quite frankly

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Favorite Farmer's Market

shop local. eat local.

The Healdsburg Farmer's Market

we took home these beauts'

and a cinnamon sugar piece of heaven with honey + the largest almond croissant I've ever seen

Six Snaps

my view from the studio downtown

perks of entertaining

fresh ravioli are one of my favorite things

my beautiful best friend and I

homemade Madeline's courtesy of my cousin for a lovely bridal shower

patriotic arm party + nails (Essie's "enuff is enuff")

Hope you all had a wonderful and safe Fourth of July!

Eating at really fantastic restaurants in San Francisco is not a hard task, but finding one that you absolutely love because of a marvelous menu, friendly staff, and is appropriate for almost any occasion is an amazing find. For me, Piccino takes the cake! Not only is it located in the ultra-trendy Dogpatch neighborhood, but they take reservations! (How sad is it that a restaurant that takes reservations is now a hard thing to come across?) Anyways, our lovely server Devin was a peach and made our visit even more enjoyable. I love that the menu changes often, according to what local fruits and vegetables are in season.

We started with little gem romaine, wild pecans, cilantro, and green goddess dressing

strozzapreti, octopus, calabrian chili, marinara (totally something I want to attempt to make at home– the crispy octopus was delicious)

heirloom tomatoes, burrata, heirloom polenta (one of the tastiest things I've ever had), watercress, and aged balsamic

estate pizze: mozzarella di buffalo, squash, corn, cherry tomatoes, and arugula

dessert: zeppole accompanied by vanilla bean crema and strawberry marmellata

can't wait for many more lunches & dinners to come!

Monday, July 1, 2013

Russian River

Northern California and Southern California are two completely different worlds. Having spent last weekend in beautiful Laguna Beach and driving home to San Francisco, I saw a lot of my beautiful Golden State that I would have missed if our flight wasn't canceled. I'm continuing to explore Northern California for short day trips to get out of the city and enjoy the sunshine. Healdsburg and Sonoma are normally my go to spots, but this weekend, a few friends and I decided to head to Johnson's Beach in Guerneville (a town in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County) for the day. This day trip was the perfect example of why California is the absolute best: within an hour, you've driven over the Golden Gate Bridge, through acres of vineyards, and into a Redwood forest without even realizing it. Anyone else agree?!