Last week a friend came over to my house and caught glimpse of my little “What I Want To Do This Week” list.

She totes made fun of me.

Duly noted. It’s pretty nerdy.

But, what can I say – it’s my weekly ritual. Every Monday I fill out a new list with five things (or more) that I want to focus on or accomplish during my week.

How do I want to feel? What do I want to do to feel this way? What are the steps I need to take to accomplish what I need to do in order to feel this way?

It’s my little way to achieve my goals and change what I might not have been happy with the week/month/year before.

What can I say – I like to live my life with intention.

I found a definition to explain “living with intention:”

Life is a series of things that we do, of things that we think about, of interactions, and it’s the choices that we make that will make us. Intentional Living is to:

• Know what you believe.
• Know where you’re headed.
• Know what to do next.

How do you live your life with intention?

Tell me, have you heard of burrata cheese?!

I hadn’t until a little birdie sitting next to me at an Italian pizza place called Delarosa in the Marina told me that Delarosa’s Burrata Bruschetta (pictured above) was a dish not.to.be.missed.

Of course I ordered it and fell in love, natch.

Burrata is a fresh artisanal Italian cheese made from mozzarella and cream. It’s slightly cool, has a yogurt/cottage cheese type texture. It’s a little sweet, a little salty and a little buttery. Delarosa serves a scoop of it on top of toast, drizzled in honey and hazelnuts.

It’s one of the best things to eat in SF – approved by Je. Mouthwatering, I tell you.

(Delarosa is one of the few places I’ve been to more than once here – they also have an amazing speidini, an Italian skewer dish, made with scallops, citrus, leeks and potatoes, and pretty good artisan pizzas too!)

Currently Feeling: Lured by the amazing pumpkin bread one of my girl friends made for me. I can’t stop!
Currently Anticipating: A whole week at home in Seattle next week for Thanksgiving.
Currently Loving: My new FitBit!

Tell me, blog lovelies, what kinda of fall/winter shoes do you wear these days?

I’ve felt a struggle with my shoes for awhile now. I used to be the girl who wore pointy heels every day, all day long, everywhere. A lot of people would say to me, “How do you wear heels allll day?! I could never do that.”

It drove me crazy. And, well, now I’m one of those girls.

Chalk it up on the list of things I thought I’d never do or say, right there along with staying in the majority of the week, making out with 23 years old when I’m almost 30 and eating fish. I guess one of the best parts of being a woman is that we always have the right to change our minds. (Because those cheesy Kathy magnets say so, right?)

I don’t want to wear pointy heels all day long anymore.

I’m trying to find shoes that are comfy and fashionable, but I don’t love most of the styles out there right now. I don’t want to wear sky-high 60s inspired platforms (not realistic), I don’t love the “dated” retro feel of the T-straps and loafers (too 90s). I don’t know how to style booties and feel like they make me look stubby (I need height). I’m not comfortable in pointy heels all day (unless just dinner or out), but you have to walk everywhere in SF, so I prefer comfortable heels or boots! And I need something to wear with skinny jeans and flares.

I’m still dedicated to the wedge heel … but can’t find tons of cute ones at Nordstrom and the like, so it makes me feel like they’re not in style. (I did pick up the above pictured wedges after scouring the Internet for the perfect shoe for $70 on Amazon.com, originally $170. Might be my score of the season.)

What are your most favorite shoes right now?

Currently Feeling: Awesome that I made it over my 10K steps goal today! (I’m starting to track daily).
Currently Anticipating: Dinner with my old boss and a few girls we know mutually tomorrow at Tyler Florence’s new restaurant – Wayfare Tavern.
Currently Reading: “Before Ever After” by Samantha Sotto

//from Pinterest

I’m happy to report, blog lovelies, that after six months in San Francisco – I finally have my SF Bucket List up!

Since here, I’ve collected lists everywhere from Notes in my iPhone to e-mail and bookmark folders every time someone mentions a great place, or I read an idea in one of the thousands of San Francisco sites I subscribe to. (My fav is 7×7, if you ever plan to come to San Francisco for vacation and need to know the what’s what on the best food in San Francisco and the best things to do in San Francisco. They’re know for their “lists,” ie: Top 10 Burgers in San Francisco, 100 Things to Eat in SF Before You Die, etc).

Much like my general Bucket List for life that I’ve been working on the last three years, I’ll bold the items and mark it with a date when they’re completed.

If you are one of my Bay Area friends or readers – let me know if there’s anything you want to do with me (or you think I should add).

