San Francisco Noobs

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September 1st, 2010 · Adventures, Noobs · By: Casi

Some of you may be wondering where the heck I’ve been since my Outside Lands post. Unfortunately, I haven’t been away because Kings of Leon kidnapped me and forced me to be a roadie. Fortunately, I have been away because I have been working on a brand new blog along with Lauren from The Offbeat Report! Not just any kind of blog, a foodie blog, called nomists.com!

Before I moved to San Francisco the extent of my food knowledge ranged basically in good Mexican restaurants and the location of every In-n-Out in Southern California. Don’t judge me! Now that I’m in this incredible city filled with cultures from all over the world, I have expanded my palate to enjoy Vietnamese, Indian, Thai, and many other types of food. Although I have become obsessed with writing Yelp and CitySearch reviews, I’ve always wanted to try my hand at an actual food blog.

So here we go. Lauren and I have been cooking, going to restaurants, and most importantly eating some tasty treats over the past few weeks and have gotten a head start on Nomists.com. So far we have some great reviews about food trucks, candy stores, recipes and more. We have lots of things planned for this foodtacular blog, such as videos of our food adventures, Lauren & Casi take cooking classes, and hopefully one day: Lauren and Casi Eat Their Way Through Italy. We love suggestions, so if you ever have a great food place we must try, a good recipe, or you know of a food event we must attend here are a few ways you can tell us about it:

1. Leave us a comment at nomists.com
2. Tweet @nomsists (oh yea, and follow us!)
3. Leave us a message on our Facebook page (and become a fan)
4. Email us at eat {at} nomists {.} com

Thanks for being a part of all my noob adventures! Now go check out nomists, our new food noob blog!

♥ Casi

P.S. Send us your food porn so we can add it to our homepage widget

Comments Tags:blog·food·nomists

Pacific Catch Makes My Outside Lands Dreams Come True

August 17th, 2010 · Festivals · By: Casi

Last year the closest I got to Outside Lands was hearing it from Fulton Street along with every other poor noob in this city. This year, Pacific Catch gifted me two free tickets to this music-tacular festival. Lucky, lucky me!

Last week I put a poll up on this here blog so you could vote for my Outside Lands schedule. The only bands I knew of were the obvious ones like Kings of Leon and Wolfmother. Little did I know that so many of you would be so passionate about the other great music that was going on at this years festival. Bands like My Morning Jacket, Gogol Bordello, Nneka[VID], The Temper Trap, and Al Green immediately went on my schedule. For that, I owe you all a big high five! These bands were fricken amazing, plus I also came across a few others that I liked. Bassnectar and Pretty Lights[VID] were a surprise to me. Who’da thunk a DJ could be so fantastic to rock out to not at a club!?! I certainly didn’t! Now they are two of my new favorite must hears!

I know the audio isn’t that great (damn you iPhone!), but look at the crazyness that occured during Bassnectar

Beyond the music, this festival was all about the food! Local restaurants dominated this festival with some grubalicious bites. I saw pizza, hot dogs, and hamburgers; but the tasty treats Pacific Catch were selling definitely stood out from the crowd. It was tough to choose which meal to go with, but in the end I went with the Shrimp Ceviche.

You gotta try this stuff! The green, spicy, guacamole sauce laid on top of a never ending pile of perfectly cooked shrimp. Although I have never been to this restaurant before, I will definitely be checking it out soon!

After getting my strength back with some grub and beer, it was time for my favorite band of the weekend! Wolfmother! I’ve seen them a few times before, but I have to say this was my favorite time ever. The crowd was pumping and the band was rockin’ it harder than they ever have! I was even in my first mosh pit!!! Well, sorta…you can see for yourself in this video I posted.

As you all know, the headliner of the weekend was Kings of Leon. With Nas and Damian Marley[VID] playing right before them it was a tough one to get to! Nas and Damian were an incredible mix. I didn’t even know they were playing together! What an awesome pair they make! Unfortunately, we had to leave their set a bit early so we could make it over to Kings of Leon[VID] and hope for a halfway decent viewing spot. We got a pretty good spot, no where near the front but good enough. They played a lot of new and old music, so I was a bit unfamiliar with a few of their songs. Once they played the hits the crowd went wild! It’s just incredible to hear how much their live rendition of their music sounds just like their album. So Good!

