Food: My new addiction

Ice cream sandwiches from San Francisco's Bi-Rite Creamery.

Did you know you can personalize your sandwich? YUM.

Food: SEA Thai Bistro

Really terrible Thai food is hard to stumble upon. But extremely photogenic Thai food, on the other hand, isn't the norm. Good thing Corte Madera's SEA Thai Bistro has food that's delicious and incredibly glamourous in the foodie's world.

The bruschetta (above) seems to be one of the more popular appetizers.

It's pretty much Thai + California fusion.

My aunt and I went recently and shared

appetizers at the tiny restaurant.

Go when craving prawns.

The restaurant has an excellent

use of bold colors. It feels über-bistro-like.

Travel: Californ I Away

As the amount of time i've lived in California keeps increasing (two years as of August), i'm beginning to enjoy trips out of the state more and more. Reno, our Labor Day weekend destination, was the perfect spot to slow-down and enjoy time with friends.

It seemed like a careless idea to drive to an epic outdoor destination region on Labor Day weekend. But we dodged the California traffic (just what we're getting so sick of) by leaving early Friday afternoon. We returned late on Monday, sharing a highway (the perpetually under construction I-80) with people returning from Tahoe vacations and

playa-dust covered vehicles,

bicycles attached, leaving Burning Man.

Lake Tahoe

We spent one day on the shores of Lake Tahoe.

On the Nevada side.

I'd tell you the name of the beach we went to,

but we can't let it become too popular.

We made a, uh, sand castle.

Reno

I like Reno. It's a crustier version of Boise that isn't so much of an oasis.

The hipsters (and pretty much everyone else) are super friendly and it has some extraordinary mom-and-pop establishments that we appreciate most.

Favorite stops include the bars Strega (am I in a bar, or in a historic private home?), St. James Infirmary (big second-level deck, photo booth, giant illuminated sign that says "society" along one wall); Blue Moon Gourmet Pizza and Sushi Lover for food (all you can eat sushi).

We road bikes around and swam in the river that runs through downtown.

The new coffee shop the Hub was probably the coolest stop during our ride.

The Hub

Think bikes + coffee.

It's a tiny garage that's now a cute coffee shop.

The two friendly baristas took the time to explain the kinds

of coffee they were serving (lots of different countries and flavors).

The selection was vast, and i'd go into further detail

if I was more of a coffee drinker (i'm really not).

But it was still pretty amazing.