All posts in: Hayes Valley

17 Jul 2018

Sundays at The Riddler

Turtleneck – Aritzia / Skirt – Brandy Melville / Denim Jacket – Gap / Hat – Nordstrom / Sneakers – Nike

I never considered myself a big champagne drinker, but when I learned that The Riddler, a champagne bar in Hayes Valley, was serving up brunch on the weekends it seemed worth checking out. Nestled on a quiet street in Hayes, The Riddler sometimes feels like it goes unnoticed. One defining feature though? A champagne bottle painted on the side of their building that doubles as a photo backdrop.

The Riddler’s brunch menu is not like other brunch menus that you might find in San Francisco. Instead, it’s actually quite mysterious and not even found on their website. The only way I knew that they served brunch was through the grapevine and on other blogs.

How it works: There is a pre-fixe menu with three different categories that you get to choose from. For the starter, we had the option of choosing from two different yogurt parfaits. Next we chose from a selection of savory tarts and then a selection of quiches. The brunch at The Riddler is supposed to be considered a bit lighter than your usual, but it ends up being the perfect amount. As many of you know, I love variety in my meals so having a little bit of everything satisfied my craving. If this wasn’t enough, the menu also has a selection of various champagne cocktails for you to choose from to pair with the rest of your meal. Not only was everything pretty delicious, but it’s such a great setting for a morning with your girlfriends. I took two of my favorite girls that I thought would enjoy the brunch along for the ride and we loved every minute of it.

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29 Apr 2018

Blog Roundup

  • You are what you eat on your pizza. April pizza horoscopes. [Bon Appetit] (one month later)
  • McDonalds’ interior design tricks [Market Watch]
  • Q-Tip will teach a music course at NYU this fall [Pitchfork]
  • Ace Hotel will be opening a location in Japan next year – Kyoto to be specific [Hypebeast]
  • Nike admits they could do a better job with hiring women and minorities in leaked internal memo [Hypebae]

  • A behind-the-scenes look at the kitchen at KFC. This was FASCINATING to me.
  • Why I wondered what happened to the Steven Alan store in Hayes Valley [Fashionista]
  • Who picks out the playlists you hear while shopping? [Racked]
07 Apr 2018

Reflective

Sunglasses – Quay / Turtleneck – Aritzia / Denim – Levi’s / Sneakers – Nike

I’m now a woman in my late-20’s living in San Francisco and I love to run errands on the weekend. When I was living in South Bay, my car was my best friend. I would bop around to Santa Clara, Cupertino, Mountain View, and Palo Alto for all the things that I needed. The only weekends when I don’t have errands are when I’m traveling. In the city, I’m using my car less and running errands by foot. My weekend uniform tends to be different from what I wear on the weekdays. For one, it’s darker. On top of that, it just is more functional. I feel like what I’m wearing allows me to be more flexible and there’s room to stretch – especially in my Nike Flyknits. I love how this outfit makes me feel stealth. These are my usual staples, but Winny was in town this weekend that we took the photo and these are her Quay sunglasses for that added pop of color!

18 Nov 2017

Thanksgiving Themed Ice Cream Flavors

Buttered Mashed Potatoes & Gravy

When Elynn was up in the city recently, we stopped by the new Salt & Straw location in Hayes Valley for what seemed like a pretty soft opening for them. I could be happy with just about any flavor there, but know that they’re also a shop that likes to push the boundaries a little bit. While we were there, I noticed that they had a very special Thanksgiving menu up and while I love almost all Thanksgiving dishes, I didn’t know how well it would translate into ice cream. Would it actually taste good or would it just be a little bit weird? Being the stuffing fan that I am, I opted to try a sample. What’s the best way to describe it? Well, you know how some people enjoy sweet breakfasts or savory? It’s kind of like that. I didn’t mind the flavors and actually thought their rendition was pretty spot on, but at the end of the day, I wanted something that tasted like ice cream and went for my standard coffee – Salt & Straw style.

These flavors will be available until November 22nd so make sure you try them before time runs out! They’ll be available at both their locations in Pacific Heights and Hayes Valley Read more “Thanksgiving Themed Ice Cream Flavors”

05 Feb 2017

Summer Stripes

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Dress – Azalea / Rings – Various boutiques

We practically lived in this dress this past summer. There’s nothing better than having that one dress that you can throw on for just about any occasion. You might think that a dress with long sleeves for the summer here in the Bay Area would be too warm, but sometimes it gets breezy enough that you kind of want the sleeves. It’s also great because you don’t really need a sweater or cardigan to cover up either. We over wore this too much this past summer and it may have shrunk just a little bit, but we’re in the process of stretching it out again! Azalea is one of my favorite boutiques up in the city; I typically frequent the Hayes Valley location and am always finding things that I can’t go home without.

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Here’s us wearing this dress again with my mom’s old booties and in the parking lot that the city tore down to put a building in. This place was the best.