Be sure to check out my other pics below. Be jealous! Be very jealous!

♥ Casi

Guy reading his Kindle at Outside Lands. Really!?

Gettin pumped for Kings of Leon at Outside Lands

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Comments Tags:beer·festival·food·Golden Gate Park·music·Outside Lands

Help Me Plan the Ultimate Outside Lands Lineup

August 8th, 2010 · Festivals · By: Casi

I am the overly excited winner of a pair of tickets to next weekends Outside Lands Music Festival, thanks to the deliciously delicious Pacific Catch. This will be my first OSL adventure, so I need your help to make the ultimate Outside Lands lineup. There are about a million and half bands playing over this two day festival and most of them I have never heard of before (don’t judge me). The bands I will for sure NOT be missing are Kings of Leon, Wolfmother, The Strokes, Phoenix, Social Distortion, and Chromeo. Most of these bands are later in the day, so I have hours of music awesomeness to attend before that. Below, you will find Saturday and Sunday’s lineup (minus the bands I already mentioned and the poor bands who are playing the same time as Kings of Leon) and I would love you forever if you check off the bands you think I should see. The bands with the most votes will end up on my OSL Schedule, so get your vote on!

Also, leave some comments on any OSL tips I should know. Bring toilet paper? Bring a towel? What should I wear? Will there be naked people? Wait a minute….that’s a stupid question! This is San Francisco! Of course there will be naked people! And most importantly, your tips for sneaking in “happy beverages” since I can only afford two $50 beers. Are you going to be at Outside Lands? Lets meetup and enjoy some awesome music together!

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♥ Casi

Comments Tags:festival·music·Outside Lands

Bikram Yoga Seacliff is Trying to Kill Me – In a Good Way

August 1st, 2010 · Uncategorized · By: Casi

Yea! That’s me in the pic! OK, OK! It’s not!

Saturday morning I finally decided to use my Joffer pass at Bikram Yoga Seacliff. I was actually really nervous! I’ve never done regular yoga (unless doing it on the Wii Fit counts??) and I went straight for the hardcore hot yoga. What do you wear to Bikram yoga? How much water do I drink before? Do you wear shoes? It was all a mystery to me!

As soon as I walked into the building I was punched in the face with heat, and this was only the lobby! As I started stripping off my clothes (seriously I was burning up already and I wasn’t even in the actual studio yet! I knew I was going to die!) I looked around to see what other people were wearing. My shorts and tank top seemed to blend in pretty well, and no, shoes are not worn during Bikram yoga. I was feeling like I fit in pretty well…that is until I saw the booty shorts wearing hot girl. Mental Note: Don’t stand next to this chick in class.

No I didn’t stand next to this girl, I sat next to booty shorts wearing old man, who’s light grey shorts quickly became dark grey shorts. GROSS! Well he wasn’t the only one sweating his balls off! Within the first 2 minutes as I was bending down in the first yoga position I felt a drip of sweat fall slowly down the back of my leg from my ass. DOUBLE GROSS! I didn’t know people’s asses (including my own) could sweat so much! Anyone wearing anything but black suddenly had different color clothes on. I know! I’m totally grossing you out, but I’ve seriously never sweat so much in my life!

The best part of the whole experience was when our 20 pound Bikram yoga instructor said to spread your legs and touch your forehead to the floor. I actually started laughing! She’s kidding right? NO! She was not kidding! I immediately looked around the class to see if anyone else was laughing, and thats when I noticed everyone touching their heads to the floor! Are you fricken’ kidding me! Yea, so my head has a long way to go before it gets any where near the floor unless I pass out, which almost happened about 5 times throughout the hour and a half session. I loved when she said that “our goal is to only take one water break throughout the session.” As soon as she said that I suddenly became ravenously thirsty! Like I was going to die if I didn’t have water that second! As she walked towards the other side of the room I quickly took a swig of my water bottle and quickly got back into head-on-ass position.