I already have FOURTY items on the list, so I better get at it! (Most of it is food, so here’s hoping I don’t get fat *fingers crossed*!)

Currently Feeling: Like I ate too many office snacks. Boooo office junk food – there should be a law against it!
Currently Anticipating: The Geographer show tonight with some girl friends at Rickshaw Stop with drinks/food at Straw in Hayes Valley first. Straw is known for their “carnival fare” (and they serve a hamburger between two glazed donuts!). That’s either really gross or really yummy, but either way tis’ on my SF Bucket List, so I’m off to a good start!
Currently Loving: Peanut Butter Cups from Trader Joe’s! So much better than Reese’s. Why? Cause the peanut butter is creamy, not hard!

Hello my lovelies … is it officially fall already? For most everyone in the nation, it’s “sweaters, boots, warm coffee shops and bars in the wind and rain” time. For ME, I just turned on the fan in my bedroom for the first time since living in SF. It’s October 17th and 80 degrees out. Everyone wasn’t lying when they kept saying, “SF has an Indian Summer!” when I was freezing my teeties off in August here.

As much as I love the sun and warmth, what I REALLY love about the close of summer and start to fall is the chance to hunker down a bit more, stay inside, snuggle up with a good book and not leave the house all day on a Sunday. The best!

It’s officially been a year since I’ve owned my Kindle, and I’ve never read so much in my life. I’m not sure if I really do read quicker on my Kindle, or if it’s because there’s no lag time between books, or if it’s easier for me to discard the books I don’t like. But if I had to rate all my years of reading from 1 to 10, this year takes the cake. I’ve read TWENTY-THREE BOOKS. That’s nearly two a month! Craze.

I know many of you are readers too, so I wanted to share my reading list with you from the past year. It’s sorta half-hazardly in order from favorite to least favorite, but all are worth reading because the only one I really didn’t like but forced myself through was Kristin Hannah’s, “Magic Hour” (NOT as good as Firefly Lane).

Top Five Books Je Thinks You Can’t Miss (in 3rd Person)

1. The Number One Spot def goes to “Just Kids,” by Patti Smith. One of my favorite books ever. You can read by review of it here.
2. The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins (I counted this as three – I’m not one to jump on teeny book trends *cough* Twilight *cough* but these books are FANTASTIC)
3. Room by Emma Donoghue
4. Girls In White Dresses by Jennifer Close
5. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

The Rest of the Read-This-Year List:

1. The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Potzsch
2. My Year With Eleanor by Noelle Hancock
3. Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum
4. Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann
5. Little Bee by Chris Cleave
6. Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
7. Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
8. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
9. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
10. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
11. Yoga Bitch by Suzanne Morrison
12. Bossy Pants by Tina Fey
13. Bright Lights, Big Ass by Jen Lancaster
14. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
15. Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah

A few books I started and read probably at least half but couldn’t get through the rest:

Here’s what I have on my upcoming reading list – I can’t stop bookmarking on Amazon!

*Alternatively titled, “What a difference a year makes,” but that makes me think of the horrible book by the same title written by the Bachelor, Bob Guiney that I bought in 2002 to get over a breakup, and it made me want to stab my eyeballs out

I thought I’d break this long silence to let you know I finally decided that I’m curbing my Bali yoga trip recap and post until I feel like I’ve fully decompressed from the trip. The whole thing was so beautiful, magical, inspiring, loving and spiritual, that’s it’s going to take me a bit to decide how I want to share it (and if that’s even possible)! I’ve been too bogged down with how to write about Bali, and miss sharing my every-day fun such as all the new recipes I’ve tried, my latest obsessions that I know you’d love too, the fun things I’m doing, and the thoughts swirling around in my head. So, here I am again.

Bali aside, I had something else entirely that caused me to login and write today.

I know I’ve talked a lot here about my transition to San Francisco from Seattle this past year, and what it’s all meant to me. I don’t want to harp over and over on the same topic, but I do want to commemorate a special moment before I move on again to writing about food, fashion, booze and fun. (The important things in life, obvs).

One year ago yesterday, 10/10/10, I was flying home from a food blogging conference I attended in San Francisco for work. I had stayed with my friend Caitlin, and it was while walking around together through the Pacific Heights neighborhood on a particularly warm October day that I had this overwhelming feeling that I just belonged in this city. It was the only logical next fork in my life path.

I had spent most of my 20s talking about wanting to move to SF, and I talked about it again that day to Caitlin. I’m sure to her that was just it – talk. Another person talking about their dreams. But it my mind, it was with even more conviction than I’d ever previously had. The City was calling me.

