The Cool Kids Are Talking About Spotify

Living on the West Coast, and specifically the Bay Area, comes with certain obligations. One big one is that you're expected to stay up-to-date with all of the techie trends—otherwise you'll risk looking totally ignorant at the next bottomless mimosas brunch. Getting your Google+ invite already seems like ages ago because now my News Feeds seem to be abuzz about Spotify.

I didn't know much about Spotify before trying it out, other than it was a music-streaming service and people were really happy about it. So, like any Bay Area sheep, I signed up to find out what it was all about. To me, the website was pretty unclear after a couple glances in regards to exactly how Spotify was special. They did have this odd graphic that seemed to suggest that music could be consumed like food, but I was too lazy to watch the promo video and decided it was easier to just sign up, start using it, and see what was what. At first impression, Spotify sets itself apart from something like Pandora in that it allows you to customize playlists. There's also a cool social element of being able to send your friends songs or collaborate on playlists. To me, the quality of the streaming is better than some of the media players I've experienced on artist websites or via Bandcamp. I did a quick search upon installation to see if some of my favorite "obscure" artists were available and surprisingly they were. So far it was pretty awesome, and I could clearly see why everyone was getting on the bandwagon.

As I started crafting playlists however, I discovered there were little bits of things that bugged me. For certain albums that were listed as available, I discovered that really only one song from the album was available for streaming (and unsurprisingly as I dug deeper, some of the music I love was not available). Then when I started listening to my playlist, I learned that after every few songs, a series of random audio advertisements were going to be blasted into my ears promoting either the Spotify paid service or artists I didn't care about. No more disruptive than if you were listening to the radio but much more disruptive than if you were listening to an individual album on Bandcamp. (I get that they need to monetize, but there is also plenty of visual advertising space that would not completely disrupt my music-listening experience.) However, if you're used to listening to mainstream music on the radio anyway, then Spotify is a vast improvement for you.

I'll probably still use Spotify pretty often while I am working since the selection is still decent and I like listening to more than one artist in one sitting sometimes, but it's not like Spotify is the best application in the world.

And in case you are wondering exactly what this obscure music is that I've been obsessing over that isn't necessarily all on Spotify, I am an embarrassingly devoted fan to British YouTube musicians. Check out this amazing chap hop song about tea by Professor Elemental here. Or dig deeper into my embarrassing tastes in music here.

| Art Credit: Me. |

The Last Time I Went to a Sporting Event

I'm going to my first Giants game tonight and I am pretty stoked. You can read about why I jumped on that bandwagon here.

The last time I attended a pro sporting event was in 2008. I was a little traumatized by what happened to me then, which is why it has been so long since I have attended one. Back in April 2008, we were visiting our good friend Brian in LA when a small handful of VIP tickets to the Lakers games fell into his lap (such things tend to happen to him); Nick was very excited about them so I agreed to go. Our seats were in the first row of the club level, and I could see the back of Jack Nicholson's head not too far away. I'm not a Lakers fan in the slightest but I appreciated that Brian had shared his nice tickets with us. So, I was trying to enjoy the game when suddenly, I felt hands from behind me grabbing at my hair. I turned around and saw that the woman sitting behind me had nacho cheese all over her face and her hands. And because she had decided to use my hair as a towel, my hair was also covered in nacho cheese. I starting crying, I think because I was just so shocked at what had just happened that I didn't know how else to react emotionally. The woman was later firmly encouraged by other people sitting nearby to contain her public drunkenness on account of the children sitting in our section, and the guy she was with sat silently and visibly embarrassed. So, what I can only guess was the situation was that an elderly gentleman had brought a younger woman on a not-so-serious date, and that the woman showed her appreciation by consuming as much alcohol (and nachos) as she could that night.

I get that spills happen at sporting events and I would even expect a spill to happen here or there during an exciting play. But getting so drunk that you get nacho cheese all over yourself and wipe that nacho cheese onto the hair of the person sitting front of you is never okay. I can laugh about the story now though because it was just so outlandish. I'm going to assume that this was a one-time-only occurrence in my life and I am optimistic about being able to enjoy the Giants game tonight from our non-club level seats. I'm very proud of the sign I made and I'll post photos of it next week. Happy weekend!

| Art Credit: Me. |

I Sell Things On Etsy Now

My Etsy shop is finally up and running after some major procrastination on my part. You can check it out right here.

I've been meaning to offer custom digital portraits for awhile, at the encouragement of a few awesome friends whom I made buddy icons for a while back. You've also seen some sneak previews recently in my posts about my wedding stationery. If you're looking for a cute way to commemorate some awesome outfits, want art to use for your wedding postage, or are just really narcissistic, holler at me on Etsy for a custom digital portrait.

Setting up a shop on Etsy was harder than I had expected. The instructions they give you are a little too general and vague, especially since I find that many people on there who are talented with handmade crafts may not necessarily be the best with technology. PayPal is the standard way to handle payments, yet there are no clear instructions on what needs to be set up on the PayPal end verses the Etsy end, and the PayPal user interface is terrible. After stuff gets rolling in my shop, I'll probably try to post some clearer instructions to help people who are trying to set up a new shop. At least the buying process is straightforward!

| Art Credit: Me. |

Wedding Stationery

I didn't wake up at whatever o'clock in the morning to catch the Royal Wedding on the telly but I have been thinking about weddings recently. I'm looking forward to being in my friend Cate's wedding this summer, and I've been touched by the amazing flood of positive feedback from friends and internet strangers alike about my wedding posting on Style Me Pretty. Thank you to everyone who shared my work with friends, liked a wall post, or cared enough about my ideas to swing by and visit my own silly little blog.

