San Francisco | Dear Vixen - Catherine Gacad

explOratorium

Posted on May 15, 2013 // Leave a Comment

The Exploratorium has re-opened at its beautiful new location on Pier 15 on the Embarcadero. It is incredible! LOVE-LOVE-LOVE! Featuring over 150 hands-on exhibits, it’s brighter, spacious, and modern.

I think the location is ideal and much more convenient for tourists who can see the Bay Bridge, visit the Ferry Building, then saunter down to the Exploratorium, then continue to the Wharf. Locals get a $5 discount per ticket.

We went on a Saturday when every single parent, grandparent, aunt, and uncle were on-hand to accompany all these gazillion little people. I vow to take a half-day off work and go when there aren’t any crowds. There’s so much to do and it’s all fascinating.

In one exhibit, we listened to a blind man give a sensory-guided tour of the Civic Center BART station. That was really eye-opening to have to listen for contextual clues like coins dropping or the machine sucking in the BART ticket.

There were also petri dishes of the various growth stages of a duck embryo. It was so interesting to see the tiny heart beating in a sac. We could have spent all day there if it weren’t for the exhausting crowds. Definitely going back one day in the middle of the week.

Filed Under: Posts // Tagged: bart, bay bridge, civic center, embarcadero, exhibits, exploratorium, ferry building, pier 15, san francisco, wharf

Partner Post: Highlights of San Francisco in One Day

Posted on May 8, 2013 // 2 Comments

If you only have one day to visit San Francisco, make the most of it without wasting too much time in between. Here’s a one day itinerary that will take the first timer methodically through some of the most interesting places the city has to offer. Wake up early and have breakfast at the Ferry Building. This wonderful waterfront market bustles with activity, with people buying coffee on their way to work and shoppers looking for the best cheese and produce. The stunning view of the bay alone is worth a trip. Stroll the market hall for fresh baked pastries or have a proper breakfast at Boulette’s Larder, where you can sit outside and watch ferries pulling in.

In the afternoon, head over to Crissy Field for up close views of the Golden Gate Bridge. Dip your toes in the icy Pacific or stroll along the beach. If you wish to take a break from your busy schedule, you can head to Chinatown to enjoy great dim sum. While there, you can access online and mobile pastimes like online gaming. To complete the experience, go to binguez to enjoy brief moments of bingo to recharge your tired senses.

For dinner, book a table at one of the cutting-edge eateries South of Market, a trendy area brimming with terrific restaurants. Coco500 offers Mediterranean food in an intimate and casual setting, while Town Hall is big and bustling and serves New Orleans inspired fare.

Filed Under: Posts // Tagged: bingo, binguez, online and mobile gaming, san francisco

Wilkes Bashford

Posted on April 23, 2013 // Leave a Comment

I am going on exactly one week of being sick. It’s made me pretty depressed, but what can I do. I’ve kinda been a zombie lately, not socializing, not responding to emails, just focusing on trying to get better. Hope to see the light at the end of this tunnel sometime soon.

You know what they say about curing the blues? Retail therapy! Haha. Seriously.

Wilkes Bashford, a San Francisco high-end boutique, has been on my To Do list for a while now. Firstly, I don’t really believe in shopping, let alone high-end shopping. However, this place is seriously an institution, with an opening in 1966 and a grand reopening last year after a complete renovation. I pass the store often because it’s on our same street and a block away from my new acupuncturist. Plus, Armistead Maupin references the boutique in Tales of the City which is a quick, indulgent read for anyone who lives in San Francisco.

Dean and I got to check it out recently. It’s cute. It has a townhouse theme with each floor a different living space: garden, living room, penthouse. The first floor is mixed, then 3 floors for women, and 3 floors for men with the top floor penthouse sporting a fireplace and full bar. I would never dare buy something so extravagant, but for shits and giggles, I checked the price tag on a cute dress. It was $1,800.

