Bay Club San Francisco - Sanctuary Spa

Bay Club San Francisco - 150 Greenwich Street

Sanctuary Spa Lobby

Private Yoga Instruction

Aquatic Center

Functional Training Room

Women's Locker Room

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited along with some other Bay Area bloggers to come down to the Bay Club San Francisco to check out their facilities and their spa, Sanctuary Spa.  I am always in search of a fabulous spa, so how could I refuse this invitation.  The timing was either the worst timing or the best timing for me.  We had just moved the weekend before and I probably should have been unpacking boxes, but I definitely needed a break and a well deserved massage to help me with all of the aches and pains I was feeling from the move.  

We started the afternoon off with a semi-private yoga lesson in a small studio with just the five of us.  It was just what my body and mind needed to help me de-stress from the move.  We then were treated to a delicious and healthy lunch from the Court Cafe that is located in the club.  While we ate we were able to chat with Jae Berman, the club's nutritionist who is also a personal trainer at the club.  Jae is on hand for any of the members that might need help with not only their workouts but with a food plan.  We also talked to Kelsey Hicks, the Bay Club's concierge, who explained in more detail about their lifestyle rewards program.  In a nutshell, members earn points for each time they visit and use the club.  These points add up and can be used on fun rewards at such fabulous places like Carmel Valley Ranch (one of my personal favorites).

After lunch we were introduced to the Sanctuary Spa, the Bay Club's onsite spa, which is available to members and to the general public.  You all know that I have an obsession with spas, so I was excited to experience Sanctuary Spa.  My first thought was that since it was located at the club that it wouldn't be very luxurious, but I was definitely wrong.  It was very similar to the other spas that I have visited in San Francisco.  The biggest extra to me about going to Sanctuary Spa instead of another spa is that you have full day use of the entire club before or after your facial or massage treatment.  That means that you can use their steam rooms, sauna rooms, take a Pilates class, do some laps in the pool, enjoy lunch at their cafe, play a game of squash or use any of their gym equipment.  My Sanctuary Signature Massage was relaxing and just what my sore muscles needed after going up and down three flights of stairs with boxes for five days straight!

Some extra perks for families are their childcare services, laundry services (that's right I said laundry services) and also their youth programs. 

I was treated to a fabulous and relaxing day at Bay Club and Sanctuary Spa and would highly recommend anyone looking for a spa service to definitely check them out.  Especially if you are thinking about joining a club, going to use their spa services first would give you a great opportunity to preview their facilities for the day! 

The Bay Club has a couple of locations in San Francisco, two in Marin (Corte Madera and Kentfield) and the Silicon Valley location is opening this Spring!

Hello Cupcake - Finding Balance

How ironic is this title right now! I have disappeared from my blog and don't seem to have a lot of balance right now! HA! This move has swallowed me up and I am trying to come up for air! I am hoping that I will be back to posting on a more regular basis next week.  In the meantime, go on over to my friend Stacy's blog, Hello Cupcake LLC, to see my guest post that I did for her while she is on her fabulous vacation in Dubai.

Come back a little later in the afternoon to find out about a spa in San Francisco that I recently checked out!

Happy Friday!

Wordless Wednesday

Loving Lately

I am in L.O.V.E. with my new rug for the living room and I had to share it with all of you.  I can't wait to share all of the different rooms (using my real camera and not my iPhone) with you once we are unpacked and settled (which currently feels like it might never happen).  Still waiting for the cobalt blue rug to arrive for the playroom! What do you guys think of the chevron stripes? 

Come back later to hear about my guest post about finding balance in your relationship while raising three little ones!

Wordless Wednesday

Friday Fun from Florida

Hopefully lots of lunches and dinners by the ocean!

And lots of good sand digging time!

Plus a lot of snuggly time with the family.

Happy Friday!  We are taking a mini vacation in Florida for some grandparent time, beach time and then some Magic Kingdom time! This time Landon says that he will ride some rides.  We went last year and we only rode "It's a Small World" (only because I tricked him into getting on it). This is what I am hoping for this weekend - lots of beach time, pool time, eating outside in the 80 degree weather and lots of snuggly time with the bambinos!  What are you guys up to this weekend?

Have a fabulous weekend!

