Kristina's New Site

After over 6.5 years at Google, Kristina quit her job to pursue..."more travel, relaxing, and we'll see."

Looking for a fun new project she decided to start her own AdWords consulting business. Check out her site www.AdWordsCafe.com.

She was unsure if her site photo was too slutty. Should she have chosen a more demure outfit?

We love public libraries

We recently found out that there is a library branch only blocks away from our apartment - how lucky are we? We love going to the library and browsing the shelves and are not even that bothered by the occassional homeless person napping on the couches.

The San Francisco public library system even has a fairly decent collection from our favorite writer Ivo Andric, a Bosnian nobel prize winner. We borrowed two of his books this week.

Yoga classes

In a city filled with fit people who stroll around town in their fashionable workout gear as if they were wearing couture, yoga classes are a popular exercise option. We have tried out some classes at the Yoga Tree, a chain with several branches in the city, but the quality varied greatly depending on the instructor.

Tonight, we went to a yoga class at our gym in the Marina. While in the downward dog position, we secretly scoped out our fellow yogis - the many blonde girls in tight pants and even several cute boys (could they possibly have been straight?). But the class was excellent - our body hurts so much right now from all the twisting and stretching.

Valentine's Day

We dread Valentine's Day every year. If we are in a relationship, we resent the pressure to be romantic, and the inevitable disappointments from a partner who does not try hard enough. If we are single, the holiday makes us feel like a solitary wolf.

Stepping out into the streets of San Francisco on February 14, our senses were overwhelmed by the many happy couples strolling around, the flowers and balloons being carried by passers-by (singletons appeared to have stayed home). Such a scene is easily avoided in the suburbs, where no one walks on the streets.

That evening we had dinner at a restaurant that only served a pre-set menu, had romantic live music, and giant red fluffy hearts as decoration hanging from its walls. Our unease was soothed by a beautiful bouquet of flowers we received.

Are there any dog-friendly cafes left in this city?

We love coffee, but we also love to take along our beautiful dog Lola along wherever we go. These two preferences can find themselves in conflict in a city where most cafes and eating establishments shun animals, even the small and adorable ones such as our little Lo, and confine them and their owners to a few outdoor seating spots.

Our one sure-proof dog-friendly cafe let us down last week when the barrista informed us that the dog would have to wait outside (Lola detests waiting outside alone and barks continuously at such times). We had just comfortably nested ourselves into a prime window spot with a cafe au lait in hand, and Lola was cheerfully sniffing other customers and searching for crumbs on the floor when the heartless barrista told us to leave.

What are we supposed to do now?

Safeway in the Marina is a prime pickup spot

We usually shop at Safeway after a trip to the gym, which is when we decidedly look our worst. Nonetheless, not even our sweaty, unappealing looks have deterred the many men in the grocery aisles from staring and making occassional comments.

On one recent shopping excursion, the cashier tried to make a pass on us, explaining apologetically that he was only there because he was recently laid off from his real job.

It's been raining in San Francisco

Jozefina finally moved into her new apartment in the Marina last weekend, and she hoped to spend a fun weekend browsing the local shops only to have her hopes squashed by continuous rain. She has instead been confined to her bare, furniture-less apartment. Due to her lack of decorating abilities, she is holding off on any major furniture purchases until her mother returns from a trip abroad and takes care of the matter.

Holidays in the Bay Area

Since we come from a socialist country where celebrating religious holidays was discouraged, we always appreciate the holidays in America. This year our grandparents are visiting from Bosnia and we get to spend the holidays with them for the first time in years. Even though they celebrate Eastern Orthodox Christmas on January 7, we also threw a celebration for this Christmas. We ate a lot, and watched Christmas movies. Grandma nodded and laughed at appropriate intervals during the movies, even though she does not understand English. Our little Lolita also embraced the festive spirit, wearing her beautiful Santa outfit that perfectly matched her black and white hair.

San Francisco - the city we call home (for now)

The twins have long been back from their travels and are now settled into their respective SF neighborhoods. The trendy and sometimes questionable Hayes Valley for Kristina, and the preppy, conformist, exercise-obsessed Marina for Jozefina. They had so much fun writing their blog that they just had to continue with some updates about life in San Francisco.

Even coffee in SF has to be politically correct

Both Kristina and Jozefina consider any morning that does not include a continuous supply of coffee as not worth getting up for. It is therefore fortunate that San Francisco has many many coffee shops. But a mere run to Starbucks is condemned as a grave ethical failing by some inhabitants of this city. San Francisco's many neighborhoods are filled with niche cafes that boast sophisticated organic, shade-grown, micro-roast single brews. Some places even refuse to provide fake sugars such as Equal and Splenda, offering instead only brown sugar. Ever averse to any extra calories that could instead be alloted to nice chocolates, we have resorted to bringing our own Splenda when we visit such places!