I heart the Ferry Building!

It's our second day in SF and I couldn't wait to see what my hubby had planned for us.  He suggested breakfast at the Ferry Building.  It didn't sound too exciting, but I went with it.  I mean he researched everything, so he must know where to go and what to do, right?  Well...sort of...lol.

The cable car drop off point was near our hotel, so the original plan was to get on the cable car and have it take us down to the Ferry Building.  He miss read the map and figured out, after we arrived at the cable car loading station, that the cable cars don't head that way...only the bus does...lol.

Being the trooper that I am, I suggested that we walk to the Ferry Building.  It didn't look too far away on the map, so why not?  I was wrong.  It was far.  Damn those misleading maps!

We probably walked like 3 miles before we arrived there, but the walk was worth it.  There was a huge Farmer's Market set up outside the Ferry Building.  I love me a Farmer's Market!  There were booths and booths of organic veggies and fruits.  I could have just built my house right there next to the Farmer's Market and been happy for the rest of my life.

I bought a white peach from this booth.  It was the juiciest peach I have ever eaten!  My hubby's comment, "You should find a bathroom and wash that before you eat it.  Organic farms use poop for fertilizer."  Jee, thanks hunny!  Yes, I went inside and washed it.

Then we headed inside to find this little hole in the wall restaurant called Boulette's Larder.  They only cook with organic produce and change their menu daily depending on what is in season at the time.  Holy moly was their food delish!  I've been home for weeks now and I am still thinking of the breakfast that we had there.

 Eagerly awaiting our scrumptious breakfast.

Scrambled eggs, pork belly, and arugula salad with a side of toast (Which I smothered with organic butter and homemade orange marmalade.  If you haven't had organic butter yet, you need to.  I'm not a big butter fan, but the organic stuff is to die for!  Naked Cow Dairy here in Hawaii makes a killer Hawaiian Salt butter.  Yum!).  I topped it all off with a few cups of cafe press coffee.  Coffee from a coffee press just tastes so much better to me than the percolated stuff.

Now that's what I call breakfast!

After breakfast we shopped around at the Ferry Building.  They had the coolest little stores!

Cheese!

One store was called Sur La Table where I found these vintage inspired cups created by Anne Taintor:

The picture is a little blurry, but it says "From scratch?  Why yes...I scratched the label right off the bakery's box."

"She was one cocktail away from proving his mother right."

I was going to buy a cup to take home and drink my coffee out of, but I was afraid it would get broken in my suitcase.  So I opted to order one online and bought the paper coaster set instead.

Once my husband successfully dragged me out of the cooking store, we made our way towards Pier 39.  We decided to walk again...mostly to work off all the butter I had just consumed.

Luce: Scrumptious Food Served with an Artistic Flair

One of the many perks of staying at the Intercontinental Hotel is their fabulous in house restaurant, Luce.  Ahhh Luce...great wine, great service, and food that was both delicious and beautiful.  What more could a girl ask for?

The server started us off with a foie gras (in English, duck liver, which makes it sound totally less appealing) amuse-bouche.  What does foie gras taste like, you ask?  Good question.  I would liken it to butter.  A really rich silky smooth butter.  This particular foie gras was slightly sweet and savory at the same time, mainly due to it's accompaniments.  A great way to start off a meal and get your palate roaring to go.  (Sorry no photo.  I thought of taking it after I had eaten the whole bite.  Go figure!)

Time for the main course!

La'akea had the lamb, of course.

“12 Hours” Lamb Belly, Lamb Loin, Sweet Potato, Sicilian Pistachio and “Pillow,” Baby Turnips

I had the squab.  (No, I'm not going to tell you exactly what squab is.  You can look it up yourself or be adventurous by trying it first and then looking it up.  It's good!  I promise.  Would I lie to you?  Maybe...but not this time.  When squab is done right it is fabulous.)

Beck Birds Farms Squab, Pear, Chanterelles, Vanilla-Port and Brioche “Veloute”

Now for the best part...dessert!  We shared it, but when it came I secretly wished that we both ordered our own.  With a glass of red wine, it was heaven.

