Have you ever been to Miette?

So yesterday I made my maiden trip to the Ferry Building in downtown San Francisco. It's a place I'd heard a lot about from friends who live in the city. Once my pal Armando gave me some amazing cookies from a little French bakery called Miette. I'd thought and dreamt of going there for months and yesterday was the day! Here is what I purchased at Miette and a couple of other shops... 2 Old Fashioned cupcakes, a lemon tart, a mini Sharffen Berger chocolate cake, the best brownie ever, 4 chocolates by Recchiuti Confections and 2 filled donuts from I Preferiti di Boriana.

Needless to say it was a blast and I can't wait to go again! I had the brownie for breakfast and just about fainted from the pleasure. It was the best brownie ever! The Ferry Building is my new "happy" place I'll imagine in my mind when feeling sad or blue. Just the thought of all of the unique shops and yummy treats is guaranteed to make me smile.

Bubble Tea

I LOVE Fantasia Tea's Lychee Green tea, with pearls, no ice and no milk.

Have you tried it? Also known as bubble tea the pearls are the smalll round balls that are chewy like a gummy bear, but aren't sweet. The Lychee is sweet and since it's a fruit is good fiber. The first time I tried it I ordered it with the ice and milk but realized that they both dilute the flavor of the tea. Now I only order the tea without either, even in hot weather.

If you go be sure to ask for a frequent buyer card. They last for a few months and when you fill it up they give you back a few bucks off of your eleventh tea.

Dorset England and Origami Cranes

Imagine my surprise that a Friar, living in rural Dorset England just happened to find my origami cranes on the internet!

So Friday I recieved an email from an Anglican Franciscan Friar living in a large friary in rural Dorset England. They are in the process of developing a centre for peace and reconciliation and are currently creating a communal piece of art based on The Canticle of the Creatures by St Francis.

As an ongoing piece of work they would like the people who visit and stay with them to participate in making a thousand cranes to display at the centre.

I was contacted so that they could ask permission to use my description of why I fold cranes to display alongside their own.

Because I LOVE all animals, especially my garden snails, the canticle of St Francis, Patron Saint of animals, made the whole email even more special. I told him I would be honored for them to use my text. It's a wonderful feeling knowing that the tiny cranes I fold can reach people all the way over in Europe. I've offered to send one as well...

Good News! It's about time.

So today someone sent me a great website full of ONLY good news! Have you ever heard of such a thing? It's called www.ItsNotAllBadNews.com

There was a very special story about a man who lives in San Francisco who is a true hero, and one very special little dog.

To read more about the story of Michael Keenan and Bobby the Jack Russel Terrier you can go to Michael's Blog.

In brief, after escaping unscathed, Michael ran back into his friend's burning apartment to rescue her dog from the fire. Both were seriously injured. Both almost died. Michael is still in a medically induced coma with burns over most of his body. A few years ago Michael jumped into the San Francisco Bay and saved a woman from drowning. He's a 2 time hero.

But there is good news. Still healing, Bobby went home from the hospital today! You can read the most recent article here in SFGate.com

Photo Credit: Bobby, the dog saved in a house fire last month by Michael Keenan, is reunited with his owner, Jeanette Gerl. Chronicle photo by Liz Hafalia

The Best BBQ Burger

So this week I went to Armadillo Willy's for dinner with friends. I had the best burger and guess what? It was a Boca Burger! For those unfamiliar, Boca burgers are soy burgers that are very similar to beef in both flavor and texture. Normally AW's serve theirs on a 9 grain bun, kind of healthy style. To make it extra delish I ordered mine with jack cheese, one giant onion ring and BBQ sauce. It was great! I can't wait to go back and order it again.

Other restaurants that serve Bocca Burgers:

Johnny Rockets
Bakers Square

Know of any other places that that have them on the menu? Drop me a comment or email and I'll add them to the post!

Comments Now Open to the Public

You no longer have to be a registered user to leave a comment. YAY!

Due to the high number of SPAM comments blogs are hit with these days... There will be a short delay to screen all posts so that my quality control team can weed out the bad ones and spare you from ever having to read solicitations about pharmaceuticals, body enhancers, mortagages, degrees, software and fake watches here on my blog.

