One to Nothin'

Dog Friendly Activities in the SF Bay Area

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Dog Friendly Activities in San Francisco

I spend a good chunk of each weekend researching things to do in the San Francisco Bay Area that my sausage dog can enjoy as much as I can. Since I can’t exactly afford a dog-walker these days, I leave that adorable beagle mutt up there at home by herself 40 hours a week. My pup loves being outside, cuddling, meeting new people, growling at cats and eating trash, so I try to make it up to her on the weekends.

Some websites are awesome and tell you right off the bat whether or not furry friends are invited, but most of the time they don’t. If you have a pup, you know there’s nothing worse than leaving them at home only to find that everyone else knew to bring their dogs, so here is a list of awesome things I’ve found around the San Francisco Bay Area (and a little beyond) that are ridiculously fun for humans and K-9s alike.

1. Waterside Walking – I stumbled upon Fort Funston by Googling dog-friendly parks and it was kind of a life-changing experience (read about it here). Dog-walkers come here every day, so you’re bound to run into dozens of dogs attached to a single wrist as you wander down the beach with waves crashing and gorgeous cliffs in the background. Your pup is free to go off-leash too. A sunny day at Fort Funston is a totally different and equally beautiful experience as a foggy day. Look out for hang-gliders and stop by Trouble Coffee for a fresh coconut, toast and a latte on your drive out. My East Bay go-to is Point Isabel in Richmond, which is also a dog magnet where you’re going to find gorgeous sunsets and a billion other puppies.

2. Whale Watching – Maybe Monterey isn’t considered SF Bay Area, but it is gorgeous and definitely worth the drive. The water is incredibly blue, you’ll see whales, tons of dolphins, jelly fish, sunfish and so many birds. Be sure to check Groupon for deals on tickets and bring a jacket. It was in the 90s on shore and freezing as soon as we took off on the boat. Your pups will love the wind in their faces and fishy smells.

3. Camping – Campsite websites are usually good about telling you whether or not dogs are allowed, but here are the sites I’ve personally been to and recommend: Kyen Campground on Lake Mendocino (be sure to ask the ranger about the blue algae status before letting your dog swim in the lake though), Riverside Campground in Big Sur nestled between redwoods (and if you decide to detour in Carmel on your way to Big Sur, like we did, there are tons of dog-friendly hotels and restaurants in the area. we stayed at Carmel Lodge and Zig loved playing on the beach). Here’s a comprehensive list of campsites in California as well.

4. Bar Hopping – Sometimes you just want to get your Sunday funday on with your doggie BFF, am I right? Well, lucky for you, some bars in the Bay shirk health codes and let those suckers run wild. Bloodhound in SF is a great spot for cocktails, Mad Oak in Oakland is dog-friendly downstairs and has a big screen for game viewing (if you’re into that sort of thing), Heart And Dagger Saloon in Oakland has a strange/awesome biker vibe to it and you’re sure to find old men and their trusty K-9 companions playing pool or pinball.

5. Wine Tasting – Lots of wineries have outdoor areas that allow dogs around here, but some of them embrace furry friends inside too. The Buena Vista winery in Sonoma is one of those places. I nervously brought Ziggy inside and immediately she was welcomed with treats and praised by everyone on staff. I’ve also taken her to several wine tastings in the Tri-Valley, like Ruby Hill Winery and all these lovely pet-friendly spots in Livermore.

Do you ever plan your weekend around your pets? What fun things can your pups do where you live?

Things that intimidate me

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I have a secret: sometimes I’m an anxious person.

Okay, depending on who you are, this may not be a secret. Sometimes silly things intimidate me and I blame it on my 65% introvert personality test results because I think you’ll quickly realize that the majority of the following triggers involve other grown humans. Maybe I should just interact with puppies and babies all day every day..

Anyway. Here are some things that intimidate me for no good reason:

+ Car washes, or anything auto-related at all, really. Especially if it’s all men on staff. Don’t call me ‘sweetie.’ Just don’t.

+ Sewing machines. If a DIY project requires more than a little hand stitching, I’m like, “Next.”

+ Power tools, particularly if they are capable of slicing through wood. On the same vein, I don’t craft with wood unless I get to simply paint the surface.

+ The free weight section at any gym that has a person other than myself in it. I know how to lift, bro, but as soon as you walk in, I’m out. I can’t handle getting swole if you’re watching. I just can’t.