Filed Under: Posts // Tagged: armistead maupin, penthouse, retail therapy, san francisco, tales of the city, townhouse, wilkes bashford

Money Monday: Buy Less Shit

Posted on April 22, 2013 // 4 Comments

I’m on a spending diet and I encourage you to join me in this effort to buy less shit. After clearing out a condo filled with crap and trying to make the best use of our storage in a 1-bedroom apartment, I am convinced that Americans needlessly and wastefully buy a shitload of stuff that they don’t need. I mean, it’s embarrassing all the stuff I’d accumulated and never used. The irony is that I am super minimalist. I’ve become very zen about material things and realized I honestly want to take half the stuff I own and drop it off at the Salvation Army. It’s all crap.

We probably have the smallest kitchen known to mankind. We have the bare necessities: plates, cups, wine glasses, forks, knives, spoons. We don’t have a food processor or a blender or a cake display or a fondue set. We don’t pretend to be Martha Stewart nor should you! Get that crap out of your kitchen.

A quick glance at our transactions on Mint.com show the following:

Costco

SF Soup Company

Sprint

Kaiser

Safeway

Sallie Mae

Amazon (I bought vitamins)

Chevron

Haircut

Acupuncture

Osha Thai

Pluto’s (salad)

Kara’s Cupcakes (my sweet tooth)

It’s all food and basic necessities like cell phone, gas, and loan payments.

Here are some things I’ve implemented to assist me in my minimalist diet. I’ve removed all design and fashion blogs from my feed. All that shit just makes you want to buy more shit! Get rid of it. Aside from Vanity Fair (because it’s so gossipy good), I don’t subscribe to any other magazine. All those advertisements can set you down the $$$ consumer path. Out of sight, out of mind.

For us, it’s about eating good San Francisco food and saving for early retirement. I am on a mission to retire when I’m 50. Who’s with me?!

Filed Under: Posts // Tagged: buy less shit, consumerism, mint.com, money monday, retire early, salvation army, san francisco, shopping, spending diet, vanity fair

On Being Racist

Posted on April 14, 2013 // 13 Comments

When I received the 2 offers on my condo, I told my agent, “I hate to play the race card, but let’s just go with the Asian girl.” Granted her offer was higher than the other one, but even if they had been equal, I still would have given preference to her over the white male. Isn’t that totally racist? Don’t we naturally and instinctually prefer people who are similar to us? Which is why you are likely to see groups of Indians hanging out at District wine bar in SOMA. It’s the same reason you see circles of white people hanging out in the Marina. When our ancestors immigrated here, they didn’t choose some ho hum random destinations, they gravitated toward locations where other family members or friends went.

Merriam Webster dictionary defines racism as having a racial prejudice or preconceived opinion. When I favor someone who is Asian isn’t that akin to Hitler favoring the Arian race? If that is the case, then aren’t we all racist? Which brings me to the best song in the musical Avenue Q: Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist.

The reason I thought about this post was because of the Masters. I want Tiger Woods to fail because he disgusts me to no end. But I heard about the 14-year-old prodigy Tianlang Guan from China and have been cheering him on ever since. Again, isn’t that totally racist?!

Filed Under: Posts // Tagged: asian, avenue q, china, everyone's a little bit racist, marina, merriam webster, racism, racist, san francisco, soma, the masters, tianlang guan, tiger woods

I’m Homeless!

Posted on April 7, 2013 // Leave a Comment

Well that was a downer. To watch Cal lose their lead, then ultimately lose the game was heart-breaking. Ugh.

Before I get entrenched with work this week, I wanted to quickly post that we definitively sold my condo. I mentioned previously that selling a home has to be one of the most stressful life events, ranking up there with losing a job, moving to another city, and getting married. Funny, I should probably count myself lucky since, comparatively, the process was actually really smooth since we took offers 10 days after it went on the market.

I had to give my tenants notice. They weren’t too happy.

