Sweet

On my way to a birthday party today, I stopped in a new sweet shop on Church Street. Aptly, it is named Sweet. They offer samples regularly and today there were two tarts to taste, one raspberry and chocolate and the other one not as memorable.... It seems like a great spot for picking up salted caramels (because who in San Francisco who has had salted caramel Bi-Rite ice cream doesn't love salted caramels?) or Mexican chocolate chip cookies (as my friend did), for a quick birthday gift. They also had these tall and thin red velvet cakes and delicious looking cupcakes. Needless to say, even though I didn't buy anything today, I'll be going back when I need a special treat.

Springin Out

Just back from Washington DC where the cherry blossoms were just starting to pop and the trees and flowers in SF are showing off full force! It's beautiful and fragrant and full of the new. Even the weeds are getting in on the action. It's inspiring and motivating really... Time to come out of that winter shell!

Attention Chien Bizarre

Schizophrenic Weather

This morning, when I left my apartment, the sun was peeking out from behind some clouds that looked like they would move out and leave the day as lovely as they were over the weekend. I walked to get some lab work done and even when I came out of the office, the sky looked partly cloudy with an emphasis on the partly. I walked back up the hill to catch the bus and while breezy with a few puffy clouds, the sun was still shining and promising to stay with us the whole day.

Cut to, my head down on the bus, reading. I look up and the bus' windshield wipers are whishing away the rain... huh? I swear, my head was down and reading for maybe 10, 15 minutes. And, I look up and it's raining. And, that's how the rest of the day went. One minute sun beaming through beautiful cumulonimbus clouds, the next heavy drops hitting the red tile patio, the next sun, the next rain. I distinctly remember chuckling to myself, as I walked past a young woman wearing bright yellow rain boots, thinking she wouldn't get much use out of them, today. Boy was I wrong!

Annie Leibovitz and San Francisco

I just finished watching a great documentary about Annie Leibovitz that was done for American Masters, a PBS show, called Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens. Annie has had several exhibits in San Francisco and the west coast that I've been able to see, most recently the exhibit in 2008 at the De Young, Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life, 1990–2005. I've always thought she is an amazing photographer, her photographs in Vanity Fair and Vogue some of the most interesting and creative I've seen in magazines.

What I did not know was that Annie got her start right here in San Francisco! She was a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute and got her start photographing musicians when Rolling Stone was new (I also did not know that Rolling Stone started in San Francisco, although in retrospect it makes perfect sense). She hung out with some of the bohemian characters of San Francisco's past, people I've been fascinated by and that lived or spent time in my former neighborhood, the Haight-Ashbury. People like Hunter S. Thompson, the Rolling Stones, and the Grateful Dead.

St Brigid

A few days ago I posted about St. Dominic's church and while I was researching this church which is also a priory, there was mention of St. Brigid's church which is located on Van Ness and Broadway. According to the St. Dominic's website, the first Dominican Priory in San francisco was established in 1863 at Saint Brigid's. The Dominicans served there until 1875 when it was transferred to diocesan clergy. So, as I walked past St. Brigid's, today, I was saddened to be reminded that the Academy of Art University purchased the beautiful building.

Now, I was a student at the Academy not that long ago and took much pride in the education they provided me while attending classes in a variety of historic and interesting buildings. I appreciate that the Academy is helping get some of these beautifully architectural buildings on the historic register and preserve at least their exteriors so that San Franciscans, their own students, and tourists might enjoy them for years to come. What saddens me is that the history of these buildings get lost as the university re-purposes them for classroom, theatre and studio use. There wasn't any historical information on line about the Japanese inspired photography building I link to, here. And, there was very little historical information about the First Congregational Church linked to above.

I would prefer if the Academy would undertake an initiative that brought the history of these buildings more to the fore. It shouldn't be a passing piece of gossip that the photography building was once a Benihana (if it even was), it should be part of the collective history of the school and something featured on the Academy of Art's website. They are very proud of their own history but, neglect to integrate that pride to the history of this place.

San Francisco as Paris

There are times when I walk through San Francisco and I could swear I was in some other country on the other side of the globe. I can pretend that I'm on a bus in the hills of the Amalfi Coast of Italy, on a street in Shanghai, or even in the French Quarter of New Orleans. One of my favorite things to pretend is that I'm in Paris. It's very easy to do when picking up a walnut mini-baguette to eat with dinner from the Pine Street La Boulange (part of the San Francisco based French run Bay Bread Co) and walking past Saint Dominic's cathedral between Pine and Bush Streets at Pierce. Très bon!

delarosa

Tonight, I hit up this new Roman eatery on Chestnut Street, called delarosa. It's kind of been pizza-centric in my world, lately and this is a new and yummy option near work. My favorite item was the orecchiette and broccoli pesto. We also ate some goat cheese and roasted pepper panini and an arugula and fennel salad with shaved parmesan. That seems to be a crowd favorite as a similar salad was on the menu at Pizzeria Delfina. I recommend delarosa for fun evenings out with the gals (or guys). They have community-style seating which was fun for chatting and delighting over what everyone else was eating.