All posts in: Mountain View

27 May 2016

Bay Area Eats: Rumble Fish

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I sort of think that if I were forced to have sushi for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day that I wouldn’t be that upset. While the sushi here in California doesn’t exactly compare to Seattle, I still feel pretty lucky that I have some spots nearby that I really enjoy! One of them is in downtown Mountain View on Castro Street. Since I’ve been here, I have yet to find another sushi spot that can make a seared salmon. When Rumble Fish opened sometime in late 2015, I decided to test my luck. It was a good move because now the seared salmon is all I eat from there! If that picture above makes it look like the seared salmon melts in your mouth… it’s because it does.

03 Jun 2014

Currently Craving:

It’s that time again. We’re almost at 10:00 PM and no surprise here – I’m hungry. It’s so hard to make ramen look good in photographs though. Google Images pulled up a ton of photos for Shalala and none of them look that appetizing. That’s okay though because most people know what ramen tastes like and that compensates for how it looks in photographs. I tried Shalala for the first time in Mountain View last week and – I can’t believe I’m saying this… – I liked it better than Orenchi’s! GAH!

How is that even possible? Well Shalala has corn so there ya go.

No, actually Shalala, Orenchi’s, Maru Ichi’s – they’re all great.

05 May 2014

The Weekend: 5 Things

Sushi Tomi

Happy Monday everyone! We’re not having a Wedding Mondays this week because we simply just believe in quality over quantity and there hasn’t been enough quality to post. However, we’re making up for it with a lot of personal posts 🙂 My parents were in town this weekend to visit me and we had a grand ‘ol time exploring the beautiful Bay Area! We ate until we each gained 5 pounds and even though I’ve been here for almost a year now it still felt like I was on a family vacation.

On their second night, we went out to Sushi Tomi in Mountain View. Here is just a little snapshot of what we put into our tummies.

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I ventured over to Napa for the first time. BIG DEAL because I feel like I always preference Sonoma. I had discovered on Quora that Artesa was one of the prettiest wineries to visit so we put it at the top of our list! It really was as amazing as this photograph looks and so much more. Napa and Sonoma are both just full of hidden gems.

No matter how old I get, I think I will still really enjoy staying at hotels. That’s something that I think my Mom and I share a love for. We called The Lodge in Sonoma home for a night! I didn’t get to experience the pool while I was there. It was my biggest regret.

What would a family trip be without a family movie night about a fake family?

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One of my close friends from college was in town this weekend and better yet – on his 24th birthday! We had to take him out, naturally. After dinner at Range and dessert, we were sent off with these adorable mini macarons. The boys pretty much swallowed it whole, but Hailey and I still treated it as if it were regular size and took bites into it. I want these forever.

05 May 2014

Bay Area Eats:

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Buffalo Beers Burgers Baos. 

Mandi and I had all of the above. Friend dates are just the best aren’t they? It had been months since Mandi and I caught up so we were really looking forward to not only catch up time, but some delicious happy hour. I had heard about Buffalo from my co-workers, but never really gave it a second thought until she suggested it last week. I don’t think it has been open very long, but the restaurant right on Castro Street in Mountain View was open, bright, and inviting. The menu was packed with beer options and various sliders and baos that would fit both our tastes – vegetarian and a meat eater (myself!)

Mandi takes better Instagrams than I do so we’re using her pictures instead of mine! The ones in the forefront are her veggie orders and mine are in the background.

But, if you’re wondering what I ordered, I’ll fill you in…

  • The blueberry beer (it smelled like blueberry muffins!)
  • Sweet Potato Fries (with 4 different aiolis! Perfection.)
  • Pork Belly Bao
  • 5-spiced pulled pork slider

If you’re looking for some variety and something to really hit the spot, Buffalo is a great choice.

27 Apr 2014

BFD 2014

I was already very excited that I would be attending Outside Lands this summer, but last week a co-worker of mine let slip that there was another music event happening right in the backyard of our office! So naturally, we’re going. The lineup is full of artists that I would love to see perform. I’m just surprised as to what they are even doing in Mountain View, but I won’t complain.

I am very much looking forward to seeing on June 1st:

  • Foster the People
  • MS MR
  • Phantogram
  • RAC
  • M.I.A.
  • Fitz and the Tantrums
  • Bear Hands
  • The Knocks

And any other artists that I will have time for!

