Spork

With a name like Spork (corner of Valencia & Hill Streets) you may be expecting Kentucky Fried Chickenesque foods on the menu. Not true. While this Mission boite can look a bit like a pre-Perestroika Russian cafe during daylight hours, at night it's a cozy hotspot.

Chef Bruce Binn (formerly of Slow Club) cooks up some amazingly innovative dishes. Once you've ordered drinks your waiter will bring the table complimentary rosemary pull apart rolls. Steamy and savory they remind me of the dinner rolls my mom used to serve, only done up gourmet. These have grey coarse salt on top which delivers a pop when you eat them. I dined on fig and goat cheese salad and steak stroganoff. Both were delicious and each had a twist. The salad instead of being your normal Northern California festival of arugula topped with goat cheese and figs was instead 4-5 cooked figs on top of a raft of goat cheese with tiny, delicately flavored green leaves on top which most closely resembled clover. The stroganoff featured gnocchi in it instead of egg noodles, and I found the combination both creative and delicious. Dessert was cinnamon beignets and french press coffee. The wine list is short, but well edited and the Santa Barbara Syrah was a stellar find.

Things to note: the restaurant doesn't take reservations, so if you're going on a Saturday night be sure to arrive by 6:30 p.m. if you don't want to queue up at the door.

Time For A Trim Britney

	SPEARS AVOIDS MISDEMEANOR HIT-AND-RUN CHARGE
SUCCESSFULLY EMPLOYS 'COUSIN IT DEFENSE'

Money quote of the day

Happiness is a direction, not a place."

~ Sydney J. Harris

Factory Girl

So I finally got around to seeing Sienna Miller's film Factory Girl on Netflix. The movie was a bit of a yawn. However, in the film Sienna Miller wore the most amazing pair of gold hoop earrings. I was absolutely hypnotized by them. They reminded me of a pair of earrings my mother used to wear which I had always coveted.

Lost cause I thought, they must be special made props for the film. Enter Life in a Venti Cup with a great post on Clementine, a jewelery designer who exhibits over on Etsy.com. I opened my account and order up a pair just like those in the movie. Thanks Franki for hooking me up!

Seriously? Ptolemy?

Gretchen Mol B-list actress in such famed films as The Thirteenth Floor, The Notorious Betty Page and most recently 3:10 To Yuma gave birth to a son recently. Great news, right? A new baby, her first, how delightful. Yeah, until you find out that she named him Ptolemy John Mol. How would you like to kick it on the playground with a moniker like that? Yikes!

Coffee crisis!

So I headed to my local Peet's today to pick up a pound of my favorite, Top Blend. I had my Peet's bag, I recycle. I was all ready to be a good citizen and fill up, get my 25 cent bag refund, and be on my merry way. But wait, what's this? The barista is telling me that Peet's has discontinued Top Blend. WTF?! Since when does Peet's discontinue blends? Top Blend is my favorite. What am I supposed to do now? Drink Blend 101 or Major Dickason's.

What do you recommend? I'm at a loss people.

Take a hike!

Usually I spend my Sundays like most people, doing the laundry, reading magazines, watching movies. Today, however, it was so beautiful outside I just had to get out into nature and get back in touch with my inner granola girl. With the Fashion Guy and a couple of friends I headed over to Mt. Tamalpais to go hiking. We wound up on the Cataract Falls Trail which was a bit more difficult than I'd expected (read stairs, stairs and more stairs), but had absolutely picturesque scenery. The cataracts in question are the water that flows down the mountain and into Alpine Lake. The lake has been dammed as a watershed and this has created a peaceful place to go wandering. We met many other sturdy Californians and their mutts on our hike. Enjoyed lunch under the trees by a waterfall and got a number of great pictures. If you haven't been out hiking in a while, you should check out Weekend Sherpa, a great hiking resource, and make a plan of your own to enjoy the great outdoors.

Bong Su

The Fashion Guy and I had dinner a few nights ago at Bong Su in SoMA and I had to write about it. The restaurant is quickly gaining a reputation as competition for Slanted Door, San Francisco's most well known Vietnamese restaurant.

