Last weekend, Nik and I set off early on Sunday for a ride along the coast. The weather was perfect, the roads were empty enough, and hawks and vultures constantly hovered overhead. And the best part is that we took video so that we could share it with you! Dad, you’ll especially like the part where we rode through the traffic, San Francisco style!
Yellow wild flowers on the side of the road
A Ramshackle Farm House
Good Fences make Good Neighbors
Ms. Reyes leaning to her right
Historic Ranch Dairy Cows
Kid playing in the sand
My favorite entry in the Drakes Beach Sand Castle Contest
Once again, I find myself coming to the surface for air only to find that another month has gone by without blog posts and very little communication with the outside world. Despite these facts, I have actually been really busy doing interesting and exciting stuff. Here is a glimpse into my August…
1. I have spent four days a week for the past six weeks working in a bakery without touching baked goods (except when there were leftovers!). Although my stint there has come to an end, I will always carry a soft spot for custom cakes. Also, during that time, I rode my bicycle to work 98% of the time and finally worked off my “welcome to America” pounds. I suppose the effects of working in a bakery were actually the opposite of what you would expect!
The Sunset
2. I have started a second job that I am beyond excited about. You might remember a list I made in April of 2009 in a blog post titled “Next” where my #3 goal was this…
I will work in an architecture office whose work and mission I admire. It will be a firm that I want to grow with and be an integral part of.
Well, this goal is currently being realized! My role is not exactly what I would have imagined back in April ’09, but in many ways, it is even better. I will be exposed to an aspect of architecture that I have not been exposed to before and I will have opportunities to work with nearly everyone in the office on a regular basis. Also, the work is only part time for now, so I should, in theory, have time to work on getting my architecture license. We’ll see how that goes!
The valley
3. We have made the most of our weekends. We met a great new-to-San Francisco couple that moved into the old Inn 1890 (my favorite B&B ever that has now closed). We went to the Outside Lands Music Festival. We took a drive all the way around the Bay from the GG Bridge to the Bay Bridge. We rode up into the Marin Headlands to the beach at Fort Cronkhite where we saw dolphins!!! We ate street food at the San Francisco Street Food Festival. We finally saw Inception, and both LOVED it.
The San Francisco Street Food Festival
Perhaps my favorite
Handmade English Muffin, Grass-fed Beef, Local Brie and Mustard Seeds
A cook...or I guess it is San Francisco...so I should say "A Chef"
The Dining Room
The unfortunate side effect of the so much street food
4. My parents came to visit!!! This was the first time Nik and I have ever had visitors in an apartment that we share, so I bought way too much food and probably cleaned more than I had to. But it was worth it because once they were here, all we had to do was hang out and have fun. We took them to several of our favorite SF spots, and even watched “Rear Window” in Union Square!!
OFF LIMITS
One of many old bunkers in the hills
Fort Cronkhite
5. I invested $85 in a couple Pakistani Kilims that are now keeping our feet warm on these chilly, foggy, summer nights.
A fence
6. I found my wedding dress. It is simple, vintage and not really a wedding dress, but hopefully Nik will like me wearing it when he sees it next year. That’s all that matters!!
So yeah, things have been busy in the best way possible. I haven’t been compelled to take photos because I just haven’t. I don’t have any excuses other than I didn’t feel like it, and I am okay with that. That is the beauty of keeping this blog for myself…I get to do whatever I want!
Today we took a walk into the fog and mist to Ocean Beach. It was cold and wet, but worth every second because we were together and didn’t have to think about anything else.
Caspian Terns
It was the first time I had seen Caspian Terns. At first, I thought they were sea gulls, but they would all take off, circle for a second and then land again as an entire flock. I have never seen gulls do that! But these guys did, and they wanted everyone to know because they were calling out the entire time.
