San Francisco Noobs

70 Degrees in January. San Francisco Wins!

Casi — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:07:22 +0000

Remember that time it was sunny and 70 degrees in January? No? Then you must not be lucky enough to live in the amazingness that is San Francisco. I WIN!

Confession time: I’ve lived in San Francisco for over 2 and half years and I just recently made my first visit to Twin Peaks. Ugh, I know!!! Stop judging me!!!

For those of you who don’t know….Twin Peaks has one of the BEST views in San Francisco. This is where everyone and their mom comes on a beautiful sunny and warm January day (did I mention how lucky we are?).

My goal originally was actually to visit Sutro Tower, which I have been staring at for the past year from my house, too lazy to actually get my big butt off the couch and see the damn thing up close and personal. Well I made it to Sutro Tower!!!!!!!!!!!!

And took a bunch of awesome pictures of it.

And then I realized how close we were to Twin Peaks (hop-skip-and-a-jump close) so we made our way over to finally see with our own eyes the best view in the city.

Oh San Francisco, you take my breath away.

♥ Casi

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and All That Good Stuff

Casi — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 20:27:00 +0000

Why I love Christmas:

I love to torture Greg (my Jewish fiancé) by making him help decorate our house and helping me carry a 6ft Christmas tree a mile through San Francisco (a new tradition as of this year). Also, I think he secretly enjoys decorating. Especially when we’re blasting Michael Bublé’s Christmas album throughout the house the entire month of December.

Grown up Christmas tree’s: This year we decided to go with an all white/silver theme. I feel so sophisticated and grown up! But I think next year we will go back to the colorful lights and mismatched ornaments.

Christmas trees EVERYWHERE!!! If you don’t have a Christmas tree in your store window, you hate joy and happiness and puppies. Obvs! This giant tree is in San Francisco’s Union Square.

Shopping: Ok, Ok, it’s actually not my favorite thing this year. But last year I rocked it! I had everyone’s gifts carefully picked out and purchased in plenty of time. This year, not so much. But I still love all the store’s and their Christmas spirit.

Festive nails: with all that time I have been saving by procastinating on my Christmas shopping this year, I have been able to spruce up my nails. Right now they are red with gold tips! Everyone gets crappy last minute gifts this year, but at least my nails look good!

Santa hats: I’m all about dressing for the occasion. I think every holiday should have some sort of festive hat.

Holiday work parties: the one day a year where you get to leave the office at noon on a Thursday to go day drinking with your co-workers! And then give yourself a drunken henna tattoo.

Ginger bread houses: This took 4 grown women 5 hours to create. Apparently someone got hungry half way through the build, because poor Gary lost an arm.

Friends: pretty self explanatory

♥ Casi

What I’m Thankful For This Year

Casi — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 01:26:08 +0000

This Thanksgiving Greg and I did the usual roadtrip down to LA to visit the fams and have 3 very large and delicious meals. I’m so thankful to have family who live in Southern California because while everyone else is bundling up this time of year, we get to enjoy tank tops and flip flops in the 70 degree weather. LA wins!!

Some photo’s of our Thankful filled Thanksgiving weekend:

I’m thankful for Pinterest (follow me!) who helped me discover this awesome nail painting tutorial, which means I had the best nails at the dinner table this year.

I’m thankful for my mom who always makes an epic breakfast of chorizo and eggs when I come home to visit.

I’m thankful for the Getty Museum in Los Angeles who allowed us to enjoy their beautiful fall trees for free

I’m thankful for this turkey who brought our family together for a delicious meal. Thanks Mr. Turkey!

I’m thankful for my grandma who makes so much delicious food every year that the rolls don’t fit on the table and have to sit on the couch during dinner.

I’m thankful for the sun and the ocean who always manage to put a smile on my face

I’m thankful to ZipCar who allowed us to drive down south to visit our family. I’m not so thankful to the 5 freeway who only has two lanes and makes us slowly pass Cowschwitz in the middle of nowhere as we frantically roll up the windows and plug our nose.

I’m thankful for San Francisco who always gives us the best welcoming whenever we come home.

