One of my most popular blog posts is the one I wrote about cheap haircuts in Marin. It seems affordable haircuts are in high demand around here. Today Celia wanted to get her hair cut but when she called to make an appointment she found out her favorite hair dresser, Tere was no longer working at the usual place.

After a little detective work we found Tere was now working at Tabu Hair Salon in San Rafael.

Tabu Hair Salon is located in the little mall off of Francisco Blvd in San Rafael (behind City Carpets). I cannot believe in all the years I have lived in Marin County I have never been to this mall! It is located right on the water of The Canal and is full of a bunch of treasures like KabaBBQ serving Persian food, a Taqueria, a Vietnamese restaurant and a small Mexican grocery market (that sells Corona beer actually made in Mexico).

Celia was very happy to find Tere and get her hair cut. Tabu Hair Salon is a super fun place owned by Juliana and Omar.

There is an area for kids and adults to play! You can play pool while you wait for your $10 haircut.

Celia was very pleased with her $10 haircut.

I just met Omar and Juliana for the first time but it seems Omar specializes in artistic haircuts (see photo) and Juliana in colors and cuts.  They have the coolest  kid in town. Check out his hairdo!

Did I mention the standard haircuts are only $10?!

Tabu Hair Salon
415-424-1653
555 Francisco Blvd, E
Suite 11
San Rafael, CA 94901

For people who live in Marin and work in San Francisco here are 5 reasons to take a Golden Gate Transit bus to work.

1. You can. If we don’t use our public transportation we might lose it.
2. It’s better for the environment than driving in.
3. Way cheaper than driving in. You only have to pay the bus fare, no bridge toll, no parking fee, no gas, no wear and tear on your car.
4. Frees up your time to do other things. You can read, rest, text, work, check your Facebook, tweet, blog, space out, whatever – all sorts of things you can’t (or shouldn’t!) do while driving.
5. It’s one of the most beautiful commutes in the world!

I know there are hundreds of excuses why not to take the bus to work but I challenge you to try it. Don’t forget we also have the awesome Golden Gate Ferry option!

A friend whom I adore once quoted Eleanor Roosevelt to me when I was making an excuse for not doing something. That quote has stuck with me for years.

“Do one thing every day that scares you.”  ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Yes, Marin is filled with many spandex wearing folks doing their part by commuting on a bike. I commend the cyclists. However, Marin is also full of very steep hills and not all of us have the strength to go up the hills or the guts to go down them on a bike. For the rest of us who are not triathletes , thankfully we have other options for getting around.

If you use some form of public or alternative transportation please leave a comment below sharing with others how you do it.

When you do start taking the bus here are some basic bus etiquette tips to follow.

Views from the bus

A year of photos from the bus: Google+ Album

I regularly post my early morning sunrise commute photos taken from the bus while crossing the Golden Gate Bridge on Facebook.
Click ‘Like‘ to be a part of my  morning commute fun. Thanks!

Fun, healthy, affordable meal!

Rainbow Chocolate Chili

This chili is super healthy and works great if you are doing the Sugar Divorce,  Four Hour Body or Weight Watchers lifestyle.

Ingredients

1 Onion, chopped
a few cloves of Garlic, chopped
Bell Pepper, chopped (optional – I don’t like peppers, Yuck! But they do add pretty color to the dish)
Lentils – I used the pre-cooked ones from Trader Joe’s sold in a box in the fridge section (usually near the vegetables)
1 can Pinto Beans, rinsed & drained*
1 can White Beans, rinsed & drained*
1 can Black Beans, rinsed & drained*
(you can use any beans – I just pick these 3 to make it more colorful)
1 can diced Tomatoes in juice
1 can of Corn.
1-2 teaspoons ground Cumin
1-2 tablespoons Chili Powder
1-2 teaspoons Oregano
Cayenne pepper – as much or as little as you can handle
3 cups fat free Veggie broth
1-2 chunks semisweet Chocolate, choppped
a handful of Quinoa
Miscellaneous veggies – I like yellow squash and green zucchini for the color

Spray bottom of large pot with olive oil. Add onion, garlic and yucky peppers and sauté until soft, I add a splash of the broth to help soften up the veggies and to avoid burning the garlic.

Add Miscellaneous veggies, saute some more.

Add spices: cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper.