Although I felt like I was going to die at any moment throughout the entire class, I felt so good afterward. The instructor was so nice and encouraged me throughout the whole thing by telling me how “good” I was doing, and that one day I would be able to touch my head to places I never thought possible. My legs were jello as I walked out of 105 degrees and into the 50 degree Seacliff streets, but I felt awesome! My finger tips even felt awesome! All I know is I have never sweat so much in my life and I’m sure I smelled like a farm animal afterwards and that is why even the bum who got on the bus wouldn’t sit next to me. I truly feel bad for whoever had to sit in my bus seat after me. Sick!

Today I pretty much can’t move and I feel like I have been hit by a bus, but I guess that’s a good thing(?) I will be back as soon as I can lift my body out of my bed.

♥ Casi

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Through the Eyes of a San Francisco Noob

July 25th, 2010 · Adventures · By: Casi

I’ve shared a lot of pictures and stories with you all and haven’t focused too much on video. Although pictures are said to be worth a thousand words, videos have got to be worth at least a million! Here are some of my favorite videos I have taken throughout my 1 year journey in San Francisco. And I’m starting out with my very favorite one…

The Great San Francisco Pillow Fight has to be one of the best experiences I have had here in San Francisco! A pillow fight in the middle of Justin Herman Plaza with over 5,000 people = maddness = absolutely AWESOMEballs! Watch as the wave of pillow fighting just comes straight towards us. I cant wait until Valentines Day 2011!

West Fest 40th Anniversary of Woodstock – It’s people like this guy who just don’t give a F* that make me love this city! Ok, he might be a bit inebriated but I still gotta give it to him for scaring the crap out of the little kid at the end of this video. PRICELESS!

I’m from LA, the land of celebrity gossip. So you know I had to be first in line when Perez Hilton came to San Francisco to do a book signing. I love how he admits at the end of this video that Lauren Conrad destroyed him in book sales “That bitch owned me!”

Another one of my favorite things about San Francisco is its love for music. I have been to several impromptu concerts, like this one from the Jugtown Pirates as I waited in line at the farmers market to get a pork sandwich. Totally made my day!

This year was my first experience at Bay Areas famous San Francisco Bay to Breakers. I could never have imagined that something like this with so many people would actually be allowed in a city! Nothing beats a 7 mile long party!

Some people really know how to protest in this city. This random marching band down Haight St. was protesting the proposed San Francisco Sit/Lie law. You can definitely win people over when music is part of a protest.

A polar bear scratching his butt at the SF Zoo….how can you not love that!!!

Oh Muni, you really know how to find the crazies in this city. This guy was exceptionally crazy and apparently wants to be the young guys God.

We all know better than to go to Fisherman’s Wharf on a crowded weekend, but every once in a while it’s a must when visitors come to town. One special treat for those being dragged through the crowds is the breakdance crew who really are incredible. I’m pretty sure this guy is lighter than air with the the way he flips himself around.

And finally, lets end with a bang! Literally! The best 4th of July show I’ve ever seen was the one I saw this month at Fisherman’s Wharf.

I’m going to try to take more video because writing this post and watching all the videos made me feel like I was reliving all these past moments.

♥ Casi

Comments Tags:dance·fisherman's wharf·muni·music·party·perez hilton·pillow fight·video

And the Winner of the Philz Coffee Gift Card is….

July 15th, 2010 · Adventures · By: Casi

Castaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

$25 at Philz Coffee!!!! What a lucky guy!!

now go check your email for more info on how to get this awesome prize!

Thanks everyone for making my one year in SF so flippin awesome! Please suggest other places I MUST visit in San Francisco. I can’t wait to see every nook and cranny of this awesome city!