And the one thing I’m most thankful for this year is my best friend and husband to be.

Oh….and THE wedding dress I found this weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yep, that’s right, I SAID YES TO THE DRESS! Sorry, no pictures until after June 28th, 2012.

♥ Casi

Sparing Your Sanity from a Fever Induced Rambling Post

Casi — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:48:33 +0000

I have a cold and am unable to complete full sentences, but somehow was capable of going on a hike at Lands End trail this weekend. Instead of embarrassing myself and trying to tell you all about it…..here it is in pictures….

Sutro Baths

My “artsy” tree carving photo. I’m so fancy!

Do you know how difficult this sign makes it for me to not cross said point and fall to my death!?

Sun peeking through the trees. Again, I’m so artsy!

LaurenA and I enjoying the view. She’s so tiny. I love my little pocket friend.

Labrynth made of stones

Ended the day with a beautiful sunset
♥ Casi

The Princess and the Frog

Casi — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 18:16:46 +0000

The Fall/Winter holidays are definitely my favorite’s of the year! The good times all begin when Halloween comes to town. I mean, who doesnt love roasted pumpkin seeds, carving pumpkins, and dressing up in the most ridiculous outfit you can throw together at 8:45pm the night before (begging the Walgreens employee’s to stay open long enough for you to choose between a princess costume and Santa Clause….because, that’s right! They already have Christmas stuff in stores!) If you hate any of those things you probably have no soul and hate Thanksgiving and Christmas too. What is wrong with you!?!

So here is my Halloween 2011 in pics for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Lauren and Gabetron came over for some pumpkin carving fun. We all pretty much rock at carving pumpkins!

Greg carved a pretty bad ass Iron Man. I vote for him as the winner of the evening.

Greg and I officially have a logo. How flippin’ cute and cheesy is that?!

As you can see, I went for the Princess costume over the Santa suit.

And the winner of the cutest dog costume this year goes to Axel Rose Barr. He looks so happy to be a frog…well sorta…ok…not at all.

What did you dress up as this Halloween? If it was Charlie Sheen all I have to say to you is STOP IT!

♥ Casi

Dave Grohl Sweat

Casi — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:16:36 +0000

Last Wednesday night we went to the Oracle Arena to see the Foo Fighters. We had floor tickets and managed to get pretty flipping close to the stage. I swear I felt a drop of Dave Grohl sweat touch my forehead. Or maybe it was the crazy maniacal head banging 19 year old jumping around in front me? Let’s just say it was Dave’s sweat so I don’t have to shave off my forehead.

I mean, obviously it was amazing! The Foo’s can do no wrong in my book. There was a long walkway that went all the way to the back of the venue which Dave ran up and down throughout the whole show. So even the nosebleeds got some action! The not so amazing part was my realization that I’m a lot closer to 30 years old than I am to 20. In my 26 and a half years I have been to several rock concerts – many of them Foo’s concerts. I stood, I danced, I head banged my brains out, I screamed, for 3+ hours straight. This night though, I have to say I got a little bit worried when Dave told the crowd to prepare themselves for the longest set of hard core music ever! Ummmm, Dave, I have already been standing here for 2 hours, now you’re telling me it’s going to be at least another 3 hours before my poor little feet get a rest?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!?!?! Did those words actually just come out of my mouth?!?! Someone slap me!

No matter how much my feet, back, and every joint in my body ached I must say (now that I’m comfortably sitting in a chair) that it was so worth it! Yea, I was a lot more tired and achy than I have been in the past, but the Foo’s rocked my world. This won’t be the last time I see them….but maybe next time I’ll opt for some seating.

♥ Casi

Confessing My Non-Love for Music – #TIMF

Casi — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:45:06 +0000

This weekend Greg and I went to the 2011 Treasure Island Music Festival. We didn’t know any of the bands playing (except Death Cab for Cutie – which both of us have heard of, but neither of us could come up with one lyric to the one song we probably know by them). Don’t hate me for saying this, but I’m not a big music person. Actually that’s a lie, I don’t like a lot of music. Hand me a NOW CD from the 80’s or 90’s and I’m a happy camper. But really, the only band I have loved since high school and still do to this day are the Foo Fighters (which I’m going to see live on Wednesday!!! Be jealous!) Other than that, I’m exactly what I used to make fun of my mom for. I love oldies….and sadly, the 90’s are now oldies.

