick flick, he really liked it.)

Posy Flats

I love these shoes from J. Crew. The style is reminiscent of something you would see at Chanel. When you consider how much Chanel would charge, they are a bargain. (I'm very good at justifying my way into a pretty pair of shoes.)

Corporate Conscience

These rugs are made in Armenia and Tibet by a company who provides food, housing, schooling and health care for employees and their families.

Modern Floral

This bedding is so pretty. My husband would think it is too flowery, but I hope some lucky girl out there gets to sleep under this beautiful duvet.

Form & Function

West Elm has really great multi-function furniture which is perfect for city living and small spaces. It is very affordable too. The bed has six storage drawers and an optional head board. The desk includes a letter-size filing drawer and an adjustable shelve.

Glass Water Bottles

I first sighted one of these glass water bottles by Seletti in Domino magazine a couple months back. I finally kicked the bottled water habit at work earlier this year. I think I would have been inspired to do so earlier if I had seen these pretty glass bottles.

Spring and Summer Work Clothes

I went back to work last fall after a three year break. It was really fun to go on a work clothes shopping spree. Now it's time for another one to acquire some spring and summer pieces. I like this dress from J.Crew.

Floor Art

Design Within Reach has some really great rugs right now. I especially like the first one.

Opinions Wanted RE: Eero Aarnio Bubble Chair

So what do you think of this chair? My friend Warren is remodeling his home and wants one of these for the living room. At first I wasn't so sure, but now the idea is kind of growing on me. Definitely a statement piece!

Aspirations

One of my dreams in life is to live in a home with breathtaking city and bay views framed by floor to ceiling windows, lounge in this Le Corbusier LC4 chaise and read French literature.

Spruce

All the buzz in San Francisco is about Spruce in Presidio Heights. I recently dined there for a birthday celebration with friends. The food was definitely good and deserves the hype.

I arrived from work mid-meal, so I had to fore go the starter and skip straight to the entree. I ordered the harissa chicken with farro couscous, dates and almonds. My favorites were the rolls and dessert. The dinner rolls reminded me of the demi epi baguettes at French Laundry that kind of have a creamy, sweet taste. For dessert we shared a couple orders of the beignets and chocolate cake.

The service was not the best, but nothing too offensive. The bar space is pretty large (pictured), so you can try your luck at walking in if you can get there on the early side. Otherwise you will have to wait at least three weeks to get in, so plan ahead.

(Photo from Yelp)

Salt House

One of my favorite restaurants in the South of Market/Financial District area is Salt House. They have ties with Town Hall, another great restaurant in the same area. I love their burgers and onion rings. They also make a good mint lemonade.

Signs of Spring

Tyler and I were walking to one of our usual lunch spots last Friday and I looked up to see these beautiful trees in full bloom in the middle of the Financial District. Spring is here!

Post Rainshowers

It's so nice to be able to spend time outside again.

Preparations for Spring

I used CHANEL nail laquer in Marylin for my last pedicure. Spring is in the air! I'm so excited to get out of tights and boots and into sandals and peep-toe pumps.

SShhh....

Look what Tyler is getting for Valentine's Day.

Molton Brown Re-Charge Black Pepper Eau de toilette



Zotter Drinking Chocolate : Honey - Cinnamon

Under Foot

I haven't seen this rug in person yet, but I like what I see so far.

So Cozy

This sweater is super cozy, cute, and affordable.

Pretty Dress

I think I might make this dress my first purchase of Spring/Summer fashion. I especially like the dress in white.

Fleur de lys

Tyler and I went to Fleur de lys for my birthday. Fleur de lys is a San Francisco institution serving classic French cuisine. It definitely deserves to be a classic. The food was amazing and we didn't need to eat for days after indulging ourselves in the heavy, but delicious traditional French fare.

My favorites of the night were Tyler's asparagus and truffled foie gras appetizer, my filet mignon and lobster entree with truffled macaroni gratin and the fleur burger for dessert. It was so adorable. The attention to detail was amazing! The burger was made from bittersweet chocolate ganache, the cheese was a thin sheet of passion fruiit jello-like substance, the bun was a doughnut, mint for lettuce, strawberry sliced thinly crosswise for tomato, kiwi in the form of a pickle, a mini chocolate shake, and pomme frite fashioned from fennel ice cream. It was all very clever.