Add tomatoes in juice.

Put top on pan to allow veggies to cook.

Drain and rinse beans (rinse a few times for maximum gas avoidance).

Add lentils.

Add beans.

Drain corn and add.

Add chunks of chocolate.

Add rest of the broth, throw a little extra in if you need to feed more people.

If too watery, throw in a handful of Quinoa to thicken up and add more texture to the chili.

Season with salt & pepper.

Serve.

If too spicy, a dollop of sour cream cools down the chili and gives it a creamy flavor.

Enjoy.

Come back here, leave a comment and let me know if you enjoyed the chili!

Rainbow Chocolate Chili recipe was inspired by they Turkey and Pinto Bean Chili recipe I found on epicurious.

*rinsing and draining canned beans seriously reduces any side effects of gas. I read this in the 4 Hour Body book and it is true. I’ve been testing it on my friends and family.

It is my belief that the best way to bring balance back in to the world is to support local, independently owned businesses. What better time to do it than Black Friday?! There are SO many reasons as to why it is better to shop local than big box / chain stores but I will spare you my ramble.  ShopLocalSF lists some of the reasons here: www.shoplocalsf.org/org

Below is a list of local, independently owned Bay Area businesses, organized by area.

Last night I asked my Twitter, Facebook and Google+ friends to tell me their favorite places to shop in the Bay Area. The response from Twitter was overwhelming! Facebook friends offered a few tips and one Twitter friend responded on G+. Hmm what does that say about G+?

If your favorite independent locally owned shop is not on the list please leave a comment below and I will do my best to add it to the list.

I came across the 3/50 project which I think is a fabulous idea! They’re asking that we spend at least $50 a month at 3 different locally owned independent businesses.  Read more about it here: www.the350project.net  Their Twitter hashtag is #350proj You can follow @cindabaxter, the founder of The 3/50 Project on Twitter. If Twitter is not your thing you can also “like” them on Facebook: www.facebook.com/The350Project

Thank you for checking out my Shop Local list! I’m currently offering special (a.k.a. affordable) prices to local, independently owned businesses for sponsorships on my blog. If you’d like to place an ad like the ones you see to the right of this post please contact me for pricing.  —–>

Another suggestion I got was to shop at your local Farmer’s Market – great crafts and food gifts often available.

For that special holiday outfit you might only wear once try local consignment and thrift shops. You might just find the perfect outfit!

I’ve also included a few coffee shops and restaurants on this list because we need to eat, right?!

Please join me in taking the pledge to shop local as much as possible. #shoplocal

North Bay / Marin

Corte Madera
A Childs Delight (Toys)
Meadowlark Gallery
Mimi The Sardine  (eco-coated products for kids)
Rick’s Wine Cellar (stop in and have a glass or pick up a bottle for a gift)
The Book Passage
Tiller Diggs (home & garden,  jewelry & clothing)

Fairfax
Good Earth Natural Foods (healthy holiday meals & gifts)
Iron Springs (brewery & restaurant)
Revolution 9
Sherman’s General Store
The Hummingbird Restaurant
Various & Sundries

Larkspur
Coquelicot (antiques, home & garden, jewelry)
Lark Shoes
Marin Brew Co. (brewery & restaurant)
Modern Cookie Co. (opening Dec. 5)
Rustic Bakery
What Poppy Wants (boutique & vintage consignment shop)

Mill Valley
At The Top Salon (gift certificate or jewelry)
Dan’s Liquor (for your holiday wine or bubbly)
F. Joseph Smiths (massage, ask for Jessica B)
Mill Valley Market (for you holiday groceries)
Moss & Moss
Mountain Biking Marin (bike tours and clinics)
Pharmaca (not totally local but great alternative to the big box drug stores & wonderful products)
Red Dragon Yoga (clothing, gift cards, yoga classes to destress)
Tea Fountain
Title 9
The Book Depot
Two Neat (gifts)
Vintage Wines
Woodland’s Pet

Muir Beach
The Pelican Inn (restaurant)

Napa
Peju Winery (this is where you take your out of town guest – fun!)
Rancho Gordo (heirloom beans) <– now that is original!