For more information, click here. Can’t wait to cover the event for you all!

17 Mar 2014

5 Things: The Weekend

1. We kicked off the weekend with a company celebration and a whole lot of love! Drinks and snacks at Reposado in Palo Alto was an event not to be missed. I’m personally pretty fond of the red and white sangria.

2. We missed brunch on Saturday and instead opted for a late lunch at Cascal on Castro Street in Mountain View. I’d never eaten here before, but have received countless recommendations to go here because of their tapas. Since I get bored of food easily, small bites go over well with me. I ordered the corn soup and scallops. The corn soup pictured above isn’t what I actually ordered because I had forgotten to take a picture. All you have to know is that it was the sweetest and best tasting corn soup that I have ever had. I can say this because I’ve sampled many. In tis case though, I really wish I would’ve gone for the bowl – the cup was just too little!

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3. Sheila hosted a housewarming party at her new humble abode yesterday where she crafted up a storm of goodies including homemade chocolate ice cream and cookies and cream marshmallows.

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4. I got made fun of this weekend for the job I did on my nails. I actually hate getting them done so I prefer to do them myself, but that usually means that they end up getting chipped within 5 minutes, have bubbles forming underneath the polish, and get onto my skin. I found myself in a Rite Aid a couple of weeks ago picking up other things, but out of the corner of my eye, felt the urge to purchase myself a bottle of Essie. Jackson’s hand is just here for the cameo.

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5. After the housewarming, we decided to stop by West Elm. I wasn’t in dire need of anything, but there was no way I could walk out of the store without purchasing something. I snagged myself another pillow and pillowcase along with two extra towels to add to my collection. You can never have enough? I’m also not very good at taking care of succulents so I made sure not to buy one from my home, but they still looked good enough for a photo.

16 Mar 2014

Currently Craving:

I’ve always been very partial to smoothies with boba specifically Strawberry Peach or Taro. However, recently I was recommended to just try milk tea with boba and can I just say that it was life-changing? What have I been doing this whole time? I’ve been on an Earl Grey fix ever since I became obsessed with the ice cream flavor at Tin Pot. I figured ordering the Earl Grey Milk Tea wouldn’t be much of a change. It was amazing. I can’t wait to walk myself down to Tea Era tomorrow for another.

17 Nov 2013

Bay Area Eats:

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Brunch weekends used to be a constant for me when I was living in Seattle! There are plenty of spots in San Francisco, but since I’m living south of the city, I’ve got my work cut out for me to find my new favorites. Tommy and I decided to hit up Crepe Vine yesterday in Mountain View, which was absolutely packed even at 1PM. He ordered the chocolate chip pancakes while I had the Petaluma Scramble – chicken apple sausage, mushrooms, spinach, provolone and salsa fresca. Typically, I stick with just veggie omelettes and scrambles, but I was on a meat kick so I decided to change my ways. I actually really enjoyed the sausage and the mix with the salsa. Usually, I also ask without cheese and I probably should’ve done the same this time around, but it wasn’t bad.

Next time, I should probably try their crepes since that is what they are known for so my to-do-list will include one of their meal crepes as well as a savory crepe because who doesn’t love desserts, right?

 

12 Nov 2013

Bay Area Eats:

For the record, these were supposed to be posted yesterday, but since I ate at three different places this weekend I thought that I would spread them out. It’s out with the old and in with the new. Not too long ago, I mentioned that I would be discontinuing Thought Catalog Roundup and I’m happy to announce that we’re now replacing that Sunday column with Bay Area Eats! Similar to Seattle, San Francisco and the Bay Area in general is home to so many incredible restaurants. I’ve been a fan of this state’s food since the first time I bit into an In N’ Out burger.  Needless to say, we could have only gone up from there.

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Bree and I had made plans for dinner that night, but were unprepared because we didn’t realize how busy it would be in Downtown Mountain View on Friday at 7:00PM. Who knew, right? Some restaurants had an hour long wait and by the time we had walked more blocks than we could count, we decided that we just needed to settle. Scratch was once described to me as the type of restaurant you might eat at when you “IPO” so with that in mind, we were a little bit nervous about breaking our wallets. In fact, I’m pretty sure after I glanced at the menu, I turned to Bree and asked her if there was anything we could celebrate for this occasion. Scratch is pretty fancy and while we enjoyed our dinner, I’m not quite sure if we were in the right mindset to eat there that night. Bree ordered the risotto while I had the Potato, leek, and bacon soup with an order of the Steamed P.E.I. mussels (pictured above)

Also Bree and I were feeling particularly adventurous so I convinced her to try oysters for the first time! Her response? “It tastes like beach.” For the record, she has now tried oysters and eel while with me and no longer trusts me to make a food suggestion that she might like.

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I’m not sure if it was because I was recovering from my cold that week and texture was very strong for me that night, but that oyster left me with an after taste that I did not enjoy. I know that Scratch generally does oysters well though so I’d be willing to give them another shot in the future.

 

05 Aug 2013

Meet: Kendall Herbst

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As all women know and can relate, getting dressed in the morning is never as easy as we wish it could be. To the women who feel confident in tossing on whatever they please regardless of how it will match or how it will look – power to ya – but if you’re like me, then your morning routine can be a little bit more complex. One minute you want a pullover sweater, but the next minute you’re eyeing that cardigan that you haven’t touched in months. If you’re in Seattle, you’ll start off your morning bright and sunny and by afternoon caught in a torrential downpour. Making sure your outfits are appropriate for the weather can be one of life’s unexpected challenges… so what if there were something to make your life and choosing outfits a little bit easier? Former fashion editor at Lucky Magazine and MBA grad turned entrepreneur Kendall Herbst created a solution. StyleUp was designed to simplify your morning routine by sending you personal recommendations on an outfit to wear to match the weather of your location daily. I have been receiving emails from StyleUp for the last year and have loved the daily inspiration regardless of whether or not I’m re-creating the outfit myself that day. Since Kendall has had such a diverse background in working in the real world to going back to school to creating her own start-up, I thought that she would be a great woman to feature on Yow Yow’s “Women Who Are Making It” series.

Q: You’ve done so much with your career already. Can you give us an entire back story on your career path and how you go to where you are today?

Kendall: Thanks! Out of college, my first job was at New York magazine, helping them build out their online fashion presence. Then I moved over to Lucky magazine as the Fashion News Editor. I wrote two sections of the magazine and covered all the up-and-coming designers, major news and rising trends. I also did stints at InStyle magazine, J.Crew and Ann Taylor LOFT. After about five years of that life, I got really inspired by the Gilt Groupe women and decided to go to business school. At MIT Sloan, I got my idea for StyleUp and participated in Y Combinator earlier this year. My life has changed drastically from a few years ago — less fashion shows and more time talking to engineers — but I absolutely love it.

Q: In November of 2012, I had read a story on Fashionista.com that you left the fashion writing industry behind to pursue your MBA at MIT Sloan. What motivated you to make this huge decision?

Kendall: Fashion was changing so quickly with the rise of blogs and new ecommerce models, (see the mobile eCommerce statistics for an idea). Because clothes were being sold in a different way, they were therefore also being designed and marketed differently and things like SEO for these ecommerce models became very important. I won’t go into that in too much detail, but you can visit https://victoriousseo.com/verticals/ecommerce-seo/ to find out more. It just all seemed very different. I admired all these women launching amazing businesses. Meanwhile, I had become a bit too comfortable, even complacent in my job as a fashion editor. I decided I wanted to stretch myself and saw business school as a great new adventure. Business school is the start of something rewarding for people who have that drive and determination to be in this sector. If you are contemplating it, you can get more info from websites such as fortunaadmissions.com to see how you can get in.

Q: What was the transition like leaving the working world and going back into school again?

Kendall: It was certainly a bit strange at first — buying notebooks and taking midterms felt like a lifetime ago. Also being an intern the summer between your first and second years was a little odd as a 27-year-old. All that said, it was a really refreshing change of pace and a terrific environment to try out new ideas and work on my weaknesses in such a low-risk classroom situation.

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Q: At what point was StyleUp born and where did you find the inspiration for this idea?

Kendall: In many ways, my whole life has been leading to StyleUp. From spending way too much time in shopping malls when I was young, to working as a fashion editor, to going to business school — I’ve talked to a lot of women in my life about how fashion makes them feel. I started playing around with the idea in the late winter 2012, realizing that the market was missing a platform for really actionable fashion advice — what should I wear tomorrow? I wanted to create something that just made the process a little easier for busy, modern women. StyleUp doesn’t tell you everything, but it offers personalized inspiration to make the daily process not just easier but a lot more fun.

