Treat Yourself In The Bay Area

Image courtesy of Unique Hotels

We all have those moments when we just need to take a break for awhile. If relaxing in your San Francisco apartment isn't going to do the trick to relieve you of some of your pent up stress, we've got just the solution for you - a spa day! This article from 7x7 has all the information you need to find the perfect spa to treat yourself! Now say it with us, ahhhhhh....

We've selected the best body treatments in the Bay Area, perfect for soothing away your winter doldrums, office-ignited stress, or après-gym soreness.

Archimedes Banya's Venik Platza (Bayview)

Miles from downtown, Archimedes Banya is an urban sanctuary (with a clothing-optional hammam) that offers globally inflected treatments for more adventurous spa-goers. When we’re feeling brave, we brace ourselves for traditional Russian treatments like the venik platza, a light “massage” (read: beating) with birch branches in a hot steam room. For something a little more humane, the Hammam body wash and massage is divine.

Cavallo Point's massage with cupping (Sausalito)

Just beyond the Golden Gate Bridge, Cavallo Point offers organic body treatments with a killer vista. After spending too many hours hunched over our desks, we ease our back pain with the ancient Chinese practice of cupping. The treatment improves blood flow and loosens muscles by stimulating the nervous system with small glass cups that suction to our skin. It leaves a curious matrix of red marks behind, but they soon disappear along with our deepest aches.

EOS Massage's lymphatic drainage massage (Union Square)

Michelle Bravo, founder of EOS Massage, has a few gifts to share: She is highly skilled in such divergent practices as lymphatic massage, aromatherapy, and

life coaching. With a holistic approach to healing, Bravo whips our minds and muscles into shape in no time with treatments that include decoding our
star charts and untangling neck knots.

Farmhouse Inn's warming ginger honey massage (Russian River)

Fresh off an $8 million renovation by Healdsburg designer Myra Hoefer, the Farmhouse Inn’s brand new spa features a farm-to-massage-table treatment menu using local ingredients and herbs grown in the onsite garden. The Warming Ginger Honey massage revitalizes our skin with an anti-inflammatory bee propolis body wrap so sweet we’d almost lick it off.

Imperial Spa's purification body scrub and massage (Pac Heights)

Pain is beauty, and nowhere is this truer than at the Korean-style Imperial Spa, where the vigorous full-body scrubs obliterate dead skin cells (and stimulate circulation) in every bodily nook and cranny. Those of us who can handle it will emerge with perfectly creamy skin, made even smoother with a soothing smattering of oils, cucumber, yogurt, and milk.

International Orange's essential oil massage (Lower Pac Heights)

We love this freshly renovated Pac Heights spa for its Essential Oil Massage, which uses a myriad of calming aromalicious body balms from local company In Fiore. A finishing heat towel for the shoulders melts away any remaining tension.

Nob Hill Spa's deep sleep ritual (Nob Hill)

Perfect for the everyday insomniac, the Deep Sleep Ritual includes a 50-minute Swedish massage to alleviate our pent-up stress. The spa’s integrated body serums and award-winning Deep Relax Oil are just the thing to tip us into deep sedation, giving our muscles the thumbs up to sleep the night (and maybe even the day) away.

Remède Spa at St. Regis' Remède customized massage (SoMa)

When we’re paying good money for a massage, we expect results we can feel: muscles that are loose to the touch. The customized massage at Remède delivers, with therapists who actually listen to our needs and occasionally check in about the pressure. Combinations of Swedish, deep tissue, and shiatsu ensure a tailored experience that makes us wish we could pop in for a 90-minute session every week.

Spa Solage's mudslide (Calistoga)

The onsite spa at Solage Calistoga taps into the area’s famous hot springs for its signature mudslide treatment. During the three-step process, our skin gets a coating of essential oil–infused volcanic mud before a soak in a claw-foot tub filled with warm, lavender-salt water. We finish with a snooze in a reclining chair that vibrates to the tune of New Age music (a REM sleep-inducing technology developed by NASA). Cap off the experience with a dip in the spa’s geo-thermal pool.

The Spa at Mandarin Oriental's "The Redeye" (FiDi)

East meets West Coast at this luxe FiDi retreat. With private treatment suites (plus a couple’s suite and relaxing Tea Lounge) and holistic Asian-inspired treatments, the only difficult part of your visit will be choosing which service to select. We especially love The Redeye, the ultimate antidote to skin- and sleep-ravaging travel. After a brisk dry body brushing followed by a tailored body massage, we feel refreshed and glowing from the inside out. What jet lag?

Have You Seen The Latest Richard Serra Piece?

Image courtesy of SFist

We know you've probably been all over the news of the latest exhibit from large-scale sculptor, Richard Serra, that's on display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art this week. But have you gotten the chance to see it? If you're still waiting for the perfect time to stop over and check it it out, this article from writer, Jay Barmann, at SFist has all the details you need to hold you over until you get a chance to make a visit..

Large-scale sculptor Richard Serra is known for his enormous COR-TEN steel installations big enough for dozens of people to walk through and stand within. And now, one of his pieces from the last decade, Sequence, weighing in at 214 tons and consisting of 12 13-foot-high sections, is slowly being installed in the new wing of SFMOMA along Howard Street, and severely slowing traffic there as a result.

