Golden Gate Park: Ultimate Frisbee

It has been over a year since I last played ultimate frisbee. I played in a couple of recreational teams during my last summer living in Madison, WI and loved every second of it. In moving to San Francisco a year ago yesterday, finding pick up frisbee games has been on my to do list. I signed up for email notifications, but never made the time to attend. Tonight was the night! As nice as the people I met seem to be and for what a great work out you always get with ultimate, I can't believe i waited so long to play. I'm rusty and not in tip-top shape, but I made a solid dive catch and kept up on defence. It cost me a jammed pinky, from being super intense and an overall badass, which I now need to tape and ice. Worth it. Cheers! 

Cartoon Art Museum, Bar Tartine, Dolores Park

Real Talk

Here we are, first Tuesday of the month: free museum day! Today a friend and I checked out the Cartoon Art Museum. I was not expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised! Displays from different time period of various cartoons, books, and comic strips line the walls in the smaller sized, three section museum. My favorites were all of the cartoon art we know and love directed by Chuck Jones: Bugs Bunny, The Coyote and the Road Runner, the little alien helmet guy, etc... They even had an original script from one of the episodes which must have been Elmer Fudd's because all of his lines were marked. All ages stopped to watch cartoon episodes,  they just don't make them like they used to!

After stopping at the MoMA around the corner, which had slightly changed since my last visit, I enjoyed an extremely lazy afternoon before dinner.

         

      

A friend and I grabbed seats at the bar of a restaurant called Bar Tartine. Such a cool vibe from the overall atmosphere and staff. I have to mention our bar tender/server because she was absolutely adorable; black hair,  cat eye framed glasses with gold on the wings,  bright red lipstick and tights with Snow White's skin and hipster style. I mention this out of jealousy because I really don't have a style and she rocks hers. Anyways, the kitchen is open into the restaurant, So we could watch as they nearly prepared dish after dish.

Their menu is short and uses as much local and in season product as possible. We ordered four items to share: the halibut, pea and goat cheese dip, smoked potatoes, and blood sausage.  The halibut dish was so so,  the others were great. Blood sausage came nice and spicy;  I'd go back just to snack on the potatoes.

What better way to work of dinner than to take a walk to the top of Dolores Park for a foggy but beautiful city view, followed by playing on an "adult" playground. Swings, slides, the works :)

Sorry for a second late posting. Having too much fun to keep up!

Awesome...

De Young Museum

Back in San Francisco! 

It was a little hard to leave the house today - with all the laundry and sleep I needed to catch up on from the trip (and from days prior!), but the first Tuesday of every month, museums around the city have free admission, and I have been meaning to check out the De Young Museum for quite some time. So, I headed to Golden Gate Park. I first check out the observatory tower, overlooking the park and the city beyond, before moving on to the exhibits.

View from the observatory - looking at the California Academy of Sciences
and the park that the Wedding Planner final wedding was to be held in!

I loved it.  The museum's current main attraction is "The Girl With The Pearl Earring," which unfortunately was not free (makes sense, but I didn't have time to do both anyways). Even without see that famous work of art, the De Young is a worthwhile stop. Such a nice building! I'm not a fan of the way it looks on the outside, but the inside gives a different vibe. Normally all museums feel the same, but each room in the De Young felt differently. They currently have "Objects of Belief from the Vatican" on display on the second floor, and the warm woods compliment the ancient tiki-like, wood pieces of art perfectly. Another moving sections was photography from Iraq - not of American soldiers - but of the lives of the people before the US came and during the first few years after we arrived. I highly recommend checking it out. The rest of the artwork ranged from paintings and sculptures, to glasswork and furniture. Truly, anyone could find a room they enjoy and spend hours looking over the pieces. See my favorite painting from today, below. 

        

My favorite painting. "The Sonata" 1889 by Irving Ramsey Wiles

SF Museum Of Modern Arts

Every first Tuesday of the month, museums all over the city have free admission. I can't believe I didn't know this until now! Today I left work a bit early to explore the MOMA on 3rd & Mission. (I also stopped in the Yerba Buena Contemporary Art Museum, but several exhibits are under construction,  and the ones I saw creeped me out a bit)

MOMA is great! The friendly staff pointed me in the right direction and made exhibit recommendations. I can't pretend to know a great deal about art,  but definitely appreciate [most] of it. Some of their permanent collections include works from Matisse, very whimsical and full of color (I get it), but also Paul Klee, who has some interesting pieces and some simplistic pieces (which maybe I just don't understand). By simplistic I mean a young child may have also come up with the same picture. (See picture below). Currently on the 3rd floor, you will find an Apartheid in South Africa photo gallery. This was by far the most moving, displaying photos from three photographers: 1. a privileged, white male, 2. a working class, black male 3. a bouncer at a popular club in Cape Town. It was very moving, and I definitely recommend it. On the 5th floor, there is a coffee shop and roof garden with a few outdoors-y exhibits.

Moma made for a pleasant afternoon - check it out! (I'll have to report back on Yerba Buena when I see the full exhibit- although I can already tell it's not my thing)



I really like this one - each shot is the sky line of different
parts of San Francisco. If you take the time to look, you can
clearly see some of your favorite, memorable skylines!



Paul Klee... Forgive me, I just don't get it

Picture from the club in the Apartheid exhibit

  

By the line at the coffee shop



5th Floor Rooftop garden exhibit

Melt!

Such a fun Monday night! A friend from college that recently moved to the bay area joined me in the city to check out free comedy night at Melt! Cafe.

We met there a bit early to get a table and share fondue. They offer cheese and dessert options, sadly no meat fondue, but still very cute and the first place I've been to in the city that offers it.

Every Monday at 8pm, Melt! offers a free comedy night (tips encouraged-after all, these guys are putting themselves out there for you to judge). Five or six comedians from all over the bay area and beyond had roughly 10-15 minutes each to perform.  There were definitely a few that need to work on their acts, but others were a pleasant surprise! The MC was an old white haired man with an English (or something similar) accent - very cute and stole a few laughs. The feature and headliner as usual were the most practiced and I honestly can't believe they were doing free shows.  The headliner practically forced an engagement on a couple. I could go on with example after example, but the point is- not bad for a free show!

MC

Twin Peaks

Twin Peaks

A warm, bright, sunny day in the city combined with a Monday off work provides numerous choices of how to best utilize it. Today I decided to go to Twin Peaks - standing on one while overlooking the other in the picture above. This city continually amazes me in the amount of nature it has. A short bus ride, semi-steep climb up city streets, and slightly steeper hike up the peak rewards you with beautiful views of the city on days like today. All of the city icons are visible: Golden Gate & Bay Bridges, City Hall, Golden Gate Park, downtown/Market Street, the Mission.

After taking several minutes to appreciate the beauty of San Francisco and identify the different neighborhoods as if I was looking at a map, I wandered away from the tourists to the other side. There, you can climb up and over each peak to get a view of the other side of the city, and a small work out. A couple took in the sights romantically together. The only thing that may have made it better would be wine and a picnic.

The neighborhood surrounding Twin Peaks is beautiful. The homes are large and colorful and obviously have floor to ceiling windows to take in the scenery. They make for a nice walk after leaving the hike.

I’d like to return with friends/my boyfriend. It would fun to bring lunch along and just enjoy the sunshine. Surprisingly, I didn’t see anyone with a dog, which if you are familiar with the city, they are usually everywhere. I’ll have to check if dogs are allowed and borrow a friends’ pet for a day.

Fun Cheap SF

http://sf.funcheap.com

Great site with activities occurring daily in the city. Perfect way to find a new adventure when the urge strikes.