*1180 - pride

But what fun to live just down the road from Market Street during the SF pride parade!  It was a very ... SATURATED experience.  Take everything a normal parade or festival embodies and condense that into the festival of festivals.  Not just costumes but Costumes or Extreme Lack Thereof, not just dancing people on floats but Really Dancing On Floats, not just a cheering crowd but a Roaring Waving Excited Gleeful Appreciative (Likely High) Crowd.

Seeing all those naked men (normal to see an occasional one casually walking down the streets of SF, but never so many all at one go) and topless women (ok, this one was more surprising to me) was probably not very necessary--especially found it odd that there were Mums happily bouncing their little children on their hips, watching the parade go by as all these outrageous people milled around ... it must be different growing up in San Francisco.

I thought the spectators were far more interesting than the actual paraders but that's probably because I was too short and couldn't see anything that was happening on the road anyway.  Lots of underwear (seriously, I think some were unprepared with costumes and just decided to strip off their outer layers to blend in with the crowd, so saw lots of granny-type undies running around), rainbows, wings, tutus, boas, matching outfits, booty shorts, bare skin (and all these apply to both the ladies and the men, of course).  Didn't dare to take pictures of the Truly Interesting folks so just stuck the camera in the air and snapped a few blind shots here and there.  Not the best day photographically but here are a few.

 

 

 

*1179 - little getaway

Mister Strawbree and I went on a little road trip to Half Moon Bay.  On the itinerary: brunch at a diner, organic strawbree-picking, wine-tasting, olive oil-tasting, walking by the Pacific ocean, and buying pre-shelled English peas for my first time at a farmer's market stand.

It was windy.

These were also the sweetest strawberries I've ever had--my eyes bugged when I put the first one in my mouth because it tasted like I was eating candy!  Mister Strawbree liked them too.

Our favorite was the basil-infused olive oil.

The Pacific Ocean--always beautiful.

My first experience shelling peas ever!

These went into a creamy bacon pasta.  Fresh peas are leagues above frozen, but they also take ten times as long to prepare ... worth it or not?

Little getaways into the countryside with locally-grown produce and beautiful scenery and Mister Strawbree ... things to remember to be thankful for.

*1178 - blessed

It couldn't have gone wrong with Mummy praying so hard for me! My heavenly father is always looking after me.

*1177 - mount tamalpais

At the end of a very brisk hike that left me huffing and puffing (no really it was really tiring because I am so out of shape), we settled down for a little picnic at the top of Mt. Tam, overlooking this lovely view with the city mistily in the background.



E & D frolicking in the weeds as R & L politely decline.

*1176 - wedding caterer?

Produced from scratch by EV and Sous-Chef D!  With some very welcome help from Mumsies and friends.

Pretty pictures by 39 East Photography again, less pretty pictures by my little camera :)

1. The Snack Table

In the midst of setting the snack table:

I walked around Chinatown for three hours in search of quail eggs.  Exhausted, almost burst into tears multiple times because of rude Chinese shopkeepers, etc., but found them!!  And they were so worth it.

(If anyone needs to find quail eggs in San Francisco: there's this really strange stretch of (live and dead) poultry and egg shops along Geary Ave, between Pacific and Broadway.  Not a part of Chinatown you would chance upon; you have to know it's there to find it!)

 

 

This was an open faced sandwich: ham, tomato, quail egg, and sprouts on dark rye.

 

Twice-baked sour cream potatoes.

 

Watermelon rounds topped with feta, fresh mint, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.

 

My amazing (no, really) banana cake.

 

Rosemary lemon shortbread cookies.  So very fragrant.

 

One other open-faced round sandwich not pictured was brie, pear, and honey on nut and seed bread.  We were running around in such a frenzy that there really wasn't time for photos!

I thought the round theme was quite genius and we had so much fun stamping everything into little circles.  Round food just looks so much more polished and elegant and visually startling.

Don't worry, all the leftover pieces of bread became french toast for breakfast.  No wastage!

