Summer Adventures Continued- Summer Nights

One of my favorite things about summertime is warm summer evenings. Growing up in the midwest, we had a lot more than we do in California. I remember the smell of bbq chicken on the grill, a baseball game on as back ground noise and having all the windows and doors open for the cool evening breeze just as golden hour began. This summer had its fair share of gorgeous summer nights, some highlights for me:

Favorite beligian beer, cigars and live DMB on the back porch. It was the first warm night of the season and was so enjoyable.

Watching 4th of July Fireworks in Atlanta...well half of them. Sitting out on the patio with a cocktail and some good college friends. The family at the table next to us swore we would be able to see them from the restaurant....they were only half right.

S'Mores with Griki and the rest of my California family in their backyard. On the other side of the hills you definitely get more of the 'warm' summer nights. These have been the ones that hit closest to home for me usually complete with home cooked meat on the BBQ and a Giants game on. I think only the Lakehouse would surpass this.

There was a drive-in movie theater in one of the {many} small towns I lived in growing up. I remember going to see a few movies there and have always wondered what it would be like to go back to one. I was intrigued when I heard about San Francisco's Movies in the park series and living closer to the parks I thought I'd take advantage. Even though its not 'warm' by any means, its almost more fun to snuggle up in your layers with friends and a bottle of wine and enjoy a classic movie, such as Clueless ;)

Of my trip to New York a few weeks ago, one of my favorite evenings was spent at a Jewish Deli near by the Empire State Building. We had been exhausted from a day of shopping, napped for a few hours at our hotel and then headed out for some pastrami on rye around 8:30pm. It was already dark, the city was quieter as they are on Sunday evenings. We enjoyed a casual meal, then strolled over to the Empire State Building where to got tea at the near-by Starbucks and just chatted. It was beautiful and relaxing.

Summer Travel Adventures!

Can you believe it's August already? The 8th month of 2014! The last month of summer! My summer has been filled with several adventures so far, kicking off with a trip to Mexico in the beginning of June! I'd never been and have been anxious to cross it off my list for the past year, though could never convince any one else to go.
Although it was planned before a nuclear bomb hit my life it ended up falling perfectly after the emotional hurdles and in the week transition between jobs. My favorite part was definitely the excursion we took to the Marietas Island where we snorkeled our way into the "hidden beach".
Wanting to enjoy the sunshine and be out on the water we also took a smaller "bird watching" boat trip from our main ferry and were surprised to see Blue, Red and Yellow footed boobies. The Marietas are the only other place outside of the Galapagos's you can seen them!

The trip to Mexico also turned out to be a bit bittersweet as E made the somewhat spontaneous decision to move to New York  3 weeks after we got back!

I was also able to travel for, my second favorite Holiday, the 4th of July! One of my college girlfriends has lived there for almost 4 years and I had yet to visit. I had also never been to Atlanta so I was able to continue crossing places off my travel list. We had a fun a filled weekend of Bloody Mary's (the bill on the 4th actually came out to $17.76), Deep fried everything,  Fireworks (well half fireworks), local beer, pool parties, 21 & 22 Jump Street, Cougar bars, wedding brainstorming and, yes, a late night visit to The Waffle House.  Her fiance is probably the best ever. We were planning on going out after the pool party and I didn't bring a change of clothes so he drove my bag all the way across town. We did convince him to go out with us so it wasn't all for nothing! Gotta love the southern chivalry...I don't think I opened my own door or pulled out my own chair the entire time. Get it together San Francisco.

Sniffle Season

Like clockwork, right around Christmas {usually during} I get a bad case of the sniffles. With temps in the high 20's out here this weekend, I think they were brought on early, with a raging sore throat. I've been trying to stay warm and hydrated with lots and lots of tea. I'm straight tea drinker. No sugar, cream or honey ever.  My favorites are Bigelow Constant Comment, Peets Masala Chai and Winter Solstice and Numi Rooibos Chai. All very citrus-y, spicey and Christmas-y.

