Sounds of the Weekend: Civic Center Farmer's Market

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.

Life.

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.

Eating Good Food

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.

The Great Move: Part 2

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.

Memorial Day in Pictures: Highway 1

We'll be moving to San Francisco in just 2 weeks and plan to sell our car, so on Monday, Vince and I took advantage of still having a car and ventured out on a day trip down scenic Highway 1. We made no specific plans and had a blast stopping at random road-side stands, getting close up to sea lions, taking 17 Mile Drive, wandering through Monterey and Carmel, and of course, eating delicious food.

Photos from the Weekend: Kansas

I'm the oldest of my parent's 4 children, and with 2 younger brothers and a sister, so I can't help but get excited every time I get to see my entire family.  We're spread out over 3 states and 1,800 miles, and it tends to be a rare occasion when we're all in the same location. This weekend my baby brother graduated from high school, and even though we were only there for 2 days, I was able to watch him run track for the first time and qualify for state in his 4x1 team. So proud!

Here's a few images from the weekend, thanks to my cousin Tucker. Unfortunately I have no images of Gauc Night, which happens every night when we're all together. My family is not typically a family of traditions, but guacamole is our one and only tradition. Could there be a better family tradition?

What a stud!

Can't believe he's done. He's 9 years younger than me, and I won't lie, it was ridiculously sad/proud moment.

It's crazy how much I'm starting to look like my mom...and it's hard to believe my sister in law isn't actually my sister.

All he needs is a blazing, fiery forest behind him and you could call this guy James Bond.

Probably not supposed to be posting this, but I love it.

Images from the Weekend

I haven't posted weekend images in quite a while, because quite honestly, the weather hasn't been that great around here. Bear your smug smiles Midwesterners and I'll be bearing mine this coming winter. This weekend we met some new friends for dinner on Saturday at Nojo, a new farm-to-table Japanese restaurant in San Francisco. We left a our apartment little early and took a long, lazy drive along Highway 1 up the coast line to Half Moon Bay. Views like this make me feel like I'm on a 24 / 7 vacation.

Gorgeous! Don't you agree?