We staged it ourselves, painting the whole place and moving furniture from Dean’s apartment into my condo. I bought a bed from Mancini’s Sleepworld for $200 which included delivery, then turned around and sold it for $100 on Craigslist. We also bought a head board (that we returned), bedding (that I carefully repackaged and returned), and San Francisco prints that I framed and hope to sell. So total we spent about $1,000 to get my place ready, primarily to cover the cost and labor for painting.

I paid $455,000 for my condo at the height of the market in 2005.

We listed it for $499,000.

Sold it for $525,000.

Frankly, I just wanted to break even. I’m very happy to have made a profit because I know other people who lost money, including the other original owners of the two other units in the building. They sold during the downturn while I held on.

I learned a couple lessons during this whole experience:

Do not buy during a frenzy. I feel like we’re currently experiencing an unsustainably hot real estate market.

Buy when others aren’t.

Next time you buy something (i.e., clothes, books, picture frames, toys, antiques), ask yourself if you really need it. It’s incredible how much unnecessary crap we accumulate.

Filed Under: Posts // Tagged: bought, condo, craigslist, hoa, homeless, housing market, mancini's sleepworld, real estate, san francisco, sold, staging

Money Monday: Real Estate Bubble

Posted on April 3, 2013 // 2 Comments

Hey people, if you haven’t noticed, we are experiencing a housing bubble: skyrocketing rents, zero inventory, and astronomical offers in terms of both volume and price. This is not the time to buy. Back away, people. Back away! I’m completely flabbergasted at how many people have decided that THIS is the time to buy. Very odd. Don’t get me wrong, I’m in the hunt myself, but I’m not paying up for a shack. I’d rather stick to our 1-bedroom, thank you very much. I have zero pressure to buy.

A coworker said that NOW is the time to buy into a new condo development because the price just keeps going up and up. And I’m like, dude, that is not sustainable. Use your brain! I asked him what the monthly HOAs are and he said $450. What a joke. Seriously, these people deserve to go into foreclosure for making such dumb mistakes.

Let’s do the math with an example.

37 years old – because that’s how old I am

$700,000 purchase price for a nice 2-bedroom condo in San Francisco

25% down – because these days that’s how much you have to put down to compete

30 year loan at a 3.5% interest rate – which is generous for rates right now

Mortgage + 1.14% property taxes + $450 HOAs = $3,425 housing expense per month – that doesn’t even include electricity, water, garbage, cable

Imagine still paying $3,425 at 65 years old? Because I’d still have another 2 more years to go. I don’t want to be coughing up that much money in my twilight years. I want to be on the beach in Central America drinking raw coconut water and eating shrimp.

I have this ongoing debate with my mom because she is a firm believer in owning a home. She’s one of those old school types. I questioned why should we be shackled to such a high mortgage 30 years from now when we can easily rent a 2-bedroom in a podunk suburb for peanuts. She countered that once your home’s paid off, the only expenses left are utilities and property taxes (which I should add are insane if you live in San Francisco). I don’t know. I’m still not sold on this home ownership dream. But since my parents are, it’s good to know we can always move in with mom and dad!

Filed Under: Posts // Tagged: buy, condo, HOAs, home, loan, money monday, mortgage, real estate bubble, san francisco

Treasure Island Flea Market

Posted on April 2, 2013 // Leave a Comment

I am under so much pressure right now, I feel my heart is going to burst out of my chest. Work is insane. I’m in escrow with the sale of my condo closing any day now. And we still have a bunch of crap at my place which needs to be vacated any day now. Best thing to do would be to toss all our stuff on the sidewalk. We don’t have time to deal!

Over the weekend, we did manage to go to the Treasure Island Flea Market which was so much fun. I’m really trying to stay away from being such a consumer, but the weather was fantastic (albeit a bit chilly right by the water) and you can’t beat the Chairman food truck which was there on Saturday. I’m a downer when it comes to food trucks (overpriced with no seating), but the Chairman is orgasmically delish. OMG! The pork belly is TO-DIE-FOR! Follow this truck! I swear they’re catering my next party. I can’t get enough of their buns.