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04 Jan 2017

Bay Area Eats: Souvla

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I was not familiar with Greek food growing up. It just wasn’t something that we ate so when I tried Souvla for the first time, I was hesitant. And actually a little bit self-conscious. Was I going to be the only person in the group that didn’t fall in love with it? The menu is simple. The portions? Large. The decor and interior of the restaurants – beautiful. And the crowds? Long, but reasonable. Souvla is a cult favorite in San Francisco right now and I’ve had the privilege of eating there twice at both locations with the one in Nopa being my favorite.

What I order:

  • Mary’s Free Range Chicken Sandwich – “Granch” dressing, Fennel, Navel Orange, Pickled Red Onion, Pea Shoots, Mizithra Cheese
  • A glass of the Souvla Greek Red wine
  • Frozen Greek Yogurt – Baklava Crumbles & Honey syrup (to share!) for dessert

It’s been awhile since I last went there with Mandi for one of our girl dates, but I’m already developing a craving as I type this.

21 Dec 2016

Sundays in Hayes

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Hat – Nordstrom / Top – Brandy Melville / Shorts – Forever21 / Purse – Vince Camuto / Shoes – Keds / Sunglasses – Kate Spade

If I’m remembering this weekend correctly, this was the time when Mandi and I checked out the market down in Hayes Valley where a bunch of local artists and vendors were selling their merch. I don’t remember us finding anything that we fell in love with, but we did sniff through a lot of candles and spent some time getting inspiration for any ideas that might fit her wedding at the time or just for things we wanted in our own lives. It happened to be very sunny in San Francisco that day and if you’re from the area, you know SF doesn’t usually get a true summer. We were very lucky! The top and shorts are something that I would normally wear around the house, but the Keds made it look more playful. However, I didn’t want to look like I was in middle school with this look so I threw on my everyday purse and this hat that I love from Nordstrom for a little edge.

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14 Aug 2016

Seldom Seen

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When I was living in Seattle, I always felt that boutiques were few and far between. They were challenging to get to and my favorite ones were all spread out in different neighborhoods which didn’t make things very convenient. In San Francisco though, I can pick and choose any neighborhood I want to go to and be satisfied with the selection of boutiques that are around me instead of feeling like I need to hop from one neighborhood to another. One of my favorite areas happens to be Hayes Valley. There are quite a few here that are near and dear to my heart including Azalea and Oak + Fort, but today we’re showing some love to Seldom Seen! I think I first learned about Seldom Seen about 6 months ago through another Bay Area blog and made a point to visit the boutique the next time I was shopping in Hayes. SS is co-founded by Natasha Wong and is a relatively young boutique featuring both men and women’s fashion.

Here are some photos from my first visit, but I’ve actually been in twice now and had the opportunity to meet Natasha who is just the sweetest! It’s hard not to fall in love with the pieces when you visit or just the store in general. You can also visit their online shop here.

Located on 522 Octavia Street

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07 Apr 2016

The Coziest

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Dress  and Scarf – Oak + Fort 

A couple of years ago, I discovered a Canadian boutique through Instagram called Oak + Fort. On a day trip up to Vancouver with my family, I made sure that we didn’t leave without me stopping in – even on the rainiest day that I’ve seen in a long time. I walked away with two pieces back then – I mean I traveled all that way! When I learned this fall that they were opening up a San Francisco location in Hayes Valley, I was ecstatic. What I love about the brand is that everything is pretty minimalistic – if you’re not big into color and like to stick to the basic monochrome shades of white, black, tan, neutral, this is your store. Everything also tends to be on the roomier/baggier side as well so for petite girls like me, shopping there can be a little bit challenging. I remember bringing Jen with me and she had a ton of luck with everything while I struggled to feel like I was pulling these pieces off. Every thing I tried on looked like it was wearing me. Luckily for me though, this dress was the perfect balance of bagginess, but also fit for my frame. The two slits on either side give me a little bit more dimension and makes it a little less conservative. I also fell in love with this scarf when I saw a post of it on the brand’s Instagram. This thing is HUGE. I never thought I could wear anything like this, but it’s perfection. It’s exactly what you need for the coldest of winter days and also doubles as the perfectly sized personal blanket when I’m in a friend’s cold apartment or when I just happen to be extra chilly. It’s the one piece that gets the most compliments when I’m out also so that has to mean something, right? If I haven’t sold you enough on why this brand is so great, their pieces also happen to be very affordable. I think we can all appreciate not breaking our wallets.

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26 Oct 2015

Oak + Fort Comes to SF!

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I just learned this week that one of my favorite brands out of Vancouver, Oak + Fort, had decided to open up their 2nd US store in Hayes Valley in San Francisco so I made plans this weekend to head over there and bring my co-worker Jen with me. The store was pretty much made for her and I think she now loves it way more than I do. Lucky for her, it’s right down the street from her home. The store specializes in a lot of oversized pieces, but really prides themselves on comfort so everything is super snuggly and warm – just what we’re looking for in the Bay Area this fall! So I walked away with three beautiful pieces and Jen loved everything so she snagged like 10! We also had the best time with all of the ladies working there who let us chit chat with them and let me bop around in their shop in the oversized scarf that I ended up bringing home with me. Maybe we’ll just come back for the friends.

Here are the pieces I took home:

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