The Journaler

This, in some ways, is a window to my soul: my book is open. This is an honest reflection where I embrace the highs and lows, ups and downs, roller coaster of emotions I am often riding, the good, the bad, and the extremely ugly...but this is me, and this is my adventure...By revealing myself honestly I hope to inspire and encourage, because we all struggle sometimes and it's nice to know we're not alone. This is my experience as a small town girl living in a big city, trying to make my way while taking lots and lots of detours...

August 27, 2011

Some Italiano please

Friday after work Katie and I came over to Bernal Heights to try Vinorosso, an authentic Italian wine shop, bar, and eatery, home made pastas and all. I've been wanting to try this place for the longest time because it looks so cozy and inviting from the outside and I love wine and Italy so.....duh.

We split the cheese plate: 3 delicious cheeses for $10, not bad! To some people the portions may seem a bit small, but to me it was perfect, and hey, that's how they do it in Italy - indulge regularly but modestly.

We also shared an order of dates, which were amazing. It would be nice if they offered one of those delicious stuffed date options that some restaurants do so well - you know, when they're stuffed with blue cheese, drizzled with honey and served warm - any variation on that will do. Mmmmmmm.

The wine was perfect. We tried the Lambrusco, a deep red sparkling wine. If you've never had it, you must try. It's light and so refreshing. We also had a glass of red and unfortunately I can't remember what I had - something described as being full bodied with plum and blueberry notes (often my favorite) - and Katie had the Chianti which was a little too dry for her, and maybe not for drinking on its own, however with a little cheese or a hearty meal, delish.

We unfortunately missed their happy hour, which is every day from 4:00 - 6:00, but will definitely be back to enjoy more wine and try the homemade baked pastas. Happy happy hour everyone!

August 5, 2011

"Summer in SF"

It is depressing and it's making me sick. Literally I cannot stay healthy for longer than a couple months! I blame Muni, the grossly excessive overuse of air conditioning in most buildings, AND the fact that it's freaking windy and cold all the time.

BUT, due to my illness, today I got to do something cool - work from home! (or WFH as the cool kids call it). I had a very productive day, just like being in the office, except I was in pajamas and close to my kitchen, all day long : )

It's exciting that working remotely is increasingly more common and even encouraged in some cases. I think that that is exciting. Because truth be told, I may have been a little worried that I would get too distracted working at home, but I wasn't. I had stuff to do, calls to make, etc, etc, and it filled my day exactly as if I had been in an office. But the beauty is that for some people the standard hours of 9:00-5:00 are just not possible for their lifestyle. If you have kids, another job, things that must get done during the day, whatever, you can do it because the hours are flexible when you work from home. As long as you don't abuse the special privileges and continue to work hard, everyone will be happy and everyone wins.

I like that work is evolving into a more accommodating and less rigid structure. Some people don't like to  be sucked into a monotonous routine, and the ability to work remotely allows us the freedom to be a little more inventive with our time. Sounds good to me! What do you think?