I got some questions about designing wedding invitations so I hope you'll all forgive me if I do a little self-promoting PSA here while the whole western world seems to have weddings on the brain. Below is a photo of my wedding suite to clarify the pieces I am currently offering to customize. There is the wedding invitation (with my original teapot illustration) and the matching RSVP postcard back with return address—I can customize these with the bride and groom's information. I also do little cartoony portraits like the ones I used on our postage stamps.

I've been in the process of organizing photos and design files to put up some listings in my Etsy shop, but in the meantime, I am definitely available for custom orders of stationery or portraits. Message me for a quote and once we work out the details, I'll post a reserved listing in the shop for you. If you're interested or have questions, I love getting email here: theyuppielifestyle@gmail.com.

More details for future brides: For the envelopes, I bought the polka-dotted paper, envelope liner stencils, envelopes, and this great adhesive runner from Paper Source and assembled everything myself. For custom rubber stamps, I highly recommend Berkeley Stamp & Engraving Co. for their fast and friendly service; I used them for the "please do not bend" stamp and have used them for other custom rubber stamp projects in the past.

| Photo Credit: Me. |

The Yuppie Ice Cream Sundae

Nick and I often quiz each other on random factoids about ourselves, so that if in the event we spontaneously find ourselves on The Newlywed Game, we'll be totally prepared. The other day we made sure we could describe each other's overall favorite desserts. This was mine.

I only began experiencing this amazing combo very recently, in trendy Italian restaurants, but I don't think I'll encounter a better ice cream sundae combination than this. I know it sounds unconventional and potentially questionable to add oil on top of ice cream, but if you are like me and 1) like simple and good ice cream flavors and 2) prefer savory treats over sweets, then you must try it. The fruitiness of a good thick olive oil will coat your tongue while the ice cream melts in your mouth and the big flakes of sea salt will add a surprising flavor contrast whenever you scoop one up. You can get this with panna gelato in a big puddle of olive oil at Beretta or get the soft-serve version on Zero Zero's build-your-own-dessert menu (with a very generous serving of bacon brittle for an extra 50¢). I haven't tried this at home yet, but I plan to this summer when it's time to bust out our ice cream maker.

| Art Credit: Me. |

Lifestyle Tip: What to Do If Transparency Leads to CMYK in InDesign

This isn't in any way a techy and/or crunchy blog but a couple days ago I discovered a solution to a big InDesign conundrum and figured I would share it. Plus I am also trying a new thing here where I do a better job of using the post titles to describe what the post is about.

A few months ago I was collaborating with a friend of mine who is a designer. He was putting together a nifty branding guide in InDesign, but we realized that every time he used a transparency effect, all his RGB colors turned to dull-as-doldrums CMYK. I've made this little graphic to illustrate the difference. The same color swatches are displayed in the CMYK color space on the left and the RGB color space on the right.I ran into the same issue last week on a separate project, and a quick Google led me to this where I was able to pick out the solution. If all your RGB things turn to CYMK when you're using transparency in an InDesign document, do the following:
1. Go to Edit.
2. Go down to Transparency Blend Space.
3. Select Document RGB.
Your colors should be back to their bright and shiny RGB goodness.

Restaurant Review: Pomelo

Last weekend, finding ourselves not craving any particular cuisine, we came across Pomelo on Yelp and decided to give it a try. The place boasts the slogan "refreshingly global" because each dish on the menu (cutely divided into "side trips" and "destinations" for appetizers and entrées, respectively) is named after a different spot on the globe and represents an entirely different culture's cuisine. I couldn't take or find a very good photo of the restaurant so instead, I drew you this silly pomelo.

Service: There was one guy in there who did everything: greeted us, showed us our table, took our order, served us, and cleared our table. He was friendly and even showed a little humor. He was the sort of waiter who helped guide old ladies into their chairs and patted people on the shoulder as he was checking in on their meals. When he cleared our plates, he asked if we had been finished for a long time; we weren't at all. I liked him.

Food: I had a Provençal-inspired lamb ragout which was delicious; the best part though was the cakes of baked polenta served to the side of it that were the perfect consistency on the inside and crispiness on the outside. Nick had Indonesian-style noodles in a big bowl that smelled great but that I didn't try because it was too different from my meal. He enjoyed it. I think the concept of putting such disparate dishes all in one menu is an interesting and original one, and it works for people who like variety on the menu but not sharing around the table. If you like having a little sample of everyone else's dish but are still looking for a coherent meal, this is probably not the place for you.

Ambiance: This is clearly a neighborhood restaurant. The fresh rose on every table was a nice touch and the soft peachy colors and the dim lighting makes the place a good spot for a romantic but very very casual dinner. After previewing the menu online ahead of time though, I was a little bit surprised when I walked in because I think I was expecting an environment that matched their modern and eclectic theme. I could see this being a fantastic go-to dinner spot for people who live nearby but it does not look like a destination for me.

Rating: Recommended.

Pomelo is located at 1793 Church Street San Francisco, California 94131.