♥ Casi

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A Noob’s One Year Adventure in San Francisco

July 11th, 2010 · Adventures · By: Casi

I have now officially been living in San Francisco for 1 year! I can’t believe it! I am so thankful to live in this city that has opened me up to so many new experiences in my life. I have never been more happy than when Greg and I packed up that U-Haul a year ago and headed up here. There have been some ups and downs, but nothing can truly bring me down as long as I have San Francisco.

Here is a look back at some of my favorite noob missions throughout San Francisco. I ranked my top ten adventures, but after that it’s a free for all. Be sure to check out the giveaway at the end of this post….and enjoy all the awesomeness that is SAN FRANCISCO!

1. Sutro Heights Park and Sutro Baths – My absolute favorite place in the whole world to watch the sunset. Sutro Heights Park and Sutro Baths are pretty much my backyard. Every morning I wake up to seals barking on Seal Rock, and fall asleep every night to the (now) calming sound of fog horns and waves on Ocean Beach. [photo by Julie Michelle for I Live Here: SF]

2. Lands End Trail – I know people will argue that Baker Beach is the best spot to relax with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, but I still think the view from Lands End Trail beats it.

3. At&T Park – Giants Vs. Pirates & Giants Vs. Rockies – I will remember this park for the rest of my life because it is where I enjoyed one of my first sunny days in San Francisco and where I had my first BFF date with Lauren.

4. 4th of July Weekend – Who doesn’t like fireworks! A lot of people leave San Francisco this holiday weekend, but I will forever be one of the faithful who stick around for the foggy-works show at Fisherman’s Wharf.

5. Real Girls Media – When I finally landed this amazing job my San Francisco move had officially become a successful one. I love this company and all the people who make it so amazing!

Great San Francisco Valentines Day Pillow Fight

6. Valentines Day Pillow Fight – One of the many things I have done in San Francisco that I never even thought possible.

7. Bay to Breakers – The costumes. The people. The floats. The drinks. the party. The smiles. The fun. All made for an amazing hike through this amazing city.

8. Park Hopping – I found my love for parks when I moved to San Francisco. There are so many beautiful ones here where people of all ages come to enjoy a day in the sun with friends and family…and cute puppies too!

9. California Academy of Sciences – My absolute favorite museum(?) in the city. The constantly changing exhibits makes for a fun day, or evening during their Nightlife events.

10. Muni – I don’t care what anyone says about muni, but it has been one of the best things to have happened to me since I moved here. Yes, it has it’s not so charming moments, but I absolutely LOVE not owning a car. I can handle the occasional crackhead/delay/crowd/smell for some quality book reading time on my daily commute.

San Francisco Zoo
Golden Gate Bridge
The Presidio
Archery in Golden Gate Park
Alamo Square and the Painted Ladies
Duboce Park
Fleet Week
Christmas in San Francisco
Hyatt Grandview
SFMOMA
Kimpton Hotels
Wine Tasting in Healdsburg
Urban Tavern
Bistro Central Parc
Farming in Oakland
Trader Joe’s
Zeitgeist
The Mission
Movie in the Park
Yerba Buena Gardens
Tech Events in San Francisco
Japanese Tea Garden, SF Botanical Gardens & the Conservatory of Flowers
Women Who Like Beer Meetup
Coit Tower
Perez Hilton Book Signing
China Beach
Halloween
Comedy Day in the Park
West Fest: 40th Anniversary of Woodstock
Sausalito
Muir Woods
St. Patricks Day Parade
The Marina
Sundance Kabuki Cinema
Metreon Theatre
OSHA Thai Restaurant
Rock Make Street Festival
Louis’ Restaurant
Tee Off Bar and Grill
Disk Golf At Golden Gate Park
Boudin Bakery In Fisherman’s Wharf
Fisherman’s Wharf
Market Street from Gough to Embarcadero
Tiernan’s Irish Pub
Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant
S.N.O.B. Wine Bar and McTeague’s Saloon

It’s so crazy to make a list like this of all the amazing things I have done in my one year here in San Francisco. I owe a big thanks to all of you who have gone through these adventures with me, whether that be in person or simply by reading my noob-tacular blog. I love you all! So much so, that I would like to give one of you amazing readers a $25 gift card to San Francisco’s famous: Philz Coffee. All you have to do is follow SFNoobs on Twitter and leave a comment on this post with your favorite San Francisco event/bar/restaurant/museum/park/etc. I’ll pick a winner at random next Thursday at 4p.m. Now get going!