 

 

2. The Dessert Table

This is all there is to be seen of the dessert table: 

On the menu:

• More banana cake
• More rosemary lemon shortbread cookies
• Earl grey berry tart with apricot glaze
• Vanilla cake with peach filling and buttercream
• Rustic apple pie

Again, everything made from scratch including pie pastry and all that.  A daunting task that involved many a panicked moment, a very late and sticky/floury/sugary night, but huge huge accomplishment!  Especially for my Sous-Chef who had, before that day, never wielded an electric beater or tested a cake or anything else to do with baking.  Very proud! :)

*1175 - the dream wedding

Teeny wedding with only the people who truly matter, in a beautiful little quiet home near the Pacific coast.  From-scratch food made with love, DIY decorations from the painted flower vases, to the bouquets, to the favors, to the song sheets hand-drawn by Mummy.  It was quite the family orchestration, with friends rushing to the rescue as well.

First, a few pretty pictures by 39 East Photography:

Little cottage where the Chan's + D stayed; also the site of the wedding dinner.


Where the groom's family stayed, and where the ceremony was held--a quick 30 second trot from the cottage along a gravelly road.  Magical little home with surprises in every nook and cranny.


Getting ready for the big moment ... I was so busy that this "getting ready" phase felt like it lasted all of 15 minutes, including a hop in the shower, slapping on of make up, and frenzied painting of nails (bright coral).


Hand-made bouquets made from the flowers we bought at a flower market in SF.


Flower girls and maid of honour walking down the little aisle!


Taking communion together ...


Husband & wife :)


See??  It's hard to describe in words how beautiful it was!  I want a wedding like that myself :)  Simple, elegant, cosy, magical, a day to remember.

Foodie pictures to follow ... of course I wouldn't leave those out!!

*1174 - making bagels

My first time making bagels from scratch!  I'd always been intimidated because making bagels involves more steps than making regular bread.  It turns out that it's actually not too difficult making a nice, dense, chewy (I prefer this to a cakey texture) bagel that's customized to exactly how you want it to taste.
Step 1: Combine ingredients and knead.  I decided to add raisins, cranberries, cinnamon, and cocoa powder.  Let rise.

Step 2: Punch down, shape into bagels, and let rise again--just a little.

Step 3: Broil for a few minutes to get a crisper, chewier, shinier crust.
Step 4: Boil for a few minutes.  This quickly cooks and sets the crust so that when you stick them in the oven, the insides can't rise past the crust, and that gives them their signature dense texture.  Boil longer for a chewier, thicker texture.

Step 5: Finally, bake until very slightly browned.  And there you go, your from-scratch bagels.

*1173 - mum's day

Missing Mummy (and the rest of the Chan's but it's Mothers' Day) and wishing I could be home. It doesn't get easier, the longer I am away; in fact, I think it gets harder. A three-week trip home is in the works (just have to bring it to Mr Big Boss for approval now) and I can't wait. I am blessed to even be able to take three weeks off, but of course I wish it could be more!

*1172 - ink calendar

How brilliant is this?  An Ink Calendar by Oscar Diaz - a calendar using the capillary action of the ink on the paper.

*1171 - stubbornly

A solid few months of being sleep-deprived and overworked, and I still do not have the ability to sleep early (it's a Friday, 1.30 am, and I'm not doing anything interesting, but still refuse to go to bed for no explainable reason) nor do I have the ability to rise late.

I always get unnecessarily anxious and twitchy whenever D's not around, and he's gone for the weekend + the past few days.  Poo.

*1170 - too cute

Poka likes laptops.

 

Poka likes yoga.

Poka likes laps and naps.

 

Poka likes freshly laundered clothes.

 

*1169 - bottomless brunch

Ironside: Bottomless brunch buffet for $17, bottomless mimosas for an additional $10.  (We opted out this time as it was too soon after our previous mid-afternoon hangover.)

D on the left, EV on the right.