Our celebrity sighting for the night - Bob Dole.

South Park Cafe

Tyler and I went to South Park Cafe for our anniversary. What a gem! The food was delicious, the atmosphere was cozy and charming, and the service was very warm. The price was amazingly reasonable too at $34 for three courses. I had the "Pig salad" with slow cooked pork, shallots, apples and mustard vinaigrette; Roast rack of lamb with macaroni gratin and parsley oil; and flourless carrot cake for dessert (my least favorite item of the three courses, although the other two dishes made up for my disappointment in dessert.) As a bonus, you feel like you are entering a different world once you set foot into South Park.

The Complete Jane Austin on Masterpiece Classic

Masterpiece Classic (formerly Masterpiece Theater) is currently airing several new versions of Jane Austin classics and the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice with Collin Firth. So far Persausion is my favorite followed by Northanger Abbey. Mansfield Park was okay, but I could only think about how it fell short of the Frances O'Conner version. The most recent, Miss Austin Regrets, based on the life of Jane Austin was not very good at all. The next three Sundays will be redeemed with Pride and Prejudice. The series wraps up with Emma and Sense and Sensibility.

Holiday Wrap Up

We enjoyed a relaxing holiday with friends in the city this year. I had to work a little more than I had hoped, but I still got to enjoy a few long weekends with the way the holidays fell.

We kicked off the celebration mid-December with my office party at the Olympic Club. I'm very lucky to work with people that I actually like to hang out with during my time off.



Tyler and I celebrated our 11th anniversary a few days before Christmas. We had a lovely night starting with dinner at South Park Cafe and ending with the Smuin Ballet's Christmas Ballet.
The first half of the program is classic Christmas with dances set to Bach and Handel. The second half lightens up considerably with the likes of Santa Babay and Christmas Island (both pictured.)


The weekend before Christmas we discovered a new breakfast joint. I had read in San Francisco Magazine about the amazing apple and raspberry turnovers at Mission Beach Cafe. We decided to head over and try them for ourselves. We only intended to get pastries, but the plates of pancakes and eggs benedict rushing by us tempted us to stay for breakast. Tyler ordered the breakfast sandwich with a homemade English muffin, sausage and bacon. I had eggs benedict with proscuitto and Midnight Moon gouda drizzled with porchini hollandaise sauce. We had our turnovers too! The styling of the small space made for a perfectly relaxing morning. The interior is modern and warm with ivory upholstered chairs and lacqured wood tables. For a finishing touch everything is served on earthy brown Heath ceramic plates. They even serve Navarro grapejuice.

Next came our outing to the Mission to get all the ingredients for our Christmas Eve celebration. Read more about this in my La Palma post.

Christmas Eve brought our traditional afternoon outing to the beach followed by dinner and celebrating with friends over homemade chili and fresh tortillas.




Christmas day brought gifts and the most delicious French toast I've ever eaten. Adam made Brazilian French toast, which is basically sliced baguette dipped in sweetened condensed milk and deep fried. It's like doughnut French toast! He didn't stop there either. We also indulged in eggs benedict, bacon, sausage, pumpkin bread, and gingerbread cake.


Marlo made her first trip to the museum on Boxing day. We spent the afternoon browsing the Marie-Antoinette and the Petit Trianon at Versailles exhibit at the Legion of Honor instead of the sales racks.



To ring in the New Year, we invited a few friends over for a casual evening. Our new apartment has a view of the Bay Bridge and the waterfront near the Embarcadero, so we were able to watch the midnight fireworks from our livingroom.



We wrapped up the holidays with walk along the Embarcadero and a delicious brunch on the BBQ New Year's morning. We made gingerbread pancakes with lemon curd and blueberries. The pancakes were good, but they tasted more like brown sugar molasses pancakes than gingerbread. I'm still on the hunt for a recipe that tastes like Zazie's.

Happy New Year!!