San Francisco // Fisherman's Wharf

Some say Fisherman's Wharf is a tourist trap, but I say it's a tourist trap with amazingly fresh food! Julian and I made a several trips down to the Wharf during our visit. My friend Diahanna suggested a bunch of places to eat, but she stressed we HAD to eat at In-N-Out Burger. Julian who is a burger connoisseur, loved it. It tasted like a healthy burger! Too bad we didn't get our meals "animal-style", that would've been interesting.

I recommend any of the food vendors, fresh seafood is sold left, right, and centre. I bought a whole crab (slightly over 1lb, $20) and ate it myself. The shell was so soft, nothing like what I had before. I had no problem breaking the shell my with teeth. Julian had fried calamari, it was ok, no fresh crab though.

Of course we sunk our teeth in the world famous Boudin Sourdough and Clam Chowder bowl. I had to fight with Julian for the remaining bit of the soup bowl because it was that good!

{ cute sourdough crabs }

I wish I made a trip to the Ferry Building. Diahanna said it would've easily been my favourite food destination. I also didn't have any fresh oysters while I was out there either *still kicking myself*. I guess this gives me another excuse to go back! ^_^. From the words of my wise foodie friend, DO NOT EAT AT THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY. I know their cheesecakes are extremely delicious and the restaurant is conveniently located in Macy's, but SF has too much amazing food to offer. Resist the temptation!

San Francisco // Union Square

The last time I went on a vacation was back in September, Julian and I travelled to San Francisco for five days. San Francisco is filled with amazing shopping, culture, gastronomy, and architecture. Did I mention the weather is beautiful all year round? 

San Francisco has all the best shops without being as crowded as NYC or LA. Everything you need to find is pretty much in Union Square, from Forever 21 to Barney's. It was just a 20 minute bus ride from our our hotel! It was sweeeet.

Stay tuned for more SF photos!

Look ma! We won a bronze!

Back in March, my co-worker Valerie and I participated in Globe & Mail's Young Lions competition. The challenge was to create a media plan in 24 hours for the Stephen Lewis Foundation, a charity that addresses the challenges of AIDS/HIV in Africa. The gold medalist of each category represents Canada at the Cannes Young Lions Competition at the 2011 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.


Challenging? Yes. I haven't been this challenged since my university days. It brought memories of sleepless fourth year marketing projects. We started our Saturday at 9 am and finished in the wee hours of the morning, 3 am to be exact. The key objective was to increase donations amongst women ages 25-45. It was very important to us to not deviate from our core idea, the vulnerability of women. After brainstorming a million ideas on scrap pieces of paper, and going back and forth with countless media executions, we tried the best we could given the circumstances, 24 hours to complete a media plan was brutal! At the time, I felt defeated, tired and dazed. Now looking back, it was a great experience and truly puts one's determination to the test.


We honestly didn't expect to place. The chances of us making the top 3 were slim for our first attempt. The funny story was Val and I didn't even bother checking the results after the CEO announced that no one from the company placed in the top 3. It wasn't until another co-worker let us know our names were listed on a website. I immediately flew to Val's desk and told her the "news". Our names were on the list alright, but the media plan linked wasn't ours!

After much investigation, it turns out the Globe & Mail screwed up and we did in fact win the bronze! *WOOT!* Val is a talented graphic artist who also really knows her media shizz. Her amazing graphic skills really brought the whole plan together nicely. It was a pleasure to work with her.

{ click to check out our media plan! }