Category: living in SF (30)

Hey there lovebirds! It is February 13th, and things are getting weird. When did Walgreens start selling roses? And why are there millions of paper hearts hung up all over the hallways of your San Francisco student housing?

Hate to break it to you, but tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. But don’t panic! We have got you covered with all sorts of fun things you can do all around the Bay Area to impress your significant other last minute. They won’t even know you forgot – and don’t worry, we won’t tell a soul.

A Flower- Filled Afternoon 

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One of San Francisco’s most breathtaking natural phenomenons, the annual bloom of over 100 rare magnolias with trees reaching up to 80 feet is at its peak this Valentine’s Day in the SF Botanical Garden! If you need a good last minute plan for V-day, get out of your San Francisco housing, pack a picnic basket, and take a stroll in the garden with your loved one. Don’t forget the chocolate and wine!

Cat Cafe and Puppy Cuddles

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Is your Valentine a furry friend lover? Look no further! This Valentine’s Day, the SF SPCA is hosting a pop-up cat cafe and puppy snuggle at One Embarcadero Center, where you can come for a coffee and a cuddle in one place!

A Loving Pillow Fight

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If your loved one is fun-loving, take them to the annual Valentine’s pillow fight at 1 Market Street in SF. I know, I know, why even leave your bed in your comfy SF furnished apartment? Trust us, its worth it.  Every year, nearly 1,000 San Franciscans make the pilgrimage to Justin Herman Plaza with feather-stuffed pillows to, put mildly, lovingly beat the crap out of each other.

Salsa Dance the Night Away

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Why not sweep your lover off their feet, and pick up a new skill while you’re at it? This Valentine’s Day,  Palm House in San Francisco will host “Salsa y Amor”, (Salsa and Love, for us non-Spanish speakers), from 7:00 to 9:00 PM. Best part? The salsa lessons are free!  They will also be offering $7.00 Margaritas all night long. This is what you need to do to make your loved one say “te amo!”

The Crush & The Chocolate Factory

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If when you think Valentine’s Day, you think chocolate, then you’re in luck. This Valentine’s Day, Dandelion Chocolates is offering a $5 chocolate factory tour with tastings!  On the tour, you’ll taste cacao all the way through its journey into chocolate, from cocoa beans to liquid chocolate, and they’ll even guide you through a tasting of their single origin bars. Best of all, if that isn’t enough chocolate for you (and lets be real, it’s never enough) they will even send you off with a hot chocolate gift card! You have to book through their website, so make sure you sign up before you go!

None of these just right for you and your significant other?

Don’t worry, Valentine’s Day is all about showing your loved one that you care. Make them breakfast in bed, pick up some $5 flowers from a grocery store, bake them their favorite treat, go for a picnic in Dolores Park, bike ride by the Golden Gate bridge, watch the sunset at Baker’s Beach, or light some candles and cook a special homemade dinner. As long as you show them you love them (and that you totally remembered that it is Valentine’s Day), it will be good enough.

 

Love this post? Share the love! Share on Facebook to help out your friends that may be in need of a last minute date idea! And check out our other blog posts here. 

Need a kitchen to cook a home cooked meal in? Check out our open listings on short stay apartments in San Francisco right here!

 

Post made by contributor Isabelle Kaplan

All the Places You Need to Know About to Maintain Your New Year’s Fitness Goals

It’s early February.  By now you may have given up on your New Year’s resolution to get outside of your short term rental in SF, lose 5lbs, eat more greens, go to yoga once a week with your roommates in San Francisco, or whatever it is you kicked off 2018 thinking you were going to achieve.  Maybe you’re losing steam because you realized just how much a membership at Equinox costs, or that sometimes pizza really just tastes better than kale.  Well this is here to re-motivate you! Get off the couch in your San Francisco furnished apartments and get moving! Keep reading to discover health inspired places you might not have known existed!

PART 1: PLACES TO GET YOUR BODY MOVING!

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Yoga to the People

A donation based yoga studio dedicated to bringing people together through the love of yoga. This is a great place to experience a top quality yoga session without paying top dollar.

2973 16th St., 5th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103

OR

64 Shattuck Sq., Berkeley, CA 94704

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Ritual

Fast-paced hot yoga set to upbeat music and candle light. More than just yoga, this is a sweat-filled rhythmic workout.

586 6th St., San Francisco, CA 94103

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Katie Sweeney, Haute Living.

SALT

With classes ranging from barre to HIIT, you’re bound to get sweaty at this full body workout fitness studio.

327 Divisadero St., San Francisco, CA 94117

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Foursquare.

Bold

Practice the Lagree method in the calming environment of the Bold studio.

3167 College Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705

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HIT Fit SF.