+ My cellphone ring. Especially if it’s from “Unknown.” *shudders*

+ The sound of the television blaring, especially if it’s sports coverage. I’m not now, nor will I ever be, the cool girlfriend who loves football. #sorrynotsorry

+ Any recipe that requires marinating. Nobody got time for that.

+ “Can I help you find something?” — anyone at any store ever. No, you cannot.

+ Shared kitchen spaces. You don’t even want to know how long it took me to be comfortable walking to (and finding my way back from) the kitchen at my old office. If it weren’t for my hanger issues, I’d probably avoid them altogether.

+ Planning. I am attracted to people who like to plan (in friends and partners) because even packing blows. Itinerary, ishminerary. Again, if it weren’t for my wanderlust, I’d probably be a hermit.

+ New workout classes. No matter how many times I go to a new studio and have a perfectly pleasant experience, I hate going to a new one. Exception: if a friend comes with me. I’m a strong believer in “strength in numbers.” I’m invincible if I have just one other person with me.

+ People reading over my shoulder. If someone is reading as I’m typing, I will immediately forget how my fingers work.

So now that you know a little bit more about how weird I am, please do tell me what intimidates you in the comments section. Please?

Weekend Things

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I took a lot of photos of Ziggy this weekend, as you may have noticed. I’m not sure if I got a chance to fill you guys in, but for the past two months I’ve been without furniture. Our sad little living room had nothing but a TV stand we found on the side of the road (without a TV) and a mismatched (mostly broken) coffee table. Oh, and like four deflated air mattresses. Now that I’m thinking about it, we probably should’ve just inflated the air mattresses and had dance parties every day, but I digress. On Sunday everything turned around. Our apartment now has a couch for the sausage to sleep on, a large screen TV (and Chromecast — what up, PLL?), the beginnings of a promising gallery wall and hand-painted Halloween decorations. Starting Thursday I’ll even have a new roommate of the male species and Ziggy will have some adjusting to do as far as sharing the bed goes. I’ll keep you updated on how the apartment and living-with-a-dude-for-the-first-time situations progress.

How was your weekend?

For your clicking pleasure

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I may have been adjusting to a new job and ignoring this here blog all week, but I found some links for you. You’re welcome.

Amanda Palmer touches on an interesting subject I’ve often thought about: Motherhood vs. Being an Artist.

The Nectar Collective nails everything always, but these DSLR Photography Tips actually inspired me to take my camera off auto for once. #win

Role Models not Runway Models – This isn’t exactly timely (bye, NYFW) but I love it and hopefully you will too.

I always post my own themed playlists, but I came across this Fall Playlist randomly and swooned.

Sarah (who’s been killin’ it lately) is heading to the beach soon. Wanna score a free trip to the Bahamas by blogging about it? Me too. See how the plucky one did it here.

ROLE MODEL – I want to be her when I grow up.

Give your creativity a boost with this epic tumblr (I talked about her in this post too).

In case you were wondering about that ‘contouring’ thing (aka how Kim K makes her face) check out this fun breakdown.

My two favorite words of late: nascence (the nascence of fall is beautiful) and congenial (especially when paired with something unappealing i.e. “he was a congenial curmudgeon”)

Fun fact: More people have died from selfies than shark attacks this year (clearly they’re doing it wrong).

Happy Friday, friends!

Weekend Things

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I don’t know about you guys, but my last weekend of summer was pretty great.

I’m kind of exhausted, and I might have eaten 5x the recommended daily caloric intake for three days straight, but it was incredible. Friday my BFF at work brought me champagne and dairy-free chocolate/pumpkin truffles to devour for my last day.

Saturday morning Eva, Chad and I headed to Pie Ranch to do some manual labor on the farm before square dancing the night away in the barn. No joke. We weeded, mulched and tended to pear trees on this organic, socially responsible farm in Pescadero and then we do-si-do’d with a bunch of strangers until we were covered in sweat. We camped in Half Moon Bay that night and drove to Monterey for a whale watching tour the following morning.

I was stoked to see whales, but I had no idea I was also going to see seals, bright orange jellyfish, sunfish and approximately 345,678 dolphins in addition to the ginormous whales flapping their tails at us. If you ever find yourself in Monterey, I highly recommend checking out Randy’s Whale Watching trips (and bring a jacket even if it’s 100 degrees out on shore; it gets cold out there!).

Seriously, guys. This has been one of the most epic summers of my life.

How did you spend your last summer weekend?

