Home things

Pre-dinner olives and vino at Booth St Bistro with a friend that I've known for more than half my life.

Went for an ocean swim, and took those shoes from Hayes to Manly.

My old friend - brown rice sushi, enjoyed in the sun.

Did a bunch of things this week that I can only do in the city I call home, and boy did it feel good.

Sunday links

Nothing like gym and juice on a Sunday, then going home to look at snacks I didn't eat.

This Sunday's rampage of links is dedicated to my latest online obsession - American 'recipes' for snacks that are basically an assemblage of other snacks; featuring heavily are 'pretzel hugs', for which there are multiple, even seasonal variations of this.

Other recipes in this category include puppy chow, chex mix and the slightly more acceptable walking tacos.  The tacos then led me to a slew of party-specific snacks, notably this superbowl cheese ball and drunk gummy bears.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to try that last recipe, maybe while I'm doing my nails up like this.

The space itself

View of the tower from within the ground floor of the museum.

I'm ashamed to say that it has taken me many trips to SF before I actually took the time out to see the de Young Museum by  Herzog & de Meuron.  It was partly laziness (you have to drive there) and partly because I wasn't that enthralled about the actual contents of the museum (comparing their websites should be enough to justify this - and you have to admire an architecture company that has done so many huge projects that they don't even need a website that makes sense anymore).

I took a pile of photos but nothing really beats walking around the space itself - natural light was managed really intelligently throughout the place, slicing dynamically through hallways to give breathers between the different pockets and sections of the museum.  Prior to de Young I'd only seen their Tokyo Prada store years ago, a visit that I definitely made for the space alone as their handbags were out of the question at that time in my life.

Here's to more adventures with an environment as the sole destination.

Return to Hayes

I wrote about Melbourne feelings in Hayes Valley before, with every SF trip it increasingly becomes my favourite neighborhood to while away the day.  Boutique-lined streets, delicious little cafes where having a mimosa with your cake are the norm and furniture shops who have a preference for beautiful upcycled pieces.

Did some imaginary shopping at the amazing furniture shops.

Lunch with friends - coffee as big as our faces and mac n' cheese for me (no surprises here).

Stretching out my new shoes by Joan & David.

Tiles on a garden mural - yeah, it was that kind of day where we had time to wander around playgrounds.

A sun-filled day slowing down before work on Monday.

Home stretch

The perfect wind down to a week of work / social / work socials.

Definition of happiness: a hotel room dry from the rain, greasy take-out and all the time in the world to catch up on overdue blog trolling.

New favourite farmer

Just discovered farmerbrown on the recommendation of an SF local - delicious soul food that sources its produce from local, african-american farmers.  A great excuse to get your fried chicken and cornbread on and (unlike a lot of other SF foodie must-eats) is only a short walk from Union Square, where you'll likely be basing yourself if it's your first time in the city or here for work.

I was tempted by the rainy day special of grandma's chicken and dumplings.

Cornbread and cocktails: the perfect pre-dinner combo.

Their famous fried chicken with sides of mac n' cheese and Southern sauteed greens - say yes!

Plus, I grabbed one of their business cards on the way out, which just so happened to be shaped like little waffles.  What's not to love about this place?

Second home

Love this city, and the sun changes everything

Beautiful day in SF, I never feel like a tourist or an outsider in this city.  Lots of catch ups and curly fries had.

Immeasurable 'metrics'

It's rare that I find a bookmark-worthy article that contains 'you need to know' in the title, but came across this the other day and have not only been bookmarking but passing it on too - 'Five New Management Metrics You Need To Know'.

The article captures a lot of common principles that we're told to hold in life - remain curious, look to be positive rather than negative, always challenge yourself - and puts them into digestible 'metrics' to apply in the workplace (whether you're working solo or part of a bigger machine).

One of the more hilarious forms of giving feedback I've seen here - at least there's a good 'Positive Feedback Ratio' going on.

I especially like #2 - keeping your environment in the state between "boredom and anxiety - but closer to anxiety".  I know what it's like to be at that level of engagement with what you're doing, you feel productive, electric.  

Looking forward to many moments like that across all areas of my life this year!

2012

Reflection on 2011 will have to come later, but here is a snapshot of the cold adventure that tied up last year and brought me into this one.

The rolling English countryside near C's parents' house

Leftovers keeping cold in the sun room (no sun).

View from our room in Paris with the Sacre Coeur off in the distance.

Mandatory crepe on the street as we lined up for the Pompidou.

The happy remains of ringing in the new year.

A belated happy new year y'all!