My Life in SF Bay | August 2018

Saturday, September 22, 2018

Alright, we are already in September! Can you believe it?! I really can't. Where has this year gone, for real? This year so far has been unusually busy for me in terms of work travels. I have been to 3 US cities so far -- Philadelphia, New Orleans and Chicago. One more trip to New York before the end of the year. 

Anyway, I will save the details for my recap of 2018. In the mean time, August seemed like a blur, and September is feeling the same way. 

August for me was the first month that I have entirely to myself since my parents went back to the Philippines in July. They were in the US for 7 months, and I spent every Sunday with them. I loved every moment that I had with my parents but I was exhausted and did not leave me enough time for myself.

So August was for going to the salon to get my hair and nails done, shopping and going home a little early after church instead of being with my family until evening. 

DATE NIGHTS


✿ CHEESE STEAK SHOP (OAKLAND)

August 4 - Mr Sweetie was really craving a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich. I found The Cheese Steak Shop at the last minute. It is a chain and I cannot say if our steak sandwich was like what we had in Philadelphia because I had mine vegetarian. (But it was  still delicious!) Then we walked around the cute and quaint Lakeshore neighborhood. We popped into Arizmendi Bakery then bought some pastries. It was a lovely, chilly afternoon.

✿ HOUSE OF CHICKEN AND WAFFLES (OAKLAND)

August 11 - Another craving for fried chicken and waffles  by Mr Sweetie brought us to this restaurant at Jack London Square. Check out our date night here

✿ KORYO SUSHI (OAKLAND)

August 18 -- All the previous indulgences brought us to this sushi place. This is a healthy date night to balance out the last two Saturday meals. I really liked Koryo Sushi. It was cute and cozy. It was another chilly evening where hot sake warmed me up. 

✿ STREAT FOOD TRUCK PARK (SAN FRANCISCO)

August 25 -- A disappointing dinner because when we got to this food truck park in the City, it was wrapping up at 6 pm because of a special event! Then we got stuck in traffic going back for another hour and 20 minutes because of a baseball game! We both concluded though that it was still a fun evening driving to the City.

BFF MOMENTS 





✿ BELATED BFF BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

BFF and I have this  tradition to celebrate our  birthdays on a much later month. It is always a fabulous day that starts at a snazzy (mostly) restaurant in San Francisco where we have delicious lunch and drinks.  We then move on to the Ferry Building for coffee, dessert or another glass of wine. This year, we celebrated BFF's May birthday in August at International Smoke, a glam restaurant by celebrity chef, Michael Mina and Ayesha Curry, Golden Warrior's wife, Stephen Curry. 

✿ FIRST VISIT TO TRANSBAY TERMINAL CENTER

I wrote about our beautiful afternoon here following our delicious lunch at International Smoke. This was our first visit to this San Francisco park that just opened.

✿ LUNCH MEET UP AT THE SF SHOPPING CENTER

Always a nice meet up once or twice a month to just catch up and exchange treats. This time we had "Into The Clouds" above us which made it such a cute meeting place. 

✿ UNEXPECTED GIRLS' MEET UP

I attended an all day training for work and it was such a surprise to see BFF there as well as another friend. Such a treat to spend the day and lunch together. 

WEEKDAY LUNCH 



Lunch with friend Karen. It is always nice to catch up since her retirement and talk about food and travels.  We discovered Street Taco which serves fresh and organic Mexican fare in SF. We had delicious prawn and fish tacos. 

FAMILY MOMENTS 

Since our parents went back to the Philippines, I have been spending my Sundays for much-craved "me time" moments. However,  I got to have  lunch with my brother and sister-in-law at their house where I enjoyed delicious home cooked Filipino food as always with extra food to got that lasted me the entire week.

SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN

✿ BABY SHOWER

I gave my team mate a lovely baby shower. I enjoyed organizing it as much as the new mom and dad to be, and our co-workers had a great time. I was able to satisfy my inner Martha Stewart. Ha! Ha!

✿ OIL CHANGE




It is always a struggle to make time for day to day necessary inconveniences such as getting the required oil change. It was satisfying, though, whenever I get to finally make time for these things. So Mr Sweetie and I took my Jeep to the dealership, and it was actually nice to just chill, read, watch TV and eat popcorn that was provided while we were waiting for 2 hours. 

✿ PROJECT "READ OR GET RID"




This is one of my projects this year which is to go through my books to either donate them or read them. I am doing really good with this one. I have donated many books to the Free Library in our neighborhood. I have been going through my to-read list as well. So far this month, I have read "To All The Boys I've Loved Before" and "Plum Tea Crazy" from my favorite Tea Shop mystery series. I also finished "Apothecary's Daughter" on my Kindle. My next project to clean up the hundreds of books on my Kindle.  I also set up a new Instagram to post my mini-book reviews @cozybaylife. 

✿ NEW RECIPES

I cooked Bittermelon for the first time and it turned out great! I posted the recipe here

✿ NEW EATS



I really loved this find at a little mom and pop bakery called 111 Bakeshop in San Jose. It is a baked pork bun with egg in the middle. I went back twice and it will be a fave place to get buns from now own. 

✿ SHOPPING



And my favorite purchase -- this Betsey Johnson purse. I hardly buy purses because I get spoiled by my sister who buys me designer purses. This one is a fave, though.


August was full of blessings, and I am grateful. I am grateful for the blessings of friendships, family and self-care.


Goodbye, August. Hello, September!





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