I know I've said this before, but my favorite thing about living where I do is that we get to shop at the Civic Center Farmer's Market on Wednesdays.
We picked up these two lovelies for a dollar each...
...and combined them with these from last week...
...to make this!
Kitty likes it. Or at least he likes to sniff it.
Is there a Farmer's Market where you live?
I ran into Jessica's boyfriend Trevor on the way home the other night (the one that lives across the street), and he invited us over to meet his new kitten, Albedo. There are few things Jeffery and I love more than kittens. We brought over some blueberry tarts and opened a bottle of wine. Trevor's apartment is incredible. He has so many collections of things, it was really insightful seeing him in his space. He and Jessica have so much in common and compliment one another nicely. They were some of the first people to purchase their tickets to Hawaii for our wedding in January, and I feel really lucky to have them in my life. Here's to more kittens and more impromptu dessert nights with friends!
I realize that this blog contains very few photos of myself, and that's because I feel more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it, but this post inspired me to practice taking more self portraits.
And here's one of kitty. Happy Sunday!
Today Jeffery and I had brunch at Mission Beach Cafe, one of my favorite brunch places. It's delicious and affordable, and I recommend it to everyone.
We got there at about 12:30 and I was really hungry. I left the house after only having a banana and a cup of tea. So when the food arrived I dug right in and forgot to take a photo.
Insert artful and mouthwatering photo #1 of huevos racheros towering with homemade tortilla chips, guacamole, sour cream and micro-cilantro. Insert mouthwatering and artful photo #2 of Jeffery's egg and sausage sandwich on a housemade English muffin served with dill potatoes.
It was so good I might just have to go back and order it again and then take photos of it.
With full bellies we walked up towards Castro to have Jeffery's wedding pants tailored. We followed a little Asian lady through a maze of hanging shirts to a back room with a pedestal and she pinned the hem. Painless. Before we left she told Jeff he looked like Justin Timberlake, and giggled.
And then we headed back to Civic Center for eggs. I love having Wednesdays off. There is no wait for brunch and we get to go to the Farmer's market.
Sunflowers, succulents, eggs, eggplant, tomatoes and a ton of basil. Time to make pesto!
I've been thinking a lot lately about city life vs country living. The reason Jeffery and I moved to San Francisco five years ago (besides going to school) was that we wanted to live in a place where we would be surrounded by intelligent, hardworking, and like-minded individuals, and we wanted to experience the diversity and opportunities that a city provides. We also didn't want to have to drive to school or work, and San Francisco is one of the only cities in California where that's possible.
I came across this photo of myself at two and a half years old in my backyard. I grew up in the country, with a big yard and garden surrounding the house, a greenbelt to the west, and a forest on either side. There was a small creek just down the hill where my brother Austin and I would catch bugs and build forts and play complex imaginary games. There were endless trees to climb and deer trails where we rode bikes and even a small airport where we raced down the runway. It was years before I realized that not everyone had an airport in their neighborhood.
Growing up in the country had a huge impact on my development. I have a vast appreciation for the natural word. It made me a romantic.
And growing up in a small town creates this drive to "get out" and make something of oneself and not get strung out on drugs or pregnant at 16.
The problem with living in the city is though there are more of those like-minded, intelligent, hardworking individuals, there are also more losers strung out on drugs than there are in the country. Or else there are more out in the open getting in fights and asking for money.
So I think we will eventually settle in the country. I want my pets and adorable children (and they will be adorable) to have a big back yard full of flowers to smell, vegetables to eat, and trees to climb. And I want to hang my clothes on a clothesline and have a compost pile. Is it weird that I fantasize about composting?
On Friday night I got off work early to attend my grandmother's art opening. She has some paintings hanging at Cafe Sapore in North Beach where she regularly meets her friends for lunch and scrabble marathons.
Every time she has an opening Marina bakes bread in the form of mermaids and sea creatures.
