the Marketing Babes

   

   Photo by Micah Weiss

You're sporting a gorgeous pregnancy glow and a beautiful baby bump, so why not give yourself the pampering you deserve? After all, we know that carving out "me" time will be harder to do after the little one arrives. Whether you're a local or just visiting, San Francisco offers plenty of relaxing things to do. Here's a list of 5 that we think will leave you feeling pampered! 

1. Have a picnic at the Palace of Fine Arts, Yerba Buena Gardens or Washington Square Park. (On Sunday's check out Off the Grid: Picnic at the Presidio - food truck heaven).

2. Rent a rowboat at Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park (make sure to bring someone with upper arm strength).

3. Enjoy afternoon tea at The Rotunda at Neiman Marcus.

4. Get your make-up done. We love Benefit, Bobby Brown (Kimberly at Neiman Marcus is awesome) and Mac's new Powell Street flagship store.

5. Book the Pregnant & Pampered SF Hotel Package at Personality Hotels. We'll keep you comfortable and happy with a Ghirardelli sundae, spa treatment coupon, sparkling cider, a body pillow, Tums, and much more! 

I didn't really embrace Union Square until I started working at Personality Hotels. Like most San Franciscans, my loyalty was rooted in own neighborhood - Nob Hill. But as soon as I started spending 5 days a week in Union Square, I had no choice but to embrace my surroundings. 

I spent lunchtime wandering around the square, looking at the menus of nearby restaurants, and occasionally popping into H&M. (Shhh... don't tell my boss). It quickly became my 2nd neighborhood.

To be honest, the expertise I'm most comfortable sharing with you is my cocktail knowledge. Most girls spoil themselves with new shoes, I spoil myself with fancy cocktails. Everyone needs a drink after work, right?

So sit back, wait patiently, and watch your bartender create a work of art at one of my top 5 spots to enjoy an amazing well-crafted cocktail!

1. Local Edition

This sexy space is located underneath Market Street, literally. Inspired by the newspaper business of the 50s, you'll notice printing artifacts and century-old papers are everywhere. I love the heavy velvet drapes, sconce lighting and the retro jazz club feeling it exudes.

2. Bourbon & Branch

Straight out of the 1920s, Bourbon & Branch is the closest Prohibition experience we'll ever have. Just ring the buzzer and use the password "books". You'll be escorted to the secret speakeasy location with floor to ceiling bookcases and of course, superb cocktails. 

3. Tradition 

This is a true melting pot of traditional American bars of the ages. From Tiki to Dive Bar to Speakeasy to English Pub, Tradition is all about the evolution of drinking. I'm partial to the French 75 from the "Grand Hotel" menu.

Two favorites slightly outside of Union Square:

4. Comstock Saloon

If you love a Manhattan as much as I do, this is the place to go. Plus you get to step back in time. Word has it that the saloon has served as a watering hole to San Franciscans since 1907, and it definitely embraces that history. Think bow ties and suspenders. 

5. 1760

If you're exploring my lovely neighborhood of Nob Hill, the best cocktail can be found at 1760. It's a restaurant as well and the food never disappoints, but my regular visits are dedicated to my two favorite cocktails:

Blood Orange-Rosemary. blackstrap. absinthe. rye (pictured above)

Garam Masala-Cardamom. thyme. orange. toasted cardamom. bourbon 

We absolutely love Union Square during the holiday season! Besides endless shopping, it offers all kinds of festive activities that the whole family will love. Below are some highlights that we definitely won't miss! See you there... 

1. Nutcracker Under the Dome - November 21st - December 31st, Westfield Centre

Westfield’s iconic Dome will come to life each night with a brand-new, 3-D light show that will showcase performance footage of San Francisco Ballet dancers in an innovative new format. Inspired by the real-life ballet performance, Nutcracker Under the Dome provides a magical holiday experience for shoppers and visitors of all ages.

The free 6-minute light spectacular runs nightly every half hour from 5:00pm until the Centre’s closing on Level 4/Dome Level.

Last Thursday night I got to feel like a little kid again, but with big kid advantages. Full of excitement I attended my first-ever Nightlife event at California Academy of Sciences. With minimal expectations, I headed for Golden Gate Park to take part in 'Sharktoberfest'.

Every Thursday evening, the museum hosts an adult-only festivity influenced by a different environmental or scientific theme. And last week's theme happened to be Sharktoberfest. There was a live German band decked out in ledderhosen, Berlin-style ping pong, a pop-up beer garden, and great cocktails. I can't deny my love for cocktails so I went for the Farallon Collins - a delicious blend of vodka, fresh canteloupe, house-made ginger shrub, local honey and fresh mint. The night was off to a good start.

But cocktails aside, the real celebration of the evening was in honor of sharks. Here in Northern California during October local conservancy groups adopt the theme 'Sharktober' to raise awareness that sharks are endangered and the health of our ocean is suffering because of that.

In addition to shark education, all of the regular Cal Academy exhibitions were open for exploration, as they always are. With cocktail in hand, I came nose-to-nose with creatures at the aquariam, took a virtual safari through Africa in the natural history museum, and excited my senses in the all-too-real earthquake exhibit. Others journeyed through the stunning 4-story rain forest and others were entertained by digital imagery in the planetarium.  

