Hangar One: Good times!

I went to a tasting/pouring event at Hangar One Vodka in Alameda recently, and wanted to share my experience! First, the good: food and pours of vodka were $46 for the event. It was a perfect price point for what we got.

They had a very nice layout, beautiful flowers, and a stunning view of the city from the event. Overall, we had a great time trying drinks and enjoying a night outside in the East Bay.

Of course, nothing is perfect. This was the first event of this kind coordinated by Hangar One. There was room for improvement. Some tables were too close to the lines at the bar, which caused servers to have trouble getting through. They only had one bar line with two servers hand mixing drinks. People ordered one drink, and then stood in line for the next one.

There were five different cocktails you could choose from; we basically tried them all. My favorite was the Honeycomb Mule and Hecho En Alameda. At the end, they started bring out Honeycomb Mule from another bar to serve those standing in line. However, everybody kept standing in line to order the next drink.

All in all, though, it was a really fun time and I’d highly recommend trying to book a tour at the distillery or showing up for one of these events in the future!

Road Trips: SUP Yoga!

As the long, successful winter melts into Spring around the Bay Area, it’s time to get off the mountain and onto the water! Last year, I went on an unforgettable day trip to Alameda, that you simply must try.

I took a sunset, full moon SUP Yoga class with Lilly Manderville from Yoga Treat Fitness Studio who collaborates with Mike’s Paddle Boards in Alameda. First, we paddled through the waterway and homes into the bay and back into the cove where we proceeded to take a yoga class on the board.

It was awesome! We had wetsuits, beautiful views and a full moon, not to mention a really good yoga class. Of course, I pushed the envelope and fell into the water. I hopped back on the board and finished the poses! A picture says a thousand words and with the weather getting warmer now is a good time to look into doing a class or getting a group to try it.

Check with Mike’s Paddle Boards to see what classes are coming up or call me if you want Lilly’s info to schedule a full moon class with her.

Road Trips: Burma Superstar

I have a super tasty, local road trip for you all this week! It’s really a restaurant review, but I was able to go do a couple other things in the vicinity that made it more into a day trip that ended up being a blast! You may have heard of the restaurant: Burma Superstar! I went for the first time to the Alameda location (there is one in San Francisco and Oakland, too), and it was really good!

Honestly, I was a little bit disappointed in the spicy shrimp noodles, as they were a little too sweet, and I would have liked a little more spice. It was more like a pad thai dish than I was expecting. I had a chili cocktail, which was essentially beer, ginger, and squeezed lemon. That was really tasty and offset the spicy chili beef. They also had phenomenal coconut rice!  The fermented tea leaf salad was a burst of many flavors and definitely worth trying.

We also stopped into a cute little shop next to Burma Superstar called Daisie. It is perfectly situated because Burma Superstar tends to have lines and while people are waiting outside, they meander into Daisie’s homes goods/gift shop. I really enjoyed wandering through and found a cool vase. And, lastly, we were hoping to get into a little local theater production company but we couldn’t get there in time and they would not let us in because the stage was a circle you would have to walk over. We moved the reservation to September.

It was a great day out in Alameda. I finally got a taste of a popular restaurant, got to explore the local shops, and at least got to see the local theater company, even if we weren’t on time for the show itself. I’d highly recommend checking out Alameda, which is an often-overlooked part of the East Bay.

Event Round-Up: June 16

Welcome back to the newest installment of Event Round-Up! As always, this is where we gather five of the best Bay Area events taking place over the next month or so. Let us know if you go to any of these, and if so, how you liked them!

1. Walnut Creek Uncorked (Weds., June 20)

Walnut Creek Downtown presents a brand new event, designed for the wine-lovers in our town. Tickets are $40 in advance, and get you access to wine tastings, restaurants, artisan fashion and jewelry stands, and live entertainment. You must be 21 to buy a ticket!

2. Danville Summerfest 2018 (Sat., June 23 & Sun., June 24) 

Danville has a little festival of its own that you may want to check out! Our neighbor has a cute downtown that will be filled with local music, art, and food vendors. There is a classic car show on Sunday, and the event is family and dog-friendly. Danville Summerfest will take place from 10-5 each day.

3. Alameda County Fair (Fri., June 15 – Sun., July 8)

It’s that time of year again! The Alameda County Fair at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton kicked into full gear yesterday, and will carry on through the weekend after 4th of July. If you don’t have larger travel plans, you can trek over to Pleasanton for this awesome annual event – LeeAnn Rimes, Blue Oyster Cult, and Sean Kingston are some of the many musical acts expected to perform this year.

4. 4th of July Fireworks (Weds., July 4)

I don’t have any particular event or link for you here. There are generally tons of good spots to choose from to watch East Bay fireworks on the 4th of July. Take the kiddos, your leftover BBQ, and a blanket to enjoy the show. My favorite place to catch them is up at Tahoe.

5. Walnut Creek First Wednesdays (Weds., July 11)

Another stellar outdoors event to celebrate all that Walnut Creek summers have to offer! There is free parking after 5 p.m. in many major downtown garages to help you get around. If you’ve never experienced a First Wednesdays celebration, it is chock-full of live music, food trucks, drinks, games and even a Kids Fun Zone. Check it out from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Cypress St. in downtown.

Enjoy spook-tacular events all weekend long!

This weekend, you’ll be sure to see hundreds of little cats, vampires and ghosts running around Walnut Creek and the East Bay. It’s one of the most festive times of the year: Hallo-weekend!

Though the actual holiday is a week from today, there are plenty of events coming up over the weekend to take part in. For example, there’s a cool annual Candlelight Tour at the Winchester Mystery House. You get to tour the 160-room mansion with just a flickering candlelight to guide your way. The entire tour takes about 1 hour and tickets start at $20.

