Junior League of San Francisco

As many of you know, I moved to San Francisco just a few months ago and my boyfriend recently left for a 5 month deployment. I have all of 1 friends here, so I decided that I needed another avenue to make friends! I've always wanted to join Junior League, but I've never had the time or financial resources to join. I know the first year has a massive amount of required activities and you have to achieve a certain number of points to be able to become an official member. Man, its like the first year of joining Phi Mu!

Before I even moved, I researched how to join the San Francisco chapter. Glad I did because I had to make a mandatory meeting in order to be eligible to join and the last one scheduled was 2 weeks after I moved!  Well, I'm happy to report that I've successfully started my first year as a provisional member! I'm really excited to get started with JL and make loads of new friends!

Here's a bit of background on JL from their website:

Since its founding in 1901 by social activist Mary Harriman, The Junior League has evolved into one of the oldest, largest, and most effective women’s volunteer organizations in the world, encompassing more than 150,000 women in 292 Leagues in four countries.

Our Mission

The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (AJLI) is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable.

And then for the San Francisco Chapter specifically:

The Junior League of San Francisco, an organization of women – 2,000 strong in the Bay Area – is dedicated to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers.

The Junior League of San Francisco is one of the largest and oldest affiliates among the 294 Junior Leagues throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the U.K. Our volunteers are women of vision and passion who’ve been making a powerful difference in Bay Area communities for 100 years. Since the JLSF was founded in 1911, our volunteers have raised more than $24 million and contributed over six million volunteer hours.

Day Around the Bay #1: North Beach and Coit Tower

I've decided the best way to see the city is to force myself to run a path and then putter around a neighborhood! Its kind of how I explored D.C. when I first moved there, and now that I'm by myself for the next 5 months...I have nothing better to do hahahaha.

My first stop up is running down to Pier 39 and then exploring North Beach. It was a hot and sweaty (and tourist filled) 2 mile run down the Embarcadero and then I hiked up a hill to see Coit Tower. Let's explore the pictures....

Pier 39 is a tourist attraction area where the Sea Lions can be seen and other kitschy items can be purchased. Its really gorgeous and nice during the week when there aren't as many tourists around.

Pretty harbor with loads of boats.

From here, I walked the windy roads up, through Lombard Street, up to the top to view Coit Tower.  Just look at these views of the Bay!

First sight of Coit Tower!

The reviews said that it wasn't worth paying the $7 to reach the top and that the views were just as good as where you're at on the parking lot. I'd have to agree the views are AMAZING. Maybe if I have someone in town, we'll pay to go to the top.

 But for now I'll just enjoy the views for free!

The tower's back side :)

From here, I looked down one of the MANY up and down hills and was thankful I wasn't going to be climbing all of those!

Oh hey, look there, its the Transamerica Pyramid.

From here, I walked around the adorable North Beach neighborhood. If you're in the area and like live jazz, take a stop at The Savoy Tovoli. They have live music Saturday nights.

And then I turned the corner and saw this monstrosity of a car.....Purple with HOT PINK rims. Whoa.

And then kept on strolling to Washington Square...



So many people out on the square enjoying the warm weather! (Hey, its like 72 here..that's hot). Apparently it was one of the first squares in the city and was founded in 1847. Around the square is Saints Peter and Paul Church.

 Its pretty famous, too.  It was featured in the Clint Eastwood film Dirty Harry and Marilyn Monroe and Joe Demagio took pictures on the steps after their civil ceremony at City Hall. Apparently he was married to his first wife there but could't marry Marilyn there because the Catholic Church doesn't believe in divorce. Oh the drama...

 Its quite beautiful. And from there I walked to XOX Truffles. Apparently its been selected Top 10 Best Artisan Chocolatier in the USA.

I went basic and got the Carmel and the Milk. I would say the carmel was MUCH better.

 My last stop was to check out the Columbus Building. This gorgeous copper-green flat iron building was built in 1907.  By the 1970s the building was falling into despair, but film director Francis Ford Coppola purchased the building and restored it to its beauty today. Its #33 on the San Francisco designated landmarks!

North Beach is known sort of as Little Italy. There are so many great places to eat, but I'd recommend my favorite, Cafe Macaroni. You get a nice view of the Transamerica Pyramid while you eat real authentic Italian and listen to Italian banter! Its tiny, so make sure to make a reservation! Its 59 Columbus Ave., on the corner of Columbus and Kearney.

Jamber Wine Pub

After saying Goodbye to Hannah, I said welcome to Jamie the next day! Jamie is a Phi Mu who attended American University while I was an advisor there. She was in town for work and we met up.  It was another beautiful day in California and we wanted to go to a place with outdoor seating. Well, we found success at Jamber Wine Pub. They have wine on tap here!!!! So of course we both went with a flight of 4 wines. They even put coasters with the names of the wine on it so you know which one you're drinking! Phi Mus, wine flights and warm weather...what else could you ask for?

Have I mentioned how much I love San Francisco?

Jaunting around the city

For Saturday, we decided to explore the city a bit!  We started off walking past the Mozilla HQ, that has perfect quatrefoils! So of course, we had to stop and throw a quat. Ok gross, I hate that word. *Shudder*. But anyways, we looked adorable while doing it! That door...its just BEAUTIFUL!!

From there, we walked a bit of the Embarcadero and saw the Bay Bridge.

And along the way, we spotted this car.....wow. Just WOW. This person COVERED their car with sparkly colored tape!  There was a website on the window, so we had to check it out and of course, take a picture! Pretty awesome cause.

We walked the city a bit, enjoying dinner at Flour + Water. This restaurant books WEEKS in advance! Like, seriously, weeks!  So we decided to get there right before it opened at 5:30 and we STILL stood in line! Thankfully it wasn't too bad and we were able to score a seat at the bar. We had a delightful yummy dinner!  From there, we went across the street to their sister bar, Trick Dog. Holy moly, so many good cocktails! All of their cocktails are named after famous SF landmarks around the city. 

I should also mention that while Hannah was in town, we walked across the Golden Gate Bridge....

As well as visited Muir Woods....

These pictures were too great to not include somewhere!

But back to our story... while walking home that night, we saw a new art project being build right down the street from me! Black Rock Arts Foundation partnered with Flaming Lotus Girls to build this art work called Soma (aptly named because the area is called SOMA.) I'm not sure why the built the bulk of the work at night.

From the website:

About the Project

Originally displayed at Burning Man in 2009, Soma is an interactive sculptural installation depicting two communicating neurons connected by an axon bridge.  A soma is the cell body of a neuron, with branching dendrites projecting away at different angles, and an axon which conducts the nerve signal electrochemically to its neighboring cell.

Soma translates the anatomy of neurons into metal, fire and light, magnifying the microscopic world to an epic scale. In this urban installation, Soma features interactive LEDs to create a spectacular daytime and nighttime experience.