Life Updates

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A lot has changed in a relatively short period of time.

On a small scale, overnight the weather did a 360. Instead of working from my bed in my skivvies trying not to sweat on the keyboard in my air-condition-less apartment, I’m wearing sweatpants, socks and a fleece. Ziggy will finally cuddle on the bed with me again without panting and seeking refuge in the ever-so-slightly cooler hallway and I finally felt okay about drinking hot coffee this morning.

This could all change tomorrow, but for now I’m listening to Young the Giant, burning a cookie scented candle and savoring the chill in the air; so naturally it’s prime reflection time.

For the past year I’ve been incredibly lucky to work in a rad office. It’s on the eleventh floor encapsulated by giant glass windows overlooking the bay, and gourmet food trucks park out front every day at lunchtime for my feeding pleasure. There’s a ping pong table, a latte machine, free snacks and there’s even a gym downstairs. I’ve gotten to edit blog posts by some huge, mega, celebrity bloggers every day for a year and I think it’s obvious by now that blogging is my favorite thing ever.

It’s been an exciting, dream-come-true kind of a situation as far as job description goes, and to top it all off, the people I’ve worked with have been incredible. I quickly realized my desk neighbor was destined to be my best friend, I’ve been able to pay rent and get inspired to create better content for this site all while working with some lovely and talented people.

All that said, today my last day.

Here’s a quick reminder of how things went down: I moved into my apartment in Oakland while I was still nannying in Dublin (about 20 minutes away). I was job searching at that time and I figured Oakland was a pretty neutral spot if I landed a job in SF or the East Bay. A couple weeks after moving in I was offered this contract position that was South of SF by the airport. Even though I knew this commute would be a nightmare (the Bay Bridge can be a real SOB), I couldn’t say no and it was potentially only going to be a 3-month long contract. Fast-forward a year and I’m still trying to understand how 20 miles can sometimes take two hours to drive when there are no wrecks to be seen. Even though I do work from home a couple times a week, a commute like that can really do a number on your mental health, so when I landed a job with an amazing company on this side of the bay with a focus on writing and editing (vs solely editing), I emphatically nodded my head YES!

So there it is, folks. I’m starting a new job on Monday.

I’m so excited for a new adventure, and one that doesn’t involve packing up my stuff and moving, no less!

But while we’re on the subject..

I’m getting a new roommate in two weeks!

But more on that later. What’s new in your life?

What I Wore

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OTK Boots: Unisa / Skirt: Tobi (similar) / Shirt: Love Culture (similar)/ Lipstick: Besame in Cherry Red

As soon as the sun went in, the over-the-knee boots came out. I bought these last season when I went on a particularly impressive DSW shopping spree and unfortunately only got to wear them a few times before the weather here turned sticky. I promise to do you better this time around, OTKs. Since it’s not actually cold, just not hot, I channeled my autumn enthusiasm with wine red lips and kept it breezy with the skater skirt and chambray.

Let’s talk about this lipstick for a second. This Besame lip color is the first and only high-end lipstick I’ve ever owned, and as much as I hate to admit it, the difference is real. It looks damn good in its old-school bullet-shaped case and velvet protective bag, but beyond that the color makes your teeth look way whiter than they are and it stays put. No one sent me this bad boy for free, by the way (although there is an affiliate link up there if you want to buy it), I’m just spreading the word for you lovelies looking to make some cosmetic investments. Your lips will stay this color for hours and even as it fades, it just looks lighter–no accidental lipliner looks. The only tricky part is staying in the lines during initial application (I suggest a lip brush). I’m out of practice, y’all. Don’t judge; pigmalabiaphobia is real.

Moving on. This skater skirt is everything. When I ordered it, I didn’t have high expectations. I’m not really a skirt person (mostly because matching them with shirts that match and don’t do that weird lumpy thing in the middle is hard), so I was surprised to find that I wanted to wear this one everywhere. It hits right at that flattering spot and doesn’t overly emphasize the slightly disproportionate badonk as skirts tend to do. Also, it makes me feel like Liv Tyler in “Empire Records” and that’s never not a win. I predict some pairing-with-tights and sweaters action as the temps drop.

So if you’re over summer, but summer is not over you, wait ’til it’s a little overcast, throw on some darker-than-you’re-comfortable-with lipstick and OTK boots and treat yo’ self to a PSL.

You deserve it, betch.

