Lobster Bash

After a long, tiring, and lonely week (Z was away at an academic conference in Michigan), the weekend was a nice needed break. I picked up Z from the airport on Saturday and we headed straight for the Santa Cruz harbor to meet up with his family for an annual Lobster Bash. What is a Lobster Bash and is it really just as violent as it sounds? Well, it is a group of friends coming together and cooking food, eating lobster, drinking, gossiping...nothing much to it. All I know is that there is just so much butter flowing that Paula Deen would be there in a second if she could. This year, the weather in Santa Cruz was amazing! It reached the 70's and there was no cloud lingering in the sky at all.  I forgot to take pictures of my outfit or actually just anything else at all because I was too excited for the beautiful ocean/beach background and the yummy lobster feast. 

Outfit Details:

White & Black Strip Cropped T-shirt // F21

Black High Waisted Jeans // UO

Red Punch hole sandals // Madewell

Brown Leather Backpack // Thrifted

Down below is the huge lobster tail I received along with a nice Caesar salad, garlic bread, clams (not pictured), roasted potatoes, and endless butter. The surrounding harbor was so picturesque with sail boats, kayaks, and little motor boats zipping by while we sat on the beach. This was not my first time participating in the lobster bash. Z and I went a couple years ago. You can see some of the photos I took here.

After the Lobster Bash, Z and I headed back home to San Francisco. Z was pretty tired from going straight from the airport to the Lobster Bash so we had a nice lazy Sunday back in the city. For dinner, perhaps in honor of the last episode of Break Bad, we decided to eat at El Pollo Supremo located in the Outer Mission. It was delicious and cheap--which means that Z and I will definitely be back for future meals. After picking up dinner, we came home to a lazy pug lounging about on the couch. He woke up briefly to play with his new favorite toy (a plush soccer ball) and to eat, but that was the extent of his activity for the day. Oh man...what a life!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend! What did you guys do? I'm hoping this work week will go by quickly! Pugs and Kisses, Sam. 

Pug Walk

One of the main reasons we picked the apartment that we currently reside in is its close proximity to a park and then a larger unleashed  dog park hill for hiking. Even though Finnegan cannot walk as much as he used to as a young pup, he still loves romping around in the grass while bugging couples who are quietly reading a book or picnicking.  (This can be quite embarrassing at times because Finnegan is such a ham for attention and petting.) A new cafe just opened up next to the park so the park is a nice, less crowded alternative to Dolores Park for people and dog watching. Here are some photos that I took of what can be seen in our neighborhood. Hope you all are having a great week thus far!

Meet the Mods

Carlotta Cardana is a photographer based in London, UK. These images are from her personal project (titled "Mod Couples") on partners who belong to the “mod scene”, a subculture that originated in Britain in the late fifties and became very popular during the sixties. Cardana was drawn to couples over individuals because of the way their identities blend together. Cardana says:

"I am also quite interested in the relationship between a person and his or her surrounding environment, in seeing how they complement each other. Consequently, I took elaborate planning out of the equation when making these pictures: the couples chose what to wear and where to be photographed. The world depicted in the pictures is entirely the world they have created for themselves." 

I was first attracted to their eye-catching style, but the portraits go beyond their appearance and delve further into the lifestyle from the styling of their homes, to musical preferences, and other subculture elements. It's a fascinating and inspiring series for any vintage lover.

(All photos via Carlotta Cardana)

Birthday Twinsies

September is my favorite month not just because it signals the start of fall, but it is also the time when Z and I have birthdays. I love hearing the reaction when I tell people that we were both born on the same exact day! They awkwardly laugh and then ask if I am pulling their leg, but the answer is no! Our birthday is on September 19th and we usually treat ourselves out to a nice dinner or a trip somewhere we both can enjoy rather than buying each other something material. On a past birthday trip, we toured Seattle for a couple of days and I must say that it is one of my favorite places ranked up there with Portland. (I guess I have a soft spot for the Pacific Northwest.) Below are some photos of our trip!

Finnegan, our spoiled pug, also has the pleasure of sharing his birthday in the same month. He turned 5 years old on September 14th and has transformed into the most lazy lap pug the world has ever seen only waking up to eat/drink/poop and then fall back to sleep. I'm looking forward to a great year ahead. I'm lucky to share my birthday with one of the most wonderful, caring, people I have ever met. Happy Birthday Z!

Finnegan Visits Fort Funston

I have always seen other dog owners heading out to Fort Funston all the time, but it wasn't until Finnegan and I went there ourselves that I truly understand why this is surely the best off-leash dog park in our area. Fort Funston features 200 foot high sandy bluffs on San Francisco’s southwest coast where the winds blow reliably wildly. It is no surprise that it is one of the premier hang-gliding spots in the country. A network of trails make it ideal for hiking and horseback riding. Dog owners will be happy to know they can take leashes off here. It is also home to the Fort Funston Native Plant Nursery. 

That day, I decided not to hide my crazy pug lady personality and wore some cut-off overalls and a PUGS t-shirt that I had thrifted a while ago back home in Ventura, CA. I am sure that Z was embarrassed to be seen with me. Upon reaching Fort Funston, we took a winding trail though some sand dunes to an isolated beach. There were tons of dogs, all nicely trained of course, accompanying their owners for this scenic walk. If you want to do some dog watching, this is the place to be. As soon as we reached the water, Finnegan was already tired from the seemingly arduous journey to ocean paradise. At one point, he was so exhausted that he flopped himself down in the middle of the wet sand and probably looked similar to a beached whale from far away. Completely covered in wet sand and panting non-stop, we dragged Finnegan back to the car and took him to a self-wash bathing center near-by. We found out that Finnegan gained some weight on their in-store scale--about 29.2 pounds to be exact! After the bath, Finnegan passed out in his new Star Wars Boba Fett hoodie (I couldn't resist) on the couch and didn't even wake up to eat. I guess he was trying to tell me that this was a pretty successful pug day outing.

To see Finnegan in action, click on the Instagram video below: