Fun Facts for History Buffs

So we live in the Marina neighborhood of San Francisco (as you probably already knew), which is the northernmost area in the city and borders the Bay near the Golden Gate Bridge. I really like the neighborhood - there's plenty of shops, restaurants, and bars within walking distance but it's also a bit of a gateway to the outdoors. It's flat, so it's really easy to go running and you just can't beat the views from running along the Bay on a sunny day. We are just a few minutes from the Presidio, which is a national forest that we really haven't even explored yet. And just a few blocks the other way is Fort Mason, an old military fort that hosts the Farmer's Market and other functions but is also a huge park. Plus, we're literally a 4 minute drive to the bridge so we can escape up to wine country pretty easily :)

On my run today I ran through Fort Mason and stopped to read one of those historical markers. I knew that San Francisco hosted the World's Fair in 1915, with the Palace of Fine Arts still hanging out a few blocks away, but I didn't know much else about it. It turns out, the whole Marina area housed several different buildings, all called "Palaces" for different expositions. Fillmore St., which is where we live, was known as the Avenue of Progress and the surrounding blocks, from the Bay to Chestnut St., housed the Palace of Machinery. According to some random website, the Palace of Machinery was the world's largest wooden and steel building at the time and apparently the first-ever indoor flight occurred there. So that's what used to be here before our apartment! Of course the only downside to these World's Fair fun facts is that the Marina was built on landfill to make room for all these Palaces, so in the event of a big earthquake, well, things might not go so well.

A map of the World's Fair grounds above, and the Palace of Machinery below. These images were stolen from Google. Don't report me :)

Anyways, that's just a little trivia for you. I've just finished up my first busy season week on my main client and am enjoying a nice relaxing weekend at home, without Jordan! He took Friday off and went up to Seattle for the weekend. I'm a little jealous, and can't wait to hear the details about the masquerade he went to on Friday for a charity my sister is involved with. Now that I'm working late most nights, weekend time is very precious to catch up on all the random things I have to do. I spent most of yesterday cleaning and today I have a few more errands to get through! I do plan on taking some time to bake Valentine's Day treats and maybe do some shopping as well.

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!

No January Slump, Here!

I remember hating January growing up. Christmas was over. I had to go back to school. It was cold, dark, and there was just not that much going on. But I'm happy to say that I very much enjoyed January this year! It doesn't hurt that we're gotten very lucky with the weather. Everyone keeps telling us that it's usually chilly and rainy this time of year, but we've had warm and sunny weekends the whole month. I think I've only gotten my winter coat out a few times.

So along with our warm and sunny weekends, we've been able to have some fun. In early January we spent one warm Sunday afternoon walking across the Golden Gate Bridge. I still have a hard time believing that we live so close to such an icon sometimes. It took us a few hours to walk across and back, but we stopped a lot so I could take pictures, and once we got to the other side we spent some time just staring out over the Bay. The views are incredible! I highly recommend it for any future visitors :)

Two weekends ago we joined Kimberly and Jason for one of their quarterly trips up to Napa to pick up their wine shipments. We had tastings at the two wineries and then tried out another, just for fun! We also stopped at the Napa outlets for some quick shopping. Those outlets are quickly becoming one of my favorite places to shop in the area. I do kind of miss malls and going shopping where everything is in one place. I know there are a lot of advantages to the "boutique" type shopping in San Francisco too, but I just haven't had a ton of time to get out and find the best stores. Soon enough I hope!

Work has also picked up for the time being. I spent two weeks out in Atwater, CA for one engagement. Never heard of Atwater, CA? Don't worry, I'm pretty sure no one in California has ever heard of it either, except for the people who live there. Other than not having many restaurant choices, it went fairly well. I didn't mind working late since I was just going back to the hotel. Starting tomorrow I will be back to my main client for the next three months. Woo hoo! I'm gearing up for some long hours and many nights of take out dinners.

Here's hoping February is just as fabulous! Jordan is making his way to Seattle next weekend to see the sisters, but I will be hanging out here since I can't really take vacation at this time. I'll let you know what I get accomplished!