Chihuly at the deYoung

 

 

  

This weekend I was fortunate enough to see one of the most incredible displays of art, as we know it today. The deYoung Museum in San Francisco, CA hosted a three and a half month exhibit; Chihuly at the deYoung. Dale Chihuly is an incredible glass artisan; he has taken an art form easily done on a small scale into something so much bigger than imaginable.

The Chihuly at the deYoung exhibit had eleven galleries boasting his finest works and developments over many years. It was like walking through some sort of wonderland, a very fragile- breakable wonderland.

As you enter the dark and low-light exhibit, the first gallery was a recreation of Chihuly’s Glass Forrest- originally exhibited in 1972. Neon reds, whites and lavenders poured from the ground up. Standing there in awe, I thought- is this even possible? Instantly craving more I moved into the next gallery.

The next two galleries were filled with more colors and texture than I could take in. It seemed Chihuly’s inspiration came from somewhere far off but as you read and heard what each piece was modeled after, those inspirations seemed tangible.

The fourth gallery had Pendleton blankets lining one wall and on the opposite Indian baskets with mirroring glass works next to each. Down the center was a massive wood table, a resting spot for caramel colored Tabac Baskets (http://www.chihuly.com/baskets/early003.html ).

The next gallery was the “Macchia Forrest”; there were a million colors in that room. Each piece was more beautiful and colorful than the last; I then turned the corner and landed in my favorite gallery. There were massive birch logs lying on the ground with many lavender spears shooting out of each one. The contrast from the subtle colored logs to the bright elongating shoots caught my eye off guard—truly stunning and serene.

The last few galleries were filled with even more amazing works; from antique fishing boats filled with glass orbs to 6 foot chandeliers that hung in Venice years ago in another Chihuly installation.

The way Chihuly combines light and glass that unmatched. He is an incredible artist that has and will inspire many generations.

Cheers to Chihuly!

Sprinkles Cupcakes Opens in Stanford Shopping Center

 

 

A new Southern California favorite has opened in Palo Alto!

Sprinkles Cupcakes has a new, and already booming location in the Stanford Shopping Center between Schaub’s Meat, Fish, & Poultry and Bang & Olufsen.

Just the walk from the parking lot to the bakery will have your mouth watering, as you can smell the sweet snacks baking from far off.

Being that Sprinkles just opened there was a pretty good sized line (about 15-20min) out the door when I stopped by for my tasty treats today. The store, inside and out is very clean looking and simple. The entire front is glass paneling with a “Sprinkles” sign above the door. The inside is accommodating to all customers with a glass display of fresh and ready to eat cupcakes when you first walk in. The cupcake and beverage menu is printed in a modern text on the back wall and very easy to read.

There are over 20 cupcake flavors to choose from, each just as good as the other. I noticed some favorites among the patrons; Red Velvet, Black and White, Chocolate Marshmallow and Lemon Coconut. Be sure to grab a cup of milk to wash your favortie flavor down with.

Sprinkles was founded by Candace Nelson and her husband in Beverly Hills, CA. Candace and her husband still oppertate out of that first location but have expanded to 6 other locations all over the U.S. and more to come! Sprinkles Cupcakes are always fresh and scratch-made everyday, you can’t get any better than that people!

So not only has Sprinkles brought a great new treat to the Peninsula, they make it easier than ever to enjoy these sweet snacks; you can pre-order your pick-up online with only 24hrs advance notice.

After delivering a few of these to my girlfriend at work, she says; ” you know, cupcakes are the new flowers”.

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Weekend Trip to Monterey Bay Aquarium!

This past weekend, my girlfriend, her family, and I decided to head to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I haven’t visited the aquarium since I was about ten years old, and I didn’t remember much about it.

