I've been doing a lot of traveling in the last few years, which is great considering I did very little traveling while I was growing up, BUT don't think I've forgotten all of the amazing things to do and see in the Bay Area.

The California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park was recently renovated and re-opened to the public and I'd been DYING  really, really wanting to go.  I'm not a sciencey kinda girl, but the idea of seeing penguins and running around in a rainforest just sounded like the best way to spend my Memorial Day.

  



     


Snakes and albino alligators and penguins, OH MY!  And while I went thinking the penguins would be my favorite part, my favorite memory came from a little wayward butterfly and one curious little girl.




First I spotted the beauty on one of the railings on the outskirts of the rainforest's upper canopy.  He was so still I almost thought it was fake.



He had a pretty sweet view of the food court.



I thought he was about to fly away, but he stayed and that's when I got my favorite shot of the day...




That was the best part of my day.  That little girl stood there like that, just watching and admiring the pretty butterfly.  She probably could have reached out and touched it if she wanted to.

    

Then came the aquarium.  Jelly fish i've seen, but that weird blue thing? That's a harlequin shrimp.  What the...???  How does something like that even come to exist?!?



Don't even get me started on this guy.



One of my last stops was the Living Roof on top of the museum.  It was too foggy to get a good shot, but it was kinda cool to see this grassy and flower-filled roof.

Go check out the Academy of Sciences HERE and don't forget to take public transportation to get there!

So I totally forgot this weekend was Palm Sunday.  My dates seem to be all whacked out as I focus solely on April 20th when Boomie and I leave for our two week adventure in Europe.  So I had plans to spend the entire day at A's Fan Appreciation Day and then head into the City for a fundraiser show put on by some past ROLTers for breast cancer research called B.O.O.B.S.  It was a really fantastic day and I'm so exhausted I just don't have the energy to give the play by play, but I will tell you that around 1pm, my friend Keith turned to me as we watched the Oakland A's work out on the field and said, "Hey, isn't today Palm Sunday?" and as a good, non-swearing Catholic girl, I said, "Oh Crap!"  Oh well, no palms for me this year; instead I got a much needed day with friends and fun.




We really have the best kept field considering they play football here as well.



Nicole and me hanging out watching all the cute players warm up.  Forgive my blindingly bright arm.  It's been a long winter.




Mr. Giambi back in green!




Matt Holliday, Ryan Sweeney and Jason Giambi field interview.



Nicole trying to get Ryan's attention.  I told her to hold the shirt up higher.



Click on the photo to see it larger - Keith is the weirdo in the background between the reporter and the gentleman talking into the mic.  What a nerd!  haha

Now...onto B.O.O.B.S...



Otherwise known as Busty, Outrageous, Over-the-top, Brawds Singing!



Not only was there amazing, fantastic music by the talented trio of Soila, LeAnne and Jessica, but there was also a PSA portion of the show.




Using bigger than life boob costumes, PAs, Joey and Carol helped the audience members learn how to give a breast self-examination.  It's very important to do this standing up...



....as well as while lying down.



Look at how happy those healthy boobies are!  :-)

Great, great day...

I just got home after spending 22 minutes in line at the Safeway in Castro Valley at 10 o'clock at night!!!  There were only two cashiers and about 40 people in line.  I'm not sure what the bum rush was for at this Safeway, this evening at the same time I wanted to go in and buy ONE box of chocolate Donettes and go home to unwind a bit from my long day before getting ready for bed, but there were a lot of people and the idiot checkstand manager made no effort to call any employees stocking the shelves or CLEANING THE REGISTER AREA to help either check or bag.  None of the self checkouts were open either.  Ugh, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving runs smoother than what happened tonight.  This is not the first incident I've had at this Safeway and the only reason I go there is because it's on my way home from BART, but I can say with conviction that CASTRO VALLEY HAS THE WORST SAFEWAY IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.

 I'll post more to my Flickr site tomorrow night, but for now, here are some of my favorite shots from the Alameda County Fair.



She looks like a Rita to me.


Anyone feel like jamming?



Carousel, sepia tone.



Hi Mr. Bunny.



Good old-fashioned soft serve.

I'm working on my second beer and the game doesn't start for another 10 minutes. Thanks for driving Jason!
Oh yeah, and happy birthday Laura!

The Bay Area is my home, but there's so much of it I still haven't explored. Here's a list off the top of my head of places and activites that are still a must for me and hopefully by writing them down here I'll actually put a bigger effort into achieving these things. Or, maybe smart guys that want to date me in the future will think about these activites for dates. I'll have to keep the permalink on my bookmarks for when such guys come around.

In no particular order:

1. Hike on Mt. Tam
2. Take the ferry to Angel Island
3. Rent bikes to ride across the Golden Gate into Marin to explore
4. Take the ferry to Sausalito to explore and maybe have a nice dinner then take a ferry back and view the city lights.
5. Go to the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival
6. Visit the new NutTree in Vacaville. I yet a few times while I was growing up, but haven't been back since it was renovated in the past couple of years.
7. Go to the Black and White Ball
8. Get asked out for New Years Eve and get to dress up and dance the night away at the Hyatt or the Fairmont in the city.
9. Get dressed up and go to the Starlight Room to have a martini and and pretend to know how to dance to the swing music.
10. There's a floating restaurant near the wharf - I'd like to check that out.

Feel free to list your own Bay Area To-Do list.

Went Sailing on Saturday. It was such a beautiful day out on the bay and I even got to steer the boat around for awhile. Click on the photo to the right and check out all the photos! And yes, I know that I look like a goober in the photos with my CAL cap.