Gilt's home page.
I’ve been meaning to write about Gilt, an online luxury retail site that offers discounts up to 70% off original prices from top-shelf designers, for quite a while now as I’ve had access for nearly a month. However, what inspired me to create a brand new account for this blog (and offer my readers an invite to try it for themselves) is one of the most genuine and generous members of the San Francisco community, Andrew Mager.
The beginning stages of a True Blood-themed cupcake.
Iron Cupcake San Francisco, a monthly event that takes place at the ever-charming Leland Tea Company, is coming up this Monday and I’ve decided to enter as a baker for the very first time. The theme, for June, is berries and after much deliberation, I felt it was high time to pay homage to one of my favorite television shows – none other than HBO’s incredible original series, True Blood.
Custom painted Nikes from Demise Apparel.
I went to a private Catholic High School in the East Bay Area suburbs and was required to wear a uniform four days per week. On “Free Dress Friday,” students were allowed to wear anything they wanted (within reason, of course). My friends and I would usually shop for clothes at the limited number of retail outlets in the area and would often, to our horror, show up in the same or eerily similar ensemble. To this day, none of us will set foot in Gap or Banana Republic. Clearly what we were all missing were events that celebrated independent design like THREAD Show.
The golden cherub above the front entrance welcomes patrons to Fat Angel.
*Update* Fat Angel has slowly morphed into my very own modern day version of Cheers. I spent the entire weekend (as well as a better part of the past week) there chatting up the bartenders and sampling their delicious food. New photos have been added after the jump…
Two of my good friends live in the high-rise condo complex right behind The Fillmore and I noticed, by way of their Facebook and Twitter updates, that they constantly hang out at Fat Angel which is located on the ground floor next the main lobby of their building (aptly named The Fillmore Center). When one of them posted about the Happy Hour specials on their craft beers and vast selection of wine, I knew I had to check it out and discover for myself what all the hype was about.
The official THREAD Show flier...
*UPDATE* Congrats to commenters suki and Brandy for winning a pair of passes. See you at THREAD show tomorrow!
I discovered THREAD Show two years ago through my friend, Mika, and have returned ever since to check out the wares from dozens of local artists. This Saturday (6/19), to kick off San Francisco Design Week, THREAD will showcase over 100 independent designers at The Concourse Exhibition Center while offering up complimentary music, art, food and entertainment. Tickets are $10 at the door/$8 in advance but I have two pairs of tickets to give away to my readers. Click “Continue Reading” to find out how to win…
Samovar's peppermint ryokucha tea was a perfect complement to dessert.
I can’t remember exactly how I was introduced to Samovar Tea Lounge, but I was so impressed by the selection and quality of both their tea and food on my initial visit, not to mention the ambience, that I have returned to the Yerba Buena Gardens location numerous times. I’ve brought my Mother to Samovar for Mother’s Day since she adores tea service and recently attended an informational fundraiser for 300 Acres.
Three beers purchased at Whole Foods. From the left, an amber ale. In the middle, a tangy light, white Japanese ale. Finally, Orval trappist ale.
So, when I initially spotted the one on the left, Wilco Tango Foxtrot, I immediately thought of (IMHO) Wilco’s best album, 2002′s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. What’s even more interesting, at least from my perspective, is that the album was completed in 2001 but Reprise Records, who I interned for a year prior, had shelved the release.
The band successfully (hence miraculously) bought back the rights for $80,000 (I believe the Wikipedia citation might be inconsistent with the info presented in their documentary film I Am Trying to Break Your Heart) and then sold it to Nonesuch Records, a subsidiary independent label also under the Warner Music umbrella, for around $240,000 (or three times as much). Way to go corporate execs and a huge win for Wilco.
I’d also like to point out the fact that I love SF just because between City Beer Store and the wealth of other outlets, you can find (pretty much) anything in the world at a reasonable price. There are always exceptions. 
The bar is the first thing that greets patrons of Globe.
When I first moved to SF, I didn’t know too many people. Luckily enough, my first job here put me in contact with some pretty amazing, in-the-know people whom I still consider close friends to this very day. One night, after an advertising industry mixer, my friend, Kevin, suggested we stop into Globe for late night eats. Located in North Beach, it was clearly out of the way from our current location and, naturally, we all protested. However, Kevin quickly sold us with the line “all the best chefs in San Francisco dine at this establishment.”
James Murphy wows the crowd.
It’s truly a pity that James Murphy, the man behind LCD Soundsystem and the legendary DFA record label, which has released all of the band’s material including their 2002 hit breakthrough single, “Losing My Edge,” has decided to pull the plug on what is inarguably one of the coolest, most transcendent musical outfits to emerge in the past decade. The rest of the live review can be found at Spinning Platters.
The full set of photos can be found on my Flickr here.
The National at Fox Theater, Oakland.
This was one of the best shows I’ve been to in awhile. Photos can be found here. Review at Spinning Platters has now been posted:
“High Violet, the fifth full-length album from Cincinnati-bred, Brooklyn-based band The National, has defied the Law of Diminishing Returns for me: each and every subsequent listen of an individual track increases my level of aural pleasure not to mention obsession with dissecting every lyric, note, and hidden meaning behind the combination of both.”
Click here to read the rest…
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