Treasure Island Music Festival has a huge lineup that changes every year. They have never had a repeat act over the past 5 years and has been introducing people to new music ever since.

Greg and I went for the experience, and although we didn’t know any of the bands we had a great time laying out on a towel, soaking up the warm sun, eating delicious food, drinking $9 beers, people watching, and listening to some fun indie rock music. I have to say, the best part for me though was the fact that we had never been to Treasure Island before. The views of San Francisco from there are unbeatable. Here are some pics I took from the event, including some of those breathtaking city views.

♥ Casi

Sometimes You Just Need to Get Away

Casi — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 19:23:25 +0000

Last Thursday night Greg and I received a call from his Aunt asking if we would like to meet her and the rest of the family down in Santa Clara for Greg’s cousins dance competition. Of course I immediately said “Hellz yes!! So You Think You Can Dance here we come!” Then I thought this could be the perfect chance for us to have a mini vacation with a hotel, comfy bed with WAY too many pillows, hotel food, expensive drinks, breakfast in bed, with some dance sprinkled in here and there.

It really was JUST what we needed!

We took the train down to Santa Clara Saturday morning, and met up with Greg’s family at the Hyatt (which we got a good last minute room deal at. His aunt paid more than we did for her room which she booked at a “discounted” rate a few months back. WINNING). We sat around in the lobby and watched the Toddlers and Tiaras type scene going on around us. It was totally like watching a reality show on TLC live and in person.

Then my life flipped upside down when TYCE DIORIO walked by us!!! I don’t do well with celebrity sightings. I look like a deer in headlights and stalk the person with my eyes debating whether I should take a horrible zoomed in picture. For those of you who don’t know who Tyce is I demand you begin watching So You Think You Can Dance because it is the best show in the world and makes Dancing With the Stars and American Idol look like crap under your shoe.

Once Tyce left for his much swankier hotel (I’m sure), we decided to go out and explore the extremely boring town of Santa Clara. Which means we went to Dave and Busters and played skee-ball. I should really be a professional arcade game player. Look at all the fricken’ tickets I won!!!

Here’s Greg trying to win me a giant blue monkey, which a stupid little kid ended up winning right after we left the machine.

After I collected my prizes consisting of nerd ropes and a light-up ball (which I left at the bar later) we gave the rest of our tickets to a little girl so she could get a buttload of candy and rot her teeth. Then we went back to the hotel to watch the competition. Greg’s cousin did amazing and her team ended up sweeping the whole competition. It was pretty awesome!

The best part of the whole mini vacation is all about breakfast in bed as you lay on the 5 million pillows.

And of course the obligatory picture through the peephole…

♥ Casi

Happy Birthday Twitter…Oh Yea…AND ME!!!!

Casi — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 18:43:17 +0000

Not to be all lame and say Happy Birthday to myself, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And Happy Birthday to Twitter!! I’m really glad Twitter was born on this awesome day of awesomeness because that’s how I met a lot of you who come read my blog and read my random tweets everyday.

Today I turn 26 years old (I have 21 years on Twitter!). I spent the weekend telling everyone I was just going to stop at 25, but I woke up this morning and realized I didn’t feel any different now that I was officially 26 so I’m just going to go with it. But, I’m pretty sure I’ll stop aging at 29. That sounds like a good number to me.

The birthday weekend was filled with lots of friends, tacos, bowling, and rain (as usual. Curse of having your bday on the first day of spring).

I was having way too much fun and didn’t take as many pictures as I would have hoped, but here are a few from the festivities.

We started off the night with Lauren’s face in my butt…you know, the usual…

We got our bowl on at Presidio Bowl which is a cute little bowling alley in the middle of no where. Cabs don’t like to pick up here so I suggest having several of the below picture to help ease the pain of waiting outside in rain/cold.

