Monthly Archives: February 2011

Thank You Mr. President

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In celebration of our african american 44th president, my friends and I decided to make the most of the weekend. This was due particularly to the fact that the majority of people, excluding myself, had no work on Monday, but more of the fact that it was an amazing reason to celebrate.

On Friday we celebrated Barb’s 27th birthday in epic flashback style. Unfortunately due to one too many yager shots a couple people were down for the count for the rest of the weekend. For Mary, Christie, Stina and I, however, our agenda was full.

While we woke up at approximately 1pm Saturday afternoon, we still managed to make the most it. We headed over to Oakland to enjoy a taste of the East Bay (and I’m not just talking about the good eats). Our first stop was Homeroom, a brand spankin’ new restaurant in an up-and-coming Oakland neighborhood.

SIDE NOTE: We quickly discovered this little neighborhood happens to be where everyone from the Haight in San Francisco moves to have their babies. There were SO many pierced and tattoo’d hipsters with infants.

Aside, the restaurant features a very limited menu, but with a diverse array one clutch item: mac’n cheese. In addition to cheesy noodle goodness, they also do fresh veggies and homemade desserts. They also do a wine or beer pairing with every main dish!

The service at the restaurant was absolutely outstanding and at the end of our meal our server couldn’t help but make a little fun of us…We had submitted our four credit cards and as she passed them back out, she read off each one of our names…Christie, Denise, Christina…Preferred Customer?? Oh Mary!

From there we headed over to the family-famous ice cream parlor, Fenton’s. Distracted by excitement we really didn’t pay much attention to the size of other’s sundaes and ordered one for each of us. Big mistake! Not one of us even came close to finishing our treat! (Notice my chocolate banana split…)

Bellies full we headed back to the city ready for a nap. We picked up supplies for the evening and headed home to prepare. I don’t know if it was spending a good amount of time in Oakland or not, but I had the thought of a hot black man on the mind and knew it was going to make for something strange.

The usual met up at our place for dinner. We ended up hanging around our kitchen table until about 10:30pm. At that point we headed over to the Brickyard to meet up with Sean and Greg. Unfortunately for us, they were a little too far gone to be much fun. After only a single cocktail and potty break, we headed over to the much classier (insert sarcasm here) Mauna Loa.

It was here things got strange, yes strange.

I met The Project, shall we call him after Mary met his hawt friend. The Project, however, was not hawt, but he did have beautiful dark skin, so I was in!

Fast forward to the next morning…I receive a text message from Mary at approximately 6:45am demanding a pick up service immediately. So I offer The Project a ride home, but request we pick up Mary first. He offers, like a gentleman to get into the back seat. When I pick Mary up she fails to realize he’s in the car and begins recapping the night, until I have to cut her off and point out the situation. If I could have captured her facial expression I would have…

When we asked The Project where he lived he said “Head towards Geary…” Along the way Mary made sure the situation was extraordinarily awkward by asking questions like, “So, Do you think this is some sort of a love connection?” or “Have you guys exchanged numbers?” or (my favorite) “Do you guys know one another’s name?” (PS He did not know my name.)

We finally reached his domicile in the actual projects off of Geary. He claimed to have a job, etc, etc and appeared to be a stand up guy, but this quickly went down the drain when we arrived in the projects and he offered a smoke out session and breakfast burrito at his place. Mary and I promptly made up an excuse (I don’t know what we said considering it was only 7:30am) and left him behind…

All in all, I would like to thank our 44th president, Obama, for an all around great weekend!

Nobody Puts Barbie in the Corner

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Last year Barbie’s birthday entailed a whole lotta blondes and this year’s involved a whole lotta flashback! We celebrated her birthday in the style in which she was born: 1984.

We started with some leg warmers, a little 7-11 Dubs and ended with a dance-o-rama at one of my favorite spots…Fiddler’s Green.

Check out our hawt costumes and even hawtter dance moves…party on bitches!


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Officially In My Late Twenties, But Still Not Classy

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As you may have seen on Facebook, this year I celebrated my 27th birthday in true money fashion:

Yes. My theme party was “Mustache & Cleavage.” (And yes, I know mustache is mispelled). Aside, as with any theme party my costume was not without.