DIY Dirty Thirty Birthday Bash

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If you saw this photo on Instagram, then you already know how awesome my sister Britni is, but yesterday was her birthday so I figured this would be the perfect time to debut her epic Dirty Thirty Birthday Bash she threw for her best friend, Anna, last month. I watched her create all of these amazing decorations by hand via Snapchat along the way and I had major FOMO when the  day came around. Let’s just say there was a lip sync battle and there’s no way she’s not planning my 30th four years from now. Sorry, Brit, but I expect smiley poos everywhere.
She molded these cake toppers out of clay and painted them. Also, surprise: there’s a rainbow layer cake under that frosting (kind of like this one!).

Balloon clusters for centerpieces. I love this idea. She’s kind of a centerpiece champion (check out this one and this one).

 Lipstick so guests could kiss the birthday girl’s 20s goodbye. And gold animals because duh.

 Honestly, you can never have too many smily poos.

 OR CANDY BOWLS.

She made a gold photo backdrop so folks could pose with these amazing DIY pinatas. Is anyone else ready to place an order for that lipstick number?

Birthday girl gettin’ at it.
Seriously, I need these in my room.
Taste the rainbow!

 Signage and jumpsuit game on fleek.

 Gold animal straw-cessories.

And streamers, streamers and more streamers.

She’s a boss, right? Check out her bridal shower here, Thanksgiving tablescape here and baby shower centerpieces here. Go follow her on Instagram and bug her about starting an Etsy shop! In the meantime, email her at DarlingBe352@gmail.com if you’d like any of these goodies for your next soiree.

Weekend Things

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What my weekend looked like according to Instagram:
What my weekend looked like according to real life:

This weekend I made a list of all the things I’ve been putting off forever. I thought to myself, “Self, this will be the weekend where you get it all done.” Mainly because the boy was out of town and I had nothing in particular planned, so I got to list writing. Is it just me, or do you get so excited about writing things with your hands that you just keep adding things to the list? My lists are never I-can-accomplish-this oriented; they’re how-much-can-I-write-before-this-pen-runs-out-of-ink? oriented. To a normal person, maybe my Saturday of getting an eye exam, oil change, tail light replacement, bathroom scrub-sesh and fall-crafting-time would seem sufficient, but according to my list I am a complete and utter failure. I never got to laundry, clothing donation or getting my jeans hemmed, but I did learn that Season 5 of Pretty Little Liars is on Netflix (aka my Friday night) and I attended my first Oakland Pride, spent quality time with my roomies and cuddled a lot with the sausage dog. Overall I’d consider it a solid weekend. I guess I should do laundry now.

About that doll in my purse..

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You guys. It’s been way too long since I just full-out embarrassed myself around here. Remember when I used to drunkenly blog about my inadequacies? And all the times I ate concrete while running? Or how about the weirdos who used to hit on me at Baja Fresh? No? Okay, well now is a perfect time to get acquainted with the true crazy that I am because here’s the thing..

I keep the most random shit. I’m serious. Like, I have a tiny Barbie doll I got in a Happy Meal freshman year of college in my purse. She wears roller skates and knee pads, her name is Shaniqua and right this minute she’s chilling in my bag. I used to bring her out at bars (I still do). She met Jessi in Portland and she made several appearances in Vegas. I can’t explain how it started or why, but I don’t think she’ll ever not be on my person. It’s gone on too long and it makes me laugh too hard to let go.

Then there’s this matching earring/necklace set that has dreamcatchers on it. I mean, I kept it because being an Indian princess is pretty much an everyday goal of mine, but they were gifted to me by my 9th grade “boyfriend” who was only even my “boyfriend” for approximately three days. By that I mean we typed at each other a whole lot on AIM before ever meeting IRL, but we had plans.

Plans to make out in an arcade shooting game, that is. You know, the kind with the curtain. Scandalous, I know. When the time came, I had my giant cup of Pibb Xtra, my distressed converse and the blueberry lipgloss we had discussed beforehand, but instead of making out, we played the game. Then it soon became apparent that he farted. He just let one rip in that tiny little curtain-enclosed space, and it smelled rank. Could you not hold it? (Is it that onion and ketchup?)

Needless to say that make out sesh didn’t happen. And the AIM “taken” status was quickly revoked (~*single and ready to MiNgLe*~).

But I still have those dreamcatcher earrings and necklace, and sometimes I wear them without telling anyone that my gassy 9th grade boyfriend bestowed them upon me. Shaniqua probably wears them sometimes too.

The more you know!

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