First off, the Monterey Bay area was beautiful. Cannery Row offered wonderful weather, shops, and restaurants. The aquarium was huge: two stories of all sorts of aquatic exhibits. My favorite exhibit was probably the “Outer Bay Tank” it had all sorts of salt-water sharks, fish, and rays. There were three levels where you could view all the fish swimming around. My girlfriend’s favorite exhibit was the kelp forest tank. This exhibit holds huge kelp plants that grow the full length of the aquarium; 2 stories high! It also holds a lot of local fish that line the Monterrey Bay coastline.

Other attractions you may want to check out include: “jellies: living art”, the penguin exhibit, sea otters, and the new “wild about otters” Exhibit. Make sure you plan your trip according to the aquariums feeding shows:

Kelp Forest: 11:30am & 4:00pm daily
Sea Otters: 10:30, 1:30, 3:30 daily
Outer Bay: 11:00am Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday

Make sure you go to the exhibit where the feeding is held at least 10-15min in advance to get a good place to stand and view the show; it gets crowded!

After the aquarium, we decided to go to dinner at the Chart House located at the southern end of Cannery Row. This restaurant can get a little pricey, but I love their food!

Seating Suggestion:
Ask to sit at a window table that overlooks the kelp bed. During our dinner we saw lots of otters and dolphins playing in the water.

Menu suggestions include:

Appetizer:
Crab, avocado mango stack

Starters:
New England clam chowder
There’s an Excellent Salad bar.

Entrees:
Stuffed baked shrimp (6 shrimps stuff with crab served with veggies and rice pilaf)
All their steaks are also great

Dessert:
The “Hot Chocolate Lava Cake” (Godiva chocolate liqueur, molten center, Dreyer’s® vanilla ice cream, served with warm chocolate sauce and Heath Bar Crunch) is a MUST but make sure to order it with your entrees because it is a soufflé that requires time to bake and prepare.

Pictures (Click Thumbnail To View Larger Image):

Map of the Burlingables Neighborhood!

Here is a map of the “Burlingables” Neighborhood located in Burlingame, CA 94010.

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* This is a rough sketch of the area and should be confirmed by a professional.

SFO to LAS $69 Each Way Using Virgin America!

Hello Readers,

I thought I would kickoff a new blog category. This new category is called Weekend Getaways. Team Tapper loves to travel, but more importantly we like to travel right; we want the best experience for the best price.

So, this past weekend I took a business/pleasure trip to Las Vegas, NV. This was my second trip to Las Vegas. The first time, I booked my flight 3 months in advance and still paid around $300 round-trip. This time I found an amazing deal with a new airline; Virgin America. They are offering a 1-way ticket from San Francisco International (SFO) Airport to Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport (LAS) for only $69. I was hesitant because this is a new airline, but I couldn’t pass up this deal.

I arrived at SFO’s International Terminal where Virgin America is located. The staff at the check-in counter was very social and friendly. Most importantly, the plane was on-time. Upon boarding it was evident this Virgin airplane was headed for Vegas; the plane décor included a first class separated by purple plexiglass, economy had all black leather seats, stark white cabin walls and seat frames, purple and blue neon accent lighting, and individual televisions for every seat (that are bigger than JetBlue’s individual televisions).

The best part about the flight, the televisions in every seat weren’t only televisions. They were interactive media systems called, “RED beta” units. These media systems offered tons of features including:

- Normal Satellite Television
- Premium Satellite Television (HBO, Showtime, etc. “On-Demand” style shows offered at $.99 a show; except 5 episodes of HBO’s hit series Entourage were free)
- Movies (offered at $1.99 a movie)
- Free Video Games (such as Doom, Taipei, Solitaire, etc.)
- Internet (the back of your remote has a full keyboard)
- Meal Ordering (You can order everything from champagne to candy bars using your credit card and a flight attendant will deliver it to your seat)
- On-Board Chat rooms (you can chat seat-to-seat or enter a chat room that allows you to talk to everyone on the plane)

Both were great flights. Overall, great experience! Virgin is my airline choice for my flights to Vegas. Check their website for more destinations.