HIT Fit SF

This fitness studio is known for its fiery boxing, TRX and circuit training workouts.

2345 Harrison St., San Francisco, CA

OR

1150 Sutter St., San Francisco, CA

If group fitness classes aren’t your thing…

You can still get off the couch and go outside your San Francisco housingYou can go for a run along Ocean Beach or through Golden Gate Park. Try climbing the stairs to Coit Tower a few times.  If you really feel like busting your quads, bike up and down the infamous hills of San Francisco. Checkout this guide to all the best pull-up bars in the city if you’re looking for an upper body workout.

And be sure to keep an eye on event calendars to stay up to date with all of the upcoming community workout sessions in your neighborhood!

 

Did we give you some good ideas to get you moving? Keep an eye out for Part 2, where we discuss all the places (outside the kitchen in your furnished housing) in San Francisco that will help you feed your body right to meet your New Years resolutions!

More blog posts here. 

Hey, rest is an important aspect of fitness too. If you are looking for a short stay apartment in San Francisco click here!

Post made by contributor Rachel Fay.

We pride ourselves in our diverse, worldly, and dynamic team here at Urbanests, and we want you to get to know us better!

Today, we are profiling Nathan K. Nathan is an artist, a martial arts enthusiast, and a kick-ass Resident Manager who is living in our San Francisco student housing at the Yale Hotel while being a full-time student, and loving every minute of it. Let’s get to it!

 

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Name: Nathan K.

How are you involved at Urbanests?

I’m the resident manager at the Yale Hotel.

Where are you from originally?

I’m originally from Wichita, Kansas.

Why are you in SF?

I’m in San Francisco because I’m going to Academy of Art University for 3D Modeling.

How did you find Urbanests?

I was looking for a cheap place to live while in San Francisco, and happened to stumble across a student room in San Francisco that was owned by the company! I was living in Geary Residences, and moved to the Yale Hotel once I accepted the position as Resident Manager. I really enjoy living in the building – it’s been interesting to say the least, and I’ve really seen the colorful side of San Francisco.

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Do you have any hobbies, talents, or interests?

I have been called an extreme martial arts nerd a fair amount. I love to study history and mythology, and I love coming up with stories, going on adventures, and reading comics (particularly anything Green Lantern or Superman related!)

Tell us an interesting fact about you.

Like I mentioned before, I am a bit of a martial arts enthusiast. One time, I was training a nightclub security team that my brother was a part of. I was doing a demonstration with my brother and we got a little competitive while sparring. Well, I kicked him, he caught my leg and tried to throw me but ended up tripping. He fell on top of me as he went down, and that force made me hit the cement floor so hard that it made the ground shake – a guy over 50 feet away even said he could feel the force of my head hitting the concrete! Needless to say, I had to go to the minor emergency room.  Luckily no major damage happened, just a little bit of a headache.

Do you know any secret spots in the city we should know about? What is your favorite spot in SF? 

My favorite part of the city is the northern tip of Baker Beach at sunset. There are some high rocks that you can climb up on and get a great view of Golden Gate Bridge to the north east, the sun setting on the ocean to the west, and the cliffs and greenery of Land’s End to the south west.

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What is your favorite activity to do in the city? 

I love walking to the beach, around Land’s End, or to the Presidio.

Do you have any favorite restaurants or cafes you can recommend?

I would have to say that my favorite restaurant is called Hamburger Haven Restaurant out in the Inner Richmond. It has a great small dinner feeling,and is a great place to grab breakfast and a cup of coffee. You should check it out!

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Want to get to know other members of our team? Check out our other blog posts here!

Interested in living in San Francisco? Check out our open San Francisco room rentals, San Francisco temporary housing, and SF furnished apartments here.

Pink skies, lollipop trees, a disco-ball room, unicorns, and sugary snacks galore! Did I just describe your childhood day-dream? Yes, this is a real place, and yes, you can go visit. So here is your incentive to get out of your single room in San Francisco for the day and go explore the city; today’s Exploring San Francisco is on the Museum of Ice Cream!

Unless you have been living under a rock, (or haven’t felt the need to leave one of our fabulous San Francisco furnished apartments since you arrived), most likely you have heard that the Museum of Icecream has come to SF. You’ve probably noticed it blowing up your insta feed with images of pink walls, selfies in a sprinkle pool, and banana swings. The museum basically serves as a giant candy land-inspired playground, so grab your San Francisco roommates and get ready for the perfect photo-op.

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As your leading provider of affordable San Francisco housing, we wish we could offer you a room in this museum. But since it is a temporary museum, that seems to be impossible (trust us, we’ve tried.) Instead, in this blog, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about this sweet-filled sanctuary.

