Adventure/Travel

46 hours in San Francisco…Coincidence?…I Don’t Think So!

Posted on by Jeanine / 1 Comment

“Coincidence: a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection”
“without apparent causal connection?” I choose to believe that there is a connection and it’s not a coincidence. You’ve all heard “things happen for a reason”…”it was meant to be”…”fate”….and I believe that’s true. There aren’t really any “coincidences.” Sometimes it seems like things, events, situations present themselves and then a string of events that are related come together.

What the hell are you talking about Jeanine? Bear with me while I ramble…

I record, & eventually watch, the CBS Sunday Morning Show every week (very interesting, I’d recommend!). About a month or two ago Taylor sent me a text with a link to a new SF restaurant, In Situ, saying “I think you’d love this place that was on the Sunday morning show” so I watched the show & couldn’t wait to go at some point. I knew this had to be added to the list of places to go in SF.

So…when the fare drops to $78/round trip, you have to go to San Francisco! Okay, I have a twitter account, I’ve never tweeted anything, but I do follow Jetblue in order to get their amazing Jetbluecheeps tweets on Tuesdays…which is where I got this deal a few weeks back. I looked at my calendar, had a random Friday off of work, so flew out Thursday after work and flew home Saturday night. A perfect little getaway thanks to the great accommodations of my childhood friend, Mary Kay and her partner, Laura.

JETBLUE…best airline & reward program… in my humble opinion!

I lived in SF back in the 80’s for about 5 years, been many times since and had no idea what I wanted to do on this trip, but things just fell into place.

Back in November I received OC magazine & the cover screamed “the Hidden OC”, then Austin and Kate gave me a book for Hanukkah called ‘111 Places in NY That You Must Not Miss” (some of them quite obscure/secret). So I thought to myself, how about secret places to go in SF. I googled it and came up with a fun list of places I wanted to see/experience in my 46 hours in the city by the bay. Things were beginning to take shape.
I made a reservation at In Situ (review & pretentious food pics coming next week on Foodie Friday) and commenced the planning.
On another, different, recent episode of the Sunday morning show there was a feature about the photographer, Abelardo Morell, and camera obscura, that I thought was so cool. So, in my research one of the places to see that popped up was the camera obscura near Cliffhouse restaurant…what are the chances? …and then on my very long walk along the bay from the the Ferry Building to the Crissy Field, I stumble upon the Inaugural International PhotoFair…an art fair dedicated to photography….at Fort Mason. I thought, well if it’s less than $20, I’ll go….$17, I’m in! What was one of the coolest pics on view? A camera obscura tent pic by none other than Abelardo Morell…WHAT!!??
mind blown!
I spy a photography fair below right!!
picture taken of the ground reflecting the golden gate bridge through the tent camera…if you can zoom in you’ll see the artist info to the right of the pic
the view of camera obscura from my lunch spot at the Cliffhouse

this is inside the camera obscura…a picture of the outdoor scene taken through the whole in the roof of the building…hard to explain, but so cool to see
this is looking up into the whole in the roof that took the view of the water in the previous pic

So, to recap, so far…Taylor tells me about In Situ, fares go down to SF and I book my flight, I get a a magazine and book on “secret places”, camera obscura feature about Abelardo Morell on Sunday Morning Show, camera obscura pops up in “things to do”..and then I stumble upon a actual picture by Mr. Morell at this first ever International photography exhibit. CRAZY!! …and so cool at the same time!

…and there was one more random piece of fate that happened on Saturday before I boarded my evening flight for home. So, MK & Laura have an Amazon Echo with Alexa (I’m sure you’ve heard of it and can ask her anything) and we’re sitting at breakfast and decide to play the Jeopardy questions of the week game. There are six of them and one says something like “What is the first name of the mobile artist that begins with ‘A’?” We guessed and got it wrong.

Diane Arbus had an exhibit at SF MOMA and MK & Laura happen to be members so we decide to go see it. Again, I love photography, and therefore loved the exhibit of her works. I’m not otherwise that into modern art, but we were there so why not check out some of the other artists and exhibitions. You know where this is going, don’t you?! Yup…we walk into this big room and what do we see?… an entire exhibit of Alexander Calder‘s mobiles…that’s the “A” we didn’t know that morning!! SFMOMA just happens to have an entire collection of his works.