♥ Casi

Comments Tags:adventure·archery·bar·beach·beautiful·Golden Gate Bridge

Happy 4th of July San Francisco

July 5th, 2010 · Adventures · By: Casi

It’s officially been one year since I moved to San Francisco! And Fisherman’s Wharf threw me a big party with tons of people and fireworks!!! Ok, ok! Maybe they were celebrating this little holiday called 4th of July. Either way it was an amazingly awesome night.

Lauren, Greg and I packed up our eco friendly cooler with all the essentials. You know, wine, beer, cheese, chips….the makings for a good ~~1 year SF anniversary~~ 4th of July party. We played Yahtzee (which Lauren completely dominated at), gin rummy, and spit/speed. In other words we are all 90 years old, but we had a way better time than you!!! The best part was seeing the skateboarding dog. So flippin cute! I need to get me one of those!

Then the show started and it was like we were all 5 years old again. Eyes wide open and smiles for miles. The fog didn’t hinder the show one bit! If you weren’t awesome enough to find the perfect viewing spot like we did, here is the grand finale of the fireworks show.

Big one year anniversary post coming this week, with another giveaway!!! GET EXCITED!!

♥ Casi

Here is more of the awesomeness:

Comments Tags:4th of July·beer·cheese·fireworks·fisherman's wharf·picnic·wine

Bistro Central Parc – Heaven in Your Mouth

June 25th, 2010 · Restaurants · By: Casi

Do you enjoy eating deliciously melted brie? How about scallops that melt in your mouth? Bacon bits from heaven? Chocolate with chocolate inside? Since I’m sure you said yes to all of the above, I want you to feast your jealous eyes on the amazing dinner I had at Bistro Central Parc. Peacefully sitting on the corner of Grove and Central, this spot has a welcoming aroma of every good food smell you have ever experienced.

Thanks to CitySearchSF and the hard work I did going to restaurants, parks, movie theaters, bars, and pretty much every other place this amazing city has to offer; I was rewarded with a golden ticket to have a delicious dinner for two at this semi-new restaurant. Of course I brought my lady in crime Lauren who loves to be wined and dined as much as I do!

When the owner of the restaurant asked what we would like we simply handed her the menu and said surprise us! I think this is the best way to get the perfect experience at a new restaurant.

They certainly delivered their best plates on the menu, starting with Galette de Pomme de Terre, Crie chaud (for all you noobs out there – like me – melted brie spread over a potato pancake on a mountainous mizuna salad). First off, brie is good with pretty much everything, but melt that sucker and throw it on a crispy potato and deliciously seasoned salad and you have heaven on earth!

Next we each got Rissoto aux Coquille St. Jacques, which is a beautiful tower of perfectly cooked rissoto and scallops laid in a pool of lobster sauce. This was probably my favorite part of the meal. The lobster sauce was just incredible, and the scallops were the best I have ever had!

While we sipped wine and admired the other patrons delicious looking plates, our third dish came out: Poussin a l’americain, jus de poulet. The Cornish hen was laid upon a hill of potatoes and bacon all marinated to perfection. You know me, I love me some bacon!

Just as we were undoing the top button of our pants, our dessert arrived. It was like heaven opened up and dropped the two glowing dishes on our table. One was a cream cake of some sort that we discovered (after a long conversation) tasted just like wafer crackers and vanilla ice cream. The second, and the most decadent of the night, was the chocolate souffle. The melt in your mouth outer cake was only outed in taste by the gooey chocolaty center. Like I said: heaven! Both desserts were topped with an intricate web of caramel and sugar that gave the dishes a unique look on top of it’s amazing taste.

