my favorite skyline

Lately I've been coming home every day after 10pm even when I get into the office at 8 in the morning. This might not seem like a big deal to a lot of people, but I'm a homebody. Yes, I have wanderlust pulsing through my veins but no matter where I go, I want to feel at home.

These past two months working at Airbnb have offered an entirely new perspective of San Francisco. I've been squished sardine-style at an Irish pub, gone to the SF Ballet, practiced yoga on the roof, and just tonight-- headed to an '80s theme night at a club. (And this list is by no means comprehensive.) So much is happening and I'm so exhausted.

But I couldn't be happier to call San Francisco my home city.

my mother's craft

To this day, the hum of my mother's sewing machine is the most comforting sound I know. She's always kept her (enormous, professional grade) sewing machine in my room. When I was younger, I would wake up to the subtle buzz of the machine's motor and the frequent clip clips of her metal scissors.




I think my siblings and I have all taken her skills for granted-- we grew up with our own personal seamstress and probably never realized how unique her craft is. Beyond hemming hundreds of pairs of pants, fitting my sisters' wedding gowns, and making my prom dress(es) from scratch; I often forget that her skills are another form of art.



At the moment, my aunt's wedding dress is hanging in our living room. She bought it plain and on sale but wanted to customize it somehow, so my mother started adding this lace and beading by hand.

She's amazing.

mad men friday

On Friday, Airbnb hosted a "Mad Men Formal Friday" at HQ. We chewed on bubble gum cigarettes, got our shoes shined, and had mini photoshoots around the office all day (I'm in the apron in the last photo).

I kind of extremely love our office.

PS - They even made a video!

trouble

After Outerlands, Katrina and I took a roundabout walk to Trouble Coffee (even though it was only down the street). I loved that we started talking about photography because I really admire her photos-- especially on Instagram. I have a real soft spot for all of her great feet photos since I take feet photos in every new city I visit.

Trouble Coffee is an adorable coffee and coconut bar in the Sunset. They only offer drinks in one size, the entire menu fits on about half a page, and their coffee is fantastic. Their seating area outside is made up of distorted tree trunks and everyone dresses like it's the 90's. Portlandia indeed.

outerlands

Sometimes I feel insecure about my blog. I worry about what I write, how I portray it, if it's reaching anyone. I get caught up in numbers.




How silly.








I met Katrina for lunch at Outerlands and remembered why I began blogging-- that this space is my virtual journal and my only real audience is future me. Any friends who stop by along the way are blessings. You can imagine how elated I was* to get this reminder from the author/mastermind behind one of my favorite blogs.



*You can also imagine how elated I was to learn we're both Filipino pescetarians!

PS - Outerlands was amazing. I'll go ahead and speak for both of us when I say we recommend this place 1000%.

la boulange

Early Sunday mornings in San Francisco are like Sundays in an entirely new city. There was no traffic, tons of parking, no lines, open tables.








Anna and I had breakfast in a windowed-corner at the Hayes Valley La Boulange. We did the whole "You talk while I eat, now I'll eat while you talk" thing which is always fun. It's so nice to have a quiet morning with a good friend. Delicious food is always a plus, too.

the joy formidable

It's weird to think I'm at an age where it's normal to have had a friend for more than a decade. Liz and I were probably 13 or so when we met-- and here we are now, almost ten years later, going to concerts in the city together. It's pretty cool.

Seeing The Joy Formidable on Monday was unlike many concerts I've been to in the past two years: We showed up early but we didn't stand in line-- we ate dinner (Chelsey and Norris know this is unusual for me). When the doors opened, we went to go get coffee. We missed the first act and when we arrived, I wasn't allowed to take a single photo with my camera.

At first it was a "kill me now" kind of feeling. Concert photography was the first kind of photography I'd ever been interested in. Capturing musical performance in photo-form is an indescribable feeling to me. And there I was, holding my camera but unable to take a single photo. (Some bouncer named Wayne took my battery and memory card from me.)

I suppose I should thank Wayne, though. This is one of the few concerts I've been (almost*) completely unplugged at. It's different seeing things with your eyes and not through a lens. It's weightless and in-the-moment.

And The Joy Formidable gave one hell of a performance.



*almost unplugged except for these terrible Instagrams.

hackairthon | bakeathon

A few weekends ago, the Airbnb engineering/product teams had their first official hackathon (or in this case, hackairthon), creating new projects from 6pm until 6am the next morning (in this amazing house).

I knew I wanted to be part of this but since I can barely manage my own HTML, I had to find a way outside the engineering the world to contribute.

Enter: baked goods.

In the midst of this hackairthon, I held my own bakeathon. I was only there from 9pm - 2am, but managed to make M&M cookies, vegan pumpkin brownies, funfetti cupcakes with homemade chocolate frosting, and this avocado chocolate cake. I was channeling my Stevenson glory days.

Oh, and just as I was pulling the last two items from the oven, a Mariachi band came to play in the middle of the night.

I really love being part of this community.

Photos by Christopher Lin, compiled by me

sfmoma

A few scenes from a company field trip to SFMOMA last month. Jessi with the "where the heck are we?" signs and everyone squished into the elevator are my favorites.

I love people-watching at museums.