Bong Su is a very posh restaurant that took over the old Mel's Diner space near the SF MoMA. Inside the restaurant is a study in urban chic. Asian art abounds and amazing, architectural flower arrangements are everywhere. The bar is dimly lit with lots of cozy, brown wood tables and a brown pebble tiled bar. It looks fabulous, but hold on to your drink, they're a bit tippy on the raised surface.

The restaurant bills itself as dressy and you'd better believe them. The dining room is separate from the bar/lounge. Tables are far enough apart to have a private, romantic dinner. The food, though is the reason to come. The shaking beef, which they are famed for, is more tender than you'd believe. The sauce is so good you'll be sweeping it up with extra grains of jasmine rice. We started our meal with the duck mustard appetizer and a couple of drinks. I moved on to the shaking beef and Fashion Guy ordered the masala lamb curry and a glass of Zinfandel that was so delicious it almost made me weep. We were at BevMo this morning trying to buy a case of this stuff, it was that good. For dessert we shared the black sesame begniets with chocolate and vanilla sauce and black sesame ice cream. It was a very interesting combination of sweet and savory. Absolutely delicious.

You should definitely check this place out. I'm making it my go to place for Valentine's Day next year. Tres romantique!

Singin' in the rain

Well it has been raining all day here in San Francisco. And while I own a closet full of pretty, colorful umbrellas, I've realized that I don't have any rain boots. So today I'm here to talk about wellies. Those classic English rubber boots have become fashionable this Fall.

Here are a few of my favorites:

- Houndstooth (Banana Republic)
- Koi Tattoo (Piperlime)
- Dots (Target)

All are affordable. And any would brighten up an otherwise dreary day. Stay dry!

*CRASH!!!*

Yes, that's the sound of all of my websites crashing at the same time. I've been offline overnight, so I apologize for the posting delay. Fortunately I had a cheeky beer on hand to see me through. I picked up a 6 pack of Full Sail LTD today on my weekly BevMo run. (Is it wrong that they recognize me when I come in?) Anyhoo, the beer besides being delicious has a very cheeky label, here's what it says:

A light full-bodied nonetheless hella good Limited Edition Lager courtesy of the mad skills of the Full Sail Crew

Pretty funny guys! Thanks for making me crack a smile on a heinously stressful day!

Tea time

With the rainy weather we're having this morning I'm hunkered down in my little house dreaming of a steaming hot cup of tea.

I thought why not share some of my favorite San Franciso tea houses:

- Lovejoy's Tea Room - the eclectic setting will remind you of your hippy dippy aunt's house. Ingredients are all organic, and the food well prepared. Tea comes in a random selection of teapots they've collected over the years. It all feels very cozy and retro. It's expensive, but I think it's the best place to have tea in San Francisco.

- The Ritz Carlton - For an elegant, hat wearing ladies tea this is the place. You'll have silver tea pots and gorgeous china. White glove all the way. A perfect place to see and be seen as tea is served just behind the main lobby overlooking the courtyard.

- The Palace - The Grande Dame of teas. The room is huge and roofed in glass. It reminds you of a 19th Century train station. Service is a bit stuffy, but the tea selections are plentiful and exotic.

- The Japanese Tea Garden (Golden Gate Park) - Not exactly a traditional tea ceremony, this tea garden is run by the Park Service. You can, however, get a nice pot of green tea to warm you up. They always serve delicious, spicy crackers with the tea.

And finally, a couple of teas I'd like to try are the Samovar Tea Lounge at Yerba Buena Center and King George near Union Square.

Just what Oprah needs...

more shoes. :-P

Shear happiness

Well ladies and gentlemen I took the plunge, and Robert's advice and layered my 'do. Marcus at On Mars in the Lower Haight did a fabulous job of weedwhacking my crazy thick hair into a lovely shoulder grazing bob. I have a sweeping fringe of bangs that can be worn down or pushed back if I decide to lasso my hair back into my favorite style, the ponytail. I just love it! It gives me a more polished look, but without channeling a Soccer Mom. I can't stop swinging my hair around just to see it move and feel how light it is. Who knew I'd be so happy cutting it off after 2 years growing it out?!

