Man, I have been lagging with my I Saw the Sign posts. Today I bring you storefront signage from one of my favorite neighborhoods in San Francisco – The Mission. The Mission is known for it’s thriving latino culture, amazing food, and even more amazing murals. But let’s take a journey and appreciate the beautiful and historical signage that the Mission has to offer. read more »
My cousin Natasha and me on the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California, 1994
It was April of 1994. I had just turned 10 a whole month earlier. DOUBLE DIGITS! And yes, I was clearly going through my ugly stage. Haha. My Uncle flew my cousin and I up to visit him and my Aunt in San Jose and we took a day trip up to San Francisco. The only things I knew about San Francisco at this point in my life was that the Tanner family lived there and that Rice-A-Roni was allegedly the city’s favorite food. Little did I know that 15 years later, I would call this crazy place home.
The ocean speaks in spits and I can hear it from the interstate. And I’m screaming at my sister on a cell phone, she is far away.
This weekend I finally flew up to visit two good friends who live in Seattle, WA – home of the original Starbucks, and one of my favorite romantic comedies.
I went to Seattle expecting it to be a carbon copy of San Francisco. I was wrong. Their politics are similar, and their LGBT community is proud and lovely. But it was quite different from the city I call home. First of all, there is an abundance of greenery… or, at this time of year, autumn colored leaves covering the sidewalks, which is actually really beautiful. I say this even though I almost slipped on some soggy leaves. Luckily I have cat-like reflexes and saved myself from having a soggy bottom. Additionally, it was cold. Not Chicago winter cold, but colder than SF… and rainy, but I was expecting that, and am happy to have experienced Seattle’s rainy season.
The city was quite dreamy… it had a very relaxed and homey feel. I would describe Seattle as a more liberal midwest, because it reminded me a lot of Minnesota… I don’t know why. It also felt a little 90’s, like the majority of the fashion in the midwest. I’m not hating, just observing. I’m happy to be home, but on the walk up my beloved street, I was missing the colorful leaves and the crisp Washington air, and my Seattle-ite friends. I’ll be back soon! I’ll have to do an update that includes photos… too tired at the moment. Chinese food coma. Seattle had some really great signs, and architecture. Oh man. The little houses! Stay tuned!
“… ‘I Left My Heart in San Francisco’. I’ve moved away several times only to find myself wanting to come back. No place in the world is like San Francisco. There’s just something about it.” Faye, our Realtor said to me as we looked out of the vacant Noe Valley bedroom window overlooking a beautiful cityscape, with the Bay Bridge in the distance.
Yes, I am finally updating about my trip to Chicago that happened over a month ago. Hey! Better now than never, right? I think so.
Looking through my photos, I realized I may have to make this a two parter. A series, if you will. In part one we shall embark on the historical gem that is… dun duN DUN… The Auditorium Building!
First of all, it was a Saturday. We had been in Chicago for one whole day so far, and my throat was starting to become sore. When I had looked out of my 5 star hotel window that morning and saw that the city looked just plain frozen, I knew it would be a painful trip to our destination. On the way to the subway, I ran into Starbucks to grab a banana for a quick breakfast. Usually one may experience a frozen banana defrosting in the hot summer weather and becoming a regular banana. My experience was the exact opposite (minus the chocolate and nuts of course)! Boy oh boy was it cold… and WINDY! Ain’t nothing worse than feeling your eyeballs becoming numb. Anyway, enough complaining…
We arrived at the Auditorium Building. A little background; as you may know, Chicago is filled with wonderous architecture that people from around the globe travel to marvel at. Amongst it’s many famous architects, the two who designed the Auditorium Building were Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan. During our tour we learned that Frank Lloyd Wright was a junior architect at the time this building was being designed.
It turns out, Bri and I were very lucky. Due to budget cuts we were on one of the last two tours of the building. According to our guide, the Auditorium Building was one of the first multipurpose buildings to be built in the United States. Built in 1889, the building housed a theater, a hotel and office space.
But it was the theater that was the most fascinating. Sorry for the dim photos; flash photography was not allowed inside the building. Also, sorry there are no photos of the exterior. I was too cold to remove my gloves to take pictures outside, just use your imagination.
The theater interior was absolutely gorgeous. So much detail and thought was put into this space. From the lightbulb placement, to the beautiful murals on either side of the theater, this place was awe inspiring. I love being in well preserved historical landmarks, such as this, because my imagination tends to run wild and I often imagine myself being alive during that time period and walking the same floors and hallways in a big fluffy gown waiting to see the National Ballet. Ahhh. Did you know that the Auditorium Theater was the first theater to allow women to attend an opera without a male companion?
I very much enjoyed my visit to the Auditorium Building. These days, it is home to Roosevelt University, and you can still catch a show in their amazing theater. Oh! I forgot to mention, the building seems to be sinking due to lack of solid foundation. So, when walking around the theater, one may begin to feel a bit sea sick, like Bri did. The floor is very uneven, and it’s a really strange thing to experience. As Bri said at one point, “This building would have been a goner a long time ago if it were in California.” This is probably true. But I guess this is why we have to travel so far to experience living history.
