Sunday Fundays in the City

December 12, 2016Leave a comment

One of my favorite things about living in San Francisco are the weekend strolls. John LOVES walking everywhere. And coming from Texas, my old Texan self would think this is crazy. (NO ONE WALKS ANYWHERE WHEN IT’S TRIPLE DIGIT HEAT!!!) In my first few years here I constantly rode the bus. Then I got a bike and biked everywhere for 2 years. That was fun and all, until more and more people would get hit by cars on their morning commute. NOT LYING – even my friends who rode more than me were becoming damaged! When I changed jobs and the new office was located around a bunch of construction, I didn’t feel comfortable riding to work, so I took the bus again. Then I met John and he doesn’t have a bike, thus my bike riding sorta stopped. It’s weird when you go on dates and one of you has a bike and the other doesn’t, #amirite?!

But John has been a great influence because I find myself walking to places more so now than I ever did before, and I enjoy seeing my steps after on my health app. It makes me feel productive 🙂 PLUS you get to see cool things like PURPLE VICTORIANS!

We had a nice stroll around the city yesterday and ended up watching Fantastic Beasts later in the afternoon. I love going to the movies on Sunday afternoons, it feels like a nice way to chill from the weekend and relax before starting back up on Monday.

Look at THAT FACE ❤

Anyways – have a great week! Oh and start walking a bit more maybe and enjoy your neighborhood 🙂 And SUNDAY FUNDAYS FOREVER!

Sideways in Sonoma

November 23, 2016November 23, 2016Leave a comment

I’m pretty thankful for the fact that I live so close to wine country. It’s easy to gather some friends, get on the highway, and find yourself among the vineyards within an hour. While I used to take advantage of this much more when I was newer to the city, it never gets old having a #wineday. And going during autumn is my absolute FAVORITE time of year to experience wine tasting. The vineyards are colorful (not just green), it’s a bit slower paced, and I can get wine drunk while wearing comfortable sweaters. WINE WIN! I personally gravitate towards Sonoma over Napa because it is less touristy, has cheaper tastings, and people are more down to earth. Not to mention it’s a tad bit closer to the city, and less time in car = more time drinking, so LET’S GO!

I love starting out tasting sparkling wine first because it’s a great way to ease into your day, especially when you start tasting at 11am. Domaine Carneros is my absolute favorite sparkling tasting experience; the view is amazing, the wine is very dry (just what I love), and they have caviar! I love getting all bougie up in there because I am not bougie in real life so it is an all around cool experience. (Caviar should be round, and hard, and of adequate size, and should burst in your mouth at *precisely* the right moment. #overboardforever).

Gloria Ferrer is another good option for a day starter and is close by in Sonoma, but you might have to wait if you don’t have a reservation. I know a lot of people like Domaine Chandon as well, but it’s a bit too crowded for me on a normal day. I like to go when there isn’t anyone there so I can have a good seat and order oysters, because #idontlikecrowds #introvertproblems.

I’ll be makin’ room for some more vino in this sweater dress ❤

Another fun spot is Cuvaison. This is probably my favorite place in Sonoma. They are small but have a GREAT VIEW, fun people work there, and the wine is on point! I could spend an entire afternoon just lounging outside on the patio. They also released a new wine with label artwork by THEE Andy Warhol! Super artsy and different – check.

I mean, LOOK AT THAT VIEW!

I usually almost always stop by one of my longstanding favorite spots, Bartholomew Park. You can’t buy the wine anywhere other than at the vineyard, they have a gorgeous picnic area and hiking trails, a wine history museum, and THE BEST sauvignon blanc this side of New Zealand! Srsly check them out if you make your way to the area.

John & I at Bartholomew last year on a hot summer day. You can honestly have a fashion shoot in these vineyards, as I have had many times…

Other places that I enjoy in Sonoma are Ravenswood, Artessa, Gundlach Bunschu, Truchard (a fav of my sis and her SOMMOLIER HUSBDAND y’all), and Larson Family Winery (they have cornhole!).

Some things to note:

Most places comp your tastings if you buy a bottle so if you end up liking something it’s almost always more cost effective to buy a bottle rather than just pay for the tasting (depending on how $$$ it is).
You WILL have wine lips so it’s good to have wine wipes close by as to not embarrass yourself.
DRINK WATER!
Take fun pictures in the vineyards drunk that you can show off to your crew later. “Hey guys, I found my new profile pic!! New Christmas card, anyone?”
In the holiday season, always wear ugly sweaters. Sometimes you might be surprised at how amazing people will treat you in an ugly sweater.
It’s easy to walk into another party’s limo; I recommend not doing this unless you purposely want to start a commotion – then proceed.
Have a great time 🙂

Ugly sweater extravaganza a few holidays ago.

Parks & Rec

November 11, 2016Leave a comment

Living in San Francisco is amazing in so many ways. We have beautiful architecture, rolling hills, gorgeous bridges, redwoods in Golden Gate Park, and the ocean is on our doorstep. Not to mention we aren’t too far away from wine country or campsites! And the weather is always pretty amazing…

Sometimes it feels overly crowded. I mean, if you look at the buildings in the city you can see just how close quarters everyone is. Luckily, there are parks sprinkled throughout the city that can provide a mini getaway when you have no intention of leaving your parking spot because #parkingsucks. John and I enjoy walking throughout the city and exploring businesses along the way – anywhere from a new taco spot to a dive bar we haven’t seen before. It’s a nice way to get familiar with your neighbors and surroundings.

Although my favorite park to walk is the Panhandle of Golden Gate, we also enjoy making the trek up Buena Vista Park off Haight street, which are both close to our house. It’s a little oasis with a great view and interesting people watching 🙂

Pictures don’t do this view justice!

My dad worked for the Recreation & Parks department of the Air Force for almost 40 years, so I grew up going to parks all over the country. I volunteered in creating trails for new parks and working to eliminate brush. I used to make mulch from our TROY BUILT CHIPPER VAC you guys!

It looks like this!!!

Anyways, happy Friday! GO OUT AND ENJOY THE PARKS!

Gaying the weekend away

October 21, 2016Leave a comment

Last Friday was the birthday party of my BeDazzler better half, Sergio! And what better way to celebrate than by having a FULL BLOWN happy hour, djed by your best musical friends, at a gay bar?! Sergio plans a similar bday party every year so it was a grand ole time, as was expected, at his favorite place The Powerhouse!

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My favorite part about djing at The Powerhouse is that I get to play behind a cage (you can kinda see it behind me to my right in the bottom photo). Also, there is only one big open bathroom (and it’s usually filled with mostly men) so I have to ask someone to stand guard if I need to take a pee break (ya know, because I have a VAGINA).

I love playing with Sergio as part of The BeDazzlers and thoroughly enjoyed curating his bday music selection! Also, the lovely Gareth Gooch was the photog of the evening. He always takes fabulous event pics and is the sweetest.

On Sunday I was asked to play for the season closer of Daytime Realness – the SCREAMSON FINALE, over at El Rio. I jumped on the opportunity immediately because I just love Stanley Frank. He has amazing music selection that influenced me back when I first started to dj. He doesn’t live in SF anymore but comes up from LA occasionally so it was fun to play together again! Not to mention, I have a drag crush on Heklina! SHE IS SO AMAZING if you love drag and live in the Bay area and DON’T know of Heklina – GET ON THAT! Sergio and I see Golden Girls: The Christmas Episodes every Holiday season with our friend, Brian (ITS TRADITION PEOPLE) staring Heklina as Dorothy OF COURSE. (But more on THAT later…)

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It rained a ton on Sunday which caused a smaller crowd, but it was intimate and fun regardless! Plus seeing Tom Temprano dance around in little booty shorts and a wig was just darling (VOTE for him for College Board 2016 people!!). AND – I finally played alongside Vin Sol (who is a pretty DAMN popular dj as well) and we danced to the highlight song of the day, Teardrops (see below)! (Vin dates my hairstylist, Rachel, and I think they are absolutely adorbs.) It was a fab weekend with friends, drag, and dancing!

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