There is something in cough medicine and drops that makes me really nauseated, so last night, when I needed to up my game with this sore throat business I decided to give the mysterious Hot Toddy a try. I think it comes up every winter at holiday parties and general, what is a Hot Toddy? I was chatting with a co-worker at a party recently who told me even when she was a kid her mom would make her Hot Toddies for when she had a cold. If a mom swears by it enough to give alcohol to her child it has to do something right?

 

1 oz brandy, whiskey, or rum
1 Tbsp honey
1/4 lemon
1 cup hot water
1 tea bag

 

Directions:

Coat the bottom of your coziest mug in Honey

Add the shot of your favorite liquor

Add Juice of 2 lemon Slices

Heat Warm Water and Soak Tea bag

Add Tea, Slice of Lemon and Cinnemon Stick to Mug

Enjoy

To google I went and found a whiskey based recipe {I just can't stomach rum much any more and I'm not old enough for Brandy}. A little honey, whiskey, lemon and Constant Comment tea in my mug and it was suprisingly soothing! I don't know if it was the whiskey or the honey, but one of these before bed does things Nyquil wish it could. Also, it's Christmas-y and I support all things Christmas.

Summer Sailing!

This past weekend my co-chair and I hosted an afternoon of sailing with our Junior League committee. My co-chair and her husband provided the stunning boat and I made the snacks and drinks! Aside from the ferry and one fleet week party well over a decade ago, I'd never been sailing on the bay. Having grown up around water and boats, I don't know why it took me this long! With the America's Cup in town everyone seems to be catching the sailing bug.

The Skyline, through the sails as we pulled out of SFYC in Tiburon

I do actually enjoy cooking. Especially when a) dishes so easily come out like the picture (aka like they're 'supposed' to be....spoken like a true Type-A) and when I can cook for people!  When I offered to provide the delicacies for our sailing trip I turned to the internet and my fabulous, food savvy friend Emily for advice.  The boat ended up having a full kitchen, but she advised staying away from dairy for temperature control reasons and suggested an adaptation of her Roasted Red Pepper and Feta Dip with white beans instead of feta. I paired it with a tray of carrots, cucumbers, snow peas and broccoli, it was an absolute hit...literally every drop gone by the end of our voyage!

 

Along with that, I wanted a fruit dish. We already had the veggie platter, so a separate fruit plate seemed plain. I found this recipe for Peaches with Serrano Ham and Basil. This was perfect because my basil plant needed some usage! I used sweet vermouth instead of sherry vinegar and marinated overnight, I assembled about 20 the next morning in less than 30 mins! Delicious and EASY PEASY!

Last Friday, the Glitter Guide appeared in my inbox and had a mouthwatering  Goat Cheese and Fig Crostini.

This was definitely the hardest item to make. Not because of time, or prep or difficulty putting together, but because creating the perfect crostini is very hard....especially when you're making 2 other dishes at the same time. I went through 2 baguettes, burned to a crisp and finally the 3rd one came out a dark brown. Far from perfect, but it worked. The goat cheese was so easy to whip together! I added the honey to the mixture instead of drizzling on the top, this turned out to be great because I used the left overs as a dip! The fig and thyme sprigs complemented each other perfectly! These were the first to be gobbled up...primarily by the boys. and elegant recipe for

  With 2 main courses, I needed 1 'snack' type food. This was easy for me to pick: popcorn. One of my absolute favorites and so few people use it that it came as a nice surprise to our guests! I classed it up a bit with truffle oil, parmesean and fresh rosemary.

For beverages I kept it simple: the ever classic Pimm's Cup with a fresh cuke slice and a lemon!

Pimm's and Boat Shoes of course!

I'm happy to say it was everything I could have wanted! The day was gorgeous, the food was delicious and the company was perfect! Definitely one of my San Francisco-life highlights!

26 down and ....? to go

Work has been IN. SANE. since the holiday. I worked 63 hours last week and I've already hit 50 for this week! Makes for little time for blogging, but luckily I made some time for my Birthday party!!