"Chocolate": Chocolate Ganache, Chocolate Soil, Chocolate “Dehydrated”, Chocolate “Ice”, Basil and Mint

The hubby started off the meals so great that I couldn't wait see where the next meal would be!

Art, art everywhere!

This, my friends, is the entrance to the SFmoma.  I'm sure that there was an elevator somewhere, but we walked all five flights of stairs while we were there.  My husband made an extremely sad face when he saw all the stairs we were going to have to climb.  So we had to have lunch at the museum cafe first...lol. 

Lunch face series

The art was fantastic!  Right now they are featuring an exhibit called "Calder to Warhol: Introducing the Fisher Collection".  I heart Andy Warhol.  So when I saw the sign saying that was the exhibit I nearly fainted.  (Double hubby points.  One for taking me to the museum and two for being so lucky that this was the exhibit...lol.)

 Warhol, he's just that good.

*Side note:  Back in Hawaii, I dragged my husband to the Honolulu Academy of Art when they were having their Art After Dark Warhol exhibit.  We waited in line for almost an hour to get in.  Once inside, we pretty much ran to see the exhibit, since they closed in an hour.   I hate to say it, but I was disappointed with the Warhol selection that they had.  There was maybe one slightly known Warhol painting featured there.  I wanted to see the Campbell's Soup Can or something that totally encompassed pop art culture, but alas there were none to be found.  Oh well, such is life right?

This was our tour through the museum...

It's a neck tie.  Dilbert, anyone?

 I can't believe that I ate the whole thing!

"Bueller, Bueller?"  My husband's ode to 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off'. 

Look, I'm blending!

Which way to Lombard Street?

Aaaahhhh!  The spiders from Maunawili followed me to San Francisco!

This is probably to coolest thing that I have ever seen.  It was a bunch of sticks welded together that forms a man when you look at it from far away.

We found Waldo!

Nothing says Modern Art like a florescent light bulb sculpture.

This was the roof of the building.  Even that looked like modern art!

Tickets to the museum: $35
Lunch at the museum cafe: $25
Spending two hours in complete and utter art filled bliss: Priceless

Take a walk with me to SFmoma

After checking into our hotel and a much needed nap, we headed over to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.  If art is your thing, as it is mine, this is definitely where you parked your car.  (I know that you are thinking there is no way that your husband planned a day for you at a stinkin' art museum.  No husband on this great Earth would commit himself to that kind of a day unless he was crazy.  Yeah crazy about me!  He planned the whole museum day because he knew that I would want to go there.  What can I say?  I lucked out in the husband department.  Plus, I'm totally worth it...lol.)

Along the way we found an amazing park.  It was beautifully manicured and people were actually using it!  There were people picnicing, lovers laying lazily on the lawn gazing into each others eyes, Chinese fan dancing for seniors.  I couldn't believe that there were so many people in this park on a weekday.  That's getting the most for your tax dollars!

The view of the park from the terrace.  That's an infinity water feature over looking the park below.

When Arielles attack!  Roar!

We found a giant globe.  Look it's Hawaii!

Across the street from this beautiful park is the Zeum.  It's the kids version of the SFmoma.  And guess what they had!  A 100 year old carousel!  Of course I had to ride it.  How can anyone say no to riding a 100 year old carousel?  Only $3 for two rides, it's a steal of a deal!  Yes, we were the oldest people riding the carousel without children in tow.  But who's really keeping track of that?

My husband, being such a good sport, rode with me.

After the carousel ride we happily skipped, hand in hand, over to the SFmoma.  (Okay so we didn't really skip, but I had you going didn't I?)  We were greeted by this sign:

And to think, all this time my life was set to ring.  I knew I went wrong somewhere...lol.

July 25, 2010: Birthday, birthday, birthday!

This month's Stampin' class will take place on July 25th, at 1pm.  Please contact me for details on the exact location.