Magnolia Brewery

I make the trek to this local Haight Ashbury pub about 3 times a year. Once for the Summer ales, once in the Fall and at least once in the dark, rainy depths of Winter. With the crisp, sunny Fall days we've been having this weekend it seemed a perfect time to head back and see what's on tap. I sampled a pint of Sara's Ruby Mild. I don't know why I crave red ales in the Fall, I just do. It was full bodied with a touch of bitterness in the finish. Filling and delicious with just a hint of foam (no beer mustaches please!) A perfect compliment to their world class french fries or paired with a bratwurst and kraut. You should try it!

Money quote of the day

There is no telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream.

~ Anonymous (from RealSimple.com daily quotes)

Winner - headline of the Week

again goes to our clever friends over at Jossip.com for this gem...

Oprah Wants To Know: Is Your Giant Slouchy Bag Trying To Assassinate You?

We knew the big slouchy bags were ugly, we didn't know they were homicidal.

The best cocktail in the West

While on a recent trip to Portland I had dinner with friends at a Peruvian restaurant called Andina. The Fashion Guy ordered a martini that was so fabulous we passed it around the table. It was called the Sacsayhuaman. The cocktail is prepared with house infused habanero pepper vodka and passion fruit puree. It's full of fruit and fire. Hit them up for happy hour and order your drinks with a plate of oysters. Pure delight!

Channeling my inner Grace Kelly

Whowhatweardaily.com had a great post this week about the return of the scarf for Fall. They suggested picking up a Hermes classic silk scarf to sport this season. At $280 a pop I don't think that is going to happen, but I did have a blast looking at their site. I found this gorgeous teal jazz baby scarf and a lovely pink and brown scarf with a Birkin bag motif. It's as close to the Birkin as I'll ever get.

You can even download an Adobe booklet, "Play time with your scarf" to find out how to tie those great French knots that Grace Kelly made famous. No one wears scarves life the French. C'est magnifique darlings!

Reduce, recycle, renew

We all grew up with this mantra. It's the American version of "slip, slap, slather". Well Gap.com has made it even easier to stop bringing all those awful plastic grocery bags into your home. RED has issued a limited edition tote bag.

It's adorable and green. Best of all proceeds from the sale go to the Global Fund to help fight AIDS. You can be virtuous in so many ways!

Saint Cupcake is devilishly good

While in Portland recently on vacation I decided to take one for the team and go cupcake tasting. I know, I know, don't thank me. What I found was a delicious little pink jewel box in the Pearl District called Saint Cupcake. Recommended by locals it didn't disappoint. They make both regular and bite sized cupcakes. So I did what any good Fashion Girl would and ordered half dozen of the tiny ones. More to try, right? The cupcakes are light and fluffy and the icing is flavorful. The staff gets creative with both names and ingredients. I particularly liked "The Big Top". It's a vanilla cupcake with chocolate chips in the batter, a bright frosting and sprinkles. There's also "Fat Elvis" a cupcake with chocolate peanut butter frosting and a baked banana chip on top. I'd suggest you try 'em all, the cupcake menu changes daily. Just be sure not to go in on Mondays, they're closed. :-(

I'm back...

from my vacation in Oregon and of course I've brought you lots of great shopping advice. You'll see that soon. In the meantime I have a offer a big thank you to Life in a Venti Cup. Franki Durbin ran a recent contest called "Spice of Life" and, you guessed it, I won! What a delightful way to return home.

More soon...

Money quote of the day

Knowing who you are, living your life the way you want to live it. That's brave.

~ Jodie Foster

Fashion Girl takes a holiday

Exhausted by all the Paris/Lindsay/Britney rehabs, the Nicole/J Lo/X-tina pregnancy denials, and just general Hollywood nonsense, I've decided to take a rest. That means only sporadic (if any blogging) this week. However, I don't want to leave you empty handed so here is a hilarious short from SNL posted this morning by our brilliant friends over at Jossip.com.

Happy Monday everyone!