The day started like every other…cocktails and costume prep at our place. The night before all of the girls had stayed over for a sleepover party filled with wine, gossip and dance party 2 on the wii. The spend-the-night made getting ready for the day very easy…everyone was there to ensure we had enough cleavage and plenty of mustaches. I would offer to show photos, however on our way from the apartment to O’Reily’s in North Beach, my camera was left in the cab. (Insert sad face here.)

The only other photo I have from the day is this, which clearly took place at the end of the afternoon.

So sue me…I needed a nap…

From O’Reily’s to Rogue our afternoon was filled with many cocktails, lots of stories, several new friends (young and very old) and tons of laughter. I personally enjoyed the Porche salespeople hitting on every female in sight, the homegrown mustaches from the likes of Danny and Garrett and the ridiculousness of everyone’s overall “look” for the day.

Around 5pm (I think) we finished our afternoon in the sun and decided it was time for dinner…I had sliders on the mind, so we headed to Marengo. I’m not exactly sure how things went so quickly from hot to not so hawt, but the next thing I knew Lauren and I were sans sliders and rolling around the patio floor.

Sean insisted we go home at that point (shocker), but I insisted on Chinese. After he returned me safety to our apartment, he headed back out with our friends. Once the coast was clear I hopped in a cab, picked up Mary (who was for whatever reason was at La Barca) and headed to Dragon Well for a feast. Around 7pm I called it a night.

All in all the day was a amazing and I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday with better friends and family.

(Seriously, I’m so friggin blessed, it’s ridiculous.)

Sharon Says Shalom Singledom

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You’ve probably read about the beginning to this weekend (Oh Tahoe), but Shay-rone’s bachelorette party was one I won’t soon forget. Once we left North Shore Tahoe and made it onto the south side, Christie and I had a couple of surprises in store for the 18 girls making the drive up 50.

Christie had completed 99% of the planning for the bachelorette party in the weeks prior, however, there were a couple ‘to do’s’ we had to settle on Friday before everyone arrived, like pick up the keys to the house, for example. So on Friday morning we had planned to contact the rental agency and make arrangements to get into the house, but instead,we awoke (hungover) to a voice mail from the agency. Apparently our mansion had a gas leak and would not be available for the weekend. WTF? After several hours of stressing they found us an alternate location AND provided us a hefty refund for all our troubles. At this point we were left with a dilema: refund 18 people an insignificant amount of money or treat everyone to an awesome night out at the club on Saturday?! Well I’m assuming you know what we chose…

So around 3pm we checked into the house, unpacked the cars and set up for everyone’s arrival. The girls was scheduled to arrive by 7pm that night. The plan was to stay in, have a home cooked dinner and play some girly games. Or so everyone thought that was the plan. Christie and I, however, had another plan in mind. One that involved several cocktails and a stripper named Lee.

Yes. In the above photo Lee appeared to be a decent specimen of man. In the flesh…not so much.

That’s Shay-rone, the bachelorette, horrified as the real Lee dry humps her flailing body. He was approximately 45 years old, balding with a beer belly and a bright blue fringe g-string. Thank goodness we fed the girls copious amounts of spider (spiked cider) and beer before he arrived. It’s the only way we survived. $400 and several lap dances later, Lee departed…thank gawd. After he left we proceeded to have our pants off-dance off…one much more fun than the performance of our paid professional.

Saturday was filled with sledding, manicures, movies and the regret of being touched by Lee. The day flew by and before we knew it, it was getting-ready-party time! The theme was Head Over Heels…we had top hats, hot shoes and black cocktail attire. We are so incredibly classy!

The party bus picked us up around 8 and the rest is a bit blurry.

Christie had booked us an amazing booth at Mont Bleu Hotel’s club. It was right off the dance floor, could seat over 30 people and, best of all, came with several bottles of vodka (not that we needed it)! There was definitely a lot of dancing, a little more boozing and a whole lot of inappropriateness in the booth.

Around 2am Christie received a text from “Spencer” saying he had come to south short to say hi. (Check out Oh Tahoe to find out more about Spencer.) She promptly ignored that text, until she walked out of the club to catch a cab and he was just standing there. Creepy!

