I’m not typically the type of girl to create a long (or even short) list of New Year’s Resolutions. In general, I feel like creating of a giant list (or small) of things I’m not allowed to do that year is simply setting myself up for failure.

A few years ago, I read an article that found people who write down what they want to accomplish are more successful in accomplishing their goals than those who don’t. So for the past two years, I’ve posted a short list of items I’d like to achieve in the upcoming year. Sometimes I hit those goals and sometimes I don’t, and I’m okay with that. Last year I wanted to:

1. Find my style
2. Learn letterpress
3. Apply to grad school
4. Learn something new about myself

I accomplished 2 out of the 4 items on my list. I wasn’t able to learn letterpress because I started a job 4 days after I moved to San Francisco, and I didn’t apply to grad school because of timing (and that one is going to be re-recycled for this year). So here’s the list for 2012:

1. Draw and design for myself
Two years ago (was it really 2 years?!) I embarked on a 365 challenge to create 1 design per business day for 52 weeks of the year. I only made it through August, but didn’t consider it a failure because I learned quite a lot about myself as a designer and artist during that time. Designing without any direction forced me to evaluate design choices, cultivate creativity and learn more intimately about what I was passionate about.

2. Blog more
This one relates directly to the goal in position 1. The more I create for myself, the more I will blog. Regardless, I’ve been feeling a lack of personal creativity in my life lately. Here’s to banishing that in every way possible. (Image from Stefan Sagmeister)

3. Wear more dresses
No matter how many sequins I wear, I’m a tomboy at heart. I grew up around mostly boys and loved every minute of it. Not because they were cute, but because I loved sports and a good competition. I remember begging my cousins not to “go easy on me” because I wanted to be treated as an equal. However, with my semi-new pixie cut, I have a new-found desire to come across as slightly more feminine. Thanks to a vintage/thrift-store shopping trip with a great friend, I have a few new girly-girl dresses that are just slightly out of my comfort zone. A great start to this goal? I think so. (Image from On The Racks)

4. Apply for grad school
I know. You’ve seen this one enough, but this year I’m serious. A Master’s degree has always been un-questionable for me and I’m not getting any younger. Now that I know we plan to be in the Bay Area for a while (and not New York or London), it’s time to start getting serious. Really serious.

I’d love to know. What are your goals for 2012?

There are only a few things (okay, maybe a few more) that drive me nuts on the internet. I’ve decided to catalogue these items in hopes that they will resolve themselves.

While you may catch meat touching my lips while dining out, we eat vegetarian at home which makes us flexi-tarians, but let’s not get too technical. When searching recipe sites for planning our dinners for the week, I tend to automatically select the “vegetarian” filter and go from there. This is where the real issue occurs. Most recipe databases group desserts and meaningless sides into the vegetarian category.

News flash: Your popcorn trail mix and pumpkin doughnuts are, in fact, vegetarian, but they are primarily a dessert, snack, or breakfast item. The pumpkin doughnuts do look tasty, but unless they include bacon (and even if they do) please categorize them as a dessert or snack. You’re messing with my dinner menu.

On a more positive note, if you haven’t already, I highly suggest purusing Gojee – one of the most beautifully curated recipes sites I’ve seen in a while.

The most successful book is that which inspires you to put it aside and create.

Thank you to my sweet, thoughtful husband who surprised me with Typography Sketchbooks, curated by Steven Heller and Lita Talarico.

This weekend, after a few months hiatus, we went hiking.

Since moving to California nearly a year ago, we’ve enjoyed taking advantage of the diverse geography (hiking, wine, ocean, etc), but without a car, and primarily public transportation at our disposal, hiking has proven to be slightly more difficult than when we had a car and were living in the south bay.

On Saturday we rented a Zip Car and headed down Highway 1 past Pacifica, to the McNee Ranch State Park. We were kind-of celebrating my birthday with this hike (I know, I’m a sick person to choose physical activity for a birthday celebration) so my husband allowed me to select the trail. A sad mistake for our bodies.

I chose a ‘strenuous’ trail (ha!) thinking it would be closer to moderate for us — we’re more in-shape than the average person, right?. Turns out, strenuous (defined as demanding or requiring vigorous exertion; laborious) was actually closer to difficult (defined as not easily or readily done), but the views were amazing. We hiked from sea level — literally from the ocean — to nearly 2000 feet in about 3.5 miles. It was painful, it was crazy, and it was beautiful. At one point, we were able to see the ocean and the East Bay at the same time and San Francisco was a glorious peninsula separating the bay from the sea.

