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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!

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”.

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):

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.

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.

When asking yourself, “Should I pay for pre-inspections before I put my home on the market?

Whenever you negotiate, you always want to come from a position of strength. Getting pre-inspections before putting your property on the market will allow you to negotiate before accepting an offer.

Getting inspections after you have accepted the offer is not a good idea because it will more than likely allow the buyer to negotiate twice by asking for a credit for any or all of the items found in the home inspection report.

You also want to try to get the cleanest offer you can get with little or no contingencies. The buyer will also want to know what they are purchasing when they make an offer.

Sure, the buyer “might” decide to get their own inspections, but they should be very similar to what you already had inspected.

The last reason you get the pre-inspections is because you don’t want to take your home off the market waiting for the buyer to get the inspections before removing their contingencies. This can cost you 10-14 days of market time.

- Tap

Here is a map of the “Mills Estates” 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.

When looking to buy a home, many buyers are romanced by harwood floors, granite counter tops, crown moldings, and the list goes on. Unfortunately, these upgrades are far from the most important aspects of which home to choose.

Most important is location, lot size, and a functioanl floor plan.

Location determines price, which schools your children will attend, weather, and transportation. This is not something you can change.

Lot size is also very important because most times, the dirt is more valuble than the dwelling itself. It also dictates how large of a home can be built. If you have a small home on a large lot, it has potential to add-on later, or value to another buyer who would like to do an addition.

Having a fuctional floor plan is also very important because although you may be able to get a home for less money if it has a bad floor plan, you will also be receiving less money if and when it comes time for you to sell. An example of a bad floor plan is when going through a bedroom or den, to get to another bedroom. You should never have to do this. Another example is having the family room in  a strange place of the home.

Although it’s nice looking at gleaming hardwood floors, granite counter tops, and crown moldings, it’s not the most important. Those are “cosmetic details” that can generally be added for a small price once the home is purchased.

- Tap

WOW! After almost 9 years of fighting for custody with her ex-husband, my wife Fay has been reunited with her two sons; Miguel 17, and Kevin 14.

Even communicating with her sons had been challenge over the years; there was no contact of any sort allowed between Fay, Miguel and Kevin. The principal at Miguel and Kevin’s school understood how important it was for their Mother to be involved in their lives, so she allowed Fay to call twice a week, which was so very much appreciated.

The boys have always been U.S. citizens, but lived in the Philippines. The trial for custody of Miguel and Kevin was supposed to last only 10 days, but because of so many delays and bribes, the trial was on-going until the end of June 2008.

There is a lot of corruption in the Philippines, especially with the judges and attorneys. We even had problems with our own attorney who we took in to our own home here on the Peninsula. Our attorney along with her daughter (who attended Aragon High School), saw us as nothing more than a paycheck, or should I say a slot machine.

We found out later from a Senator in the Philippines that we could have filed a claim which would have saved us almost 6 years of time in court. That validated our pre-determined doubts about our attorney.

Visiting Miguel and Kevin was very difficult for Fay, she was in constant fear for her life. We received death threats and had the FBI to our home on a number of occasions. When Fay did go to visit, an armed guard was with her at all times for her safety.

The only reason the boys were reunited with Fay is because Miguel and Kevin’s father passed away from cancer. It is unfortunate this is what it came to. We are very sorry that Miguel and Kevin lost their father, however; we are so thrilled to have them living here, in the U.S. with us—we are a complete family.

As for myself, I couldn’t be happier. My wife is whole again, being able to have her children with her after all these years. Miguel and Kevin are such great kids; even though we met just 7 weeks ago, we hit it off from day one and have a solid relationship. There is no animosity, just love.

Welcome home boys!

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

View Larger Map

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