You guessed it!  We'll be making birthday cards!  This time around we will be making a total of five cards.  (Yes, I was sure to make some boyish looking cards.  I know that you guys always give me flack about making girlie cards.  I can't help it.  They're just so much fun to make.  I love all the sparkles and frills.)  Just think, five cards that you won't have to buy before you dash off to your next birthday party...hehe.  Here are photos of four of the cards, as usual if you want to see the last card you'll just have to come to the class. :)

This one's a pop-up!

The class fee is $20, which includes your kit with pre-cut pieces, all shared supplies (stamps, scissors, etc.), and a super yummy snack.  Don't forget to bring your own double-sided sticky tape!  I know when you get into the crafting groove it can be a real bummer to have to wait for supplies, so feel free to bring other supplies along with you as well (ie. scissors or hand held punches) since I only have a limited amount to share with you all.  Please RSVP to me via email by Wednesday, July 21st.

 
Don't be shy!  Encourage a friend(s) to come along.  More girls means more ideas and more fun shared together!  Just be sure that they RSVP to me or you can RSVP for them.  Also, if you are unable to attend, but still want to do the class you can purchase a kit ($25, including the $5 shipping).  Looking forward to seeing you all!

Stampin' and smilin',
          Arielle

PS.  Don't forget that the new SU! catalogs are available.  I still have a few on hand, so get 'em while they're hot!

Organic Coffee to the Rescue

We arrived in San Fran at the early hour of 6am.  It was very early and technically like 3am Hawaii time.  Needless to say, coffee was a necessity that morning.  The concierge at our hotel (The Intercontinental Hotel) suggested that we take a walk on over to the Blue Bottle Cafe while we waited for our room to be ready for us.  (The staff at this hotel totally rocked!  They got us into our room by 9am even though the check-in time was at 3pm.  We were so thankful to be able to sleep for a few hours before heading out the rest of the day.  If you are ever in the SF area check them out.  Their rates were reasonable and the restaurant within the hotel, Luce, was phenomenal!  But more on that later...)

Just a little background info:  The Blue Bottle Cafe is known for their unique siphon bar, imported from Japan, and their impact, or lack there of, on our environment.   They only use organic products.  That means organic coffee, dairy, sugar, pastries, breakfast items, you name it.  Right on down to compostable packaging and take-out containers.  Now that is fabulosity! 

We were tired, dazed, confused, and hungry, so of course we got lost and ended up walking straight into the Tenderloin.  Fun times!  Lol...but seriously once you start seeing multiple adult video stores and a plethora of bums, you've reached the Tenderloin and should promptly escort yourself out before you get mugged.  We turned around right away and noticed that we only missed the cafe by a block.  Thank goodness!

Street view from the Blue Bottle Cafe.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by a line that was almost out the door.  Being the great team that we are, I quickly found a place to sit and my hubby got in line with everyone else.  Obviously these people took their coffee seriously and I didn't want to be the person that disrupted the routine! 

It was so crowded that we sat at the bar top near the door.

Despite the already crowded room, more and more people piled themselves into the small coffee shop.  With this many people the coffee must be good, right?  Indeed it was.  We ordered two lattes and one Parmesan and fennel seed pastry to share.  It was heaven, pure heaven!  The coffee was the tastiest coffee that I have ever had and that pastry...let's just say if I didn't have to share I wouldn't have.  They even pour the foam in your latte a certain way to make a fern pattern in your cup!  (I wish that I took a picture of that.)  I'm sorry for all you Starbucks lovers out there, but Blue Bottle Cafe blew them out of the water hands down.

Breakfast is served!

Their windows had the best lighting (Must have been the early morning light that I usually miss because I'm sleeping!), so my hubby was feeling artistic.

I had to get in on the action as well.  He can't be allowed to be creative all by himself!

Hopefully a Blue Bottle Cafe will come to Hawaii, but until then hit them up when you head over to the mainland.  It is well worth the wait in line and even getting a little lost.