Posts by friendshipswithbenefits

Green Smoothie with Tolu

Over my spring break, I ambushed my friend Tolu’s morning of getting ready for work so she could enlighten me on her morning ritual of making a green smoothie. They are delicious and this is just one of the many enlightening things Tolu has shed on me.

I met Tolu through Ashley  years ago (they studied abroad in London) when Ashley moved to SF as I left for San Diego.  We would hang out here and there when I would visit.  It wasn’t until I moved back to San Francisco last year that Tolu and I became close and I got to learn for myself how amazing she is.  Tolu gave me the courage to say yes to Burning Man and fully commit without looking back.  She is always the one uplifting her friends and inspiring us to have the confidence of Beyonce. I can always count on her to be down for the fun as well as someone to trust, look to for advice as well as look up to in the way she lives her life.  Thanks Tolu for being part of my life on my second round in SF!  It’s been such a blast!

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Mashed Cauliflower with Kasey Dutra

After a year in the making, my friend Kasey taught me how to make delicious mashed cauliflower.  Kasey and I met through Tracy and is another wonderful person from UNH. I knew she was such such a good person after The Allman Brothers show at Great Woods back in 2005 when she let me sleep in her brother’s room due to unpredictable circumstances.  (And it was the first time we ever hung out).

Kasey writes an amazing blog, Paleo Days, which has given me a great education while scrolling Facebook.   I think her message is awesome and unfortunately or fortunately we know that we have to take care of ourselves.  With recipes like mashed cauliflower, she helps make it a little easier.  Please take a moment and like Paleo Days on FB to get up on all the knowledge of 2014.

 

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#vscocam with Erik Gomez

This past weekend, my friend Erik showed me how to use the VSCO Cam App.  I’m a big fan of his Instagram photos and always wondered why his pictures were always hash tagged with #vscocam.  I know can appreciate his photos even more that he puts a lot of effort into getting the right look.  I met Erik in Tahoe right when I moved back to SF through our mutual friend, Tolu.  He told me all about his experiences at Burning Man and basically sold me on the idea that I needed to make it happen.  Since Burning Man, we have become great friends. Thanks Erik for teaching me a lesson and being one of the coolest! #DUSTYPHOENIX #TEAMGHOSTPROOF

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Stephanie’s Salad with Stephanie

Stephanie teaches me how to make her signature salad also known as Stephanie’s salad.  Stephanie and I met through Nicolle shortly after I moved back to San Francisco.  She’s hilarious and we probably wouldn’t have crossed lives without having Nicolle as a mutual friend.  Thanks again for teaching me how to make such a delicious meal!!

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Photographing Your Friends with Danny Hillman

This weekend I was home for my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving.  Julia, one of my best friends from summer camp and the main reason I moved to SF back in 2005, now lives in Boston and hosted a brunch for everyone who was in town for the holiday.  It was so awesome to get some quality time in with my nearest and dearest and obviously, to do an FWB.

I met Danny almost exactly two years ago at a holiday party when Rachel decided it was time he meet the friends.  Danny is such a great guy and you can always count on him to get awesome snapshots at any event.  Check out his Instagram to see what I’m talking about.  Thanks Danny for showing me how to take pictures of my friends and for making one of my best so happy!

PS-When Danny says manual settings….he really means automatic. 🙂

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DIY-pumpkin with Ashley

My friend Ashley is a woman with many talents so when it came to deciding what to teach me there were many options to choose from. She’s an amazing cook and sInce we are now fully into fall (which is bananas), she decided to go with an autumn theme of teaching a variety ways to use pumpkins and squash besides just carving them for decoration.  I loved these simple recipes and definitely will be incorporating them in my future Halloween and Thanksgiving parties.  Thanks Ashley for sharing your skills in the kitchen!

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Operating A Muni With Chu

Last week, my friends at Cerveceria de MateVeza organized an amazing event where they rented an SF Muni cable car and invited 40 people to hop on and enjoy the evening filled with music, beers and good times while cruising around the city at sunset.  I brought my mic along figuring I would be surrounded by friends and knew this would be a great situation to learn something.  What happened next, I could not have predicted.  Following my friend, Abby’s suggestion, I approached Chu and we became fast friends. He is such an awesome guy and was totally all about the group having a good time.

Operating and riding around the cable car that night was yet another reminder of why San Francisco is such a special place with really lovely and fun people.  I will admit that my transition to SF from NYC has not been the easiest but these experiences help make me realize that the best is yet to come.  Thanks again to the guys at Cerveceria.  You all should like their FB page and make sure to stop by and grab a beer if you’re in SF.  Also, I’d love to thank San Francisco for providing this awesome muni ride service.  You really outdid yourself with this one:)

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Wine Tasting with Lisa

I recently was in Napa for my friend, Lisa’s, bachelorette.  We had the best weekend celebrating Lisa which obviously included drinking a good amount of wine.  During our first stop to the vineyard, Alpha Omega, Lisa broke down wine tasting into the 5 S’s to help us understand what you are actually supposed do while tasting.  She is a super smart girl who has worked in the industry for quite some time so she knows what she is talking about.  So the next time you have a glass of wine in front of you, don’t forget your 5 S’s.

Lisa, I’m so happy I got to celebrate this special occasion with you!   I’m super excited for you and Dan and wish you lots of love and happiness.  Have the best time ever on Sunday!!! xoxo

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Becoming Britney with Emily

This past weekend I celebrated my friend, Lisa’s bachelorette in Napa with my college friends.  Of course, I had to do some FWB episodes.  Emily volunteered but had a hard time deciding what to do.  I wanted her to do her infamous “walk into a pole” move but as it turns out she was a little rusty.   What she wasn’t rusty at was becoming Britney.  So after a fun night out with maybe a few glasses of wine, we embraced Britney.

Em and I met in college freshmen year and discovered that we grew up a town away from each other.  She is one to always bring the fun and never a dull moment.  It was such a great weekend hanging with my friends from Maryland.  Even though we don’t see each other much, it’s always a guaranteed good time!

Thanks Em….I mean Britney.

Please forgive the shakiness and blurriness…it’s essentially seeing the night through our eyes.

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Polish Hand Magic with Archimedes

This was my first year going to Burning Man which was a total bucket list event for me.  I am so grateful that I was able to go with such an amazing group and experience my first year with close friends as well as new friends including Archimedes.  Archimedes who came to Burning Man all by himself (really bold move), was our neighbor and basically became part of Dusty Phoenix (our camp) the day we met.  We filmed this FWB on the last day and hottest day of Burning Man hence the awesome outfit and hair.  If you would like to learn more about Polish Hand Magic, click here.

Burning Man was such a surreal and awesome experience.  It helped me appreciate what I have and all the awesome people I get to call my friends.  It also reminded me to stay open to everyone because everyone brings something special and different to the table for others to enjoy like Polish Hand Magic;)  So thank you Archimedes for being an awesome neighbor and totally down to do an FWB.  Also, thank you to the whole Dusty Phoenix crew for reminding me that everything will work out and that I’m surrounded by such wonderful people.

Oh and PS-I discovered the sound effects on IMovie and got inspired to make a little montage at the end of the video of some of my favorite pieces of art at Burning Man.

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