It's a Challenge for Love, Locks of Love

Knowing that MANY brides grow their hair long just so they can have that nifty updo on their wedding day... I'm throwing down a challenge.

For the past 4 years I've been growing out my hair to donate it to Locks of Love. It was a great feeling when I cut off 17" in January 2003 and sent it in to this incredible non-profit that provides wigs to financially disadvantaged kids suffering from long-term hair loss for a variety of medical reasons.

I had planned to send in the minimum 10" they ask for. The night before my cut I looked at their website for the first time and got all choked up when I saw the little girls, first bald, then with their long hair wigs... When I went in the next day I asked the stylist to cut it all off. She did and I never regretted it.

Now I'm doing it again... Sometime in September or October of this year. The actual date is TBD. Who's with me? Any of you want to make the commitment to grow your hair all summer then donate with me? For those who live in Northern CA. there will be a The Flirty Guide party where my good friend and hair stylist Armando Sarabia will cut my hair on-location... Possibly the hair of anybody who is planning to donate. If we get enough people on board we may need a team of stylists on hand. Dare I hope?

Photo by: Craig W. Smith, www.ThePhotoman.com

Introducing The Flirty Guide for Brides

So this is it... The big "secret" project I've been working on since last August: The Flirty Guide

Me: 10 years of creating custom couture bridal accessories and designing websites for the past 3 years. As Creative Director of TFG I've done all of the illustrations and web design.

TFG is a très chic and informative site that will help brides to have fun and be savvy shoppers as they plan their big day! It's been described as "Fun," "Progressive," "Innovative" and "Too Cute" by those who have had a sneak peek.

Next week I'll be officially launching the site to the industry. For now there's a mini tour set up so that both industry professionals and brides alike can get a feel for the site and can see what we've been up to.

My inspiration for TFG? Because it inevitably becomes an all consuming project, I believe planning your wedding should be enjoyable. Dare I say fun? We do! And it will be... For brides who come to The Flirty Guide

Do you have a Look-a-Like?

I do, though to be honest I'm always surprised when people tell me they think I look like the television and movie actress Sandra Oh.

Funnier still I was mistaken for her backstage at an INXS concert last year. A woman actually apologized for interrupting me because she thought I was: "In all of those movies and on tv." I laughed and assured her that I was not who she thought I was. Though so many complete strangers have told me I look like her, so many times, that I feel a sense of responsibility to not behave badly in public. Not that I ever do, but out of fear if I did it would end up on the National Enquirer that Sandra did something outrageous when it was really me, I am always on my best behavior.

So I was watching 20/20 tonight on Tivo and there's a photographer named Francois Brunelle who specializes in photographing people who look alike, but aren't related. He said he always shoots in black and white, it allows the viewer to more easily focus on the similarities. So I found this picture of her and must say that in black and white I do see more similarities then in color.

You be the judge.

My favorite Sandra Oh movie: Under the Tuscan Sun

Swarovski Crystal Grapes

This is a sample for a bride who contacted me about creating miniature clusters of Swarovski Austrian crystal grapes for her guest's name cards at her wedding reception. She had seen the Swarovski Crystal Pineapples I had made for her hair stylist's reception last year in Hawaii. Inspired, she envisioned grapes for her winery wedding this summer in Napa, CA. This just goes to show that little details can make a big difference. I was told the pineapple name card holders were all taken home by the guests while many of the favors were left behind. Go figure.


The sample above is shown attached to the back of a standard business card for scale. The cluster of grapes is comprised of 22 tiny Swarovski crystals in 2 shades of amethyst.

Making My Blog Cute was a LOT of Work!

Wow... I can't believe how much work it was to Flirtify! At the cost of some sleep and after repeatedly testing the html code to figure out what went where and adjusting image files... I think I've finally found the right balance of color, design, new graphics and functionality. YAY!

Above: This is what this blog page looked like when I started.

So I think the page looks good in Safari and Firefox... Due to the CSS (cascading style sheet) that came with this template there are no capital letters in my posts in Internet Explorer. When I have some time I'll go into the CSS and fix that. For now if you're on IE, I just wanted to let you kow that I'm not too lazy to capatilize. I did. You just can't tell.