I <3 this city

Varnish

Park Life

Hayes Valley

Bi-Rite

Enthralled with the good ones. . .

I was accepted into Summer Search when I was a 6th grader at Davidson Middle School in San Rafael. The program absolutely changed the trajectory of my life not only with summer trips but with a support system that continues to make me feel connected and part of something truly amazing and change-inducing. This past week was their annual fundraising Leadership Luncheon where current students, alumni and staff told their stories and inspired many to give to the program. This speech by Niles Lichtenstein left me speechless. Coincidentally, John Osterweis, the co-Founder of Summer Search works in my building and when chatting with him in the elevator about the program he summed it up well when he said, "I can't think of a better way to spend money." Neither can I.

My adorable friend Evie is finishing up her second year at UC Hastings and in connection with her studies there, helped organize an event about femicide in Guatemala. I had no idea how prevalent violence against women is there. What's even worse is that our government gives theirs millions for their justice system, which allows these crimes to go unpunished. Although Guatemala lacks many tools for investigating crimes, there are also problems deep in the system that perpetuate these human rights violations. The fact that we're basically funding that is letting them know it's acceptable, so Evie and her group at Hastings is working to educate our local representatives so actions can be taken in Washington and hopefully make some real change.

5ft2in

Tonight I met Sunny, the woman who started this company - clothes for women 5ft2in and under that aren't like the dowdy petite stores that cater to that market. I liked the idea of her company, but what's even more compelling, is that she started it with a microfinance loan from a Bay Area based organization called Opportunity Fund. Starting off with less than desirable credit, the loan from Opportunity allowed her to get out of debt, get organized and eventually start her company. Her idea for 5ft2in came from having so many women ask her to hem their pants after she graduated from fashion school that she realized there was actually a niche there. Being one that fits in that category, I certainly like the idea.

Microfinance has gotten a lot of press in relation to its impact on developing countries, mainly because smaller loans can be extremely helpful to entrepreneurs in places where capital simply doesn't flow. California on the other hand has a huge economy, but a growing number of both immigrants as well as unemployment rates. Small loans along with financial education for people attempting to get their ideas off the ground is a fabulous way to help our local economy at any time, but especially in the current climate everyone is faced with. If you have any experience or knowledge about microfinance, domestic or otherwise, I'd love to hear about it!

How I feel about New York, the city

I always used to think New York would be the ultimate city to live in, but after my most recent visit, I realized it's really just mean and dirty (see picture above for example of "mean"). Everything is a lot dirtier than San Francisco too. What really gets me is how everything, especially in Brooklyn is painted black. If it's not black, it's some other dark color. I understand dressing in black, but it seems like they take it a little too far out there.

In other news, B and I had dinner last night for the first time in exactly one week (whew!). I tried making a recipe from my Moosewood cookbook my sister gave me. It was essentially spinach leaves topped with this dressing of canned tomatoes, hot sauce, onions, peanut butter and cilantro then topped again with hard-boiled egg and sweet potato fries. It looked really strange but tasted surprisingly good. The ambiance was even better - candlelight and L.L. Cool J to really get us in the mood for 30 Rock.