Q: What does a typical day look like for you?

Kendall: Like many people, there are no typical days but I do have one routine that I try to maintain: going for a jog along the river in the morning to clear my head. Then, I check in with my team to make sure no one has any roadblocks ahead of them. I’ll look over the daily metrics. I’ll meet with brand executives. I’ll chat with our members to get their feedback — one of my favorite parts! I’ll handle the company finances and budget — one of my least favorite parts! On any given day, I touch about every aspect of the business. Lately, a lot of my time has been spent on creating StyleUp shopping which launches soon. Stay tuned for that!

Q: I noticed that your team consists of you and your co-founder, but is your team much larger now?

Kendall: We’ve brought on a designer and another developer and some college interns. Overall, I love working in a small team and I like handling many different roles. I look for people who like that dynamic experience as well. We’re quite lean and scrappy, and I never want to lose that.

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Q: I’ve been receiving StyleUp daily emails for quite some time, but I am curious, what is your process for selecting an outfit for the day for the correct region depending on the weather? How far in advance are you finding these daily outfits and where are your usual sources because sometimes they come straight from street style or from celebrities?

Kendall: All of our images are tagged by a series of fashion and weather properties, and our system sorts them based on each member’s weather forecast and style preferences. We work on a day-by-day basis so we can provide the most accurate weather for every StyleUpper. I’ve learned our women love variety and see StyleUp as this fun surprise Monday-Friday, so I aim to show a great mix of inspiration images.

Q: Has StyleUp been able to collaborate with anyone yet and if so what is a collaboration that you are most proud of?

Kendall: We’re starting down the road now — stay tuned!

Q: As we all know, the road to building a startup is both rewarding and challenging. What are some challenges or obstacles that you have faced on the way to creating StyleUp?

Kendall: There are many. A major one is my lack of experience. As a first-time founder, I’ve never done a lot of the things I have to do for StyleUp, but that’s also what makes it so exciting! I try to remind myself to enjoy all this craziness and realize what a special time it is vs. letting it stress me out completely. Some days I’m more successful than others!

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Q: StyleUp is based out in Mountain View, CA and the Bay Area has become one of my favorite places to visit within the last year. Can you let us in on some of your favorite spots?

Kendall: StyleUp’s HQ has been my living room for the past year, which means it’s transitioned from Cambridge, MA to Mountain View, CA to now NY, NY. I absolutely loved Mountain View — though I spent about 90% of I‘d go to the farmer’s market on the weekend, especially because the weather is usually perfect. There are cute bookstores on Castro St. — Books Inc. has a solid cookbook section — and tons of places to eat outside. Mostly, I enjoyed walking around my neighborhood with all the lemon trees, the adorable houses, the bright flowers everywhere. Perfect escape from the Cambridge winter!

Q: You’ve spent a great deal of time on the East Coast before moving to the West, what is your favorite part about this region and is there anything you are still adapting to?

Kendall: I’ve boomeranged from East Coast to West Coast and back again. I love them both, and have been so lucky to live in such great places. My favorite thing about the West Coast was how many people were starting their own companies. It’s great to be so near all these amazing startups and talk with people in all the stages of startup life. It’s such a founder-friendly ecosystem. You’ve got to look at all areas of a startup before embarking, for instance, people may not know the answer to “what is sip trunking?” when in relation to business communications, but it is a good thing to know, especially if you plan on expanding your business.

Q: Kendall, this year on Yow Yow! we are focusing on the life of a 20-something and being a recent post grad transitioning out of college. What advice do you have for young adults at this age and moving into the adult world?

Kendall: That’s a great focus, and one I talk about often with our college interns. Find a job that truly challenges you. You’re going to make mistakes, but absorb them all as learning moments and don’t make the same one twice. You’re about to embark on a huge learning curve so get comfortable with being uncomfortable and enjoy the ride.

Q: Kendall you have established such an accomplished career. What is next for you and StyleUp? Are there any other endeavors that you would like to pursue outside of this?

Kendall: When I was younger, I was always so eager to move up to a better job or a cooler brand. Now, I’m so happy with StyleUp, I’ll work on this forever, if I get the pleasure.

To learn more about StyleUp and to sign up, please visit the website here.