From their website:

• Buttermilk pancakes with banana-rum syrup: I need to make this syrup some day. Mmm.  As you can see, Drew had 4 and I had 2.
• Scrambled eggs with cheese: How do they make such giant vats of uniformly textured scramble??
• Steel-cut oatmeal with vanilla brown sugar: No, thanks.
• Bacon: Yes, please.
• House made spicy sausage: Felt a little too herbed for brunch.
• Biscuits and gravy: Gross, but yum!
• Cheddar grits: I'm a grits-convert now, so of course I had to get this ...
• Chipotle-garlic breakfast potatoes: Spicier and again more herbed than expected.
• Fried sweet plantains with house salsa: Not actually a big fried plantain fan.
• Mixed green salad: Good way to pretend that your brunch buffet is good for you--also their vinaigrette was so good I had to ask about it, but alas, secret house recipe.
• Greens and beans: Forgettable.
• Ceviche: Not fresh enough, I also really dislike raw onions.
• Wheat toast with agave butter: Who fills up with toast in a buffet?? Not me.
• Bread pudding: Again, gross, but yum!

I think the food was good enough but since they don't have a changing menu, I don't think I'll be back.  At least, not for a very long while.  As a rule, I'm not an ideal customer as I don't return to restaurants unless they are (1) phenomeoeomemonoennal or (2) within 30 seconds of where I live.  We have had tons of sub-par to okay Thai food (with the exception of the crab fried rice that I still crave and love) and tons of cheap Indian food because those restaurants are located in our building/right across the road.

*1168 - settled

Today, I am settled back in SF after a couple of months of traveling to Arkansas once every few weeks.  Traveling for work has its perks and I'm very happy to have had that opportunity but I cannot deny that I AM POOPED and I'm somewhat glad that the traveling stint is over ... at least for a while!

Still, it is nice to have a neatly made bed everyday, no dishes to do, fluffy white towels aplenty, dinners delivered to your doorstep ...

Speaking of which, the boy just walked in the door with 1.5 pounds of food for our dinner, so what am I complaining about? ;)

*1167 - still tourists

We've been living here for over half a year, and our default answer to "Oh, have you seen/done the (insert prerequisite touristy icon/activity) in San Francisco??" was an embarrassed "Uh, no ..." We've done a few things, of course, but there are some things we just never made the time for.

Well, some of that was solved when the fam was here! So here we go. Lombard, the "crookedest street in the world" and also the most ridiculous street to actually live on.

Squint and you might see a little head sticking out of a car window and a hand furiously waving from the driver's side.

And Muir Woods, just gorgeous and a good hike to the top! It's very different hiking in cool, dry climes rather than sticky and buggy humidity with leeches everywhere waving their heads around in the mud. Shudder.

*1166 - life choices

These days, I find myself both in a panicked frenzy AND falling asleep with my eyes open at work at the same time. How is that possible and what can one do when one only has that many hours in a day? What a struggle to have to choose between life essentials such as work, sanity, nourishment, and sleep. Sadly, the first never goes as that cannot be compromised; the second is not always within my control, the third is not a question because I'm a pig, and the last is the first to go for me, usually. (To explain myself, taking a two minute break to pen this falls under the category of maintaining "sanity".)

*1165 - Poka's magical space

Fur-lined shelves we built specially for her, a garden we grew with birds for her to catch, and poofballs to keep her entertained.

*1164 - giant paper flower tutorial

Can someone please make me some larger-than-life paper flowers? Just gorgeous. I love whimsical, Alice in Wonderland, teeny or enormous, and kooky proportions.

*1163 - mid-flight predictions

This is maybe my third time using Wifi while flying 10,000 miles above ground. I am documenting this because it still seems so revolutionary to me to be able to be connected, chatting with colleagues, doing work, etc. while in an aeroplane. And this is one of the things that I know I will look at in a few years and SMH over how we all used to survive without this technology readily and cheaply available. For now, I will bask in the terrific-ness of not being 100% out of pocket when flying for work and hence the reduced panic after landing.

*1162 - almost 24

We're getting to the stage of life where friends of our age are getting engaged left right center. Though not quite attending friends' weddings yet--that will be a whole other stage of life!

*1161 - here in SF again

The fam is here and the sis is getting married. What a luxury it is to see them for the second time in less than half a year!! It's unprecedented.

Sis is going to have my dream wedding in a few days and I get to help create the dessert table and snack table. Hopefully I do an acceptable job, which means I had better get going on throwing the best recipes together right now.

It's going to be so lovely! My only wish is to be less busy these weeks at work, but alas that has not been the case.