I had a bar in the Haight, that I had never been too but walked by a few times and it looked fun, hold a table for us and asked everyone to join me there for some delicious drinks, followed by dancing.  One of my worst fears. Seriously, worst fears is throwing a party that no one comes to. I know it's crazy irrational, but it's what I have to deal with. Needless to say lots of people came out and we had a great time! I have to say this bar was AMAZING. Their drink menu had to be one of my favorites in the city. San Francisco has a lot of "snobby" drinkers (and eaters, and 'fashionistas' and generally snobby people) and most of the nicer bars don't have 'bartenders' they have 'mixologists'. They make great drinks, but mostly all of them have something to do with bourbon and an orange slice. They're delicious, but they get old.  This place and drinks with Bourbon, Tequila, Rum AND Vodka!! I don't mean to sound like a lush, but the variety was appreciated.  Afterwards a few of us headed over to a different bar to shake our booties until it was time to go home! Had so, so much fun. One of my best birthdays by far!

Although, I ended up having to suck it up and make a facebook event, I still sent out these, more personal,  invites from Paperless Post. So. Cute.

Since I don't live anywhere near where the bar was, I invited people who lived near by over before for cupcakes and champagne! Then we all got cabs over to the party spot! When I make cupcake's I usually make Paula Deen's Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting, but since I had to work Saturday Funfetti from the box had to work. It was still DELICIOUS! {funfetti may or may not be one of my guilty pleasures}

Myself and my former roomies at the bar. We've known eachother almost 4 years, 1 of which we lived together and NEVER had a picture together so I had to post this!

Finally, my birthday gift to myself! Monogrammed 2013 datebook in orange. The day it came in the mail I looked down at my desk and almost everything I had on there was orange. Never knew I liked it that much! 

Countdown to Christmas: Personalized Gifts

We've all been there, invited to a party hosted by an aquaintance, struggling to find a gift for the person who has everything or the person who has extremely specific tastes. In these situations I find it best to stick to the simplest gifts. Those things that everyone needs. Napkins, candle sticks, clutch, hors d'eorve tray, stationery...Maybe you use it everyday, maybe you use them once a year, but you cannot go wrong with a classic, functional gift. The problem with gifts like this is that they're usually pretty plain and come off as a little impersonal and that is the exact opposite of what a gift should be.

How do you spruce it up??? Well, with personalization of course!!  Here are some of my favorite personalized gift ideas!

The Everyday Leather Zip Pouch {mark&graham}
You can use it as a clutch, put your iPad in it, carry travel documents etc. Really it's an all purpose and unisex gift that anyone will appreciate! I love it in Porcelain Blue with a center monogram!

2013 Diary {Smythson}

For the more traditional calendar keepers you can't go wrong with a datebook. Smythson offers a variety of sizes, fun colors and personalization options! And the leather bound covers make sure they'll never wear out. Graphic Image offers some equally stylish, but less expensive options.

Letter or Zodiac Pillow {Jonathan Adler}

I have been pining for one of these letter pillows in black and white!!! Jonathan Adler also offers some  more whimsical personalization options with his Zodiac collection as well.

Silver Plated Julep Cup {Pottery Barn}
A GREAT hostess gift idea! It's a classic shape will fit in almost any room and she can use it as a candle holder, a vase or even a Julep!

Lilly Pulitzer Personalized Serving Tray {Lifeguard Press}

You can find these everywhere on etsy right now, but I like the fun designs that Lilly Pulitzer offers!

She has her classic 'ropes' print or you can go crazy with one of her more signature bright, palm beach designs. If you're looking for something a little simpler Design Darling has a adorable standard monogrammed tray too!

Lilly Pulitzer's 'Rope' Pattern

Cleaner look from Design Darling

Happy Shopping!!

Bubbles {& Bitters}

One of my absolute favorite things about my Europe trip was the drinking culture. It's so normal to have a glass of wine with lunch, another one or 2 for happy hour and casual drink a bottle while enjoying good food and conversation at dinner. There's no rush, it's just simply there to enhance the magic of everyday life.
Needless to say we drank a lot of alcohol, but we struggled to find a drink or a wine that wasn't too sweet.  After a little googling last weekend for an 'american' drink for an Opening Ceremony party I was going to I believe I've found the perfect summer drink!

The Americana

served on ice, in a Collins Glass

1/2oz of  Makers Mark

3 dashes of Bitters

chilled Champagne

Garnish with a Peach Slice