I just want to thank the amazing people at Bistro Central Parc for spoiling us with the best gourmet meal I have ever had. I will be back!

♥ Casi

Comments Tags:citysearchsf·food·restaurant·wine

Trader Joe’s, I Love You

June 22nd, 2010 · Adventures · By: Casi

I don’t have a car. My income is not something to be jealous of. I live on top of a large hill. The 38 Geary Bus line stops at every corner. I think stoners are funny.

All of these are reasons why I shop at Trader Joe’s.

Unfortunately, this post is NOT sponsored by Trader Joe’s but if they would ever like to pay me in TJ’s gift cards I would so whore out my blog for them!

There are pretty much three grocery options here in San Francisco:

1. Expensive, yet nutritious Farmers Markets, mom and pop shops, and Walgreens (no disrespect to any of these options….especially Walgreens where I get my weekly Snickers ice cream bar!).

2. Then you have Safeway, which isn’t quite as pricey as the options I already listed, but definitely not CHEAP! Yes, they do have more options, but really nothing that the third grocery store option can’t satisfy.

3. Then there is Trader Joe’s, always packed with people purchasing cheap booze and cheese. This was the main reason I went here at first because they really have the best options! In fact San Francisco Magazine named TJ’s as one of the Best Wine Stores in SF in their Best of the Bay Area 2010: Readers’ Poll! Hello!!! It’s like official now!!

Although I continue to turn to Trader Joe’s for my wine and Cheese needs I also turn to them for their other cheap, yet great, grocery items! Some of which include:

1. Trader Joe’s Soy Sauce: Really, I just have an unnatural love for Soy Sauce. At $2.99 this is probably one of the priciest (for what it is) food items on my list. Luckily it’s Low Sodium so it makes me feel better about myself. Do you think it’s bad to go through a jar of this a week? I didn’t think so either!

2. Cucumbers: I eat cucumbers everyday! Why is this watery, crunchy, green vegi so good!?! Oh yea, probably because I soak them in a pool of soy sauce. MMMMM Soy Sauce!

3. Trader Joe’s Cilantro Salad Dressing: I have just one question: Why doesn’t every restaurant offer this salad dressing?!?! It’s embarrassing to say, but if it weren’t for the bright orange sticker that comes on every bottle warning me to keep this dressing refrigerated AT ALL TIMES, I would so package it into 1 serving size baggies and carry it in my purse for cilantro dressing emergencies!! I have been known to carry soy sauce packets…

4. Trader Joe’s Sun Dried Tomato Pesto: To. Die. For. Goes good in eggs, cheese and crackers, salads, sandwiches, burgers. So good, yet oh so bad! I found out that not everything at TJ’s is automatically healthy after going through a container of this and then reading the Supplement Facts. Damn you metabolism!!!!!

5. Trader Ming’s Mandarin Orange Chicken: First of all: Who is this Trader Ming fella?! Second of all: He needs to make more American-ized Chinese delicacies like this! OK, here’s how you do it! Put your oven on broil. Microwave the desired amount of chicken until soft (not hot….just not frozen anymore). Place chicken on tin foil (because clean-up sucks with this sticky sauce). Pour sweet and sour sauce on chicken to taste. Place in hot oven. WATCH the chicken for the perfect amount of crispyness (about 6 – 10 minutes). Put in bowl with cooked white rice and Trader Joe’s Frozen asparagus spears. Pour lots of soy sauce on it (soupy texture is usually my goal. Yes, I will be having a heart attack any day now). ENJOY! Best cheap dinner on the planet.

6. Trader Joe’s Blended Scotch Whisky: I have only two selling points on this item: 1. Delicious
2. $10

7. Vinho Verde White Wine Espiral: White wine + Champagne = Vinho Verde. The best wine to sip on a hot summer day!

So yea, pretty much Trader Joe’s rocks my world! I think I need to get me a weekend job there because I hear they give employees samples! I love samples!!

Tell me your must have Trader Joe’s items in the comments

♥ Casi

You can check out a few of my other favorite Trader Joe’s yummies below: