The rhythm of the Cinco de Mayo.

As yesterday was Cinco de Mayo, I thought it necessary to eat happy hour tacos (although, I find it necessary to eat happy hour tacos pretty much every day...) and drink margaritas. Check and check!

Delicious carne asada and al pastor parcels of scrumptiousness have become de rigueur to my weekday lifestyle, so much so, that I have started alternating between Pancho Villa and El Torro (they are owned by the same people) so I don't get a reputation amongst the staff for being the cheap-taco lady.

After my tacos, I had a hankering for a sweet treat, so I went to get a frozen yogurt. Upon ordering a 'small' with mango and butterscotch chips, I was reminded that this is America, where 'small' essentially means 'large'...


When the girl behind the counter added the toppings to my FroYo and then added more FroYo and more toppings - generously - I thought to myself, this would never happen in London, and if they were that generous with the toppings, my dessert would end up costing a million pounds.

In a strange coincidence, when I got home, I saw that my review of frozen yogurt joint, Frae, in London, was ROTD (review of the day) on Yelp! Slightly creepy, given that this is not something that I indulge in often...

So I finally got a margarita (or five) when I headed over to the super dooper crowded Beauty Bar for their Wednesday night 'Boner Party' musical mashup. Dj Richie Panic plays a fun selection of songs, old and new - from the ones you love, to the ones you would rather forget (heeeeeeey macarena!) - and throws them together in a big mess that you cannot help but dance to.

I was particularly excited when Corona's Rhythm of The Night came blasting out of the speakers. Now there's a cheesy song I used to love....when I was ten years old! It seems, though, that this Italian europop sensation perhaps did not achieve the success they deserved, stateside, as my friends had never heard the song before....


As I sipped on my margarita and sang along to You Shook Me All Night Long, I had an intense desire to crack open one of the piñatas that hung from the chandeliers. So when one of these papier-mâché creatures appeared in front of me, I grabbed it by the leg - and pulled! I ended up with a paper donkey leg in my hand, but sadly, no tootsie roll magically fell out of it and into my mouth. Disappointing.

San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)...

As most of my friends know, I love to wear flowers in my hair...therefore, it should come as no surprise that I also love receiving flowers. Who doesn't?

So I couldn't resist posting a picture of these beauties that were given to me last week...


My room smells like lilies and roses and general prettiness now.

Also, this song keeps popping into my head! It makes me feel like such a hippie (as long as I don't dress like one...) listening to it, but it's so catchy, and honestly, any songs that mention SF make me go all warm and fuzzy...

A hungry Mel is a grumpy Mel.

Well, it's been a week since my last post, but I have been busy busy, and that coupled with the fact that I have been ill for the past few days, due to some horrible stomach bug/flu thing that turned me into the girl from The Exorcist, means I haven't had a chance to note down my thoughts.

So, I will try to catch up with of some of the haps from the past few days...

Thursday I went to El Rio to see Lil' Anne and The Tune Wranglers - what a stonkin' good band! I have been to El Rio on a few occasions, but had never seen a show in the back garden area, and I gotta say, it really is the perfect summer venue. It is pretty big back there, with enough space for dancing, and there are various raised levels, which breaks up the space nicely (this also means you can watch the band from right in front of the stage, or from slightly above).


There are heat lamps to keep you nice and toasty, and the warmth of them, coupled with the palm trees back there makes it feel like a nice, cozy little oasis.

It was an early show (I missed the opening band at 6pm) and so when the band came on at 7.30pm, it was still light out. One of the things I really like about going to outdoor shows and festivals, is the sun setting during the course of the performance. My favourite outdoors gig in recent years was when blur played Hyde Park last summer. It was the most beautiful, hot, sunny, summers day and the whole crowd were in high spirits. Watching the sunset as the backdrop to their performance was truly spectacular, and hearing them sing out the show under the stars was magical...but I digress...

Lil' Anne is cute as a button, and with the addition of a female double bass player in leopard print killer heels, I loved this band as soon as I set eyes on them. Their jingle-jangle country sounds appealed to my inner cowgirl sensibilities, and despite the small audience, they put on a fun show, and have guaranteed my attendance at their next gig.


After the show, a couple of us headed over to 9:20 Special to check out the dancing. It was free that night, so despite not having heard the most encouraging reviews of the place, this was the night to check it out. Yeah - not my thing. In fairness, I will admit that I am probably slightly biased, due to the fact that upon arrival, I suddenly came over all hungry, which got my grump on - Don't.Mess.With.A.Hungry.Mel.

I don't know what it was, because technically I should have loved this night. It was packed with dancers, and it really is a huge space to dance in, but something was just lacking for me somehow. For one, I felt like the lighting should have been dimmed, as I prefer a more nightclub-esque atmosphere when out dancing at night, but also I was just not inspired by the musical selection. There was nothing particularly wrong with it, but there wasn't anything stand-out enough to make me want to get up off my hungry ass and boogie. I like dance situations where the music fills me with such joy that I cannot possibly sit still, and instead makes me say 'oooooooh I love this song!' and forces me to grab the nearest person and drag them onto the dance floor.

I also found the halt to dance proceedings to make way for a few choreographed performances took a little longer than it should have, and by the third amateur performance, my mood had deflated...eeek. This sounds a bit harsh, perhaps, but I felt that this portion of the evening (followed by an announcement about every dance event taking place over the next week) could have been condensed a bit more efficiently, so as not to break the flow of dancing.

That being said, this is a big venue, and it pulls a big crowd, so if you were after a dance 'workout' rather than a more eveningy event...then give it a go!

My desire to abscond 9:20 was followed by an Escape from NY, where a late night pizza party in my mouth commenced. This perked me up no end, as their pizza is delicious.

Happy hour tacos make me happy!

Dear London,

Can we please *try* to get some good Mexican food? And when your menus list 'street tacos', could they perhaps be cheaper, and contain more than one little cube of chicken and a few chunks of tomato and onion? Ideally, this is what we are aiming for:


I went for black beans, with carne asada in one of the tacos, and al pastor in the other. They were both equally yummmmmy.



Pancho Villa's happy hour tacos - $1 tacos, Mon-Fri, between 3-5pm - are probably the best value meal I have ever come across, and they are SO delicious, it's sheer madness.

Two tacos, complete with free chips and as much salsa as you can shake a stick at for $2 is a favoured dindins of mine. The salsa bar (which, incidentally, is amazing, with around six different types of salsa and various other tortilla chip-eating accoutrements) also has pickled carrots and jalapenos - throw a few of those in, and you're sorted.

Happy hour tacos, I love you so much that I want to cover you in taco flavoured kisses.

Banksy's on a mission.

One of the many great things about San Francisco is stumbling upon street art, pretty much wherever you go. I find it curious and smile-inducing to come across fun sidewalk graffiti, colourful murals and cleverly thought out stencils at various random places across the city.

So, when I heard that British guerilla graffiti artist Banksy had struck in the Mission, a couple of blocks from my house, I went to take a peek...


Unfortunately someone else had already tagged right next to the image by the time I got to take a photo, which is annoying, as it kind of ruins the overall effect of the piece.


The popping-up of this new mural above the bar Amnesia, coincides with the release of the Banksy movie 'Exit Through the Gift Shop', which leads me to wonder, is it a real Banksy?

From jittery moves to new blues shoes...

Yesterday was spent mostly coffee shop-hopping, resulting in a totally cracked out Mel. Caffeine normally doesn't have any sort of effect on me, but wow, I was so jittery and fidgety and spaced out yesterday....it really was a very bizarre sensation, feeling drunk without actually consuming any alcohol. As I typed away on my beloved Macbook, I didn't even realise that my feet were tap-tap-tapping...

My local coffee shop Rodger's on the corner of 20th and San Carlos is offering free drinks between 4-6pm every Monday this month, and they have a very extensive selection of delicious coffees to choose from - I would definitely recommend stopping by there for a strong, tasty brew. When I went in last week the gentleman who made my coffee informed me that the trick was to 'aerate' it (ie. when the coffee is made, transfer it back and forth between two containers a few times to let the air in and cool it slightly - kind of like how you open a bottle of red wine to let it breathe before you drink it). I'm sure there is probably something to be said for this technique, as it was a tasty cuppa.

After my cracked-outness subsided, I headed over to Bender's to say happy birthday to a friend who was celebrating there and munch on a little sushi selection. This bar has a sushi chef who provides healthy and tasty bar food every Monday, which I think is a great idea, and makes a welcome change from the deep fried foods that are usually on offer in pubs and bars.


I didn't stay at the bar long, as I was keen to go and try out my new dance shoes that I had bought earlier in the day. As much as I hate to admit it, I think it may be time to hang up my silver grecian sandals. They have holes in them, and the sparkles don't sparkle anymore....but they are so comfortable! Sigh.

I decided it was time to see what San Francisco has to offer in terms of blues dancing. So, I headed on over to the nearby Polish Centre, where they run the club night Shades of Blues every Monday.

Wow. I had a lot of fun...

Not only do you get to dance under the watchful eye of the Pope, but you also have the opportunity to get down and dirty to some awesome tunes (a slow and sultry version of Blondie's Heart of Glass!) in a relaxed and comfortable environment with good (low) lighting until 1.30am. There is even a beanbag corner where you can lay back and chill if you need to take a breather. So this is where all the blues dancers have been hiding...RAAAWWWWWWR!

Hello Sailor!

One of the things I really love about being in the bay area, is that I get phone calls from friends asking me if I want to go sailing.

There really is only one answer to that kind of question...Aye aye Cap'n!

So on the most perfect Sunday morning, a group of us set sail on the bay, complete with a yacht-rock playlist and a kitchen fully stocked with snacks and booze. I made a huge jug of Pimms to bring a little Britishness to the bay...unfortunately I didn't end up drinking any, due to my seasickness. Yes. In typical fashion, trust me to get seasick.

Luckily a nap helped matters. Honestly, it was the weirdest sensation, I started to feel so extremely tired and drowsy, I could hardly keep my eyes open or make conversation and I felt like the only thing that would settle my queasiness would be to lie down and shut my eyes to make it all stop.


