Beautiful Paltrow, Full Life

Every time I read an article on Paltrow, I'm more and more impressed by her beauty, grace, intelligence and balanced perspective on living a full and happy life.

The Vogue article by Jeffrey Steingarten is a showcase of Paltrow's seeming (real) perfection, her ability to whip up some amazing sounding recipes (that aren't vegan, macrobiotic or on any other sort contortion of what not to eat), how comfortable she is in her own skin, and where she is in life. She's a role model for loving every part of your self, aging gracefully & living joyfully.

In life are there things that are getting in the way of living the life you envision for yourself? Maybe the extra 10 lbs, the uncertainty of transitions in life, etc. Instead of repeating the same cycles of what you're doing, all the while wishing for something else, concrete small steps for a full life:

Commit to one small thing daily that will create a positive change in your life
-wake up 10 minutes earlier to meditate on your day
-sweat & move your body for at least 45 minutes daily
-do yoga
-cook something from mother natures bounty. that means nothing out of a box, package, processed.
-set your alarm to go to sleep at 10 pm. get 9 hours of restorative, brain stimulating, growth hormone producing sleep!
-a friend taught me about an easy way to meditate. send a thought of loving kindness to someone you care about. close your eyes for 5 minutes with just thoughts of loving kindness to the people in your life.
-Listen to Michael Pollan: eat food, mostly plants, not too much.
-Think about Jing: in Chinese medicine, the life essence given to us at birth and that we guard for life with healthy habits for life. Each day, think of every action and thought as something you can do to preserve and even create this energy.
-Nature is restorative, get outside.

Beauty on the run

I always pass by this old guy creating solitary stone towers when I run along Crissy- but today there were many little sculptures, and it looked so pretty that I had to take a picture. There's this lamp at West Elm that my friend and I are obsessing over that I believe is inspired by this :)...

Russian Hill

Today I loved playing tennis on the sunny courts in Russian Hill, my neighborhood, I love it here so much!

On my ipod was a mix of Common, the 500 days of summer soundtrack & Keane- random but such a great work out...with beautiful views, it doesn't really get much better for a Tuesday afternoon!

Bravo's Work of Art, Review Highlights

I actually like this show so far, and Miles is of course a favorite :).
Favorite lines from Saltz' & Greenberg's reviews,

"...being only “above average” is the definition of mediocrity — akin to spiritual-aesthetic death."


"By episode’s end, I was bouncing back and forth within myself between something two of the artists said. Jaclyn sighed, “I’m starting to feel a little hopeless here.” Then Miles put it all into perspective: “I like the free food, free beer, and free art supplies.”

"Miles' open appreciation and thrill over being in the studio is refreshing. Just give him "free beer and tools" and he will stick around. His youthful no baggage, no judgment approach to being a contestant on this show reassures that TV land is a legitimate venue for an artist, and not because "professionals" show up as mentors and judges, but rather because artists like him have entered the space."

Gisele, beauty and brains.

I've always admired Gisele for not only her beauty but her outlook on life.

In her recent Vogue interview, a line that stood out to me was her beauty secrets...

There are two secrets, says Gisele on parting:

"The first is wake up in the morning and be grateful you are here, alive and healthy. And the second is: Give."

Home Again.

San Francisco,

I'm coming back! See you soon :).

If there's one thing I know about where I want to live forever,

It's to be close to the Ocean...


No matter what kind of day I'm having, to see an endless sea, sand & breath in the fresh ocean air...makes everything okay.

Flash storming, then clear skies & wind surfers...Love San Francisco.

Heard on wet sand under cleared skies,
"Man you missed the rain, it was so refreshing!"

Shine in the Rain

It's overcast & raining here in the bay...

But

I'm meeting up with a dear friend to go check out diamonds at the Legion of Honor (free day for the first Tues of the month)
Sharing a delicious dinner to warm the soul
& Perhaps some power yoga with a controversial teacher in SOMA

Intriguing!

Jouer Vivre

Photo by the lovely & inspiring Garance Dore.

Cogito Cogito!

“Cogito, ergo sum” —
“I think, therefore I am”

Truer words...
So easy to forget

How do you see your world
How does your perception shape your day to day
& thus your present, your future, you

School to Work

Sometimes I have to remind myself!

Surrounded by dusty old practitioners with an eye on the bottom line
The worst fate is one of monotony & loss of soul in daily life
Living for the weekend, is second worst
Amor fati, creativity & love of the little things
Keep an eye on quality & purpose and live it out the way you like it
Jouer Vivre

Sunday Funday

Lafayette Park, a nice little place to plop down on the sunny hillside with a good book. Stroll right down Octavia if you get hungry and find Blue Fog Market offering gourmet baked goods & sandwiches for an impromptu picnic.

