My Lips Are Sealed

Okay, okay I've been shirking my blogging duties, I blame it all on the fresh Greyhounds at Lions Pub, but I'm back so stop your whining! Truth be told I've been recovering from my crazy, exciting, wonderful weekend. I did however make a rule with my sisters that what happens in San Francisco stays in San Francisco and doesn't end up on the Blog soooo I can't give you too many details in regard to Saturday Night. I can say after a lovely dinner we ended up at the Hi-Fi in the Marina. Yes, there was dancing. Enough said. The Hi-Fi kind of reminded me of a cooler version of the 'Burbs attempt at a fun club with booze and dancing, the Carlos Club, which is why I'm bringing my 'Burbs girls (who I lovingly refer to as my "Bridge and Tunnel Crew") who are coming up this weekend there after some Mexican food at La Barca. Woot Woot - someone better call Betty Ford because after a month in this town I think I'm going to need to check in! But with all the money I'm spending, I hope they have a scholarship program because I can't afford to pay. Just kidding Mom and Dad.

I spent Valentine's Day with the City and just wandered around. I had a chance to stroll along Polk Street and check out Russian Hill, which I liked a lot. I may end up living there for the simple fact that the rents in Pacific Heights are pretty high right now and my sublet runs out on April 30th. But, Russian Hill is a fantastic alternative full of fun places to check out, Green's Sports Bar and Nick's Crispy Tacos come to mind. We will see.

Tonight I'm excited to try out Pizzeria Delfina which happens to be on my block with one of my favorite people who happens to be in town from Seattle. I picked this place for a few reasons, 1) It is always packed, 2) the pizza looks ridiculously good, 3) Wine corkage only $15 ;) Bring it on!

Party Like A Rockstar!

Holy Hangover Batman, courtesy of Lion Pub aka The Lions Den, my new favorite dive bar within a four block radius of my house. I fell in love with the place the minute I walked in the door. Cocktails made with fresh squeezed juice, a cheese and cracker bar they replenish throughout the night. Who could ask for more? I went here Wednesday night and it made for a pretty rough Thursday hence the lack of post yesterday.

This 3-Day weekend is chocked full of excitement. Tomorrow I'm viewing the Cartier Exhibit at the Legion of Honor followed by a birthday dinner with my Sisters at Dosa and a night out on the Town with friends on Sunday in celebration of "Single Awareness Day" aka Valentine's Day.

The best part of my weekend is starting in about 10 minutes with a HH after work. Big ups to Alli for planning it for me as a welcome to the big Cit-AY. Happy Hour at Harrington's + Harry's. Harry's is within stumbling distance to home! Can't wait. As we speak I'm doing some stretches and stocking up on Advil getting ready for a big weekend of FUN! Get your game faces on folks it is going to be a wild one. I promise a full weekend re-cap coming to you on Monday.

Shop 'Til You Drop

Today I figured out that San Francisco is pretty small for a big City. What better excuse then shopping to get out and about on a beautiful Sunday in SF? After a lazy morning, I made the choice to head over to Union Street to find some "comfortable" flats. I quoted "comfortable" because as you ladies know unless you break down and wear tennis shoes (which I might have to do with all this walking) it is hard to find a cute and comfortable shoe. I always error on the side of cute myself and I have the blisters to prove it.

Anyway, I hopped on the #22, braved the small dogs, Lulu Lemon sweatsuits and Frat boys swilling Bloody Marys at Perry's to venture to the Marina in search of the perfect shoe. I'm happy to say I survived and even liked Union Street, which is full of cafes, cute little boutiques mixed in with some Chain stores. All in all a great place to stroll, shop and people watch.

After finding the perfect shoe (just not in my size), I was headed up to Cole Valley anyway to watch the Super Bowl at my friend's house and since Cole Valley is oh so close to the Haight I decided to do a little more shopping prior to kick-off.