This is Herb. He's one of Marina's oldest friends. He's a retired architect with a beautiful loft style home in North Beach with two story windows overlooking the marina. "I like your glasses, Herb," I told him. "Everybody does," he replied.
Cafe Sapore serves the best smoked salmon sesame bagels with capers, red onions, tomatoes, and lemon juice.
The lovely lady on the right is Connie. "She's my oldest friend, she's 96!" Marina tells me. Connie is an inspiration to us all in her beautiful silk kimono.
Congratulations Marina!
His face in the last one says it all.
Last week my good friend Nicole and I made lunch before we went thrifting down the peninsula. We made couscous and sauteed tomatoes and eggplant and had it with focaccia bread and watermelon and apple pie. It was so good I'm still thinking about it.
Couscous is a great summertime food because it's even better cold. I like to dice up half an onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1 zucchini and yellow squash and saute in olive oil until tender, then add water and half a chicken bouillon cube. Bring that to a boil and then turn off heat. Add enough couscous so that there is still about an eighth of an inch of liquid covering it, cover and let sit for five minutes. Then fluff with a fork and you're done! Then you can add pine nuts or sun dried tomatoes or dried cranberries or whatever you'd like.
We had it with eggplant and tomatoes, which we sauteed with olive oil and provencal herbs. Nicole was a bit apprehensive about cooking eggplant, but the tomatoes lend enough liquid for the eggplant to absorb.
Our watermelon was slightly garlic-flavored because we didn't wash the cutting board in between. I love drinking iced tea out of jars.
This is the dessert. It was a failed attempt at an apple tart tartin, so we made a pie instead.
What are your favorite summertime lunch recipes?
This past week marks the year anniversary for a lot of big moments in our lives. It was a year ago July 20th that we flew back from England and were reunited with our Kitty. It was a year ago July 23rd that we got our apartment downtown, and it was a year ago July 27th that I started working at the Crossroads on Market. Before all of this happened there were months of anticipation as to what it would be like reintegrating ourselves back in life in San Francisco. It was the second time we were moving to San Francisco without a home, jobs, or much money in the bank. But this time we knew what to expect. We knew the city, we had friends and previous employers here, and we knew that it was only a matter of time before we were back on our feet.
It's crazy how fast a year goes by.
English skies and English cows
Bearded irises in Norwich
Living in England made me interested in photography. From May to July of last year I was unemployed and finished with school, so besides playing soccer and planning our next trip to the continent I was set on capturing England blossom. Summer was momentous. It had been a long, cold, wet, and brown winter, and then spring came, and Jeffery came, and the entire country turned green.
There were a lot of cats hanging out in Norwich, and we took a lot of walks, so I started carrying the camera with me and taking their portraits.
In the last year, I was promoted to Assistant Manager at my store, I started this blog, and our dream of getting married in Hawaii is becoming a reality. Jeffery decided to become a paralegal and went back to school to get his certification. And next year is the wedding and we hope to get a dog and move into a house with a garden. Stay tuned!
Last weekend Jeffery and I headed up to our hometown for a wedding. Our good friends' little sister got married on their parent's property up in the mountains in Mendocino County. It was a country wedding on a perfect day.
Heading into Willits
It's a one horse town.
The city of Willits sits in a valley between two small mountain ranges.
Holli and Jimmy are both from Willits, but they met in Southern California.
Holli's parents built a massive barn to house Brad's antique car collection.
I snuck inside to take some photos.
Jill's garden and the view from their home.
Brad drove Holli up in his beautiful antique Mercury.
Aimee and Jeremy, sister and brother of the bride. Aimee and I have been best friends since kindergarten. Isn't she beautiful?
Tim (brother of the bride and one of Jeff's best friends) needed me to fix his corsage.
Jeffery cleans up nice, but he still won't sit still for a photo.
Sister and maid of honor.
First dance as husband and wife.
Father/Daughter dance. Everyone was in tears.
It was a beautiful wedding. Congratulations Holli and Jimmy, and thank you for sharing your day with me! I'm sure you two will be very happy together.
