GoRaw : Crunch into a ‘living’ snack! ;)

Strangely, since our big move last year… I hadn’t picked up a pack of these goodies!?
I think we’d kinda’ forgotten about them as we looked at other flavor options…
when I realized we’d actually started eating snacks that were not good for us… I knew I needed to revisit some old standbys!

Re-Enter Go Raw!!!

I happened upon their goodness years ago at our San D area natural foods store, Jimbo’s Naturally!
I’d purchased their flax snax crackers for a quick snack in the car! They were so good and savory… I then started eating some of their granola bars and Dano loved taking the ‘cookies’ to work for snacks.

Silly people, we were, to go off them! But in the time we’d not been eating them… they added SO many more flavor options AND had greatly improved their taste and texture (and they already had it good!)

HEY!! Also, the package says they are located in Mt. View, CA! So that makes for a perfect SFO Newb post. 😉

Go Raw products are Gluten, Wheat, and Nut Free!
They are prepared in the Raw method of being dried, not above 105degrees, so they are considered ‘Alive’!
They contain NO added sugar!
They are made with sprouted seeds, which is more nutritious for our bodies and digestion!
And they are 100% Organic!

AND they are YUMMY! 🙂
They are so crunchy and tasty!

Go Raw is a perfect addition to your kids afternoon snack and they are great to keep at work for when the crunch urge hits! Whether you are looking for Savory or Sweet… you will find enough to satisfy your wants with Go Raw!
Find them at your favorite Natural Foods Store or on-line!

Our favorites right now!?!?
Pizza Flax Snax and Lemon Super Cookies… mmmm… got to go… I have some crunching to do! 😉

Enjoy!

Food Truckin’ : Aviation Museum & Mobile Gourmet’s ‘Fly me to the food!’

The awesome phenomena of food truck ‘parties’ is new to me… since moving to the Bay Area, we’ve encountered many of these types of events.
Sure, I had food at food trucks in Portland… when it was still just a baby idea… that was fun! But, now, it’s such a big deal… food trucks are becoming a norm for lunch times and weekend jaunts! They serve a limited menu, which is just fine… given that you can’t get overwhelmed by too many offerings on one menu… but you can certainly feel the need to try a little bit of something from a few trucks!!

On Wednesday afternoons, at the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos from 11am – 2pm, one can get a sampling of yummy foods from different food trucks… they are changed-up every week… so there’s a chance for a new ‘taste’ each week! This is within a short-distance to Dano’s work and our apartment… so he picked me up one Wed and we headed over to meet up with a few co-workers and snag some grub!

This event is coordinated by The Mobile Gourmet… check out their site for additional events, Friday nights, weekends, etc. AND a list of what trucks will be where!

I walked into the semi-circle of half-dozen trucks thinking I wanted ONLY something from the cheese truck… but then I was hit by all the ideas and smells and actually changed my mind altogether!

We first hit up Mama’s Empanadas… ordering a Veggie (Spinach & Feta) Empanada and a Chilean Beef Empanada with Olive Oil Rice. All of the food from this truck was fab!!
Though there was a bit of a wait… so while our food was prepared we head out in search of other grub.

We stopped at Saruno Burger… in search of a traditional burger… but quickly learned this was a Japanese Style Burger joint (I mean, Truck!) and we were highly intrigued by the Menchi Burger… a breaded & deep-fried ground beef burger served with sliced cabbage!?
The wait at this truck was … forever … sadly!
Though that burger was pretty yummy… I’m torn if the wait is worth the burger or not.

Lastly, we ordered Chicken Tikki Masala Sexy Fries from CurryUpNow…  I mean, come on, how could we not order something from a truck with a name like that!! 🙂
This food was prepared fairly quickly… and it was nummy! Criss-Cut sweet potato fries with the sauce and chicken poured over the top! A tiny bit on the spicy side, but not too bad for my tastes (I’m sorta’ wimpy about spicy food!)
PLUS, CurryUpNow has a coupon in the Chinook Book… may well be a truck we visit again! 😉

SO! Head out and enjoy! The weather’s nice and the trucks are out! 🙂

Enjoy!

Mill Valley, Gem of a downtown! Bite into a Super Duper Burger!

I love garage and estate sales… Dano’s co-worker was hosting such this weekend in Mill Valley… at first I thought this was a neighborhood of San Francisco and was keen on going!
Did a little mapquesting and learned it was ACROSS the Golden Gate Bridge (GGB)… UGH! I was not prepped for that ‘drive’, nor paying the tolls! HA!