Come on, that’s just ridiculous! I think it’s so fun and important to follow the lead of those “cosmic” forces that present themselves to you. Who knows what adventures, experiences or relationships (hint, hint!) await you if you just stay open to the possibilities!! I was exhausted from all the “coincidences” in my 46 hours and slept on the plane home!

You cannot direct the wind, but you can adjust the sails!

Books and Daily Affirmations

Motivational Monday…Coincidence?

Posted on by Jeanine / 1 Comment

One of the great cosmic laws, I think, is that whatever we hold in our thought will come true in our experience. When we hold something, anything, in our thought, then somehow coincidence leads us in the direction that we’ve been wishing to lead ourselves….Richard Bach
….or in other words…
There really are no coincidences
You cannot direct the wind, but you can adjust the sails!

Books and Daily Affirmations

Meaningful Monday…Books

Posted on by Jeanine / 1 Comment

Books… speak to us thoughtfully, one at a time. They demand our attention. And they demand that we briefly put aside our own beliefs and prejudices and listen to someone else’s. There’s one question I think we should ask one another a lot more often, and that’s “What are you reading?” Will Schwalbe’s Books for Living

So..what are you reading? I’d really love to add more to my list of “must-reads!”

You cannot direct the wind, but you can adjust the sails!

Home & Food

Foodie Friday…Ravioli with Brown Butter Sage Sauce

Posted on by Jeanine / 1 Comment

Taylor requested Butternut Squash Ravioli with a brown butter sage sauce for her birthday dinner back in December. I was happy to oblige, but had never made it before. I bought ready made raviolis at Whole Foods and found a recipe for the sauce online. OMG…it was amazing..if I do say so myself!

So, this past week I was hankering for that taste again, but this time I made it with Chunky Portobella Mushroom Ravioli from Trader Joe’s. In fact, all the ingredients were from TJ’s. The recipe is from Food Network’s Mario Batali and it was just as amazing the second time around. I’m embarrassed to say that I actually licked the plate with the brown butter sauce when I was done eating the raviolis..and had some leftover for lunch the next day. I can’t believe I’ve never made browned butter…the difference in flavor from plain butter is astonishing…so nutty and irresistible! I’m re-printing the recipe below, with a few tweaks I made, for your convenience (..or you can click on the link above).

Important note is that I only use European butter…I switched over about a year ago and the difference is night/day. So much more flavorful than anything I used to use. I usually use the brand Plugra, and always salted version, but I was all out and got this one at TJ’s…just as good

Brown Butter Sage Sauce
4 TBS butter
8 Sage leaves (I prepared mine chiffonade style…where you roll them and then slice)
1/2 lemon juiced (I used meyer lemon)
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
pasta of your choosing…

Cook pasta according to package instructions and while that’s boiling make the sauce.
Melt the butter in a saute pan and continue cooking until a golden brown color appears in the thinnest liquid of the butter. (I had it on medium heat…slow & steady browning, stirring somewhat frequently) Add sage leaves and remove from heat. Add the lemon juice. You can either toss your ravioli in the pan or just place them on a plate and pour the sauce over. Add the cheese and toss to coat.
Stuffed ravioli and this rich sauce goes a long way, so each person only needs three to five ravioli..and throw in a salad too! So easy!

Bon Appetit!

You cannot direct the wind, but you can adjust the sails!

Adventure/Travel

The Cotswolds…you must go!