Matier & Ross are on the case, noting that the museum — which won't reopen in its new form until 2016 — has its trucks blocking off two lanes of Howard Street for four days this week as each piece of Serra's piece gets carefully hoisted and maneuvered into what will be the museum's new entrance hall.

A rep at the museum tells SFist, "We’re actually ahead of schedule and have finished early each day putting the Howard Street lanes back in play hours earlier than planned."

The sculpture will be on loan from the Fisher Art Foundation for the next five years, at which point the museum will swap it out for a different piece in this "admission-free zone" of the museum.

Sequence has been living in a courtyard at Stanford since 2011, and you can see a photo of it from above here. Created in 2006, it spent its first year of life as part of a Serra retrospective at the MoMA in New York before getting shipped to California and spending 2008-2011 at the LACMA in L.A. The figure-eight-shaped piece measures 67 feet long, 42 feet wide, and 13 feet high, and works almost like a maze that one can walk through.

The Fisher family (founders of The Gap) remains closely tied to SFMOMA, and they also own another enormous piece of Serra's that stands in the atrium of Gap headquarters along the Embarcadero. It's called Charlie Brown and stands 60 feet tall, and can be seen in photos here.

Setting The Table For The Perfect Valentine's Day Dinner

Image courtesy of Nathan Borror

Valentine's Day is this Saturday and we're sure you've got something special planned for that special someone in your life. If your plans include a romantic dinner in, you'll want to make sure that you do everything in your power to create the perfect atmosphere.

Though we're sure you've got your San Francisco apartment decorated perfectly, here are a few pointers to add a little bit of ambiance to your abode for the big day. Follow a few of these tips from renters.apartments.com and you'll have a romantic setting in no time!

Tips for Creating a Dining Area

If you already have a dining area it’s a little easier to stage a romantic dinner at home, but it’s still perfectly doable for those that have to convert an existing space.

Section off a dining area – Find a space in the living area that is relatively open and section it off for dining. This can be done with low bookshelves, open shelving, plants, a folding screen, etc. The end goal is to keep things open while establishing with dining area as its own separate space.

Utilize a nook if you have one – Creating a dining space in a bay window or nook is a great way to save space, and it’s already sectioned off.

Consider a Murphy table – Just like the bed, these tables fold down from the wall. It’s a great option when you have limited space and only need seating for two or three people.

Use corners – If only two people are usually dining at your house you can incorporate a table and save space by positioning it in the corner of the room. Choose an area where the table can be pulled out to sit more people when needed.

Use color to connect and separate the space – The dining area should follow the general color scheme as the spaces around it, but incorporate one signature, complementary color that makes the dining area stand out on it’s own.

Set the Mood with Lighting Around the Table
Play around with your lighting options once you have the table in place. Experiment with overhead lighting, indirect lighting and ways you can add lighting. If you want to add lighting consider:

• Putting up string lights for a soft glow.
• Adding flameless candles to the table.
• Use neutral, light colors to make the dining area bright and warm.
• Add a romantic chandelier if there is lighting wired above the dining space.
• Add a floor lamp that gives a soft lighting near the table.
• Table Setting Tips

No matter how much effort you put into the food on the plate, a messy table setting will ruin the overall effect. Use the tips below to create a 5-star dining experience.

• Use a tablecloth if your table isn’t the most attractive. It’s amazing what a simple white tablecloth can do for a standard issue folding table.
• Invest in cloth napkins. It’s one of those old school touches that instantly makes a meal feel like a special occasion.
• Use multiple plates and utensils – Instead of piling everything onto one plate, take a page out of the fine dining playbook and use multiple dishes. Salads should always be on a plate of their own, as should dessert. When eating something juicy like a steak you may want to also consider putting veggies, rice, potatoes, etc. on their own small saucer plate as well.
• Add a nice arrangement – Adding flowers to the table is always a nice touch. It doesn’t have to be extravagant, something as simple as a single rose still creates a romantic effect.

Bike Smarter

Image courtesy of Pal-Kristian Hamre

Centrally located with an amazing Walk Score, your San Francisco apartment at The Wilson San Francisco is a bike rider's dream come true. Are you ready to take your bike for a spin?

Though it seems like every time we turn around there's a new and improved gadget on the market for our bikes, this one really caught our attention. This article from writer, Jennifer Hunter, at Apartment Therapy introduces one of the coolest gadgets for bike riders that we've seen yet. Keep reading to learn more.

In why-don't-we-already-have-this news, a French technology startup, Connected Cycle, has released prototypes of a new kind of bike pedal with GPS included. Now, your bike can alert you via smart phone when it's being moved stolen.

This handy little gadget also records the stats from your bike trip. Stuff like your riding route, speed and calories burned all get sent to your connected device; even if it's conveniently stored at home or the office during your ride.

The pedals are easy (a less than two-minute job easy) to install but can only be removed using a special key so even if thieves notice the device is there, they can't just pull off the pedal and make off with the rest of the bike! These guys really thought of everything.

We're guessing that if these type of pedals do become de rigueur, they'll be more of a theft deterrent rather than a catch-them-in-the-act measure. Either way, if we get to keep our publicly-parked bikes more often, we'll consider it a huge win.

See more about them at Connected Cycle.