Even so, she was able to dart his advances and caught a cab home alone. Despite all arriving to the hotel together, we each seemed to leave the club one by one. The last to make it back arrived at 4:30am and was locked out in the snow. Sorry Mish.

Speaking of snow…we weren’t exactly prepared for it. Saturday the ground was dry, but Sunday morning we woke up to this. It took us chains, taco bell and over six hours of traffic to get back to San Francisco. I have to say…it was all worth it.

PS Congrats to Sharon and Jason…The wedding was amazing. A great start to a great life together! Mazel tov!

Who Wouldn’t Bring Budlight Wine Tasting?

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This year’s Winter Wineland in Sonoma was no different than those of the past…Over 100 wineries, private car service and our friends making a scene every stop we made. This year, however, we decided to switch things up and do a girls only trip. I think the video speaks for itself, but a couple of highlights…

  • Annie insisting beer was the best way start to the day. Still not sure how this made sense.
  • Christie blowing kisses and then quickly rolling up the window, as we drove down the freeway pretending to be famous to the passersby.
  • The Paella at Bella was amazing to see and delicious to eat!
  • Dropping Annie off on Lombard as Christie threw dollar bills out towards her. What a hooker.


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Whoa Tahoe…You’ve Really Shown Me Who’s Boss

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As you probably know by now Tahoe is one of my most favorite places to visit and play. Personally I’m a bigger fan of the northern shore verses the southern, however, when it came to my friend Sharon’s bachelorette party, the casino strip was a must for “Sharon Says Shalom to Singledom!”

Christie did 99% of the leg work on the planning, but we decided to take care of the final details together a couple days prior to our weekend getaway. So on Wednesday morning we left behind the beautiful city of San Francisco and headed out east to Tahoe.

My family had graciously allowed us to stay at their place on the north shore Wednesday and Thursday night before we headed to our rental house on Friday for the bachelorette. We had a full day of family visits and errands to do before we could make the drive up highway 80. After our last stop at Costco we rejiggered the beetle and finally hit the road for what we thought was going to be a couple days of rest and relaxation.

We arrived at the house around 7pm, where we were (initially) determined for a quiet night in. As we unpacked the car and settled into our bedroom, however, our bellies were aching and our mouths thirsty for a treat. Instead of laying low, we headed to my favorite place, Garwoods, to satiate our needs. We arrived around 9:15pm and were greeted by the restaurant manager “El Jefe” and seated at the bar. There were only four other people in the entire restaurant when we arrived and within thirty minutes everyone was gone but us, the bartender, “Mickey” and El Jefe.

Christie and I ordered a couple appa-teasers and two wet woodys. After the first I offered to drive us home and cut myself off. The bartender Mickey had a different plan.

After our first drink he insisted it was safer for us to take a taxi home and provided us a round on the house. Several drinks later and now it’s around 11:30pm and we requested a cab number for the ride home. After a fake taxi number or two, El Jefe grabbed the phone and told his buddy (yes, he knew the driver) that he could instead plan on picking us up around 3am at stateline’s Crystal Bay Club.

So now Christie and I are asking ourselves, what the duck just happened?!? As we’re finishing our last woody, closing down the bar, locking the back door and heading into El Jefe’s car en route to Nevada, I realize this is going to make an amazing blog! (This is us in the back of El Jefe’s car and our favorite drink, the wet woody.)

So we arrive at the CBC (the local’s term for Crystal Bay Club) and we instantly realize we are THE best looking people there. Although visibly intoxicated I’m sure, we are not wearing flannel, are not puking in the bathroom sink, are not wearing a beanie and are NOT covered in tattoos. Despite not fitting the mold, the locals seem to love us. They’re buying us drinks, taking photos, exchanging numbers, laughing and all around enjoying our company.

It’s now probably close to 3am and Christie and I decide it’s best we get our butts home to address the big day ahead of us prepping for Sharon’s party. So we walk outside, call back the cab we had previously contacted and wait patiently for our ride home. While shivering in the cold, out walks El Jefe, Mickey and their new friend “Spencer.” They urge us, instead, to go back to their place and hit up the hawt tub. Well since Christie and I have on our bestest thinking caps, we too agreed this was a great idea.