My conviction followed me thousands of feet above San Francisco in a plane back to Seattle. I was inspired to make the move in my 29th year and my mind was reeling from how I could make it happen when I ran across a quote in the book I was reading, Little Bee by Chris Cleave:

One phone call: I realized it was as simple as that. People wonder how they are ever going to change their lives, but really it is frighteningly easy.

Frighteningly easy.

Frighteningly.

Easy.

I bookmarked that quote in my Kindle. And instead of wondering how I’d do it, where I’d live, where I’d work and all the little details – I began to realize that I just needed to simply make the decision to move and the rest would follow.

Five months later, my phone rang. “I’m sorry, we went with another candidate,” said the voice on the other line.

The amazing position in Seattle at my dream company that I was one of two people in the running for went to the other person. I immediately hung up and called my parents:

I didn’t get the job, and I’m moving to San Francisco

One phone call, and I had changed my life.

And one year later exactly to the day, on October 10, 2011, I found myself flying home again. Except this time, it was to San Francisco.

What is the dream you have the decision to make into a frighteningly easy reality?

Currently Feeling: Sick from eating too much caramel popcorn. I’m WAY too obsessed with 479 Degrees organic popcorn company made in SF. It’s amazing!
Currently Anticipating: A big huge fun two-day music festival this weekend called Treasure Island Music Fest. I get to see my new favorite band live, Cut Copy!
Currently Needing: A good, long vinyasa class after a weekend home, eating junk and not working out.

My blog lovelies, I’m finally leaving for my (almost three week) yoga retreat in Bali, Indonesia. I’ve been planning this trip since last November, so I can’t believe it’s actually here!

This trip is led by one of my favorite yoga teachers from Seattle, Jennifer Isaacson. I was in her class in November 2010 when she announced she’d be hosting this yoga retreat to Bali the next year, and I immediately knew I wanted to save to go. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect – I was upset over a botched trip with a friend to Thailand and not hitting my goal of traveling outside the country in 2010 because of said botched trip, and it was that night I stepped in Jennifer’s class and heard her announcement. It was a calling, I believe. That’s the hippie, yoga, fate side of me talking.

I wouldn’t normally sign up for a “tour,” led by someone else, but the itinerary for this trip blew my mind and solidified my desire to go. Because Jennifer has relationships with locals in Bali (from her past trips), we’re going to enjoy a truly one-of-a-kind experience with local art, music, a purification ceremony, traditional Balinese massage, visits to a traditional Balinese healer, a Balinese cooking class, and more. You can read our itinerary here. Furthermore, I’m a “Type A” personality that has to research and plan everything myself, so it’s actually been really stress-free to sit back and let everyone else figure out the details for me.

I’m most excited about staying in the Lotus beach front bungalows on Candisdasa Beach (it looks absolutely breathtaking) and relaxing, while still challenging my body, in two daily yoga classes with one of my favorite teachers. I hope to come back relaxed, healthy and in even better shape.

Pictures and details coming upon my return. Until then, see you September 17th!

Currently Feeling: So nervous to travel for 24 hours to get to Bali! Just need to get over that mental hump.
Currently Anticipating: The minute I step foot off that plane and on Balinese soil.
Currently Reading: A choice of about 20 books I downloaded on my Kindle for this trip (excessive, much)? I hope to get through at least two or three and will report back to you on my fav! Tata.

Last weekend, one of my bestest girl friends from Seattle came and stayed with me in San Francisco for four days, and it was awesome.

As we get older and lives take each of us on our own journey, the more “busy” everyone becomes. Each of us are caught up in our own affairs – boyfriends, workouts, grad school, long work hours, different cities or states – and it all makes it difficult to see very much of your best friends. So, it was a true gift to spend four nonstop days with this particular BFF in my new city.

Thursday we had the ultimate girly evening – shopping at one of SF’s best clothing boutiques, Ambiance, fantastic sushi at Umami in the Marina, followed by a late evening viewing of The Help, which is so, so, good! As an avid book reader who likes to watch the movie version of the books I read, it was hands down the most satisfying book/movie combination I’ve ever seen.

Friday we picked up another one of our BFFs from college who was in town for one night and hit the city for a fun house party with my San Francisco girl friends followed by an 80s cover band and a late night slumber party with gossip and midnight snacks. (A novelty I haven’t experienced since college). Life needs more slumber parties with girl friends!