Posted on by Jeanine / 0 Comment
It was an early morning to catch the train for the 2 hour adventure up to The Cotswolds. I’ve always wanted to see those adorable cottages and towns with their thatched roofs and fairy tale ambiance. It did not disappoint!
As I stepped off the train it was a bit colder than when I left London, with a soft layer of fog hanging in the air.
I landed at Moreton-in-Marsh thinking I could just call a taxi or uber to take me down to Bourton-on-the-Water (my cousin & her husband had spent the previous week in the Cotswolds, so I had a bit of a head start in knowing which of the numerous small towns I wanted to visit). There wasn’t much cell service and after about 10 calls I finally found a taxi to transport me to the first stop of the day. Roz, my taxi driver, lives in the area and took me on the back roads for a scenic ride down to Bourton-on-the-Water.

all the cottages had cute names

They have a bird sanctuary in Bourton-on-the-Water…so “Why NOT?!”

my first selfie…I have to get better at this! :/

doesn’t this look fake? it was a bit surreal

Roz was charming, offering all kinds of information along the way. Since it had taken me almost an hour to find her upon my arrival, I asked if she might be able to take me in a little while to my next destination of the day, Stow-on-the-Wold or Chipping Campden. She said to give her a ring and she’d see where she was at that time.
I was immediately in love with The Cotswolds! They are just as you imagine from movies like The Holiday, pictures you’ve seen, and The Hobbit. It is truly fairy tale like and at the same time a bustling community of interconnected towns. The people were all so nice!
So, after strolling around, taking lots of pictures, seeing the penguins and flamingos at the bird sanctuary, it was time to move on. I called Roz and she was only 20 minutes away…perfect! I realized that I wouldn’t have time to see Stow-on-the-Wold and Chipping Camden, as planned, so I chose Chipping Camden merely from the pics I saw online.
Perfect choice! It was bit less crowded & commercial and more adorable than Bourton-on-the-Water.

…every place cuter than the last

I walked around and into some of the tiny shops, when I realized it was time to tuck into a pub to get warm and have a birthday cocktail. I asked one of the shop keepers and she recommended Lygan Arms Hotel pub. My first thought was…I don’t think a hotel would be my ideal place for a meal…but I was willing to give it a go. It could not have been more PERFECT! Tiny pub, with two little fireplaces. A couple were just leaving as I arrived and I got the perfect little table right next to the fireplace.

Happy Birthday to me! As my friend, Bernie, said “nice pour!”
The family sitting next to me took the pic above and then a bunch of people, encouraged by the kids (yes, kids are allowed in pubs), started singing happy birthday to me. I wanted to cry! I’m in a tiny, stone-walled pub, in a bucolic foreign setting, sitting by a fire, surrounded by total strangers singing happy birthday to me. The only thing that would make it even better would have been sharing it with my kids/family/friends….but that’s just not possible sometimes (Traveling Alone…a future post!) …and I probably wouldn’t have snagged that cute little table by the fire! Small world…the gal and her husband two tables down live in Laguna Niguel now, but were home, in Chipping Campden, visiting family for the holidays.

not the greatest picture, but it’s an old stone structure in the middle of town with tiny lights all around. I could just picture a lovely wedding here.
Roz and I had arranged for her to pick me up at 6:30 to head back to the train station and all went as planned. She dropped me off at Moreton in Marsh, where I strolled around for a bit before catching the train back to London and crashing in bed around 11:00. Roz’s son and daughter in law run North Cotswold Taxis & Tours. I would highly recommend them…so knowledgeable!!
Long, FABULOUS, birthday!
You cannot direct the wind, but you can adjust the sails!
Books and Daily Affirmations

Motivational Monday…A lesson on traveling?

Posted on by Jeanine / 0 Comment

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime. ….Mark Twain

God bless you Mark Twain…another justification of why I travel!

You cannot direct the wind, but you can adjust the sails!

Home & Food

Foodie Friday…Turkey and Sweet Potato Cannelloni

Posted on by Jeanine / 1 Comment
Guest Post….Taylor and Dan via Cafe Delites
T&D made this a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it, so I asked them to share the recipe…which they adapted from the website Cafe Delites
chop, chop, chop