Why yes, that IS a beer in the shape of a bowling pin!

Nikki and I killing terminator type droids.

Lauren and I racing down the streets of San Francisco. She was the big winner of the night not only leaving me in the dust on the Golden Gate Bridge, but destroying us all with her mad bowling skillz.

My favorite part of the night had to be watching Lauren and Nikki dance like little asian girls. I unfortunately, proved whole heartedly that I am a white girl with absolutely no moves or coordination.

Greg, tried to win me my birthday present for 50 cents. Luckily he didn’t do so well because he was then forced to get me this little beauty…

iPad 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We ended the night with us all getting matching tattoos!!! Ok, ok, it was just me. (No, mom, it’s not real!)

♥ Casi

P.S. Lauren got me the best birthday present ever!!!!!!!!!!! Onion Goggles!

Why Did We Go to Minnesota? Oh Yea, I LOVE My BFF Kate!

Casi — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 04:09:15 +0000

Last weekend I discovered the meaning of COLD.

Greg and I went to Minnesota to visit our very best friends, Kate and Darren. We were lucky enough to also see our other BFF Justin who flew to Minnesota from LA. It was a weekend filled with That’s What She Said jokes, food, and drinks. You know, the usual.

Another thing it was consumed of is COLDNESS. One lesson I learned this weekend is that we should never leave California in the winter. Yes, we love our friends, but they are coming to visit us from now on between the months of December and March!

We were “lucky” enough to be in Minnesota during Snowpocolypse, where the high temp was 23 degrees, the snow came from all directions, and driving was pretty much the scariest thing in the world.

Here is what we did in pictures:

First things first, we grubbed on White Castle. This right here made the trip to Snowpocoypse 100% worth it (and of course the constant hugging and hand holding I did with my bff).

Our first full day there we visited the Mall of America where we shopped, shopped, and shopped. I had to buy another suitcase…that’s how much we shopped. Don’t judge me! p.s. this picture was taken so we could meet our goal of being the most touristy people in the mall. It was a tough goal to accomplish, but I think we did it with this one.

My Bff Kate and I drank an enormous amount of champagne and other fun cocktails throughout most of the weekend. This is the only picture I have of us that isn’t completely ridiculous and filled with funny faces.

Then we went to a place that served drinks in pineapples! It was like Hawaii was in Minnesota! Except for the whole 10 degrees below zero thing…that’s my friend JA in this awesomely-awesome iphone-to-iphone picture. I’m an artist! Who knew!?

Can you guess what these are? Nooooooo, it’s not poo on a stick! It’s deep fried snickers bars! Yea, you heard me.

As I go through these pictures I’m wondering how in the hell I made it out of Minnesota alive. Yea, I came back with a major beer belly, but we survived and I think that’s the important thing we should focus on.

Here’s me and Greg in front of a bank just so we could prove the coldness we were enduring. That was probably the warmest day too. Brrrrrrrrrrr

Me and Katester in front of a frozen solid lake. That lake is where I tried to be a professional ice skater (on Uggs) and got this little beauty…

On our last day there Snowpocolypse hit…like a mother! I know this pic looks like my friend is at the top of a mountain during a white out, but really I am taking the picture from the snow plowed street while he is up on the “sidewalk”

The drive to the airport was the scariest thing. I had my eyes closed most of the time while we were on the freeway passing stuck cars at 13 miles an hour.

When we got to the airport (alive thank gawd!) we checked our bags and then this is what we saw: everything CANCELLED. I was secretly happy because this meant I wasn’t going to die in a horrible plane wreck.

So, we bought a bunch of lottery tickets and headed to the closest hotel to drink and gamble our sorrows away.

At some point in the night I thought it would be a GENIUS idea to stuff the rouge roll away bed into the elevator door. I had way to much fun with that one.

Then the next day arrived and we wondered back to the airport where apparently they were letting planes fly out even though Snowpocolypse was still furiously roaring outside.

We made it home back to blue skies and two days later the weather man told me it was going to snow in SF. FAIL.

♥ Casi

You can check out all the other fun and obnoxious pictures that were taken in my flickr feed.