Novato
Dr. Insomnias (coffee shop)
Class Cycle (bike shop)
Grazie Cafe Italiano (restaurant)
Moylan’s (brewery & restaurant)
Studio 4 Art (make stuff)
Marin Humane Society (adopt a pet, pet store)
Rustic Bakery

Petaluma
Copperfield Books
Della Fattoria (restaurant)
iLeoni (kitchen & gifts)
Knitterly  
Mrs. Grossman’s Stickers (great field trip for young children)
Nan Winters (clothing)
Shop Paper White
Tara Firma Farms (for your healthy holiday meal or a fun activity for the family)
McEvoy Ranch (body care products, olive oil, more)
Robindira Unsworth (jewelry, clothing, accessories)
Sorella (hair studio, fashion boutique)
Tuscan Gardens (home & garden)

Pt.Reyes
Zuma (arts and crafts)
Pt. Reyes Open Studio

San Anselmo
3  Ring Cycles (bike store)
Gathering Thyme (herbs & health care products)
Gioia’s Boutique (Clothing)
Great Acorn Co. (gifts)
Holiday Pop Up Shop (Dec. 3 Only)
Marin Coffee Roasters
Pure Joy Body work
Sidekicks (clothing)
Susan’s Store Room
Fig Garden (gifts)

San Rafael
A Childs Delight (Toys)
Andy’s Market (great wine & chocolate selection)
Art Works Downtown
Bananas At Large (musical instruments & pro audio equipment)
Beads of Marin
Bedrock Music & Video
California Bike N Bean (bike store)
Celebracion Bridal (pretty dresses, tux rentals & tiaras!)
Clogs Unlimited
Dharma Trading Co. (fiber art supplies & clothing blanks)
Friends Books (used books, 100% proceeds support San Rafael Public Library)
Elegant Images Fine Art Photography
Gamescape (non-electronic games)
Jan Orcutt, Accupunture (remember to take care of yourself)
Marin Jewelers Guild
Merritt Chiropractic Center (might need this after all the shopping)
Pin Up Hair Emporium & Unique Boutique
Ponsford’s Place (Bakery)
Red Dragon Yoga
T & B Sports
The Magic Flute
Toni Tierney Baby Clothes (she often has great sales right out of her headquarters)
Via Diva (furniture)
Viva Diva (clothing)
Youth in Arts – Retail shop

Sausalito
Mollie Stones (groceries, gifts)
Sweet Ginger (Sushi restaurant, gift card!)
Downtown Sausalito is full of lots of wonderful little shops.

Sonoma
Bram Cookware
The Girl & The Fig (restaurant)

Santa Rosa
T & B Sports

Tomales
Fallon Hills Ranch (to buy your ranch raised grass fed holiday meal)

Online
Cowboy’s Fuzzy Duds
Bean Up The Nose Art
The Marin Store (Marin Magazine)

East Bay

Albany
Five Little Monkeys (Toy shop)

Berkeley
Berkeley Bowl (groceries)
Gather Berkeley (restaurant, gift certificate)
Kermit Lynch (wine importer on the larger side)
Tail of the Yak (gifts)
Fourth Street in Berkeley has lots of great shops

Hayward
Hayward Book Shop

Oakland
Calm, A Salon
Cole Coffee (local roasted coffee)
Glamour Paws
Laurel Book Store
Oakland Dish
Oakollectiv (local hand painted t-shirts, local designs)
Paws and Claws (pet shop)
Relish Catering (for your holiday parties)
Someone’s In The Kitchen
The Crucible (gift & art sale 12/10 – 12/11)
The Oakland Chocolate Factory (you can get my gift here)
The Wine Mine
Tootsies (shoe boutique, pedicures)
Walden Pond Books

Walnut Creek
Five Little Monkeys (Toy shop)
Walnut Creek Yacht Club (restaurant)

South Bay

Palo Alto
Books, Inc

San Francisco
A Childs Delight (Toys)
Cheekbob (pet store)
Christopher’s Books (Potrero Hill)
Cowgirl Creamer
Create More (Apple supplies, support & more!)
Farmers Market
Ferry Building San Francisco (lots of independent shops here)
Flax Art & Design
Green Apple Books – Inner Richmond. Clement at 6th.
Her Majesty’s Secret Beekeeper (honey!)
MSR museum (best #sf place for small children. Small place, lots to do & see, parents just relax @ entrance & watch them run. @thecara)
Pacific Catch (restaurant, gift certificate)
Palio Paninoteca
Prints, Etc (vintage art, framing, concert posters, antique stock certificates, maps, curiosities, collectibles, etc)
Rancho Gordo Beans (SF Ferry Plaza Farmers Market)
Recchuti (Did someone say chocolate?)
Streetcar Museum
The Book Passage (ferry building)

San Jose
Hicklebees Books (mostly kids)
Streetlight Records

Thank you to everyone who sent suggestions!

Happy Holidays!

#ShopLocal

Please leave a comment and let us know what you got at your local independently owned store!

If you live in another area please make your own list and share it with your readers!

If your appliances break during the holiday season… don’t fret! Call Appliance Techs of Marin!

According to this video you might even get a date if you shop local.

*disclaimer I have not been to many of these businesses they are suggestion I crowd-sourced from my social networks. If there are any corrections that need to be made please leave a comment below.

**This is an evolving/growing list. I plan to add links to all the businesses and to keep adding more local, independently owned businesses. However, if I continue working on this tonight I may find myself disowned by my family. Thanks for shopping local.

PS. Please feel free to copy/use this list and pass it on to others. I’d appreciate a link back to the original list. Here is the link: http://sallyaroundthebay.com/2011/11/shop-local-bay-area/ Thank you!

Thank you for shopping local!

Want to have a delicious and ethnic meal for 2 for under $10? I found the place!

I just discovered today that Royal Franks in downtown San Rafael is so much MORE than a hot dog stand.

I’ve walked by this place many times and never even considered going in. (I’m not a big fan of hot dogs.) Today as we were walking by we a saw a friend (Tere- the amazing woman who cuts our hair in Marin for $10) standing in front of Royal Franks. She was waiting for a friend but told us we absolutely had to try the Pupusas. I was like, “what are you talking about this a hot dog place?” She insisted we try their Pupusas and ordered one for us.

I asked the man behind the counter, Junior (who I think is the owner) what was up, did he have some kind of secret menu or something? I pointed to the menu that listed hot dogs and other random typical American food. He smiled and said yes and then handed me a card announcing the new menu. The card said, “Royal Franks now serves authentic Salvadorian and Guatemalan Food”.

We sat down and had to wait a few minutes. It turns out he makes the Pupusas fresh as you wait.

He brought us the Pupusa steaming hot! It was SO good and authentic tasting.

We decided to have Pupusas for dinner. They’re served with a tomato sauce and a cabbage salad. The total price for Celia and I to eat and bring home leftovers was under $10. The food was fresh, authentic and delicious!

Royal Franks is located at 1109 Fourth Street in San Rafael, CA.

415.879.5225

In case you are wondering what Papusas are… here is how Wikipedia describes them:

A pupusa (from Pipil pupusawa) is a traditional Salvadoran dish made of thick, hand-made corn tortilla (made using masa de maíz, a maize flour dough used in Latin American cuisine) that is filled with a blend of the following: cheese (queso) (usually a soft cheese called Quesillo found in all Central America), cooked pork meat ground to a paste consistency (called chicharrón, not to be confused with fried pork rind, which is also known as chicharrón in some other countries), ), refried beans (frijoles refritos), or queso con loroco (loroco is a vine flower bud from Central America). The two most common pupusas are the pupusa de queso (cheese) and more popular pupusa revuelta with mixed ingredients of queso (cheese), frijoles (beans),[1] and chicharrón. Pupusas are typically served with curtido (lightly fermented cabbage slaw with red chilies and vinegar) and a watery tomato salsa. – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pupusa

I had the bean and cheese Pupusa!

Que rico!

If you go to Royal Franks, ask for Junior and tell him you want to try the secret menu Sally told you about.

A few weeks ago, I decided I was officially tired of all the lunch options in the Financial District (known as FiDi to the hip crowd. Not sure if it is pronounced fI-dI or fee-dee? I’m not part of the hip crowd).

The food in the FiDi is all starting to taste the same to me. The lunch restaurants have to produce a LOT of food in a very short period of time. Between 12-1pm every week day, all of the restaurants are processing what seems like hundreds of hungry, in a hurry professionals.

Ideally I would be making enough dinner every night to have leftovers for lunch. As much as I want to do this and know how much better it would be for my health and my budget, I just can’t seem to get my act together!