INGREDIENTS
Filling:
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 pound extra lean ground turkey mince
  • 1 medium sized sweet potato (about 10oz) chopped and roasted until soft
  • 2 teaspoon minced garlic or 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • โ”ฌยข bunch fresh kale (about 4-5 cups), shredded
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable stock powder
  • 2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley
  • 2 tablespoons freshly chopped basil leaves (optional)
  • 1 box dry cannelloni pasta tubes
  • (30 tubes)
  • Store bought tomato sauce (there’s a recipe on the original website, but we just used a jar (there’s also an optional bechamel sauce that we didn’t do)
  • โ”ฌยฅ cup grated parmesan cheese
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Preheat oven to 390F.
Filling:
  1. Cook the onion in a pan sprayed with cooking oil until translucent. Add the ground turkey and garlic powder, breaking up the turkey with your wooden spoon and cook until browned. Add in the sweet potato and the kale, and stir until leaves begin to wilt. Add in the herbs and set aside to cool slightly.
  2. Mash the sweet potato with a fork and mix through the turkey

Cannelloni:
  1. Stuff filling into each cannelloni tube until full. Repeat with all cannelloni and arrange into an oven-proof dish in a single layer. Pour the sauce evenly over the cannelloni, turning them slightly to coat in sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

  1. Cover the tray with foil and bake the cannelloni for 20-30 minutes, or until pasta is soft. Remove foil and change oven settings to grill/broil for a further 10 minutes, or until cheese is golden.
  2. Serve the cannelloni with extra tomato sauce from the baking tray and garnish with fresh herbs.

Thanks Taylor and Dan for the FAB recipe…and it’s weight watcher friendly!

You cannot direct the wind, but you can adjust the sails!

Adventure/Life/Travel

A Day of Culture

Posted on by Jeanine / 1 Comment
I thought I walked a lot on Monday, but I think if I had a fit-bit it would have said I walked more on Tuesday…and I loved it! On the agenda..St. Paul’s Cathedral, a walk across the millennium bridge to the Tate Modern and then wherever my feet would take me until 7:30, when I was seeing The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night time at the Gielgud Theatre.
It was a gorgeous sunny day and I wasn’t planning on taking any public transportation…mission accomplished! St. Paul’s Cathedral is gorgeous…you know it from the movie Mary Poppins song “feed the birds”…. where the woman is on the steps of St. Paul’s feeding pigeons.
From there it was a beautiful walk across the Thames on the millennium foot bridge to my 1:30 appointment at the Tate to see an exhibition of Sir Elton John’s photography collection. It was spectacular! I love photography and he has some iconic pieces, from the tiniest,
1.6×2.2 inch Underwater Swimmer by Andre Kertesz… to one of the most famous,
Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange, evoking the Grapes of Wrath and the great depression. It was only a very small part of his huge collection and included a short video of Sir Elton sharing his apartment, with nary a wall untouched, explaining his passion and how he started collecting. I hope Sir Elton loans it to a U.S. museum too some day!
Neal’s Yard
Time to wander….along the Thames, up to Neal’s Yard at Covent Garden,
The National Gallery…
this one by Renoir is called “The Skiff” so I had to take a picture!
…and this one by Van Gogh called “Two Crabs” has such gorgeous colors
…and then off to see Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time…recommended by my sister and cousin and it didn’t disappoint. Nothing like all those British accents up on stage to make you feel uppity and cultured! I’d recommend…and I’d recommend the book…my only complaint is that the theater was ridiculously hot, which made me a little sleepy and my head started bobbing, which is just embarrassing.
home via the tube…and quick to bed for a good night’s sleep….I’m going to the Cotswold’s for my birthday!
You cannot direct the wind, but you can adjust the sails!
Travel