Dean and I both ‘splurged’ on $10 hats at the popular hat booth. Then proceeded to play skeeball, which proves once again, how bad my hand-eye coordination is! I think my total score was 10. I promised the owner I’d blog about his business. Check it out. JoeytheCat.com for skeeball rental. Tons of fun. He’s the one who took pictures of me and Dean having a jolly good time.

Filed Under: Posts // Tagged: chairman food truck, food trucks, joey the cat, pork belly bun, rental, san francisco, SF, skeeball, treasure island flea market

Good Friday

Posted on March 29, 2013 // Leave a Comment

My previous post ended on a whimper, and I don’t ever want to be viewed as someone who isn’t tremendously grateful for everything in her life, so let’s start today–Good Friday–off with a bang.

First, I want to thank all of you for supporting me. I am so grateful for every comment and email. Thank you, thank you!

All these years of hard work moonlighting as a blogger are starting to pay off. I signed with the Clever Girls ad network which opens my blog up to brand name sponsors and is a major milestone in blogging. I freaked out when I read their email.

I’ll soon be a featured blogger on the SITS Girls website, which is a phenomenal community of bloggers. SITS is simply amazing. I love, love, love the community I’ve become a part of through SITS. I’ve been patiently waiting since November and I’ll get my turn in April or May. Stay tuned on that.

Our world is full of beautiful people, from my husband who cooks me a gourmet dinner every night (yes every night!), to this lovely couple who has entrusted their home and animals to us for the past 10 days, to the coworker who brought in bagels for the whole floor today because it’s her 1-year anniversary.

Lastly, I need to comment on my environment because I am a San Francisco-based blogger, and this is one of the facets that makes my blog unique. After I lived in Chicago for two years, I returned home, thinking that SF wasn’t as illustrious as I had previously thought. I felt I had grown up in a bubble with every Bay Area person believing that we lived in a coastal paradise, not realizing there was another world of beauty outside of the sunny state of California. In cocktail conversations, everyone seems to be surprised that I’m native. They say that most of the people living around here are transplants. I think that’s so wrong because 98% of the people I grew up with still live in the Bay Area. They never left!

But particularly now, having experienced a multitude of locales, I can objectively say that San Francisco is one of the best places to live in the world. Yes, it’s expensive. Yes, it’s often bone chilling cold. But where else in the world can you travel easily to enjoy wine country, snow, and Burning Man! The food, arts & innovation, the funding & intellectual capital. It’s here. It’s all here!

Filed Under: Posts // Tagged: ad network, bay area, blogger, burning man, chicago, clever girls collective, good friday, san francisco, SF, sits girls

Swan Oyster Depot

Posted on March 25, 2013 // Leave a Comment

Well here’s for conquering one of the things on my bucket list: eating at the uber famous Swan Oyster Depot, the restaurant that both Anthony Bourdain and Gabrielle Hamilton (author of bestseller ‘Blood, Bones & Butter’) always go to whenever they’re in San Francisco.

Swan Oyster Depot serves fresh seafood daily except for Sunday, starting at 10:30am. We made the mistake of showing up at exactly 10:30am and paid the severe price of waiting 90 minutes for counter-only seating at this world famous dining institution. I am probably the most impatient person in the world and would never have suffered through the wait if it weren’t for several of our friends joining us in line and keeping the conversation flowing.

Food is fresh off the boat, damn good. Sitting inside is like stepping back in time. They’re totally old school and will ring your bill up on a janky cash register that dings every time you push a button. My little tush could barely fit on the stool so not sure how Dean and our friends managed to get by. We started out with mixed oysters. Then I ordered the combination salad—crab, shrimp, and prawns on a bed of lettuce–which was oh so yummy. The guys ordered cracked crab.

Glad I got to experience that. From now on, take out!