SPONSORED POST: This is a paid post. The Road to The Good Life chose to work with La Crema Winery for their dedication to handcrafted wines at reasonable prices. All opinions presented are my own.   When warm weather arrives I like to be ready for spur-of-the-moment mini-vacations. I have a picnic basket and couple of coolers packed with essentials ready to go. And I also have a couple of same-day or next-day delivery services queued up on my iPhone ready to deliver charcuterie, cheese, olives, and fruit.   When was the last time you had a picnic?   Not all of us are lucky enough to live in the country or minutes from a beach. But, we don't need to. All we need is a well-stocked picnic basket and a little patch of grass, a park bench, or a roof top and a little sun.     For me, a picnic basket is just a boxed or bagged lunch like mom used to make when you headed out to school. My favorite lunches were those in which she tucked a thermos of tomato soup t...

San Francisco is a town known for its mixologists and its chefs. And at least once a week there's an event showcasing the talents of one or the other or both. In May, the event was The Art of the Modern Drink: Spring Cocktails of the Farmers Market, where eight chefs teamed up with sixteen bartenders from fourteen bars and restaurants to bring modern art to life in the form of a cocktail. It's not often parents can be spontaneous on a weeknight. But yesterday there must have been magic in the air, because first, I won tickets to an event (that seriously never happens), and second, one of our regular go to sitters was available on short notice. So off we went to The Art of the Modern Drink, a special event hosted by CUESA (Center for Urban Education About Sustainable Agriculture) and the San Francisco chapter of the United States Bartenders Guild (USBG) in collaboration with the SFMOMA . We arrived shortly after doors the opened at 5:30PM with a plan. Taste all the appetizers...

Approach life with a beginner's mind. Easy enough if you're doing or trying something for the first time.   A little more challenging when it's your fourth time attending a conference. Last week I headed back to Salt Lake City for my fourth Alt Summit.     Alt Summit is " the premier business conference for pioneering and rookie bloggers and creatives. It's a community of exciting, experimental and expressive thinkers, makers and entrepreneurs. " For two and half days, depending on the event, among a hundred to seven hundred people come together to inspire, to share, and to learn from each other.   Approaching a conference that I've been to three times before without expectations and with a beginner's mind is challenging. While a challenge, I still try to actively practice adopting a beginner's mind. And the practice, always yields new insights. Once again I was pleasantly surprised by the experience I had (not one I had imagined I would have...

I'd like to say that when I started this blog, I knew I'd still be writing eight years later. But that would be a lie. Now, here it is eight years since I started and it's time to look back and to celebrate with a few giveaways for you (the first two of eight starting today).   The Road from Day 1 to Eight Years Eight years ago this blog started as a place where I could share my photography from the road and random musings. I was in between jobs, the startup I'd been working at having been successfully acquired and all but Engineering let go, and wanted to learn new skills. My first post contemplated the fleeting value of civilization . Gradually I added projects from classes I was taking, sporadically posting until 2008 when I got serious.   Two years I got really serious about this project; I stopped using it as a testbed for ideas I was thinking of for corporate clients. When I made that decision, one thing I became aware of is that a blog is a living breathing...

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers, grandfathers, and uncles; your impact is immeasurable. Thank you for making a difference in all of our lives. May you feel celebrated every day and especially every weekend. Make your family time count. I don't know how old I was when I started cooking breakfast with my mom on the weekend. I only know that my sister and I alternated who made pancakes and who made waffles. Because these are such happy memories for me I wanted to pass on the tradition in my family. And, we've now had three weekends in a row making breakfast together as a family in our kitchen.   How are you celebrating the dads in your life?   For us, there are a few secrets to a meltdown free morning. First, we need to get a little food into everyone's stomachs before we start the main course. All three of us get irritable when we're hungry. Second, we simplify the ingredients so that Gates is able to easily pour them into a mixing bowl.     Pancake Mixe...

Food has the power to transport me. To change my mood and to close the distance between loved ones and me. I eagerly await late spring/early summer every year, for one farm's fruit: apricots from Frog Hollow Farm. I wasn't very old when my great grandmother passed away, six at the most. The only memory I have of her is of her rose garden. My sister and I had played tag and hide and seek amongst the roses and showered rose petals everywhere. I don't remember if she was amused or angry. I only remember two firsts that came next. My first ice cream sandwich sitting with my great grandfather on the back steps of their house staring off into the rose garden and my first apricot. I've loved both ice cream sandwiches and apricots ever since.   In July 2011, cubes and I had the opportunity to support The Chez Panisse Foundation and The Edible Schoolyard Project and to dine under the stars at Frog Hollow Farm in Brentwood, CA. The owner of Frog Hollow Farm, Al Courchesne, a...

Farmer's markets present a plethora of amazing produce to choose from. As a visual person, I'm often drawn to colors and shapes before I even know what something is or how to cook with it. If you're like me and find yourself with a bag full of farm fresh produce and no idea what to cook, you'll want to have a few references on hand to help you out. I've found the easiest way to learn how to do something is to just dive in. Sure you'll make a few mistakes here and there, but once you've got some basics mastered, you'll be just fine. The same goes with whipping up recipes on the fly--a must have skill if you're looking to eat more local, in season ingredients.   A pile of ingredients fresh from your CSA box or the farmer's market is like a blank page. If you're a writer, you get past your writer's block by just starting to type. For me, when I'm overwhelmed by a pile of ingredients, I start by focusing on one and picking up a cookboo...