Diane von Furstenberg at BabyGap

I couldn't be more excited that Diane von Furstenberg has partnered up with BabyGap to design some pretty cute pieces of clothing for your youngest fashionistas. 

image via

Wordless Wednesday

Tasty Treats: Farina

Over the three day weekend a couple of weeks ago, Carlos and I went out on a date night on Sunday night to Farina in the Mission.  It was nice because it wasn't crazy busy like I suspect it is on a Friday or Saturday night at Farina.  There are so many fabulous places to eat in the Mission, but we always dread parking over there, so if a restaurant has valet parking, it's a huge plus!  

We started with the Foccacia di Recco con tartufo nero.  It is stracchino cheese (similar qualities to sour cream) melted between two layers of thin dough with shaved black truffles.  This dish is Ligurian specialty and Farina was first to serve it in it's authentic form here in the US. 

Mark Bittman said about Farina, “I have not had a pasta dish here that wasn’t perfectly cooked and well worth eating."  We ordered the two pastas dishes which were outrageously fresh and delicious.  I ordered the Mandilli di seta al pesto ligure di mandorie (handmade handkerchief pasta with Genovese basil and almond pesto).  Carlos had the Genovese Pansotti filled with meat.

Both Carlos and I agreed that the food was delicious but the prices were definitely on the pricier side.  The pastas run about $24-$28 and the meat/fish dishes run $34-$46.  Everything seemed to be priced $10 more than it should be (even for San Francisco).  It was still quite a treat! 

An extra perk was that Conan O'Brien walked in with his family and went upstairs to a private room.  They have also added a roof deck that looks amazing that is scheduled to open in the next month.     

Of course, afterwards we had to walk the half block over to Tartine Bakery and Bi-Rite Market to pick up a couple of goodies for the next day.  

It's all in the details - Neiman Marcus Walnut Creek

Stores within stores!

It's all about color! 

So much effort went into the design of the store. 

Local artists' art installations are all throughout the store.

Last Wednesday, Lindsay and I were lucky enough to get a tour of the new Neiman Marcus in Walnut Creek before they had their grand opening on Friday.  The store is absolutely beautiful!  I had never realized how many little details go into the design of the store until they were pointed out to me on the tour.  All of their furniture is designed personally for the store and they have some truly unique and gorgeous pieces.  (If you see the large creme/tan ottoman up above from the shoe department, you can see how they designed it to line up with the change in color of the carpet.)  Their dressing rooms are large and luxurious.  The mens is made to look like a man's apartment and the womens to look like a women's studio.  All over the store are beautiful and brightly colored art installations done by local artists.  They had many of the artists on hand to explain their work.

I highly recommend if you live in the East Bay or if you find yourself on a shopping trip to Walnut Creek, to stop by Neiman Marcus for a one of kind shopping experience.  If you tire from all of the shopping that you end up doing while over there, you should stop by Va de Vi for a glass of vino and some tasty bites for lunch!  Happy shopping!

Lemony Deliciousness

You all know my obsession with yellow lately - it's a little bit out of control.  Especially with having a new house to decorate and lots of new rooms to fill with fun colors.  Our guest bath (picture up above - has white and blue tiles) is right off of the kids playroom.  I bought these gorgeous lemon colored Kate Spade towels for the bathroom and this fun blue rug from Rugsusa.com for the playroom.  I think I might need to order these yellow graphic print pillow covers from Gracie's Pillows for the couch in the playroom to help pull it all together! What do you think?

Wordless Wednesday

Buried in Boxes

Checking out our new house - very excited!

Wearing his great grandfather's hat (my Papa's hat).

I'm going to miss this view on my drive home!

The kids & I spent the night at Mimi & Papa's house the night before the move to stay out of the movers' way! Mimi and Landon made beignets for breakfast.

My first latte and one of our many gorgeous flowers out on our deck!

I apologize for disappearing last week! It has been a crazy week with trying to get everything ready for the move and the move itself.  Now that we are in the new house, I'm overwhelmed by the number of boxes that have taken over our house.  It feels like we will never be able to unpack everything.  On the bright side, I am absolutely in love with our new house and with the outside space for the kids and for us!  It was so nice the other day to enjoy our breakfast and lattes out on the deck soaking up the sun!  Hopefully in all of this craziness, I will be able to blog a little bit more than I did last week.  

Just to add a little more craziness into the mix, I am trying to get ready for Landon's 5th birthday on Sunday and then we leave on vacation next week for Florida. YIKES!