Pre-80s band night drinks at my Cait's with old and new friends

Saturday we enjoyed a fabulous brunch and Bloody Mary’s at a friend’s house, traveled out to Tiburon for my first COLD experience at Sam’s on the waterfront, and went on a silly scavenger hunt in the North Beach neighborhood of SF, which was hands down one of my the most fun nights and the most laughing I’ve done in awhile. We sprinted (literally, sprinted) through the streets of North Beach, dodging other teams trying to spray us with whip cream, and trying to find all the funny items on the scavenger hunt list (Snookie look alike, or an “off duty prostitute” and capture them with our iPhone. If you live in SF, you must check out CLASH (California League of Adult Scavenger Hunt) and sign up for your own scavenger hunt (they do them every weekend).

We had to cross "Sausage Fest" off our scavenger hunt list,
so we found a sausage store and had a dance fest. Get it?  

In between all those plans, we drank a couple glasses of wine, had lots of girl talk, went on many walks and worked out together. It was just such a special time for me to have one of my BFFs experience my new life with me and show her around my new city. I look forward to having weekends like this with her every year! Love you, Kristen! xoxo

Currently Feeling: Extreme relief after finishing all my work for both jobs and turning my vacation responder on – I’m a free woman for three weeks!
Currently Anticipating: A White Party at a winery tonight with all my Seattle friends and lovers.
Currently Loving: My new hair color and fancy straight style (temp). Love getting my hair done.

I read somewhere that local legend says “Napa” translates to “you will always return,” which is true! Since my trip with my parents, I’ve been to Napa Valley three times. I’m totally in love – with dozens of beautiful estate wineries, world-acclaimed restaurants, HOT sun and cute little towns only an hour away from San Francisco Bay, it’s my new happy place (although Maui is still at the very tiptop).

I thought I’d share two short posts about Napa Valley – first THE WINE (of course) and second THE FOOD (cause it’s seriously drool worthy).

The first day my parents and I were in Napa, we rented bikes at the popular Napa Valley Bike Tours in Yountville. We had a bit of a bummer experience, but I would still recommend using the bike rental place. Just don’t start your bike tour at 2:30 p.m., make sure you check what wineries are open or closed, and bike straight up and back on Highway 29 instead of using their bike loop maps. Despite the pitfalls we ran into, biking through Napa was so pretty and warm! I totally experienced one of those “life is grande” moments while peddling under the trees on a quiet side road with birds singing and views of vineyards.

The second day, we drove all the way up to Calistoga then worked our way back (a highly recommended approach). There are literally dozens of beautiful wineries to stop at along the highway that links Napa (the city) to Calistoga. It’s hard to make it to all of them, and hitting three to five in one day is a FULL day, so expect to visit Napa over and over if you want to visit all the wineries.

We went to Sterling Vineyards, which has a gondola you have to ride to the top to wine taste. It was really fun and something you won’t find at any other winery!

We also visited Chateau Montelena, the winery that put Napa Valley wines on the map when their 1976 Chardonnay won a blind taste test in Paris. This winery was my all-time favorite! They had a splurge-worthy Cab that was $135 a bottle, but was hands-down the best wine I’ve ever tasted. My parents picked up a bottle to save until their 30th anniversary in four years. I’m already marking that date on my calendar with a big red star so I can just happen to be home when they pop that bottle.

We also made a stop off at Castello di Amorosa – a huge castle winery, which was my dad’s fav. I’ve been told Sterling and Castello are “tourist traps,” but still think everyone should visit them once!

Let me know when/if you make plans to visit Napa, and I’ll share all my favs with you. By this time next year, I should be an expert!

Currently Feeling: That usual pre-vacation stress. Why is it so difficult to get ready for vacation?
Currently Anticipating: My first Girls Dinner (San Francisco edition) on Wednesday!
Currently Loving: My new homemade popsicles – post on them coming soon!

//via *jbird* on Flickr

Today is my three month “Move to San Francisco” anniversary.

Moosfversary?!

I swear I’ll stop acting like a 16-year-old girl in love for the first time, counting every anniversary. “Happy eighth-month anniversary baby! Heart, heart, XOXO, heart heart heart. What!? You didn’t get me a dozen red roses for our eighth anniversary?! I hate you. We’re broken up. Until tomorrow.”

P.S. Girls are crazy.

Anyway, the significance of this three-month date is that I didn’t start feeling like myself, literally, until this week. You see, I’ve been posting a lot of fun, happy updates (because I am happy and having fun), but I want to share with you the hard part of my journey too. Less sugar coating, more reality, if you will.