Turns out, we had such a nice day… one that begs for a Sunday Drive… so we decided to head out and take a little journey! So Very Glad we did!

Mill Valley is adorable and highly unique!

We missed our Estate Sale turn off by a good few miles… which gave us the chance to see that Mill Valley’s Downtown area was a place to head back to after scoping out the wares!

Got some fun and useful items at the Sale… then promptly declared… “We want burgers!” 😉
We were advised to try out Super Duper Burgers on Miller Ave. (there are a few locations in the city as well!)
Heck Yeah! Yummy Yum! Super Duper indeed!

This burger joint is run on 25% on solar!
Their packaging is 100% compostable!
They make their own HomeMade Pickles… ready for the taking! 
Their meat is from well know natural ranch, Niman Ranch.
Their ice cream & shakes are made with dairy from local  Straus Creamery.
(which is the brand I use at home for milk and cream… and egg nog!)

MMMM… After that nummy to the tummy lunch… we headed back out into Downtown Mill Valley!
So much more to see… little hidden pockets of goodies… great little stores… coffee shops… and Redwoods galore!
We even encountered a neighborhood overhung with really TALL redwood trees… cut down the middle of the grove with a wee creek! What a place to call home!

I’m certain that another Sunday Drive to Mill Valley is in our future!

OH! The GGB  Toll!?!?
Not bad! No toll headed North (out of SF)… and just $6 on the way back into the city! But, do have cash on hand!!
Side note : The bay was so fogged over that we couldn’t even see the arches of the bridge. However, that weather pattern did not follow us into Mill Valley!

Have fun!

Science is Fun AND Cute!! :) Quantum Levitation!!

Since 5th grade, my hubby has wanted to do an experiment with superconductors.  He’d seen something about them on TV at that time and wanted to see the effects of using them in person. How fun to get to finally achieve this goal… and I got to help support him with it!

Over the course of a few years Dano has accumulated the required items for this Superconductor Levitation experiment!

He picked up most items on eBay and on-line!
Superconductor discs,  really Strong magnets, Plastic tongs, a Container (we now know, styrofoam would be best), Protective eyewear and cryo-clothing…
PLUS, the expensive item, a Nitrogen Dewar!

Lastly, we needed Nitrogen, which we found out was not as spendy as we expected!
Luckily, we live within less than a mile of an AirGas facility where we can purchase nitrogen… before we were close to an hour away from such a facility… so we just never jump in the car with our Dewar to go procure some Nitrogen!

This is a REALLY fun experiment… IF you want to try it at home please be very safe!!

Without much further ado… Please enjoy our little video experiement :

Quantum Levitation & Superconductor experiments!

Madonna’s fallen out of favor with me!?!

Yep… it’s true… I’ve realized I’m no longer in love with Madge.

Heck No! I do not expect her to care!

More so, I’m just surprised that I finally figured it out!
Yeah, sure, my interest in her has waned much over the years… but she still remained the Big M in my book.
Until it hit me recently… I don’t like her anymore! *shrug* Sad!

Madonna’s tour will stop in the Bay Area (San Jose) in October 2012… Tickets Sold Out like wildfire… and, surprisingly, I didn’t even consider buying, only had a fleeting second of a thought in which I thought about going.
This, of course, surprised the heck out of me! I’ve gone to her last 3 concerts and am a teen of the 80’s…
more so, it surprised, and secretly delighted my husband, when I declared “Huh! I don’t think I’m interested in her newest tour!” since I would always drag him along!

YEP! I was a huge Madonna fan… Huge! What girl of the 80’s wouldn’t be!? She was a terrific ‘icon’ in her perfect disobedience! She offered us a chance to vicariously be little rebellious Madonnas, likely to the chagrin of parents everywhere.

Obviously, through the years, my musical tastes have changed, though I’d always remained faithful to Madonna. No If’s, And’s or, But’s about it… I’d always have her latest CD (sometimes buying two, the Collector’s version and the Standard Version), I knew every single word in every single one of her songs! For my 31^st birthday, Dano even bought me her “SEX” book… Oh My God! That was the perfect gift ever! Well… at that time anyway! 😉

My first Madonna concert was her ReInvention tour… it was terrific… 20yrs of Madonna in the making right in front of my eyes on stage! She honored that with Madonna Classics that made me swoon! I knew all the music and was in heaven!
Next was the Confessions tour… which I loved!
This tour is my favorite of the three I’ve been to and I loved every song off the album that accompanied it.