Jamie Cullum is all kinds of amazing, nice way to start a leisurely Sunday! 21:30, he covers Lauren Hill!


Yesterday was Coco Chanel, I love strong, graceful, beautiful, powerful, intelligent women.

Sundays mean reading the paper, soy lattes, a catch up brunch fest with friends, baking if inspired, pedicures, magazine catch up sessions at the local bookstore.



Another beautiful, sunny day in San Francisco...life is good.

San Francisco at night

I love running at night in San Francisco. The streets still have so much energy, the air is so crisp & the hills offer up a perfect challenge to tone & firm. I love the majestic houses that shield you from the wind, some elegant, others overwrought and hungry for attention. I love the lights of the city. I love the postcard views from every angle.

A view from Alta Plaza at night.

Ever Changing

Like everything else in San Francisco, the weather is ever changing. Today, a flash flood one minute ( and my 2nd umbrella purchase in a week), and sun breaking through revealing clear blue skies the next.

Other things that seem to be just as mercurial in this city,

aside from of course the weather,
restaurant menus (seasonal, local, organic, fresh in the truest sense)
food carts (twitter to follow the chef on the go)
people talking (talking a mile a minute where ADHD isn't diagnosed but the norm)
people walking (walking, biking, up and down the hills of SF, a pedestrian paradise)
the landscape (is it any wonder, it fits the city, as SF is shaken, literally, topography follows suit in ceaseless, tireless motion)

Fraiche, divine healthy & organic dessert

A happenstance drop in at Fraiche on Fillmore street after dinner with my cousin at Dosa (which was great for ambience, just okay for food), and I decided right then that I must move into a unit above this Yogurt shop.



Not only do they offer the most delicious organic frozen or non-frozen fresh yogurts, they have fresh fruit toppings that include fresh pomegranite to on the spot shaved dark chocolate.

It doesn't stop there, they offer frozen SOY YOGURT! This is the only froyo spot I've found that offers a non-dairy option which is the only kind I can have. And it isn't too sweet, and just delicious.



And it goes on, you can have a perfectly healthy breakfast of slow cooked steel cut oats, or a freshly baked vegan organic applesauce muffin with your fresh yogurt. And yes, Blue Bottle Coffee is of course served here.



I've found my perfect breakfast/dessert spot in San Francisco, and I'm never moving!

All photos from the fraiche website:
http://www.fraicheyogurt.com
"Fraiche is a homemade, organic fresh yogurt and frozen yogurt café. All of our European-style yogurts are made from scratch, in-house using local Clover organic milk and a special probiotic-focused culture. We believe in the goodness of pure, simple foods and that you shouldn't have to choose between "great tasting" and "good for you". We use only the finest ingredients to handcraft the most delicious yogurts and specialty toppings you can find. With our selection of fresh-cut fruits, local honeys and purees, toasted nuts, homemade granola, and hand-shaved Callebaut chocolate..."

Art, Heirloom Tomatoes & Junipers

I like tennis, and SF is a paradise of beautiful courts with amazing views. The above is Alta Plaza Park.



I like the Juniper trees that frame the amazing ocean views. I like that this is a short stroll down the street from my home.



I like Samovar Tea Lounge @ Yerba Buena Gardens for its nice skyline view & delicious vegetarian friendly food. It's perfect after a visit to the SFMOMA on a free first tuesday.





On that note, I like the DeYoung which I visited this past free tuesday, it's still my favorite museum in the city. I love the classical oil paintings. It would be a nice change of pace to spend a day like Maurice Brazil Prendergast's The Holiday or like Charles Courtney Curran's Afternoon in the Cluny Garden, Paris... and your evenings dressed up and making music like in Irving Ramsay Wile's The Sonata.



I like that when I ordered toast and tea at The Stable in the Mission, they asked if I'd like the toast with some heirloom tomato slices that they had grown in their own backyard...



I like that I pass by the Palace of Fine Arts on my evening runs, and it's always so beautiful and never gets old.

Reasons I love Russian Hill

At La Boulange, the ceilings are high, the sample croissants greet you at the door, the waiter sets my favorite toast with avocado (note the little chives:) and large soy latte in front of me every morning, with a huge smile.



At Real Foods, the checkout guy always says hello and makes small talk, the produce guy tells me which veggies are the tastiest that day (the green onions were so great!), and when I sit outside for a quick lunch, the sun shines in just the right spot.

The Cheese Store down the street has the best sweets & healthy soda pops, it's a candy store for adults!

The frozen yogurt place will custom make and blend any order and tosses on generous toppings. The interior is SO cute.

The tennis courts are my favorite in the city, and pick up games happen all the time. Only downside, the tennis balls that are hit over the fence are forever gone and never to be found again!



The Nook is a sun-soaked small coffee shop where the same people turn up daily, lab tops in tow, holding down a corner table for hours. The cable cars rumble by all day, the people watching is awesome. Service is spotty, but I don't think this place really earns any money, since they are unable to turn over those tables!



The neighborhood feels like a community. You get a cross-section of SF, the chinese lady hurrying along with a pink plastic bag of steamed buns, the overly preened sartorialist with a handlebar mustache, the wizened old man meeting up with his buddies for the WSJ & daily coffee, the 7th year grad students with their noses burried in coffee stained notes, the shopkeeper gazing out at the doorway waving hello to the regulars.

Just by walking up and down the hilly streets, you get spectacular views of SF & toned butt and legs :).



My kind of neighborhood.

beautiful sunny september, refresh, renew, relax

Biked up Pierce to alta plaza park, enjoyed the views along with the sun bathers & dog walkers, caught up with an old friend, read epictetus


Baked some pretty but not so delicious banana oat cookies



Ferry building farmers market & Wine tasting in napa valley and dinner at Rutherfords on beautiful day.


Night run, gorgeous.

Opera + Sushi

San Francisco this weekend,Beautiful.


My Birthday. The perfect mochi trio at my absolute favorite bakery Benkyodo, seasonal mochi made fresh daily. The most delicious tuna tartare, and cute puffy dinner buns served at Spork...maybe orange makes everything taste better? An hour wait and the most perfectly yeasty thin-crusted heirloom tomato pizza at Beretta. We will be back for more.




Singing the anthem at the SF Opera-Golden Gate Park en-masse, enjoying a picnic of sushi and mochi on a stick from Nijiya market, with a dear old friend. The weather was mercurial, La Boheme was divine!



Running Lyon Steps with an old HS buddy, we finally did 3 rounds without stopping! Topping it off with the SF Chronicle (Go online for the NY Times and support the local news) and a hot soy latte at the nearby cafe.


art by Cao Young
A Kiss on Hyde, a dripping cookies & cream cone from Swensons, as the cable car rumbled by. It was also raining and the car was parked 3 blocks up the hill, but it really didn't matter because the night was so perfect.




La Boulange on Russian Hill never fails me. I come here and writers block and apathy are magically lifted. Perfected my CV & Cover Letter. It may have to do with the friendly big bowl of Latte goodness, accompanied by the yummy tartine and complimentary nutella.



This old couple sitting on a bench at dusk, this is what life is all about. Love fully & nurture those relationships daily. Live somewhere beautiful. The best things in life are free...

Blissed out weekend

Japantown, Warm soba noodles & scallops in piping hot nabe bowl, Sophie's crepes with fresh strawberries and cream, Kinokuniya bookstore with Japanese glossies, one mochi wrapped in leaf and one red bean jelly please.

Brother in town, reconnecting over Roses pizza and polenta, biking beach, running Lyon steps to a soundtrack and outrun by a grandpa in spandex, pause for a soy green tea iced, Proust questionnaire asked, thoughts on life, family, love.

Loved seeing Lindz on 4th St, O Chame bentos, Farewell to our beloved Eccolo & their commitment to uncompromised quality- the chef stands at the doorway of his empty restaurant, Peets fredos, one organic rose hand creme that smelled divine, watching Julie+Julia- lovely but it wouldn't end, laughs forever, support through transition, a true friend is the best thing on earth.

On bike heading down block to beach to start the weekend, sites to see, paper to pick up, sun to soak in, watching San Francisco in the fall to a soundtrack is bliss.

Summer Fun (According to Anne :)

Inspired by being red blog (http://being-red.blogspot.com)

1) Getting on my bike, riding down to the beach while listening to music (currently 500 days of summer soundtrack and owl city :).

2) Tennis at Alta Plaza park on sunny mornings

3) Blanket, grassy knoll, magazines & a picnic

4) Sharing brunch alfresco at Roses with friends on lazy Sundays (Smoked salmon & scrambled egg pizza always hits the spot, especially when washed down with a mimosa :)

5) Summer Love!