Nancy, Author at spiffykerms.com

Fort Funston off leash dog beach | San Francisco

July 31, 2015 1 Comment

Fort-Funston-header There goes 3 weeks of no Pomeranian FridayÂ posts! Sometimes you need to take a break, I mean it’s a ton of work taking out Alfie and remembering to capture moments in time together every single week when we’re out on our adventures. Plus, holy time consuming going through all the gorgeous photos of our little nugget. He photographs (and listens) so well when we’re out! I can’t put him up to that sort of posing for pictures every time we’re out having fun. So hence the lack of Alfie pictures lately.

Let’s hope this one makes up for it.

A few weeks back I took Alfie up to Fort Funston off leash dog beach in San Francisco, both of our first times there and was recommended to me by my friend Megan when she used to live in California. The drive took close to an hour to get there, but the views were simply incredible that I wouldn’t think twice heading back there again for another few hours.

There are tons of acres of trails, which of course then leads you the incredibly long beach that took over 1 hour to walk! I was absolutely astounded by how manyÂ professionalÂ dog walkers there were.

All the dogs looked SO freaking happy to be there whether they were off leash or not, playing with others in the sand and literally gallivanting about. It was precious.

Alfie was off the leash for the most part, of course tickled pink with himself prancing around without the restrictions. He surprised me, and ended up going up to a few dogs on his own (he’s usually a vicious little creature on the leash and won’t allow dogs or humans to come close to me. Trust me, we’ve been working on this for his entire 5 years of life. It’s rough. But I’m pleased to see he’s much better off the leash!

He was all smiles the entire day. Couldn’t have asked for a happier pup.

I filmed a YouTube video while I was there too, it’s about 8 minutes long, check it out if you have the chance!

Fort FunstonÂ National Park
Fort Funston Rd, San Francisco, CA 94118

Daily

Favourite Canadian Bloggers

July 30, 2015 12 Comments

You can take me out of Canada, but you can’t take away my proper Canadian spelling, or the love of reading my favourite bloggers North of the boarder.

Today I’m bringing you a handful of my favourite reads. If you liked this blog postÂ you may also want to check out my favourite Bay Area Blog Buddies.

Megan | MeganJoy:Â If you’ve been reading my blog since the Spring, you know darn well who Megan is. We’ve done YouTube makeup collaborations together and I mention her in just about every second blog post I put up here on spiffykerms. Megan & her hubby moved to San Francisco around the same time my husband and I did, but we didn’t realize either of us were Canadian, and only met up about a month or so before re-locating back to Canada (Toronto area specifically). If you like my blog, I feel like you’ll really enjoy Megan’s, too. She’s like the blonde version of me, who can also pull off a really wicked looking lavender hair colour. Luckily with today’s technology we can voice-chat for free on our cell phones and catch up with each other’s daily activities. If you are ever lucky enough to meet Megan in person, I know you will hit it off so easily with her. She’s just so friendly, chatty, funny and so easy to speak to. None of that “I’m too cool for you” vibe with Megan, and that’s why I heart her so much. :)

Holly | Teach Me Style:Â I found Holly on Instagram one day, browsing through the #JoeFresh hashtags, lusting after the Canadian inexpensive Canadian clothes, and her wearing them like designer and pulling it off magically. Her blog is new, and I say she’s one step ahead of the game being one of the only prairie bloggers out in Western Canada that I know of. She’s basically my fashion and style icon – can I be jealous of everything she pulls off so well? And those hair styles? Like, holy genes, man.

BrittanyÂ | My Daily Randomness: Design blog. Food blog. Fashion blog. It’s all awesome.Â All of the pretties with Brittnay’s blog. Her photography has blossomed and is basically something straight out of a magazine these days.

Amanda | A.Co est. 1984:Â I still cannot get over the fact that I haven’t met Amanda in person. Although she did live 6+ hours away from me when I was living in Ontario, Canada. Amanda also has a really awesome and addicting YouTube channel that I love. After showing a friend of mine Amanda’s website + YouTube channel, she mentioned that she was just like me. Maybe that’s why I like her.

Leanne | Lipsticks and Lattes: Leanne is also from Newfoundland, like me â€” but living away. She hasn’t blogged much this year, but I am constantly refreshing her blog on a weekly basis to see if she’s updated. Leanne is one of my favourite Canadian bloggers for many reasons, but if you’re looking for an old school lifestyle blog that isn’t all about sponsored posts,Â reviews and ad-worthy favourite products, you should check her out. Please update soon, Leanne!

Coffee shop, Daily

Exploring Coffee Shops: Roy’s Station Coffee

July 29, 2015 2 Comments

I don’t mean to go all hipster on you, but I prefer checking out the small local coffee shops around rather than going to regular chains for my hot cuppa. I enjoy scoping out my new city, and places I wouldn’t have known existed if I didn’t explore. I have been trying to go to a new-to-me coffee shop once every two weeks â€”Â but sometimes I tend to go back to the places I’ve found because I enjoy the ambiance, the drinks and food, and warm welcomes.

Roy Murotsune is now 89 and owned Roy’s Gas Station since 1946, his family re-purposed it and turned it into a coffee shop. Â It had the coolest concept for a coffee shop, and saw it on Instagram and knew I had to pop in for a visit.

Although I do have a particular drink I like to order at coffee shops, I still like to head over to Yelp to see what people recommend or dislike from a place before I visit. What I didn’t realize was that Roy’s Station Coffee & Tea isÂ DOG FRIENDLY! I tweeted to them, making sure they were so Alfie could come on a mid-morning adventure with me, and sure enough their patio was perfect for your pooches. Although I’d normally bring Alfie with me to a place like this, I didn’t like the idea of tying him up outside while I took photographs and ordered. He would panic, and bark like a maniac, so I left him at homeÂ for an hour or so while I checked this spot out with Megan before she moved back to Toronto.

My drink is on the right, it was a barista’s PFox’s special which was called Mocha Joy (kinda like Megan Joy, ha!) and it had mocha, almond syrup and coconut syrup. So good.