Last week the Giants won the World Series. As a former SF resident and soon to be wife to a diehard Giants fan, I applaud them. They’re a great team who deserves it. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for San Francisco. The truth is, as a Dodgers fan, I don’t hate the Giants. Although I grew up next door to Dodgers stadium in Glendale, I didn’t understand baseball growing up. Didn’t pay it too much mind when it was on TV and didn’t like Dodger dogs. Then I moved to SF, and the city’s love for baseball was contagious. So I started repping my home team and ducking popcorn and other items that were thrown at me when I would wear my Dodger blue in San Francisco.

So when the Giants won their third World Series championship in the last five years, about five percent of me was happy for them. The other 95%? Anger. I was so mad. Mad at all the Instagram posts, at my friends cheering on the other side of FaceTime. It’s silly but in that moment there was nothing I wanted more than the Royals to win. The rationale part of me wants to say, “Hey relax, it’s just a game. San Francisco is celebrating, you should be happy for them.” But the louder part of me wants to throw a pie at any of my friends who are mocking the Dodgers.

It all seems so silly when there’s no high stake game on. But honestly, there is a reason why sports rivalries drive people to talk trash, to throw popcorn, to throw punches. In a great Op-Ed piece in the L.A. Times, Robert Sapolsky writes in defense of choosing a side. How the idea of picking a side and rooting for the downfall of the opposing side is something that is innately in us. It’s not really who we’re rooting for that’s important to us…it’s just the fact that we have chosen any side. There’s something in us that wants to side with the stronger side. Subconsciously we’re always after surrounding ourselves with the best and the strongest. So when we’ve chosen a side and we’re beaten, it’s devastating….as silly as it may seem.

Of course, this is is not in defense of violence, this in defense of choosing a side and (non-violently) defending it and having pride in it. Creating a them versus us mentality is an primal quality, something that ties us to other animals. We create a sense of community to build allies. Sports rivalries are about communities and camaraderie. We’re built to pick a side, to pick a team and defend it to the end.

It only sucks when you’re on the losing side. Oh man, it really fucking sucks. But the great thing about sports is that we’re all masochists that are more than willing to sign up for more torture next year on the off chance we come out on top.

So keep talking shit, everyone. It’s only natural.

xoxo

Sandi

weekend warriors

Weekend Warriors: Kat and Casper Forever <3

Weekend Recap: November 1-2, 2014

There are some years where I’ve been pining for some Halloween fun. Looking for a party, thinking of a costume. But this year was definitely not that type of year. This year I put on my cat ears (thanks Target’s dollar section!), gave out an immense amount of candy, and watched two 90’s classics. First up was Scream. It’s one of those movies that’s just a tiny bit suspenseful and scary while still being funny. That’s what I look for in my Halloween movies. Tiny bit scary, but not so scary I can’t sleep. While Frank slept, I watched one of my favorite movies from when I was a kid: Casper.

I remember when I was a kid thinking that young Devon Sawa as human Casper was the dreamiest. I remember my favorite part was when Casper sleeps next to Kat and whispers into her ear, “Can I keep you?”. As I remember, teenage boys were never as romantic as that animated ghost. Le sigh.

The movie theme continued into Saturday when we saw Nightcrawler. I think one word to sum up that movie is…disturbing. Jake Gyllenhaal completely transformed himself. It was dark, twisted, and uncomfortable. Quite the departure from the movies I saw the night before!

Here’s to another (hopefully) productive week!

xoxo

Sandi

marketing minute

Marketing Minute: Unmarketing

Advertising and marketing is so prevalent and takes so many different forms and faces that sometimes it’s easy to forget that some of the biggest companies do no advertising. The list of brands that haven’t invested in traditional advertising include some of the most well-known brands around, Krispy Kreme, Spanx and Whole Foods are some of the bigger names. But take for example, everyone’s new favorite hot sauce: Sriracha. With no traditional advertising the fiery sauce has managed to inspire an entire Food Festival dedicated to it. It’s popularity due to word of mouth and social media. So why isn’t every company doing this type of [un]marketing?

The reason is because this act of “doing nothing” takes a lot of work. It’s easier to conceptualize a tangible advertising campaign. This ability to perpetuate and maintain a brand’s popularity without traditional advertising is a new field that is still growing and hasn’t been as obviously defined.

Take Sriracha for example, it’s hard to escape this hot sauce lately. Everyone from Subway to Lays have introduced their version of Sriracha-flavored items. Sure, this is advertising. But it didn’t come directly from Sriracha. The brand has created a movement, a legion of followers. Why? My theory is that although Sriracha is no longer a secret, it’s still not so mainstream. It feels special to know about it, at least it the beginning. Everyone want’s to feel like they’re the first to like the cool thing. Sriracha didn’t have to work too hard to get your attention, they didn’t need advertising.