So…

I put out to my Facebook & Twitter community that I needed suggestions for new food options in the San Francisco Financial District and a few people suggested I try the food trucks. What a great idea!

What do you know? The next day Kung Fu Tacos happened to be parked across the street from my office. It was meant to be! I had to try this place! I walked up, got in line with a bunch of guys in suits and said, “what’s good here?”, they told me their favorites and I bounced up and down saying “I’m so excited to try this place!” The men in suits politely smiled at me and probably thought to themselves: “this girl doesn’t get out much”.

I ordered the chicken tacos, they were light, healthy and delicious! The tacos were $2 each.

I’m now on a mission to try all the food trucks/carts that make their way in to the Financial District. If you know of any, please let me know!

Around here Whole Foods has been nicknamed Whole Paycheck. After seeing this video by Shane and Chantal Valentine of The Baby Cuisine Cookbook. I think Whole Foods needs a new nickname.

Which do you think is cheaper for organic products? Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s or Safeway. I was very surprised by the results.

Shane and Chantal Valentine are local Marin residents. You can follow them on Twitter @babycuisine. You can also follow Whole Foods on Twitter @WholeFoods.

*green bean image  by Flickr user Chasqui

Have you heard about Tipsy Tow?

AAA is offering a pretty cool service tonight. If you find you’ve had a few too many glasses of champagne tonight and realize you are too tipsy to drive please call Tipsy Tow and a tow truck driver will come pick your drunk self up and drive you and your car home for free (within 5 miles). You don’t have to be a member.

Thanks AAA!

More info here. AAA Tipsy Tow Program

Call 800.222.4357 if you need a ride.

This service is also offered on other holidays.

Happy New Year! What are you doing for the New Year? I’m staying home with my laptop.

Funny thing about this blog… the post that drives the most traffic to my blog is the one I wrote about “affordable haircuts in Marin”. I guess with everything being SO expensive here in Marin people are on the lookout for something affordable. The hair salon has changed names since I wrote the post about cheap haircuts in Marin, although it is still the same great people. Salon Carlos in San Rafael is now called Salon Mirsa. I went yesterday to get my usual $10 haircut.

I like to support local, independently owned businesses but I’m not one to spend big money on a haircut. I’ve also never been happy with haircuts from that big super chain haircut place.

I was happy to discover Salon Mirsa (thanks to Celia who introduced me to the place). Salon Mirsa is kind of unique for Marin County. It doesn’t exactly fit the Marin County stereotype. The main language spoken at Salon Mirsa is Spanish. That’s because Salon Mirsa is located in the heart of the Canal community of San Rafael where most of the residence are Hispanic. But don’t let the language get in your way! The stylists at Salon Mirsa are a very welcoming and friendly bunch. Just tell them you know Sally .

Salon Mirsa has top notch stylists. If you are on a budget and are looking for a great haircut for you or your kids try Salon Mirsa. Tip: all the stylist are great but I especially like Tere.

$10 for a haircut! I don’t think you’ll find a better deal in Marin County.

Pictured below (Mirsa, the owner – Tere, the stylist – Celia, the mountain biker who got her hair dyed blue).

If you are hungry after your haircut you can find some tasty Mexican food nearby at Picante on Bellam Blvd.  Or you can do a little grocery shopping and get a cultural experience all at the same time.

I love Thai food and Marin County seems to have endless choices when it comes to Thai food.  Today I joined a friend for lunch at a place called Lanna Thai in San Anselmo located on the Miracle Mile.  The décor is nice and the food is good.

We started with the Salad Roll appetizer “lettuce cups filled with jicama, crispy noodles and pine-nuts all tossed in a tangy sauce”. We ordered the Sauté Eggplant which is eggplant sauteed with Thai basil in black bean sauce with Tofu. It comes with a choice of Chicken, Beef or Tofu and it cost $7.95.

We also got the Crispy Basil Chicken: Tender chicken lightly breaded and tossed with a tangy sauce and crispy Thai basil for $11.00. I was expecting it to be more chicken nugget like but it the batter was actually light, crispy and delicious! I had a Thai Iced Tea with my meal.

I LOVE Thai Iced Tea!

Lanna Thai
810 Sir Francis Drake Blvd
San Anselmo, CA 94960
415-455-8300
www.lannamarin.com