I love the Haight and I'm pretty comfortable there as this is the place we've been coming to since High School. The Haight is where 'Burbs kids go to go Thrift Storing, get something pierced or tattooed and score weed. Not that I've done any of those things there - well the Thrift Storing I can cop to. Cole Valley sits right above the Haight on the hill. It is such a darling little neighborhood filled with beautiful tree lined streets but due to the steep incline of the hill connecting it to the Haight, it is close to but well out of the fray. I like Cole Valley, its quiet and serene but a little removed from the core of the City for me.

I've found walking to be a great way to see the City. I can feel my butt shaping up. And getting into shape isn't the only benefit to all this walking, you get to admire the very cool and unique architecture in SF and stumble across all sorts of great coffee houses, restaurants and shops. I must've taken thirty mental notes about places I wanted to go back to that would be perfect to just lounge around on a sunny day and sip a latte or brunch with friends. That is the great thing about living here it seems everyone is my age, doing what I'm doing. After living in the 'Burbs where my weekends usually consisted of Target runs and running into people from High School at the same three boring bars, the density of things to do here and places to go and people to meet is a wonderful and refreshing change.

Having the privilege to wander around shopping and drinking coffee is pretty cool and it was a great way to end my first official week in the City. I have to say I'm pretty impressed with how much I was able to pack in. I'm looking forward to a new week of adventures coming up and I'm trying to hold on to the sense of wonderment and excitement I have about being here. I can really say this has been one of the most exciting weeks I have had in a while. I love discovering all this new stuff and being able to walk to it! I love being at the center of all the action and meeting new people every day. So, cheers to week one - I feel I'm well on my way to being Cityfied! Can't wait to see what week 2 has to offer.

Oh, one more note in regard to last night. I went to the much talked about Kabuki Theatre to see Crazy Heart (which was awesome by the way, I mean so good that you should run out and see it right now....seriously, why are you still sitting there? GO!) The movie ticket? $14. FOURTEEN DOLLARS! Highway robbery. Small popcorn plus bottle of water? $8.25. And what did I get for my $23 dollar evening, you ask? A bad assigned seat and a rat running up the aisle when the lights went down. Boo on the Kabuki - I don't care if you can drink in the balcony, I'd rather pay $10 and see a movie downtown at the Embarcadero. Okay, I'm done with my rant. One more thing I had to throw in just for my Sis - a guy just drove by my apartment blasting the classic 1987 INXS song Your One of My Kind - you just gotta love City living!

Why Didn't I Do This Sooner?

Day two and I’m happy to report City life has been wonderful, chocked full of surprises and new experiences. I took my first bus ride to work yesterday morning and it wasn’t bad at all. I heard through the grapevine there were some people who were a little skeptical about my bus riding abilities. Happy to say I passed with flying colors albeit I did off-board about three stops early but hey I fixed that little mistake today and shaved 30 minutes off of my morning commute! It does come in handy to have an express to downtown bus only steps away from my apartment.

Last night, the end to my first day as a City-dweller, after hitting up a little Company sponsored Happy Hour / Going Away Party at Cosmopolitan, which was actually a really classy joint that just needs a better name; I tagged along with some friends to a Manuary party. Yep, you read that right MANuary – in other words the celebration of the Mustache and a benefit to raise money for prostate cancer research at Bullitt on Russian Hill.

A little aside on Bullitt to set the scene:

1. They serve 40 OZ of Old English malt liquor in brown paper bags accompanied by a condom

2. They have Makers Mark…..on tap!
3. Burgers come with a side of mac n’ cheese instead of French fries.

Add to the above a bunch of mustached ladies and gents and that is a mixture for F.U.N, which is what ensued. The best part is I did not have to take an hour train ride home. At the end of the night I hopped into a cab and was entertained by the cabbie’s story about how his green card marriage to a lesbian from Singapore isn’t going so well (seriously, I couldn’t make that up!) Within five minutes I was at my front door with my two dollars in change from the cabbie in nickels (?!?) ready to hit the hay.

Now, if I could just get used to the City noise overnight, maybe I could get some sleep! Oh and if you have a little extra time check out the video that was sent to me today by one of the esteemed mustached guests http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2EdEDVej2A, too funny!