There’s something about moving away to an unfamiliar place, away from all your friends and family, uprooting everything you’ve known for years, that just shakes you to your core. A good shake – not like a death, divorce or layoff might shake you, but challenging still. I knew that it was going to be a bit of a battle, but I didn’t know I’d be walking around feeling like half of Jeanna for three months.

See – a lot of your environment, including the people around you, defines who you are. How you spend your time is a big one – the people you go to dinner with, the fitness studios where you choose to push your body to its limits, the grocery and drug store employees you see every week, the work environment you spend eight hours a day (or more) in. Take that all away – take away all the people and places you’re familiar with – and it makes you feel like a part of how you define(d) yourself is stripped away.

Molly of Stratejoy wrote a great blog post this week (funny timing, I tell yah), about her struggles with moving away from Seattle also (to San Diego) this past month. She wrote about how she’s homesick and misses the creature comforts from her familiar city, and how she wants to “stop procrastinating on some healthy and creative habits … and let go of some unhealthy crutches.” You can just click through to read, but Molly’s struggles with taking part in passive leisure (things that feel “nice” but require little thought, ability, or skill such as watching TV or surfing the net, ie: FACEBOOK) rather than active leisure (things that require you to engage, learn and create such as sports, creative pursuits, cooking for pleasure, learning a new hobby) are SO ME in the last three months.

While I’ve been having lots of fun getting to know my new city the last three months, I haven’t pursued my yoga practice since here, which has really bothered me. I’ve been overindulging (in adult beverages and rich food) with visitors and new friends. I’m not as connected or comfortable in the tech and social media scene in San Francisco as I was in Seattle. Sometimes I’m overwhelmed about how to get places, or where to go for certain necessities, and the need to research everything feels like a chore. I’ve slept late and sometimes barely interacted with people for an entire day (or showered for two) since I work from home. Not to mention the whole move has felt surreal, and sometimes I still can’t believe I actually left Seattle, and think maybe I’m just on an extended vacation. All in all, I’ve just generally felt disconnected from the hot-yoga-doing, healthy-recipe-trying, happy-hour-going, new-hobby-trying, business-networking-social-butterfly girl I knew so well in Seattle (and was really getting to love).

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But Jeanna’s getting her groove back. And it didn’t take a hot black man to do so (although that would have been nice too).

I started my week, feeling like I’m finally fully settled into the swing of my new life, and my new environment is starting to define a new Jeanna, whose new skin I’m increasingly more comfortable in.

I love working from home and making my own schedule, but still visiting an office a couple days a week for coworker interaction. I also feel really lucky that working from home (WFH) allows me to make my food fresh every day from scratch, so I’m eating more “clean” than ever before, avoiding unhealthy lunches out and fast food. I’m learning my neighborhood too – the little specialty mart that sells amazing organic fruit and my favorite handmade tamales, the new salon I walk to for haircuts and colors, the coffee shop that sells addicting breakfast burritos, the park with an amazing view of the entire Bay that I love to walk through, the secret places to park, and the fitness center across the street from me that has the best Balletone class. I’m back to feeling healthy, eating right, and scheduling workouts into my day, which is a big part of me feeling like the best part of me that I can be. And I’m even getting to know the bus schedule, how to pronounce the street names, and my way around the city when driving (without Google Maps).

I’ve also finally completed all those little annoying idiosyncrasies of moving that have been on one long to-do list for the last three months, preventing me from feeling truly settled in – getting a new license, hooking up Internet and TV, getting an extra key made, buying a parking pass, meter card, bus pass, and one of those entirely too large plastic boxes you have to stick on your car window with two pieces of Velcro, so you can drive through the fast lane across the Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge (so many bridges here) without stopping in long lines of cars to pay your toll.

Except one of my new friends got in my car yesterday and said, “You MOUNTED your FasTrak?! Only the dorks MOUNT it.”

San Francisco Jeanna – getting her groove back, but still so far away from being “San Francisco cool.”

Currently Feeling: A little weirded out that a friend of mine now has a dog that shares my name (albeit spelled differently). Not everyday that that happens. (Isn’t the double thats always so awkward! Couldn’t figure out my way around that one).
Currently Anticipating: A trip to Napa tomorrow to see one of my Seattle BFFs who will be there on a family vacation! Wahoo 80 degrees and wine tasting (again)! P.S. Two blogs on my Napa trip coming soon.
Currently Obsessed With: Kahlua Keurig singles.