With food and drink options, live music, and tons of activities, Nightlife is the perfect way to spend a Thursday evening with friends. I left feeling happy and proud of the new things I learned. I didn't feel like I was being educated, it just naturally happened, in the most fun way possible.  

INTERESTED IN VISITING CAL ACADEMY? Ask your front desk about discounted tickets. 

Ever feel like you need to just let loose or treat yourself to some fun things? Well here's a few that could get you started and let you treat yourself in San Francisco!

Earth and Sky Oasis, Union Square

Earth and Sky Oasis is not a “spa” in the traditional sense, but a small collective of independent practitioners doing therapeutic work.

Sugar Cafe, Union Square 

Sugar Cafe transitions from a stylish coffee bar with a full menu and free wifi internet by day to a luxurious lounge at night offering a full bar.

Go shopping in Union Square. There's plenty to choose from, The Westfield mall, Macy's and high end stores such as Chanel, Tiffany's, Gucci, Saks and so much more!

Ruby Skye is San Francisco's premiere nightclub and special events venue, located just off ofUnion Square.

The Mission District

The Mission District has turned into the place to be for young people, artists, activists and people just looking to experience culture. The district has so many different businesses for everyone to enjoy: cafes, thrift stores, produce markets, used book stores, trendy restaurants and boutiques. The area is filled with things to do from enjoying a cup of coffee while people watching to taking in the area’s history and rich Latin culture. (best part is it’s right off the 16^th st/Mission BART stop)

The Best Places To Start Your Visit:

Bar Tartine: A popular bakery that combines Tartine’s Californian-Mediterranean style menu with a wine bar. Dark wood floors and tables and along bar overlooking the open kitchen.  

561 Valencia St.

Yamo: If you love finding those one-of-a-kind and delicious spots to eat, then this place is for you. It’s a small counter-only Burmese restaurant, family run and owned. The food fuses the tastes ofIndia andChina with dishes from delicious rice and noodles to curry. This is the place you want to go if your looking for good food, even if you aren’t a big fan of those dishes, just try it, you may be surprised!        

3406 18th St.

Idol Vintage: Miss the 80s? Then shop here and have all your best memories come alive again. This store has everything you could have in the 80s, from leg warmers, boxy sweaters along with racks of coats, pants, sweatshirts, jeans and dresses. Those things you never thought you’d see again are here, so get your 80s on!                                                     

3162 16th St.

Adobe Book Shop: This book store is a must! It has a backroom gallery featuring local artists; it’s often opens up at night for live music and has a great supply of unique books. It has a cozy feeling to it, while still staying hip and you can even grab a book and relax in a comfortable chair.                                                       

3166 16th St.

Blondie’s Bar and No Grill: This popular bar has purple neon décor, sidewalk seating and an extensive martini menu. It’s always crazy crowded on the weekends, but a good way to have a good time and interact with everyone from everywhere.

540 Valencia St.

In this world of business, cards seem to be a stamp of approval, something that personally identifies you.  Come on, you know you have an over abundance of random business cards hiding in your desk drawer, your fancy business card holder or scattered all over your desk. Don’t you wish you had a cool device that could store all these cards in that you might one day need?

Strolling through the corporate halls of Personality Hotels, we couldn’t help notice that a few people are bringing cool back with ROLODEX’s!!! Yup, that bulky thing that sits on your desk and rotates.

You have to ask yourself what ever happened to the Rolodex in the first place? There hasn’t been some amazing new replacement? Everyone still has business cards, so what happened? What went wrong?

It doesn’t matter because either way, Personality Hotels is bringing the iconic office staple back to being cool.

Ok so maybe only two people are bringing old school back but that doesn’t matter because give us a couple week and guaranteed more people will have these fabulous contraptions sitting on their desks…once again. 

I dare you to come up with a better idea, because it simply doesn’t exist. 

Looking for that great gift idea? Then make sure to check out our new and fun packages! Whether you are looking for a fun night out or a more romantic evening in, we have something for you. Where else in San Francisco can you find such a fun Valentine's Day package?

Sitting for lunch by the window at Colibri Mexican Bistro, you can see people walking with shopping bags, running back to their office after lunch, racing to make sure they do not miss the MUNI or BART train. All in all, the Union Square area of San Francisco is never dormant, there is always movement and it is rare to see people standing around, for there is always something to do or see in our beautiful neighborhood.

 However this was not the case yesterday at Hallidie Plaza, located near the entrance to Powell St. Station, below the Cable Car Turnaround. For about five minutes, people running to take BART decided to wait, and were ok with missing their train, people held off on their lunch dates to see what was going on in this Plaza.

A Flashmob of about 40 dancers moving to “Don’t Stop Me Now,” stopped all foot traffic. With participants of the BID, and  Alonzo King LINES Ballet dance center, Hallidie Plaza was filled with spectators recording, twitting, facebooking what they were seeing. It was a great way to start the lunchtime!

If you find yourself wanting to do something fun this Saturday, the Alonzo King LINES dance studio will have a $5 special, in which you may try “bite sized samples,” of the different types of dance classes they have- which are about 80 different classes a week!