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Monthly Archives: February 2012

My last day in San Francisco was great. I pretended to be a local. I did what I think I’d do on a nice lazy Sunday. I shopped and I drank coffee.

I’ve went the Castro neighborhood. Ignoring the Starbucks loving masses, I set up shop in a quiet little cafe called “SPIKE’s Coffee and Teas”. Walls of coffees and huge bins filled with cookies and candies beckoned. Five small tables indoors, gave rest to to locals and a small patio outside offered more seating. The best latte I had in the city, which was enjoyed in a warm inviting atmosphere. And who wouldn’t love their logo 🙂 I seriously considered a tee shirt (which they sell with this cutie on the front) but I saved that for my next trip. Check them out here.

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Those who know me well, know that I’m not a lipstick kind of girl. I like my gloss. Part of my love affair with gloss has been the consistency. I found lipsticks too drying, while glosses offered so much more moisture and shine. Now, like any woman, my selection of gloss still read like goldilocks and the three bears. Too wet and it bled, too sticky and I’d get my hair caught in it. But that’s a story for another time.

Recently I’ve been buying more lipstick. I think it’s my new love of the matte look but I’m enjoying all the new options I have. After trying many a brand, I’ve found a lipstick whose formulation is juussst right.

I had to share, I’m so happy about it. Yves Saint Laurent.

The consistency of this product is so amazing. It goes on smooth and velvety, definitely moist. Then the product dries ever so slightly (still moist but not dewy) which has ensured a days worth of wear with minimal re-application and without the over drying of the “long lasting” lip colors on the market. It smells amazing, like rose water, and who wouldn’t love the bright polished packaging (so shiny it doubles as a mirror for an touch ups after eating).

Retailing at 36.00 dollars US, it’s higher on the price scale than its competitors. But I’m a firm believer in quality over quality. I think with good advice from a makeup artist you trust goes much further than trial and error down the aisles of Walmart.

Pictured below is my Rouge Pur Couture #27 (Fuchsia Innocent) and my Rouge Volupte #30 (Faubourg Peach).

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The rock was eerie. The stories told during the audio tour, ghosts of years past. Definitely worth the visit.

As a random side note. Alcatraz is a national park now. A federally protected bird sanctuary. Knowing this I was quite eager to keep my eyes peeled for some fancy feathered friends. And I saw some. The protected grey tipped seagull. Umm yeah not exactly what I was expecting.

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Tony’s Pizza in North beach. Ohh my god. I read about it. Now I’ve sampled it. And it was amazing. Tony’s brand and marketing live up to the quality and craftsmanship of his product. I loved the logo on his menu “respect the craft” and indeed he does.

I’ve had pizza in Italy, and I was awed. I can honestly say that the pizza at Tony’s was better than that which I sampled in Florence. I know what I want to do next time I visit San Francisco, take a class with Tony. Check it out. I think my tastebuds already knew that I was eating a pizza masterpiece, but the website dedicated to Tony Gemignani’s international school of pizza confirms it.

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A Grey line tour of San Francisco with a cup of Starbucks coffee in hand. Our guide was lively (he also played disco when we took a short stop). Here is my fav. shot from our many “quicky quicky, clicky clicky” moments.

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We ate tonight in the mission district in San Francisco. Yummy Mexican in a pretty big place with an even bigger lineup. If this place is open late I’d hate to wait in the after bar line-up.

Carne Burrito. Bigger than me. I forgot the spanish word for pork, so ended up ordering a beef burrito by mistake. Good thing I like steak. Sadly the picture shows what I had to leave behind. The nice wrapped burrito is mine and the one ravaged by a hungry carnivore is my mom’s 🙂

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