Thursday, August 9, 2007

where can i find a good nail spa in sf?


Is it too much to ask for? one of the things i miss about nyc is having a plethora of nail salons to choose from. just like my favorite coffee spot, starbucks, there is a salon on every other block in nyc.

So I went to Blush Nail Spa on Guerrero this week with high hopes of finally finding a place where i can get regular mani's and pedi's but was disappointed again. i got a much needed lower leg wax in a room that seemed a bit old even though it was relatively clean and no nonsense. it was way cheaper than Bella Pelle and now i know why. after i got home and i noticed upon closer examination that there were still a couple of short hairs on my legs. at Bella Pelle's the technician would have totally tweezed them out, such as professionals should and would.
i also got an okay 'citrus pedi'. it certainly wasn't worth $43 bucks and the girl could have done a better job at exfoliating my severely cracked dry heels! when i left, i still had a lot of flaky/flaking dry but soft, (from the soaking) clean skin waiting to be scraped off my feet. i also realized that she hardly massaged my legs and feet like other salons would during a pedicure. she was the type of girl who compliments everyone on everything. "oh, i love the color of your skin. your tan is so nice!" "your rings are so beautiful!" and here is the funniest but oh so sf comment of all:

"Are you married? is your husband white? oh, he's not? really? what is he? chinese? really?...really?"

Someone else once said that to me. nadja. she said she was surprised to learn that i was dating an asian guy (this is before i was with hak). she said she thought i would be the type to date white guys. and what type is that? can you just tell by looking at a person which race, if there is a specific one, s/he prefers? what and why does it matter? of course people make assumptions about other people! we are being judged all the time.

While searching for a new place to try out, i always look for the massage chair, which is hard to find in sf for some reason. people tend to love the bowl of water with flower pedals floating around - and they tend to think it's more sanitary and clean. the 4 massage chairs Blush had were old. the arms on the one i was sitting on had clear packing type over it to protect all the rips.

Overall, Blush was relatively clean and the tools are individually sterilized like i like it but the service was lacking even though they were all very nice. bottom line is i won't be going regularly and i even wonder if i will be back.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

757

Barry Bonds couldn't wait one more night to hit the record breaker? I was only taking the video because I liked the way all the flashes from the cameras in the stands that lit up the stadium and thought a photo wouldn't capture the true effect. Then all of a sudden Barry hits 757 and I tried to follow the ball from the camera lens, lost it, and scrambled to my feet.

Seb had given us the tickets in early july for an august 8 game against the Nationals. Who knew we would be in proximity of Barry making history? And who knew Barry would hit 757 tonight and so ealry in the game. We didn't have the fireworks or the speech or excitement from the night before when hi hit 756 but it was still good to be in the stadium. I thought of Heather straight away after the hit and had to call her. Told her she could have one of our 'i was there' barry bonds 757 home run button from the giants dugout store. She was happy. I hope Barry hits another one for her this friday!

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

transbay competition. which do you like?

See below for all three design proposals by architects: SOM, Pelli and Richard Rogers.

How to comment:

Comments may be submitted by emailing D&DComment@transbaycenter.org,
or by submitting a comment card to:
Transbay Joint Powers Authority
Attn: D&D Public Comment201 Mission Street, Suite 1960
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 597-4615 fax

The public will be able to comment until September 17, 2007.

SOM - transbay






pelli - transbay






richard rogers - transbay






transbay competition on display










http://www.transbaycenter.org/TransBay/content.aspx?id=323

It was the first time i had ever been inside city hall. impressive as any city halls should be. the grand stairs reminded me of the opera house in paris.

Being that the transbay competition design proposals and models from Richard Rogers, SOM and Pelli are being displayed for ONE DAY ONLY at city hall today, hak, aim + i went leave work early to check it out while we had the chance. we ran into klye glenn and david choo who were also at city hall.

It will be a tough decision for the committee to choose the winner and no doubt there will be an onslaught of controversy. if the san franciscans thought the First & Mission project towers by Renzo are too tall, what will they say about these transbay towers, all monstrously shooting towards the sky way above Renzo's building.

Such a shame that Calatrava dropped out primarily because of the inability for agreements regarding, not surprising: $ issues with Boston Properties. i know that most of the people i spoke with was betting on Calatrava to win the competition even before the designs were released yesterday.