Luckily, Seamonster Mel awoke in time to munch on a ginormous piece of fried chicken (really, I can't believe that chickens that big actually exist) as we sailed past Alcatraz and under the Bay Bridge. It was interesting to see the new part of the bridge that they are currently building, right up close like that. This was also a particularly serene part of the water, all sunny and calm, which was perfect, given the queasiness that I had previously experienced.


It was at this point that I had a chance to climb to the front of the boat and lay down on a huge pillow. I was tempted to pull a 'Titanic' pose, however, given that I was up front with Libby, rather than Leonardo, I refrained (plus, given the aforementioned seamonsterness, I'm not sure how great my rendition of 'My Heart Will Go On' would have been....and far be it from me to subject anyone to Celine Dion, in any case).


Another great discovery aboard the ship was Safeway's artichoke dip. I know this has nothing to do with sailing, but I like to talk about food and holy moly that stuff is addictive and delicious - especially when scooped up on pretzel chips. Yum.

Only in San Francisco...

Spending a lazy sunny afternoon in Dolores Park is one of my favourite things to do. I love people watching, stretching out in the grass with friends, and watching the world go by.

Saturday was another such day, and it really didn't fail to disappoint. As well as the usual mix of park loungers, from the hippies to the hipsters, there was also a really pretty loooooong trail of multi-coloured balloons floating in the sky. It stayed in place for most of the afternoon, and I have no idea what it was attached to - it looked as if it was somehow magically hovering in place...this would not surprise me, as this city is kind of magical. Eventually it flew away though...


Another highlight was the presence of a sheep in the park! After the initial amazement of seeing a cute, three month old sheep on a leash, this was also something that didn't really surprise me...just another Saturday in Dolores...

Slims, Slackers, Skanking, Sparky's!

It's been ten years since I first went to see The Slackers in London, and I have to say, they still have it.

Their show at Slim's on Friday night was sooooo much fun!!! The sound was awesome, and they had so much energy that you couldn't help but skank the night away! Slim's is a good venue and you are able to get pretty close to the band so you can really see everything that's happening on stage.


It was impossible not to dance along to their music as it's so feel-good, and has a beat that makes you wanna move your feet...so much so that although we had started off watching from a little further back, by the end of the show we were right at the front of the stage bouncing around. Good thing we got in as much dancing as we did, because we ended up making a 3am stop at Sparky's for sandwiches, which, going on my sandwich, was probably not the best idea...I'm just glad we resisted the milkshakes!

There were quite a lot of teenagers (or, at least they looked young) at the show and many of them clambered up on to the stage for a dance during the encore, which was funny. I would have loved to have done that at the show, ten years ago, when I was their age...oh who am I kidding, I could still probably be persuaded to do that...


I came away from the show happy and nostalgic, complete with an I ♥ Vic bumper sticker. There's just something about that New York accent of his...

Brunch, beach and boogie!

The Number 49 led me out of my endz and into North Beach yesterday for the 'unemployed brunch'. What better way to start the day, than with fruit, frittata, french toast and friends? The route set out for me by 551.org saw me hike up a really steep hill (complete with many steps) to get to said destination. This was probably a good thing, considering the cinnamon-raisin french toast consumption that was to follow...




With my belly full, I was all set for a delightful trip to Crissy Field beach, where it gave me great amusement to watch an unattractive dog sidle over to a random family and pee on their stuff. Not cool...but amusing nonetheless.

As well as a great view of the Golden Gate bridge, we also got to see a whole bunch of kite surfers(?) try to do their thing....and fail. It was highly annoying watching them practise their sport! First the kite would (kind of) get up in the air....then the guy would (kind of) get up on his surfboard...then the kite would fall....then the guy would fall....it just wasn't happening. The guy was getting further and further out into the water, but making no progress, and this, I tell you, was frustrating to watch.

We also encountered ROBOT MAN who looked like a wind surfing transformer (he also seemed to faff about a lot and not actually get in the water). There was something slightly creepy about him. The aforementioned ugly pooch nearly peed on his surfboard - I dread to think how he would have reacted, and what he would have done with his transformer powers, had that happened.

Our drive home saw us narrowly avoid getting onto the bridge (which we did not want to do) due to Rebekah's curiosity. I'm really glad to see Rebekah behind a steering wheel, as I can only imagine the adventures that this will lead to...


The night ended with a dancey dance to the Martini Brothers at Le Colonial. Although there is not a huge amount of space to boogie, it is a great venue, kind of swanky. There is a restaurant part downstairs, with outdoor seating, so I am keen to try out the food there sometime - I have it on good authority that the lobster is delicious too...


On my last visit to Le Colonial I drank around 3 glasses of water over the course of the night (dancing=thirsty mel) and no booze. Clearly this gave me a reputation with the bartender, as when I walked up to the bar last night, he looked over, raised his eyebrow, and said 'water?' snark, snark, snark. I was actually going to ask for water, but ended up ordering a cucumber gimlet, just to prove him wrong.