We also enjoyed a beautiful Sunday evening along Embarcadero in the city. While the Golden Gate Bridge is the landmark of the city, I argue that the Bay Bridge (and surrounding area) is the most beautiful.

One of my highlights of the weekend is spending time on Sunday selecting produce for the week at the Heart of the City Farmer’s Market. Located in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco, you’re always ensured a grand mixture of fun, crazy, and just plain weird.

Without fail, there are always a few musicians around. It can range from young guys on a honky tonk piano and drum set, to a classical cellist, to an old man on a 2-stringed Chinese violin playing Jingle Bells. It’s pure bliss.

Sounds of the Weekend: Civic Center Farmer’s Market from Brooke Francesi on Vimeo.

Pardon the silence but it’s been difficult to find motivation over the past couple of months. I’ve decided to start posting work I find interesting in order to help spark some inspiration. If you know me, you know I love weird and quirky. You’ve been warned:

This year has been full of some of the most glorious ups and heart-breaking downs I’ve experienced in my life. Moving to California, an amazing new job, a St. Patty’s Day bike wreck, meeting fantastic new friends, getting our bikes stolen, and moving to San Francisco.

No matter what I’m doing, my parents have always been the type to let me, and my 2 brothers and sister, make decisions and figure things out on our own. They’ve always supported us and encouraged us to take any opportunity that arises — whether we think we’re qualified for that opportunity or not. Because of this, it’s been difficult to accept that plural parents has been made singular.

So here’s to my dad. The man who encouraged me to take risks, believe in myself, and break rules (in a good way). He taught me that if anyone ever tells me I can’t, I have the ability to prove to them that I can. Life is short. Make it count. I love you dad.

While we didn’t take family photos often (our last family picture was taken in 2008), this one was taken May 22nd on the weekend of my youngest brother’s graduation. It’s casual, and I may be biased, but I think this is perfect.

I have horrible luck with bikes. A few months ago, St Patrick’s Day to be exact, I was in a bike accident that temporarily cost me my sense of taste and smell. And no doubt a few brain cells. Since then, I’ve vowed to stay away from them.

A friend recently sent me a link to this bike helmet by the Swedish company Hövding, and it just may have me re-thinking my vow. It’s a stunning feat of a marriage between technology and fashion.

And that dress! Eat your heart out.

This post has been sitting in my drafts folder waiting on images for over a month. Maybe its time to just publish and post more delicious food images later? Below are heirloom tomatoes from  Farm Fresh to You located in the Ferry Building Marketplace.

Disclaimer: I don’t consider myself a food snob or a foodie. I just like to know what I’m eating.

Growing up with a mother who made amazing food (specifically English toffee at Christmas-time) and a father as a food scientist, Velveeta cheese didn’t have a chance in our home. In fact, not many processed foods did.

Because of this, I’ve always been conscious of the food I eat, but since moving to San Francisco, a place where everyone is a foodie in some sense, I’ve become particularly obsessed with eating food in it’s most natural state. Moving from the midwest to California, it’s been a pleasant surprise to realize how easy it is to buy seasonal vegetables at one of the many of farmers markets during almost any week of the year.

While it used to feel like chore to pick out a menu and food for the week (I’m a budget-y type person) it’s become especially fun to head to the store or farmers market, select the most seasonal produce, and make a menu from there.

So what’s the point? I’ve discovered an incredible sense of self-satisfaction just by knowing that my food didn’t travel 2,000 miles to my mouth when it could have traveled less than 50.

It’s hard to believe that just 6 months ago, we packed our lives and moved to Silicon Valley…because this weekend we moved again.

When my husband accepted a position at Apple, he had 3 days notice. Literally. They called him on a Thursday and he had to be to work that next Monday. Which meant he had a week to find a place for us to live. While we both were secretly hoping he would find a place in San Francisco, it just wasn’t realistic (or feasible) so we settled for a short term lease in the south bay.

Fast forward to this weekend, and we found ourselves once again packing and moving to a cute but tiny (slightly over 600 sq. ft.) high-rise studio in the middle of San Francisco.

One of the most exciting parts of the moving process is that we were able sell our car, something we’ve been wanting to do for a while. We’ve been slowly moving towards a more minimal, eco-friendly lifestyle, and that was a huge step in the process.

Here’s a few quick initial pictures of our new apartment.