A Saturday Night in San Fran

Phil, the amazing tour guide, taught me lots of useful knowledge about San Francisco and the Bay Area. For example, did you know there are sharks in the Bay? Or did you know that the country's smallest bar is located in San Francisco? My favorite piece of trivia was that San Francisco is the birthplace of the martini. Really, not New York City, but San Francisco! According to Phil, years ago a man living in Martinez (a community across the Bay) worked in San Francisco. He took the ferry to work every day but he hated the trip. One day he went into the bar and asked the bartender to make him something to get him across the Bay. The bartender made him the very first gin martini!

With a great story like that, I just had to enjoy a martini in its birthplace. Phil took me to Chinatown again, right before the parade to have a drink. He decided we should have lychee martinis, which were strong but delicious.

While in the bar, many people came in shouting "Gong hay fat choy!" (For those of you who don't speak Chinese, that means "Happy New Year!") They also gave out key chains and poppers -- the tiny firecrackers that you throw on the ground to pop. I enjoyed throwing those on the ground while walking down the street and watching the parade.


The New Years Parade was amazing. Dragons, oxen (2009 is the year of the ox), bands, people in beautiful costumes and children filled the street. I especially loved all the children and the dragons, which would explain why the photo to the right depicts one of my favorite acts: the adorable little children walking the beautiful yellow dragon down the street.


After the parade, Phil and I walked to dinner. We went to a little sushi restaurant that is more of a locals hangout than a tourist destination. We decided to sit at the sushi bar (as Phil put it, "You have a table at home. Do you have a sushi bar with a sushi chef at home?"). I enjoy watching the sushi chefs create the rolls. Sushi not only tastes delicious, but every roll is a work of art. Everything was delicious (a theme in San Francisco). I especially enjoyed the tuna (it melted in your mouth) and the 49ers roll (salmon with thinly sliced lemon on top). Just thinking about the meal makes my mouth water.


With my sushi appetite satisfied, I was ready to attend my first San Francisco party. Phil told me that theme parties are big and people go all out. That night we attended "Don & Betty Draper's Birthday Party," a theme right out of the early 60's and based on the movie Mad Men.


It didn't take me long to see that Phil wasn't kidding when he said people go all out at San Francisco theme parties. The costumes were amazing and even the apartment was decorated for the theme. I loved the dresses the women wore and the classy suits on the men. In California fashion, the hosts served imitation cigarettes, which are quite fun to puff. My favorite part was the photo slideshow from Mad Men playing on the TV, while normal party music from this decade played on the stereo.

Phil was the only familiar face at the party but everyone was so friendly, I quickly befriended many of the other partygoers. I enjoyed the company and the conversations. Overall, a wonderful night. I had mixed feelings: I couldn't wait for the next day in San Francisco but at the same time, I didn't want my trip to end. I fell asleep that night feeling conflicted, but very happy.

Niki and Phil Take on San Francisco

The very first item on my list was "Visit San Francisco." My college friend Phil (pictured with me to the left) moved there a few years ago and I had always discussed visiting the city. I had never been to northern California and I always wanted to go, so I did.

I impulsively bought my tickets soon after making my list and decided to visit the first weekend in February, less than a month after making the decision. I didn't really have a lot of time to create a "to do" list for my impulsive visit so I left the itinerary in the hands of Phil, my tour guide for the weekend. I had one requirement: eat sushi and one request: visit Napa. Lucky for me, Phil fulfilled both of those and much more.

I arrived at 10 Friday night pacific time, after leaving my apartment at 7 that morning central time. Even though I was exhausted, I happily agreed to stop by a local bar in Phil's neighborhood for a couple of celebatory glasses of wine. It was a great way to unwind and be introduced to San Francisco.


We started Saturday by walking to the Farmer's Market for "breakfast." Phil defined breakfast as sampling the delicious cuisine at the market including goat cheese, olive oil, fresh fruit, olives and much more. Everything tasted amazing and I enjoyed trying new foods that I normally wouldn't try (like jalapeno jam and fresh goat cheese).


After "breakfast," we walked to Chinatown for dim sum. Dim sum is not a dish, but a serving method. Instead of ordering from a menu, servers come around with carts and trays offering different dishes like dumplings, spring rolls, duck and many other options. Phil served as my food guide, which I appreciated as the servers were kind of pushy and I didn't always know what they were offering or what else may be coming. I left with a full stomach and happy tastebuds ready to see San Francisco.


From there we went to the setting for "Full House," one of my childhood favorite TV shows. We took an accidental detour and may have crashed a funeral at a different park, but we eventually made it to the park seen in the show, where I saw the Tanner family home and DJ and Stephanie's high school.

Next on the list was seeing the Golden Gate Bridge and the Pacific Ocean. The view of both took my breath away, or maybe it was the hike through the national park, either way taking in the views, the fresh air and the wonderful sunshine made me forget all about any worries I had.

The visit to the ocean and the bridge ended the whirlwind first day of sightseeing. That night I experienced the San Francisco social scene and the Chinese New Year's parade. Expect to hear more about my amazing trip in future posts!

My Blogging Adventure Begins

I'm not much of a coffee drinker. I only drink it if the coffee flavor is covered with chocolate, cream and sugar (I do love mochas!), but that didn't stop me from enjoying my introduction to "The Inspirational Coffee Club." The group's founder, Julie Clark, spoke at the January 2009 WILL Luncheon and explained her "12 Ground Rules for Savoring Life."

Her speech really hit home with me, especially when she explained Ground Rule #7 "You're Never Guaranteed a Second Cup: Savor Today." She asked if there were things you talk about doing but never actually do. Of course! Who does everything they talk about doing? But the more I thought about it, I realized that there are lots of things I'm not doing that I really want to be doing. I always think about doing them or talk about doing them, but I never actually go through with it. And it made me kind of sad.

Julie had us start an exercise she called creating your "Coffee Cup List." She asked us to come up with a list of things we want to be, do, see or have before our cup runs dry. She even gave us a few moments during the presentation to start the list. I quickly came up with five I wanted to accomplish before the end of 2009.

This part of the presentation really stuck with me and that night I came home and finished the list. I thought of 25 things I wanted to before the end of the year that fit into one of Julie's eight categories: career, relationships, financial, physical, recreation & fun, helping others & giving back, spiritual and personal growth (hobbies, trying new things). I decided I wanted to quit thinking about living tomorrow, but instead start living today.

That brings us to this blog, one of the first things on my list was creating a blog. I've thought about doing this for years and even attempted to start a blog before, but only wrote one post. This time will be different, because this time I have a topic -- my Coffee Cup List.

I'm going to stick with this because I have a list of 25 things I want to accomplish before the end of 2009. And it may only be February, but I've already accomplished three items on my list! That means I'm off to a good start. Stay tuned to find out what I accomplished already and what I'll accomplish in the future.