A Proper English Christmas….and Boxing Day

Posted on by Jeanine / 2 Comments
WOW…I woke up around 7:15 and thought, what the hell, it’s still dark out?! I looked up “sunrise in London” and it came up as 8:05…WHAT??..then looked up sunset and it was at 3:55…WHAT?? So, basically there’s only about 8 hours of daylight and it starts getting dark-ish. It’s great, though, in the morning… I slept in every day!
Christmas shoes!
Knowing I’d be in London for Christmas by myself I had to plan something to make it a bit special, since I wouldn’t be with my family. I booked a 3-hour lunch cruise of the Thames. Festive, beautiful, relaxing! The tube and public transportation in general doesn’t run on Christmas so I took an Uber over to Westminster pier, on the water right next to Big Ben and Westminster Abby. It was so cool seeing those iconic landmarks so close (although scaffolding was up around the Abbey so that spoiled the pics from the water) I was so excited and the cruise started out magically, with a cool view from the water and my charming dining guests, who were from Sardinia, Italy. BUT….the lunch took forever, was just okay in taste….and in the end I would definitely recommend a cruise, just not one that includes a meal. It reminded me of the time years ago in Paris when I was given this same advice when the was-band and I went for a cruise on the Seine…do the cruise, skip the meal..so much better.
A few weeks before I was to leave, one of my friends, Verinda, was over for our weekly mahjongg game and was talking about her London trip. She has lots of family there and I basically asked if I could crash her Christmas dinner…ballsy!??
She, very graciously, said “Absolutely” and said I would be treated to “A proper English Christmas dinner.” So immediately after the cruise I took another Uber over to her husband’s cousin’s home and it was a lovely, yummy evening.
Their home was so beautiful, with a big open kitchen with red accents, decorated for Christmas and the food was amazing…lamb; roasted potatoes; roasted veggies; mushroom/cheese pie, that I loved; homemade gravy; brussel sprouts; and homemade yorkshire pudding that was light and fluffy and delish! There were 21 of us at the sprawling table festooned with those fun poppers that contain little paper hats, jokes and surprises..kind of like a cracker jack box.
It was so much fun seeing the kids open their gifts with such excitement….there were gift opening sessions about every hour or so…FUN! It was such a treat to be part of a beautiful English/Indian Christmas and they made me feel so at home.
It truly was a special “proper English Christmas dinner” that I will remember always! I was too pooped to stay for dessert so no pics of that, but I’m sure it was just as fabulous as dinner. I had a big walking day ahead of me…..
….Boxing Day
So, I went to bed really late…for me that means midnight…and slept until 9:00, which was awesome, but so weird at the same time. This was my wandering day and I didn’t care. I was in Camden Town (home of Camden Market and Camden Lock) by 10:15 and if you’ve ever been to Canal St in NYC it’s like that, on steroids! I went from booth to booth thinking it was a lot of touristy things…until I hit upon a couple of awesome shops and, not planning to, bought some funky, fun things.
you can tell what’s being sold at the store by the 3D display above each…it was wild to see!
Camden Lock…outdoor food market with an eclectic array of food choices…sitting right on a canal. Those are canal boats lined up.

After walking around for over an hour and having some coffee and a little snack at Camden Lock I ventured on to my next destination…Covent Garden and Trafalgar square.

Verinda’s cousin, Manjeet, had recommended I walk along the canal (instead of a busy commercial street) to make my way towards Covent Garden and what a great suggestion it was. It was so nice just strolling next to the water, seeing the locks, …the wandering is always the best part! After surfacing to the street, I found little alleyways and eventually made my way to Scarfes Bar in the Rosewood Hotel to sit down and read. I had done a little research before I left, googling “cozy pubs to read with a fireplace” and Scarfes was on the list. It’s actually quite large, but still felt cozy, and was so quiet when I arrived, I was seated in a little nook near the fireplace right next to bookshelves. What is it about a wall of old books that makes you feel like sitting and staying awhile?
unfortunately they were having a hard time getting the fire going
I sat there for almost 2 hours enjoying a glass of wine and a FAB book. It felt so
quintessential Dickens Christmas and the artwork is a rotating selection of cartoons…really funny…
check out this one with Donald Trump accosting Prime Minister May
I continued my stroll around Covent garden, slipping in alleyways, walking to Trafalgar Square to see the fountain, Christmas tree and large menorah.
It was Monday and I thought to myself “hmmmm, pizza Monday, I should find a cute little Italian place. I’m not kidding, I looked across the street from where I was standing and there was an adorable place called Cicchetti…that is Kate’s mom’s maiden name!
What are the chances?! Kate said she’d never come across anything with that name when she was in Italy during college. Of course, I had to have pizza Monday there! I tucked myself into the corner of the bar to people watch and to enjoy the chef orchestrate the food in the large open pizza oven.
yummy prosciutto and funghi pizza
I’d pretty much been walking all day…time to take the tube home and go to sleep…another 11pm evening! My feet were tired!
You cannot direct the wind, but you can adjust the sails!