This week continues the detailing of my love affair with San Francisco. Every time I visit the Bay, I discover something new that I love, and always leave with the want to explore even more. In this blog I’ll tell you about the Palace of Fine Arts, the Golden Gate Bridge 75th Birthday celebration, and (for all you book geeks) the semi-secret Dashiell Hammett Walking Tour. Since my husband watched The Rock for the first time, he’d always wanted to visit Alcatraz and the Palace of the Fine Arts. We’d covered thee Rock on our first trip to San Fran, and were never able to make it  to the Palace on subsequent trips. This time, the Golden Gate Bridge festivities were so close to it, we made certain to check it out. San Fran is an architectural gem. It has a mix of every architectural fad in the last 150 years. And then there’s the Palace of Fine Arts. It was designed in the “Beaux-Arts” fashion by Bernard Maybeck and William Gladstone Merchant. It was originally constructed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exhibition, preserved by the Hearst family, and then mostly demolished and rebuilt to be more structurally sound in the 1960’s. Today it’s a beautiful park, with even more beautiful architectural structures that can be enjoyed by all. If I lived in San Fran, I can definitely see myself going to the Palace to read scripts, design costumes, or have a romantic picnic. Basically, it would be one of my “zen” places. It had the perfect amount of people in it (not too many, not too little, but just right) and it had wildlife. Ducks, birds, swans, turtles, etc; there was enough wildlife to keep you happily entertained by their antics. As for the indoor...

This was supposed to be part II of my rant against the current state of customer service in California.  I wanted to share with you some sweet tips for saving money and getting the service you deserve.  Part of my rise to guru status was the new and FREE wireless router I got from AT&T.  However, my step by step guide to getting what you want, when you want fell apart when said router failed to meet minimum operating standards.  The big issue: it doesn’t connect to the server.  (In case you are wondering, yes, it is a Gateway 2Wire.)  I will put my proven methods to the test once more and be back in two weeks with my foolproof method for getting the customer service you deserve. Until then, I will ask you for your thoughts on something I’ve been ruminating on for the past few months and that’s memories.  We all have them.  If you’re following the beating of Brian Stow story then you know how unreliable eyewitness testimony of a crime is.  But, what about simply being an eyewitness to an event that only holds significance for you and you alone? I ask this because this past weekend my wife and I took our son to a Huntington Library Members event.  The event included live music and the option of picnicking on their lavish grounds during sunset after regular hours.  It was beautiful, but that’s not what I’m going to remember. My wife, mother-in-law, and I set a blanket down and had fruit, sandwiches, chips, and cold pasta salad, unfortunately forgetting the wine and dessert at home.  My blue-eyed, blonde-haired son grabbed a peeled banana, one of his favorite fruits, and simply walked away.  After about ten feet he dropped his...