So off we go back to California to their place in Tahoe Vista. What an evening…Let’s just say the next morning we woke up a bit confused and not so well rested, but I’m pretty sure I won’t have to pay for my  next round at Garwoods. We missed the opportunity to say goodbye to Mickey and El Jefe, as they had to open up the restaurant that morning, but we had Spencer give us a ride back to our car. We then stopped at the old Post Office for a little brunch and headed back to our house where we promptly changed into PJs and slept until 5pm.

When we woke up that evening we realized Christie had accidentally taken Spencer’s wallet in her handbag (swear it wasn’t on purpose), which meant we would have to meet up again to return it. (Oh and did I mention Spencer told us that was his name, but in reality it was “Glen Louis.” Ew.)

So that night we headed to Bridgetender for some grub and made friends with the bartender. She introduced us to a rather roudy bachelor party crowd sitting at a nearby table. We ended up hanging out with them for a while there, and then headed to Fat Cat Cafe for a little karaoke and cocktails. It was at Fat Cat that we officially realized North Shore is a man mecca filled with all sorts of colorful characters. They were on us like white on snow.

Around 2am we opted out of the late night party at a stranger’s house and headed back to my family’s humble abode, cuddled up on the couch for a late night movie and  engaged in some much needed shut eye. After all, the bachelorette party hadn’t even started…

Eat, Drink and Be Mary…On Your Birthday

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In light of my official launch into my late twenties this Friday, aka my 27th birthday, Mary put together a fantastic list of recommendations on how to celebrate in true San Francisco style.

PS Hope to see you this Saturday at the Handlebars and Headlights Polk Street Pub Crawl in celebration of my 27th year.

Now back to Mary’s game plan…

Chinatown Pub-crawl
The only way I can stand going to Chinatown is if I’m a little tipsy and it’s dark outside. With that said, going on pub-crawls in Chinatown is one of the weirdest, most entertaining, and downright hilarious experiences. They pour surprisingly strong cocktails, I’m always convinced the Chinese mafia is lingering, and the bars’ decor usually consists mainly of Maneki Neko (you know, those plastic cats with the moving arm). Here are some suggestions for your crawl:

  • Mr. Bing’s
  • Bow Bow Cocktail Lounge
  • Buddha Lounge
  • Li Po Cocktail Lounge
  • Red’s Place

Forbes Island
If you’re looking for a memorable dinner experience, this is the place. Loacted within the seawall near Pier 39, Forbes Island is heaven on earth. Mr. Forbes converted his houseboat into a floating bar and restaurant paradise, complete with beach patios outside. The decor is over the top nautical so be sure to wear the appropriate attire. There are great views of Alcatraz, Coit Tower, the Golden Gate Bridge, and of course, San Francisco sea lions. To get to Forbes Island, you go to their inconspicuous gate literally to the left of Pier 39′s entrance. A small motorized boat will carry you out to the island. The food is good, a little pricey as can be expected for a restaurant in the wharf. But, unlike many other restaurants in the wharf, Forbes Island never seems to be congested with tourists. I’ve never had a problem making a reservations and have even gone there without. It’s also fun to just go for drinks and appetizers at the bar if you want to give it a try without committing to dinner.

House of Air
What sounds more fun than making a bunch of your friends get together and go jump around in a room that is wall to wall trampolines? Make sure you go on a Saturday or Sunday morning when a few select people will be massively hungover…pure entertainment.
 
Johnny Foley’s Irish House
Fun Irish bar where the bartenders have thick brogues and they pour a good Guinness. They usually have really fun live music but try and go on a night when they are doing dueling pianos. The food is pretty good…bangers and mash and mac and cheese, yum! It can get really crowded on weekends so beware.

Tres Agaves
This is a fun, delicious Mexican restaurant near the ballpark in San Francisco. What brought me here was my love for Tequila. Tres Agaves offers an array of group dining and drinking options. I’ve done one of their margarita making classes which they do for larger parties throughout the course of dinner. Everyone sat socializing, munching on appetizers, while the restaurant’s tequila expert taught us all about Tequila and provided us with all the necessary ingredients for the perfect margarita. We were able to try all different types of tequilas and experiment making our own margaritas. By the time our meals came, I think we were all a lot smarter but also quite a bit intoxicated. The class was definitely worth it’s cost!