Another cool option is spending the night in a haunted jail cell in an underground dungeon on Halloween. For those of you who are really into scaring yourselves, the Ghosts of Alcatraz event by San Francisco Dungeon might be for you. Enjoy the darkness of an authentically reproduced Alcatraz cell for the night, and try not to faint from the terror.

For a couple more family-friendly, laid-back Halloween options, check out the pumpkin patch at Speer Family Farms in Alameda. It’s close enough to Walnut Creek but also worth the trek to see what they have available for you and the kids!

Lastly, on Friday from 2-5 pm, Walnut Creek Downtown is hosting a trick-or-treat for people of all ages! They ask you to bring your favorite costume and your own candy bag to collect treats from participating downtown businesses. Start at the Lesher Center and wind your way through from there. Broadway Plaza will host a similar event on the actual day of Halloween.

Whatever you do for Halloween weekend, make sure to be clever and creative with those costumes, not eat too much candy, and be safe while walking at night!

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Just Be Yoga is my go-to spot in Walnut Creek

About 1 1/2 years ago, I joined Just Be Yoga after I went on a Just Be and Dragon Fly Yoga retreat to Nosara, Costa Rica. I went with my favorite yoga teacher who I originally met at Forma Gym, named Kelli.

The owner of Just Be Yoga, Jenny Wendell, has created an amazing community. The people and the instructors there are incredible. The yoga studio itself has a 2-door glass garage that opens and shuts whenever necessary. They have heated classes, a little courtyard outside of the studio, and multiple yoga retreats per year from Yosemite to Hawaii, among other domestic and international locations. Another of my favorite instructors, Malia Hill, even offers an occasional SUP (stand-up paddleboard) yoga class in Alameda! This summer she is headed to Croatia for a SUP/Yoga retreat.

Courtesy of Just Be Yoga’s website.


I think my favorite thing about going to Just Be Yoga and the retreat in Costa Rica, were meeting all the great people and instructors and just feeling like I belong. The benefits of learning to breathe, sweat and get that afterglow/relaxed feeling is a big release from the stress of daily life as a real estate agent.

A big benefit to yoga, in general, is that they really get you in touch with your body. I had no idea how much I lacked in range of motion and flexibility. Kelli’s classes often focus on areas I never knew I could stretch like hips, IT bands and sides. These tend not to be the Deep Yoga class, but they have some great Vinyasa flow and I love the Yin classes. Just Be Yoga is located right behind Wish downtown. Check them out, try them out and come be part of this wonderful community. You can do an introductory trial month for $39.

Courtesy of Just Be Yoga’s website.

As for the retreat, we stayed at Blue Spirit and I stayed in the Eco Hut. I thought it meant “eco-friendly hut,” but I was wrong. Oops! It had no A/C, it was a shared room, and it was more than 100 uphill steps to get to the yoga studio and it meant economy hut ;-).

Despite all that, the experience was unforgettable! There was evening meditation, yoga twice a day and plenty of time to enjoy the beach (which was right next to our resort), horseback riding, surfing and more. Check out this slideshow below!

 

East Bay Booze Boom!

The Bay area is leading the nation in innovation, and not just in the tech sector. A new industry on the rise in the East Bay is the alcoholic beverage market!

75e4cb_70530afefa2c4ac597c7198da59bd280With the craft brewing industry on the rise, many local entrepreneurs have hopped (get it?) on the bandwagon, starting many new breweries in Oakland, San Francisco, and even Concord! Many of these East Bay brewers are really pushing the envelope by making unusual beers, like sours, rare varietals, and other creative concoctions.

One such brewery in the sour beer market is Rare Barrel in Berkeley. They go the extra mile by aging their beer in oak barrels for about a year to develop the lovely tart flavors in their brews. Some other notable East Bay breweries are Linden Street Brewery and Pacific Coast Brewery in Oakland, Jupiter and Pyramid Brewery in Berkeley, and EJ Phair in Concord. Don’t sleep on 21st Amendment Brewery, famous for their Hell or High Watermelon beer, which just opened a huge new brewery in San Leandro. Or the popular Calicraft Brewing Co. based right here in Walnut Creek which is my favorite; I love their Buzzerkeley champagne beer.

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Beer is not the only game in town, however. The wine and liquor industries in the area have also been growing in popularity. St. George Sprits in Alameda has become well-known for their brand, and Hangar One vodka is named after the old World War II-era hangar where the distillery is based. Although they recently sold the brand to be produced next door, the distillery is excited to have more space to focus on new experiments in distillation. Some of their more creative liquors include Green Chili Vodka, Absinthe Verde (I know this one from personal experience and it was not a good one), Agricole Rum, and several Fruit Brandies. They have a great guided tour for $15, which includes a tasting of six spirits! They even have a small outdoor seating area where you can hang out with a drink after your tour and check out the San Francisco skyline from the other side of the Bay.

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Many wineries have also begun to spring up throughout the East Bay. Although this may seem like a new development, the East Bay, especially the Walnut Creek area, was actually one of the main wine-grape growing regions until prohibition in 1920. One such winery making a revival in the area is Urban Legend Cellars in Oakland. They source grapes from other local regions, and use various blending and oaking techniques to produce unique and delicious wines.

Walnut Creek has also been put back on the map with Shadowbrook Winery. This vineyard grows Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Syrah, right on the foothills of Mount Diablo. Mark Lavezzoli, the Winemaker there, combines traditional and innovative techniques to create some very tasty vino. The entire team there is very excited about Walnut Creek’s potential to produce a first-class wine.

With so many great beverages to try right here in the East Bay, it’s hard to find a reason to leave and another great reason to own a home in this amazing area.

Have you been to any of these places? Please share your thoughts – we would love to hear from you!