Even successful advertising runs the risk of oversaturing and tiring their customer. So why invest in advertising that has your customers on the street doing the leg work. It takes more creativity and more ingenuity. Your job is to get potential customers to think it was their idea to promote your brand by word of mouth instead of the result of your professional craftiness.

xoxo

Sandi

weekend warriors

Weekend Warriors: Donuts and Sunshine

Weekend Recap: October 25-26

This weekend my fiance was off to San Francisco to gather with his fellow Giants fans, so I took the time to soak in the quality time with my parents. We’ll be moving out in the next coming months and as great as that is, truth is I’ll miss the time spent with my parents. So Saturday my mom and I ventured to the valley, shopped and ate. The whole day was spent chatting and gossiping.

On Sunday, with my dad off we all ventured to Santa Monica.We went to Dunkin Donuts, which I’ve been trying to visit since it opened a little over a month ago. This Santa Monica location is one of the first DD’s on the west coast and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I can’t say if it compares to the DD’s back east, but I can tell you this much…coffee was on point, donuts were good and the line wasn’t too bad.

From there we drove down to the 3rd street promenade and my dad showed me where he worked when I was born (at a hotel near the beach), we walked around, went down to the pier and got to play tourists for the day.

Got a pretty pic of some colorful cacti (love!) near the promenade.

On the way back we scooped up some pupusas from El Molcajeta (best pupusas in L.A.!), drove back home and chilled until Frank came home. Felt good to have him back, I really missed him. With Monday already over, here’s hoping the rest of the week goes just as fast!

xoxo

Sandi

grub and drinks

Fall Checklist

Fall is great and there are so many things to love about it. But as much as I love it the small teenage angsty part of me wants to go against popular opinion and deny it. But you know what? I’m an adult, and being an adult is admitting that something popular things are popular for a reason. Pumpkin patches, leggings and boots are great, there’s a reason we (k, mostly girls) love fall.

Here’s a few things I got on my list:

1. Go to a pumpkin patch, take some pics (you know for social media…don’t act like you wouldn’t instagram your pumpkin patch pic!) ✓

2. Drink my weight* in spiced rum and apple cider (*or you know two or three or four glasses; there’s something about any cider drink that will fool you into thinking that it’s not 85 degrees outside)

3. Catch the Andy Warhol Exhibit at the MOCA (not fall-related, but still a must do, I think)

4. Learn to bake a pie (I’ve made an apple pie before but I half cheated by using pre-made dough. This shall be the year I make my own pie!)

5. Prepare a turkey ala Martha Stewart (by which I mean make something remotely tasty and somewhat edible)

6. Drink by a fireplace at one of these locations

7. Step up my style game (is this lame? yes probably. But I think chances of me dressing like an adult go up if layers are involved. Will this be the year i wear heels recreationally instead of a forced formal situation?! no, probably not….but a girl can dream)

Wish me luck!

xoxo

Sandi

weekend warriors

Weekend Warriors: Cupcakes and Palm Trees

Weekend Recap: October 18-19 2014

This weekend felt very adult-y. On Saturday we went to go see a wedding venue (yeeks!), which I will post pics of if we decide to go with it. It was in downtown L.A. It was beautiful, but I’m pretty superstitious so I don’t want to get my hopes up in case that’s not the place. The motto of this whole pre-wedding planning business is ….”We shall see.”

Before that we were in Hollywood were I went to one of my favorite independent shops, Johnny Cupcakes. It’s an addiction but it’s in control. I have about….7 of their t-shirts, two of their phone cases, a keychain and lots of pins. Like I said, it’s under control. I went to go pick up some more goodies. To follow the bakery theme, their “bags” are pastry boxes. It’s all in the details.

I caught a pretty shot of Fairfax Ave and all it’s palm trees. I’m a sucker for palm trees.

Sunday was spent napping, watching Parks and Recs and running some errands.

Here’s to another week!

xoxo

Sandi

current obsession, style and design

Current Obsession: Midi Skirts

Can you call something an obsession that you’ve only recently discovered you like? No, probably not but that won’t stop me. So I’m declaring it here…my new favorite fall/winter style obsession is the midi skirt. Way past a mini skirt but not quite full-length – the midi skirt is the perfect compromise.

I recently purchased a body con style midi skirt in basic black, and have quickly fallen in love. Is that an overstatement? Sure, but the truth is the truth. The thing that’s great about them is that they’re grown-up but don’t have to be dowdy. I feel like in the past I thought of this length skirt as an old lady staple. But with an updated top, it really works. Best of all? It’s super forgiving and comfortable.

Some options below:

Midi Skirts It’s a great look for work but can be fun for the weekends/post-work, especially if your the fit is snug or if your top is a on the tighter side.

Here’s the last thing I’ll say it makes me feel grown up and put together with very little effort. Isn’t that the best selling point? I think so!

xoxo

Sandi

general

The Trouble with Staying Motivated

Last week was one of those weeks. Those weeks that feel like they passed in a blink of an eye but where nothing really happened. I spent most of last week recovering from my eventful and speedy road trip to SF. Work was busy busy with lots of work and some stress-inducing meetings. My week was a haze of caffeine, unhealthy food, work and sleep. By the end of the week I was just feeling so…unproductive. Sure I worked a full week, but I still felt (and continue to feel) unmotivated.

