November Sun & Things

Cake Picnic Ideas, A New Park for SF, Makeup

Hello, how are you doing? I’ve been better, due to news and events there’s anxiety in our household this week, but I’m going to dive in on a few comforting things and focus on moving forward.

One of the pretty entries I noticed on a walk last week in San Francisco.

Cake Picnic

This Saturday I’m signed up to bring a cake to Cake Picnic at a special centennial celebration at the Legion of Honor. What should I make?!?! Plum layer cake? Pumpkin meringue? What is the dividing line between pie and cake? I feel like this will be a celebration of people who love dessert and also want to show off a little bit. I’ll take lots of photos and post the results of what I make and what I get in return!

A satisfying and hearty apple cake. I’ll likely go fancier than this.

“To celebrate this *historic* birthday, let’s bring all of the cakes together and showcase our collective creativity, vibrant cultural perspectives, and connections as a community. German bienenstich cake, Filipino sansrival, Mexican tres leches cake, Austrian sachertorte, Vietnamese bánh bông Lan, French gateaux, let’s see the spread come together. This birthday party will showcase a selection of cakes that are art pieces in their own rights.” - Elisa from @saltedrye

A New Oceanfront Park

It looks like Measure K passed in San Francisco, which means that the Great Highway—which is almost always at least partially covered with sand—will close down permanently to cars and become a foundation for a great beach park. Sand , more sand, and shifting dunes are part of the problem with managing that area of the city, but I’m optimistic that it will really become an amazing stretch of land to link up to Golden Gate Park and hang out with bonfires.

I had some fun reading a reddit thread on ideas for the park. No doubt commutes will be ruined for some people but hopefully it will become another of the city’s treasures.

Makeup $ Is No Joke

I was at Sephora last Saturday, and it was HOPPING. I haven’t seen that many people in one place since I dropped my daughter off at the Oakland Arena for a BTS concert. No doubt they hired extra people for a sale (I had over 8 different people approach me to ask what I’m looking for). I had samples handed to me, braved every aisle against a flow of many, many women and marveled at the staying power of matte lipstick (I’m a fan of shine, but not too much shine… no goop!)

November Rain Sun

This will be my second November in San Francisco and I’m still feeling optimistic about all this sunny autumn weather. While my kids and I talk frequently about the coziness of a Pacific Northwest fall when the rain starts to pitter-patter on the roof every day…I’m pretty happy with scenes like this:

Vineyard in Napa