"Sweet Chandlier, Prepare to Be Impressed" and other stories of SF apartment hunting....

It’s been a great summer, more than memorable. I feel like I’m in the last scene of St. Elmo’s fire when the crew parts for the last time. Goodbyes are said, freedom is reliquished to the life in the real working world. Regrets gone. And Demi, does she even looks any different then than now? I think not, which is both disturbing and awe-inspiring at the same time. Ask me, have the urges to have crazy life experiences like governessing in the outback or becoming live in crew on a sailboat/yacht (those sailor shirts are so in this season I can’t help picture it) completely subsided. No. But with some mild sedatives and the promise of living back in beautiful San Francisco I think they might become more manageable although they will never be completely gone. Don’t loose hope for wild stories to come. There was always plenty of material in SF thanks in part to the bus system, the cable car drivers and what I am sure will be a slew of apartment complaints disguised with humor and sarcasm.

So anyway after Labor Day it’s back to SF life. I am going to miss this, that and the other being time to devote to yoga, the food network and excessive vacuuming but with a new job lined up, new people to meet, old relationships to rekindle (sadly not the romantic kind) I am looking forward to it. I mean it. No really not even a hint of sarcasm about being excited to back and work 9-5 with an awesome commute to Sunnyvale, leaving behind smiling Tahoe City faces and bike riding along the Truckee River. Ok I can’t talk about it anymore.

In other news Petuniaface girl’s most recent post suggests we use day laborers who don’t get jobs as massage therapists. I just wish I had thought of it first. It’s win win, no?

But anyway. It’s on to new and different. Old and the same. If I sound like I can’t make up my mind right now it’s because finding an apartment in San Francisco is like finding a needle in a stack of horse manure you have to sift through a lot of shit to find the right one. For example, I am no longer looking at lisitings with the word “elegant” in the description. Also yesterday there was one listed as “apartment great for person 5’-4” and under” I mean if that doesn’t make you weep from laughter than it should make you weep out of pity for me. So I’m done whinging. Off to enjoy my remaining week in Tahoe.

See you in San Francisco where the wind blows, the sun doesn’t really shine but the food is really delicious. Wish me luck, I’ve been in perpetual summer for one year exactly so shock to the system is not an understatement at all.

I'm out. Peace, love and maybe some paddleboarding. What do you think?

Lalime's 25th Anniversary: After two of Stacy's cocktails I felt pretty emotional about the whole thing.

A couple weeks ago I went to Lalime’s 25^th anniversary dinner which mirrored my own birthday within a week. It put into perspective what absolute nuts my Aunt and Uncle were at the time (still are) for opening a resturant with two kids under 5 years old in 1985. Nuts. The food was great the cocktails scrumptious, but then again it always is and they always are. A video of my Uncle flipping crepes in the original kitchen they now fondly call “Little Lalimes,” since the restaurant has moved to a knew location, was a highlight for me. Not just for the amazing haircuts and svelt figures all the adults have but also it was a glimpse into a world where flipping crepes while your entire family is occupying your entire tiny restaurant is about all you could want for in the world. At least that’s how it appears to me now. I was one at the time so my memory doesn’t serve me at all except in the case of later playing hide and seek in the kitchen and painstakingly folding the monthly mailers that always have a special something written to the readers. Even if only “Rack of lamb, spring onion jam, with rapini pesto and spiced yogurt” Pure poetry.

I am so lucky to have been eating this food for the last 25 years. But in our case “The Krikorian Case” it’s not just about the food, it’s about the company that comes to eat the food and also the process that goes into it, love. Labors and labors of love. Of course I haven’t been there for it all but my first experiences in San Francsico’s Rincon center spent as a child hanging out at the original “Jimmy Beans” I still can’t go there today with thinking about it and running through the ceiling waterfall after hours. And when Uncle H was putting together the concept behind T-Rex I remember the mock-up menu with Leslie’s spare ribs. Each item a reflection of our family. Little bits and pieces here and there. If they were going to name anything after me I would respectfully request T-Rex’s beef jerky be under my name sake (see it’s thin, delicious and packs a punch!) or maybe Jimmy Beans Tortilla Eggs (spicy and filled with protein? Maybe this metaphor thing is going a little too far) The reviewers haven’t always raved, the business hasn’t always boomed but I am so lucky that I have grown up around the simple (not simple at all) business of serving people the most basic and delicious form of nourishment the body needs. A short stack of Silver dollar pancakes served after dark. Come to think of it light, fluffy and sweet, I'll take that namesake too, maybe not too fluffy though...

Happy 25^th Little Lalimes. May we all someday be able to flip crepes without looking, two at a time with the flick of the wrist.

*Stacy's cocktail pictured above. A delicious "Frenchman" I think is what it's called.

Wanderlusting: Peace, Love and Lulu

I'm here today - mountainlotusyoga.blogspot.com - Or here for the week since you haven't heard from me in at least that long!

Please note references to crazy hippie's, my lulu lemon lust and the amount of time I spent relaxing in a bar after my yoga classes were kept to a minimum because it was a guest blog. But just let your imagination and knowledge of my love for beer and margarita's run wild. That should about cover it.

If you were wondering about new new obsession with Shiva Rea see image for her fabulousness. I took this class. It was pretty much amazing.

Peace People.

Stay gold Pony Boy. Stay Gold.

*Image above of Shiva Rea by tinywater. For more fesitival photos click here. Wanderlust Festival Website