The last tour saw was the Sticky & Sweet tour… I’d already started falling out of love with Madonna by this time. The music from the accompanying CD was good, but I was not crazy about it. And I realized I’d started skipping her station on my Pandora shuffle! For me… the memorable highlight of this concert was that it was Election Day 2008… she waited to come out on stage… when she stepped out, excited as hell, she declared, “I’m So F*cking Happy Right Now!” … we were right there with her in the excitement!

How did I fall out of love with her!?
What really happened, I think, is that I fell out of love with Madonna as a person. I was flabbergast at the way she was handling her split from Guy Ritchie… of course, I do not know either of them personally… though from interviews with both and some media reports, I feel like I started realizing that Madonna was not the person she could be!! She did not seem to be the truly spiritual and enlightened being she had worked so many years to become.

I spoke about this with a good friend… starting out the conversation by indicating that I was surprised how her divorce was turning out and how she was reacting to it. He simply said, “Are you really surprised though? It’s Madonna!”.
As if that explained everything, she IS Madonna… she DOES what she wants, she GIVES a crap what people think, yadda yadda!!
Then it hit me… and I answered him, “YES! I am surprised, given whom she seems to be with all her spiritual growth and at 50yrs old that she still acts like that!”
He didn’t have a comeback… simply nodded his head in acknowledgement.

So… I know, to some, she’s just a Musician… but I feel a certain loss over falling out of love with her. I am conflicted about not being eager to see her on her new tour (I mean if I won tickets, I wouldn’t throw them away!! Wink wink! 🙂

However, I think I’m done with the New and Unimproved Madonna…
I’ll keep her the way she was and I have my old beat-up CDs to prove it!

This is just what I’ve been feeling lately… and, hey, at least it pertains to the SFO area!  🙂

(BTW… I have not changed allegiances… I’m not a Lady Gaga fan either! Ha ha!)

Adventurin’ : Peninsula Roller Girls, RWC (Roller Derby!)

Yippy! Found out Redwood City (RWC) has their own Roller Derby team!!

Last Summer, at the RWC Salsa Festival, the Peninsula Roller Girls were out in force recruiting and promoting!
It was so fun to see them in their skates and outfits w. fun names printed on the shirts!
They were in the works for securing a local rink for Home Bouts and I anxiously awaited word about it!
Since, they are on Facebook, it was easy to keep up with any news.

On March 25th at the local RWC Roller Rink they went against The Undead Betty’s… Dano & I and a few of our peeps from the Super Cool Club on meetup… went out to cheer on our local Roller Derby team!!!

Last summer, they’d asked me if I was interested in being on the team… at first I thought, ‘No way! I’m too chicken!’.
Though, now after seeing this bout, I have to admit… it looks pretty fun and thrilling!!
AND talk about the Exercise! Whewie, Awesome!

One thing I know for sure… I’m going to have to bone up on the rulebook to even be a spectator! It is a fun sport to watch… but will be that much more fun when I know what the heck is truly going on! 🙂 Even though, I pretty much got the jist of it. 🙂

There are some pretty wickedly fun names out there for these girls…
Take-Out Dinah,
Moose-a-rita (whom has named her booty, Moose Caboose!! classic!),
Fibonacci Sequins,
L.L. Mean,
Fightmaster Flash,
And SO many other great chicks and coaches!!

Makes me wonder…!?!? What would I pick as my Roller Derby name… hmmmm!?! 😉

(though…  I’ll have to wait about 9-12mths more before I could Roller Derby… that’s a ‘sneak peek’ of a future post, wink wink 😉 )

We’ve lived here a year already!?!?! Happy Birthday to me!

That went fast… especially since I’ve been having fun filling up on adventures for my SFO Newb blog. 🙂

We moved here last year (2011) within days of my birthday… we relocated because Dano got a great new gig… regardless it was not my birthday wish to leave Sunny SoCal! Though it was high on our list for him to have a stable job…

Not surprisingly… I basically cried daily for awhile after we arrived. However, I knew that truly what is important is for  Dano and me and our sweet doggies to be together and healthy… we could make a wonderful little home here if we were together… plus we were only 30 driving minutes to the City (San Francisco)… and that is so wonderful!

I’ve grown to know the area… we have friends (old and new)… and I’ve been able to locate a Jewelry Studio to work on Heylani Jewelry  pieces!!

All in all… not too bad… every once in a while I still feel like we are adjusting… the weather and beaches are no where near the same as Encinitas.

BUT… 2012 is going to be So Exciting for us… being here and close to some great places will be terrific for us!

* Note *
I’ll still be adding SFO Newb Adventures to the blog… there are lots coming up!
However, I might start adding recipes, creative projects, and other tales to my blog 😉

As alway, Enjoy!

And Thanks!!