things to share.

I wanted to post a picture of the yellow rose on our window sill.
Everything about this picture speaks to me.
The rose was taken from the unruly rose bush that covers the front of our building.
Everyday new roses in white and yellow and occasionally pink,
burst forth to greet me as I return from grocery shopping or a walk with the dogs.
They are a hopelessly joyful addition to my daily routine,
and occasionally, when there are plenty of them blooming,
I'll snag one to bring inside the house.




Another picture I thought I'd share,
Brent and I took our scooter (that I've named "Scootie Blue")
up to the highest view in the city, Twin Peaks.
It's a nice drive from our house, a curving, hilly climb
through residential neighborhoods.
We passed little corner grocery stores, flower shops and cafes.
When we reached the last climb to the top,
I was giggling the whole time and chanting "go, scootie, go"
because we have a really small scooter and it was chugging as best as it could
to get both of us up the hill.
The wind is incredible at the top. It feels almost as if it could lift you up in the air.
In this picture you can see one long strip of road right where my head is...
that is Market St, the lifeline street of San Francisco.



Love to all of you!
Melissa

Brent Cooks Dinner!

So Brent took it upon himself to whip something up for dinner last week,
and he looked so cute in there stirring a pot that I had to document.

For your viewing pleasure, Chef Jordan makes dinner:

Did you know that a plum/apricot hybrid is called a pluot?

Today on the way back from our morning walk with the dogs, we noticed that a street a block over from ours was closed.

"hmmm, must be road work" Brent said.

But I saw tents set up, and so I convinced him to be nosey with me. We turned around and walk down there and sure enough, they had set up a little farmers market. Apparently it happens every Sunday from here until September.

These are the sorts of moments that I love the most. Discovering something new and unexpected right in my own little corner of the city. Everyone in our neighborhood was there with their children and dogs. I just love the communal nature of the people here! We even have a little community newspaper called "The Western Edition" that is specifically focused on the interest of the people in the 2 square mile radius around us.

I started down the rows of vendors and filled my arms with plums and apricots and organic strawberries (which by the way are smaller than normal strawberries but TWICE as flavorful!) We bought new redskin potatoes and two bouquets of flowers for the house.

I came home and made beautiful little bouquets and put them in glass bottles all over the house. I can't stop munching on all this delicious fruit! I've been missing the great Raleigh Farmer's Market so much, and our little discovery today was just what I needed.

M

This is why I love the city

So this guy passed through our neighborhood on his journey to the golden gate. I'm just bummed we didn't get the opportunity to help him along the way. Too funny.


Click Here

Things I have learned since moving to San Francisco:

1. "Just over the hill" is not neccesarily the same sort of "hills" we're accustomed to in the south. I think a few of the hills I've walked up in this city could qualify as mountains along the blue ridge parkway.

2. Don't make eye contact with people on the bus. seriously, don't do it. It's not like in the south where you can smile and someone will smile back and then you just ride in peace together. Ohhhh nooo... here, if you make eye contact with someone, it's an open invitation for them to start telling you about the alien that abducted them from the park or that they're trying to become enlightened enough to write a new chapter of the bible. just put your ear phones in and look out the window.

3. Do not go anywhere ANYWHERE near a tourist attraction on a holiday. And I thought Wilmington was bad on memorial weekend. I've never seen a sea of people like the pack of folks who swarmed us when we made the oh so dumb decision to check out the fisherman's wharf on July 4th.

4. Walk! Living here has made me realized that there were so many places we could have walked to in Raleigh... but due to laziness and convenience, we always drove. I have seen such a change in myself in only two weeks... we walk everywhere, and it feels so good. Plus I notice things I would otherwise overlook like silly names written in the concrete and interesting posters people staple to the board outside the burrito shop.

5. Dogs fall in love with places too. I thought our dogs would be happy anywhere, as long as they were with us. I realized this week, sitting at the top of Buena Vista Park with the dogs that Gibson and Bailey are just as smitten with this place as we are. Bailey was laying in the grass, just sprawled out and happy as a claim, and Gibson had this giant smile on his face... ear to furry ear...

Also, I'm attempting to eat my weight in avocados.

yesterday was my last day of free-wheelin before I had to return to work.
And boy did we take advantage of the day.

We took our first trip over the golden gate bridge.
Believe it or not, I've been under it in a boat,
but until yesterday we've never gone over it.
A friend of ours picked us up and we headed North.

On the other side, we spent hours exploring the Marin Headlands.
This area is an old WW2 military base (Fort Cronkhite)
Which has been abandoned since the 1960s.
There were old bunkers, missle tunnels, concrete structures,
and miles and miles of wilderness.

We followed this tiny dirt trails all the way to the very edge of giant sea cliffs.
We watched seals lounge in the sun and deer graze nearby.
I can't even explain to you the beauty we experienced.
It was unlike anything I've ever seen before.
I felt like I was at the very tip of the world.

There was no one around for miles except sea birds and wild animals.
We even found this one place where there were tunnels underground leading from one concrete bunker to another.
years ago, the military stored weapons and munitions in these bunkers.
Now they're covered in some of the coolest graffiti art I've seen.

Later, we came down out of the hills and had dinner in Sausalito.
It is a beautiful town on the water,
but different than I expected.
I thought I'd discover a bohemian seaside community with organic markets
and barefoot boat dwellers and bungalow hippies.
Instead, It felt like a mini rodeo drive
with high end retailers,
million dollar cliff-side mansions,
and more luxury cars than I've ever seen in one small area.
It was charming, none the less
and we had the most delicious mexican dinner with a view of the water.

M