The Other Sally
By · CommentsIn my last blog post, I mentioned I met another Sally. I know Sally probably sounds like a pretty regular name to you but it’s not a very common name. So… when I meet another Sally, I make an occasion out of it. Turns out this Sally is doing some pretty interesting things.
Sally Waters considers herself a skin care problem solver. She created products to solve her own sensitive skin care issues and eliminate toxins from her daily skin care regimen. Birdy Botanicals offers several options with multiple uses, 100% natural scents and has a 100% guarantee policy. Sally is a stickler about ingredients and is constantly striving to make her products as user-friendly as possible. Plus they smell divine!
“I have lived in San Francisco for 20+ years and not a day goes by that I am not blown away by the beauty, diversity and culture that the city provides. We have access to some of the best food and drink in the world and as far as the people, an unwritten policy of “anything goes.” And believe me, it goes.” ~The Other Sally.
Where is your favorite place to hike/bike in the Bay Area?
My favorite places to hike are San Francisco neighborhoods, Muir Woods and exploring all areas of the North Bay just over the GG Bridge. For biking I love Golden Gate park and over the Golden Gate Bridge into Sausalito. I will beat that hill coming back someday!
What is your favorite restaurant in the Bay Area?
That depends on the day but my list would include:
Yountville
- Bouchon
San Francisco
- Chapeau
- Pacific Cafe
- Clement Street Bar and Grill
- La Mediterranee
- My kitchen because my husband rocks! We call it Cafe Mac.
What is your favorite place to get coffee or tea?
Besides my own daily homemade cappuccino compliments of my Bialetti and milk-frother I would go to Peet’s coffee on 16th and Geary because everyone knows my name.
For tea I love going to the Aroma Tea shop on 6th at Clement and tasting as much tea as my heart desires. My heart always ends up with the Phoenix eye- White tea and Jasmine pearls. (That’s my favorite tea too!)
What is your favorite place to shop for clothing?
My favorite experience shopping for clothes is when you find that gem amongst the heaps at a thrift store like Thrift Town or Goodwill on Fillmore Street or Crossroads,…though I have to be in the right mood.
If you had an out of town guest coming to visit that had never been to the Bay Area where would you take them?
I would take my guests to the De Young Museum, Golden Gate Park, Napa Valley, The Ferry Building (and the Ferry Farmer’s Market) and possibly to the Frisbee Golf course in GG Park although I suck at it.
You can also find Sally and Birdy Botanicals on Facebook & Twitter!
Fun Times in the City
By · CommentsThis week my bro-in-law came to town for a few very short hours. I wanted to show him some of my local favorites so I first took him to Café Flore on the corner of Market & Noe (in the Castro area). I love Café Flore! Café Flore is located right in the heart of San Francisco but their garden patio makes you forgot you are in the middle of a big city. It’s also great for people watching. Every night they have a different Happy Hour special.
We had Sangria. Café Flore makes great Sangria!
It seems Wednesday nights (during the summer) are Farmer’s Market night right there on Noe.
After our drinks we wandered a bit through the Farmer’s Market and then headed to La Mediterranee, an authentic Mediterranean restaurant with really good food and friendly service.
We decided to order the Mediterranean Meza (for 2 or more people) $15.95 a person “an assortment of 10 house specialties and appetizers including Lule Kabob, Chicken Pomegrante (my favorite), Spinach & Chicken Fillos, Dolma, Hummos, Baba Ganoush, Tabuleh and much more”. We first started out with the special salad which was a watermelon, beet salad with walnuts and a special cheese (i can’t remember if it was goat or feta but it was good!). The watermelons were surprisingly tasty mixed in with the beets. All of the food was amazing!
Our waitress was great! I asked her what her name was and it turns out her name is Sally! I got overly excited about this fact because I don’t usually meet anyone named Sally unless they are 90 or older. This Sally looked my age or younger so I asked her if I could take my picture with her.
After dinner we headed to Japan down because another friend with her 2 young boys was in town and staying at the Hotel Tomo, a hotel I’d never heard of but was super impressed by. If you are looking for a cool place to stay in San Francisco definitely check out Hotel Tomo. It’s actually a Best Western Hotel that has been recently renovated. Hotel Tomo is inspired by Japanese pop-culture. There is a big giant bed looking thing in the lobby facing 3 televisions. Anime murals on the walls, the doors of the rooms are all different colors, and there are glow-in-the-dark desk blotters in each guest room and the place is very clean and inviting.
Here is how the Website describes Hotel Tomo:
It’s fun! Our bright, whimsical rooms are perfect for families with kids, or the young at heart. Our gaming suites come equipped with PlayStation 3, Wii, bean bag chairs, and a 6-foot LCD projection screen.