It’s a tough feeling to shake, so I thought I’d do a little bit of research on motivation. One of the first things that came to mind when I started thinking about motivation was social media. Every time we (the bigger “we” that we all belong to) eat healthy, go to the gym, get a new job, want to lose weight, we feel the need to announce it. There is no shortage of motivational pics and quotes.

Do these work though? I’ll admit…I’m not completely cynical. But with no shortage of visual inspiration, the trickier part is turning this inspiration into motivation and that motivation into action.

Hand in hand with lack of motivation is constant procrastination. Tomorrow I’ll eat healthier, tomorrow I’ll work on that task. Tomorrow is a comforting thought when you want to avoid something. I read this article below and one of the many great points it made was emotional barriers. Sometimes there’s a bigger reason why you might be avoiding a task, usually fear. UGH. Isn’t being a reflective adult the WORST?

I’m hoping writing out this post helps motivate me this week. I got pleeentyy of things I need to do this week. Big adult stuff I have to work on, posts I want to write, exercise to be done, and healthy food to be consumed. Wish me luck!

xoxo

Sandi

weekend warriors

Weekend Warriors: Overindulgence

Weekend Recap: October 11-12

The motto of this weekend was #treatyoself. Do I regret it? No. Do I regret it? Yeah a little.

I shopped a little too much and ate a little too much. Candy, ice cream, pizza…I ate like an 11 year old kid who’s been left alone for the first time. On a brighter note, I got a cute shirt for less than $10 at the Gap (thanks 40% off sale!), ate some great ice cream and ate lots of candy at Lolli and Pops.

Weekend, you were great but I got stuff to do this week! On to another week.

xoxo

Sandi

weekend warriors

Weekend Warriors: San Francisco for 40 Hours

Weekend Recap: October 4-5, 2014

Bluegrass Music. San Francisco. Waterfalls. Golden Gate Park. Caribbean Food. Bernal Heights. North Beach. Pimms Cup. Lots of Driving. Photo Booths. Brunch. Beer. Mimosas. Rooftop Bars.

This weekend was…eventful.

It started Friday night when my best friend picked me up and we headed 6 hours north to San Francisco. It’s been over a year and half since we moved to the L.A. area, and honestly I’m always down to go visit the Bay Area… so when my friend asked if I would accompany her on a road trip to a free music festival in Golden Gate Park, I said…”Yes please!”

We were lucky enough to stay at her friend’s super cute apartment in Bernal Heights that had the nicest garden. I just had to take some pictures, especially since the weather was so sunny and bright (which is a rarity in SF, although when we came the city was experiencing a heat wave, but heat wave in SF means 85 degrees not the 110 that it means in L.A.).

We had brunch on Saturday at a little cafe on Dolores street in the Mission District. I took a pic of my food because it was pretty and I’m lame and feel inclined to take pics of all pretty things, including eggs.

We had some mimosas, grabbed our backpacks and were on our way to the park.

Now I’ll be honest…I know little to nothing about bluegrass music. I’ll tell you what I know…I’ve heard some Sara Watkins and I really love everything I’ve heard, I know some Johnny Cash (that’s bluegrass adjacent, I think?), and I know it involves…guitars, fiddles, banjos and other more complicated instruments I’ve never heard of. So with all that impressive knowledge, I went to the park to listen to bluegrass all day with my best friend who knows all the things about the bluegrass. Minus the blistering sun and hoards of people, it was a lot of fun. We had beer, snacks and laid in the park.

When it ended we made our way east to the Haight district where we ate some yummy Caribbean food, on the way there we spotted a waterfall. Crazy right!

From there we met up with some of old friends from my college days at S.F. State where we drank some more beer, danced and had a really fun (and sweaty) time at a local bar. After we practically sweated through our clothes, we made our way to North Beach to drink tasty drinks at 15 Romolo and take ridiculous photo booth pics that don’t need to be published online in case one of us runs for president one day.

It was a busy Saturday to say the least. Sunday we had brunch at a rooftop spot with one of my bestest friends. We caught up, drank more mimosas, my bff had the bloody mary she’d been craving all weekend, paid too much for eggs benedicts, took some pics and were on our way back to Southern California.

This weekend was exhausting, fun, eventful and amazing. I loved spending so much time with my best friend, and I’d do it all again if I could. Today I was able to go to work without falling asleep at my desk, so it was a success. Now to go back to pretending I’m an adult for a week. Until next weekend!

xoxo

Sandi

This is Sandi

In Defense of Talking Trash

Weekend Warriors: Kat and Casper Forever <3

Marketing Minute: Unmarketing

Weekend Warriors: Donuts and Sunshine

Fall Checklist

Weekend Warriors: Cupcakes and Palm Trees

Current Obsession: Midi Skirts

The Trouble with Staying Motivated

Weekend Warriors: Overindulgence

Weekend Warriors: San Francisco for 40 Hours