There is something about this photo that makes me feel like I'm at home. Perhaps it's the fog. Perhaps it is the crosswalk. Perhaps it's the sloppiness of the Richmond. Who knows?

I think I have mentioned it before, but we live in the Richmond. It’s kind of a strange place that is half city/half suburb. Half America/half Asia. Half apartments/half single family homes. All foggy/zero not foggy. We still love how quiet it is, but we really are pretty far away from everything. Our morning commute is filled with traffic, and we don’t have the greatest restaurant options. Oh, and did I mention that it is foggy here? Well, it is. But that’s okay because it gives us an excuse to go on longer scooter rides like we did last weekend!

One thing we have started doing though, is waking up early on at least one weekend day to go out for coffee somewhere close. We don’t have the fancy brunch spots on Valencia or the posh café life of Union Street or the organic bagels of Noe Valley, but we have the vast sea of concrete and dim sum that all the other neighborhoods dream of! And between the hours of 7am-9am on Saturday, Geary is perfectly empty. Add the fog and a hot cup of coffee, and there is something cozy about this little place we call home. It is pleasant to walk down the street hand in hand looking in the nooks and crannies in search of strange objects in strange places. Nik seems to find plenty, but I still like to focus on the shiny pretty things!

A shiny Red fire engine

Alex - 1 2 3 (you know who you are!)

A little hill-top feather kicking

The city looks much better with blue skies (this is a photo from the Marina neighborhood)

We don't get skies like these in the RichmondÂ

I miss you guys.

Two cool kids taking photos on the beach

Last weekend, Nik and I set off early on Sunday for a ride along the coast. The weather was perfect, the roads were empty enough, and hawks and vultures constantly hovered overhead. And the best part is that we took video so that we could share it with you! Dad, you’ll especially like the part where we rode through the traffic, San Francisco style!

Yellow wild flowers on the side of the road

A Ramshackle Farm House

Good Fences make Good Neighbors

Ms. Reyes leaning to her right

Historic Ranch Dairy Cows

Kid playing in the sand

My favorite entry in the Drakes Beach Sand Castle Contest

The cool kid

Another farmhouse and beautiful tree

Once again, I find myself coming to the surface for air only to find that another month has gone by without blog posts and very little communication with the outside world. Despite these facts, I have actually been really busy doing interesting and exciting stuff. Here is a glimpse into my August…

1. I have spent four days a week for the past six weeks working in a bakery without touching baked goods (except when there were leftovers!). Although my stint there has come to an end, I will always carry a soft spot for custom cakes. Also, during that time, I rode my bicycle to work 98% of the time and finally worked off my “welcome to America” pounds. I suppose the effects of working in a bakery were actually the opposite of what you would expect!

The Sunset

2. I have started a second job that I am beyond excited about. You might remember a list I made in April of 2009 in a blog post titled “Next” where my #3 goal was this…

I will work in an architecture office whose work and mission I admire. It will be a firm that I want to grow with and be an integral part of.

Well, this goal is currently being realized! My role is not exactly what I would have imagined back in April ’09, but in many ways, it is even better. I will be exposed to an aspect of architecture that I have not been exposed to before and I will have opportunities to work with nearly everyone in the office on a regular basis. Also, the work is only part time for now, so I should, in theory, have time to work on getting my architecture license. We’ll see how that goes!

The valley

3. We have made the most of our weekends. We met a great new-to-San Francisco couple that moved into the old Inn 1890 (my favorite B&B ever that has now closed). We went to the Outside Lands Music Festival. We took a drive all the way around the Bay from the GG Bridge to the Bay Bridge. We rode up into the Marin Headlands to the beach at Fort Cronkhite where we saw dolphins!!! We ate street food at the San Francisco Street Food Festival. We finally saw Inception, and both LOVED it.

The San Francisco Street Food Festival

Perhaps my favorite

Handmade English Muffin, Grass-fed Beef, Local Brie and Mustard Seeds

A cook...or I guess it is San Francisco...so I should say "A Chef"

The Dining Room

The unfortunate side effect of the so much street food

4. My parents came to visit!!! This was the first time Nik and I have ever had visitors in an apartment that we share, so I bought way too much food and probably cleaned more than I had to. But it was worth it because once they were here, all we had to do was hang out and have fun. We took them to several of our favorite SF spots, and even watched “Rear Window” in Union Square!!

OFF LIMITS

One of many old bunkers in the hills

Fort Cronkhite

5. I invested $85 in a couple Pakistani Kilims that are now keeping our feet warm on these chilly, foggy, summer nights.

A fence

6. I found my wedding dress. It is simple, vintage and not really a wedding dress, but hopefully Nik will like me wearing it when he sees it next year. That’s all that matters!!

So yeah, things have been busy in the best way possible. I haven’t been compelled to take photos because I just haven’t. I don’t have any excuses other than I didn’t feel like it, and I am okay with that. That is the beauty of keeping this blog for myself…I get to do whatever I want!