One of a kind design – If you’re into J-pop, comics and anime you’ll love Hotel Tomo.
After checking out the cool hotel we headed back over the Golden Gate Bridge to home. It was a beautiful summer night in the city!
Cafe Flore is located on the corner of Market and Noe. La Mediterranee is across the street on Noe. Both in the Castro district of San Francisco. Hotel Tomo is on Sutter near Webster in the Japan Town area.
Backyard Chickens in the Bay Area
By · CommentsThe more I learn about the food industry the more I realize how important it is to get back to eating “real food”.
Instead of food, we’re consuming “edible foodlike substances” — no longer the products of nature but of food science. –Michael Pollen, In Defense of Food, An Eaters Manifesto
Leslie Citroen of Mill Valley is teaching the Bay Area how to get back to eating real food one chicken at a time.
Leslie and her children run Mill Valley Chickens. They sell chickens and teach classes on everything you need to know to keep your backyard flock happy and healthy.
I really enjoyed visiting with Leslie and her daughter Logan. Being in Leslie’s backyard with the chickens and talking with her adorable daughter about 4-H brought back a lot of memories. I grew up with chickens in my backyard and was a 4-H member! (Yes, we had chickens in Orange County.) I was impressed with 6 year old Logan’s knowledge and handling of the chickens.
Leslie has a multitude of different types of beautiful chickens. (I did say beautiful chickens – some of these chickens were beautiful!)
I saw chickens of all shapes and sizes. I even discovered a new chicken called a Naked Neck (see photo below). I learned these Naked Neck’s are popular among the boys… I think it is their almost Sci-fi creature like look. I have to admit when I first saw the Naked Neck I thought it was a hen that had been pecked by the others. I assumed she was at the bottom of the pecking order. Leslie seemed to have a weak spot in her heart for the Naked Necks, she talked fondly about how sweet they were.
The chickens are actually great animals for kids. As you can see, Logan was carrying the chickens all over the yard and they seemed perfectly content in her arms.
Since Leslie’s chickens are truly free range (pastoral) meaning they are free to roam around her yard they’ve started playing Easter Bunny. According to Leslie and Logan everyday is like an Easter Egg hunt. They find the eggs hidden behind trees, under bushes, in holes…
There are many benefits to having your own backyard chickens; here are a few:
- Fresh eggs.
- Chickens are easy enough to take care of that a 6 year old can manage it.
- Kids learn responsibility.
- Something fun for bored kids to do.
- Getting food from the source and avoiding the use of oil to ship the food to the grocery stores.
- Not supporting factory farmed chickens.
Even though I’ve focused on kids and chickens you do not have to be a kid or have a kid to reap the benefits of your own backyard chickens.
Fun facts about chickens:
Chickens lay more eggs when there is more sun light. You will get more eggs during the summer months.
You can determine egg color by the color of a chicken’s ears. ie. white ears equals white eggs, brown ears equals brown eggs.
When your chickens eat scraps and forage in your yard for bugs -eggs are far healthier and chock full of vitamins — than commercial raised eggs.
Not so fun fact about chickens:
Factory farmed chickens are often stored is small cages where they can’t even move and the lights are left on 24 hours a day to encourage more egg laying. Besides the cruelty to the bird imagine what the stress does to the quality of the egg. I’m not going to go in to the gory details of our food industry… I’ll save that for another time and place.
Looking for something fun and unique to do this summer?
How about visiting Leslie and her family at Mill Valley Chickens? Just contact Leslie and set up a date a time. You can purchase your own backyard chicken and take one of her classes to learn all about taking care of your backyard chicken. The chickens run from $15 -$25 each. Chickens range in age from 3 weeks to 3 1/2 months so they are already past the critical chick stage and well on their way to be egg laying hens.
You can also purchase ready-made chicken coops from Leslie or arrange to have her build a custom one for you.
In addition to the chickens, I was very impressed with Leslie. She’s a licensed general contractor. It’s not every day that you meet a female licensed general contractor!
On top of taking care of the chickens, her business and her kids Leslie has a fantastic garden full of fruit, vegetables and flowers. I was lucky enough to be sent home with a bouquet of fresh cut flowers from her garden, a handful of eggs and some lemons.
To top it all off Leslie joined Twitter after hearing me rave about it. You can follow her at @MVchickens.
To learn more about Leslie, Logan, Luca and the chickens visit: http://www.millvalleychickens.com
If you are thinking about getting your own backyard chickens contact Leslie! She knows her stuff.