Below is your virtual tour, complete with lots of pics! At the bottom are our top tips and tricks to make the most of your experience. If this post doesn’t satisfy your sweet tooth, I don’t know what will.

Welcome, ladies and gents, to your inner child’s wildest fantasy: The Museum of Ice-cream! Let’s Get Started.

1) Entering the Ice Cream Vault: Before you are allowed to enter, crowds are whisked away and told that they must pass a very serious trivia quiz on how modern day cream came to be! The staff does a great job of making it fun and interactive. This is the rite of passage completed by all museum goers, so pay close attention, you may even learn something interesting!

2) Candy Carnival: After you successfully pass the trivia quiz, you are welcomed into the first room. Like stepping into a circus tent, you are immediately overwhelmed with colors, smalls, and sights!  The carnival themed room boasts a fun game where you toss rings onto whipped cream cans, and the walls are lined with pink toys, pinwheels, and carnival-style tickets.

3)  Soda Pop and Malt 50’s Diner: The next room will make you feel like you stepped into a time-machine, straight back to the 1950’s. The room looks like a bubblegum pink 50’s diner, complete with a long counter, stools, a jukebox, and records lining the wall. But when you sit at the counter, instead of serving milkshakes and malts, you’ll be handed a Bay-native creamy treat! The Museum of Icecream partners with local businesses including CREAM, Bi-Rite, Salt & Straw, and It’s It, and serves a rotation of delicious SF-made ice cream flavors! The room even has a working jukebox, so be sure to pick your favorite 50’s pop and shimmy as you snack!

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4) Sugary Script: Next up is a room where self-expression becomes literal. The word room is covered in pink magnetic letters, so you can have fun making your mark and writing your message. But don’t worry, there will be more sugary snacks right around the corner…

5) Cotton Candy Pit Stop: On your way into the next room, be sure to stop and grab some delicious cherry-flavored cotton candy in the hallway! This spun- sugary goodness melts in your mouth like no other.

6) Cherry Skies forever?: The next room is filled with pink skies and floating cherries, and is a great place to snap a few photos. With cherry cotton candy in hand, this room looks like a fruit-filled dreamland! Truly the cherry on top.

7) Real Life Candy Land: Pink hills, lollipop trees, and gummy bears roaming sugary dunes – no, I am not describing the board game.

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8) Chill Out: By now you are most likely on a sugar high. No worries, you can take a moment to chill out in the popsicle room! Be sure to use the last video booth and send yourself a video so you can remember this sugary afternoon forever.

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9)Rock (Candy) Climbing: Now that you have had a moment to relax, mine as well get a quick workout in to burn off all of those sugary snacks! The next room has a (pop) rock climbing wall, so try out your athleticism. But don’t worry, you won’t have to go snacks for long, because staff members will hand you some candy cane pop rocks!

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10) Unicorn Room:  Next up is a room in which rainbow magic and prismatic portals transform into the rainbow room, a magical fantasy space equipped with a unicorn and pink dipped ice cream cones!

11) Disco Ball Room: Don’t miss the small door out of the unicorn room! Because it leads into a giant disco ball – one of the best photo-ops so far.

12) Sprinkle Pool: Ah yes, the insta-famous sprinkle pool. Literally, an entire pool made of sprinkles. Dive in, take your pics, throw some sprinkles in the air. But be aware, the lifeguard is not there for your safety, your time in the room is limited.

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13) Banana Swings: Finally, the visit ends with one last chance to eat ice cream, play ping pong, or rest your feet as you swing. Be sure to stop for mementos in the gift shop!

That’s all for now folks!

Pro tips: There are no bathrooms before or after you enter, so make sure you come prepared. Keep in mind that you can only move forward, so once you leave a room you can’t go back! That means pace yourself, and make sure you are satisfied with your pictures before moving on. But keep an eye on the clock, because you want to make sure you have plenty of time for everything! !

Tickets are hard to come by, because the museum has been crazy popular since it arrived in San Francisco. Tickets must be purchased in advance, are $38 per person, and are currently sold out for the San Francisco Museum of Ice Cream, but you can get updates when new tickets are available by signing up for their email list. I recommend trying to get tickets for the early morning or early afternoon Monday – Thursday to avoid big crowds of people, and to make sure you have lots of time to perfect your pics!

Almost as good as living in the Museum of Icecream is living in one of our San Francisco short stay apartments! You can view our open listings here.

Want to know more cool spots in the city? You can read similar blog posts here.

Finally, you can find more information about the San Francisco Museum of Ice Cream here!

Hope we satisfied your sweet tooth!

Post made by contributor Isabelle Kaplan.

Welcome, you poor uncaffeinated soul. You have wandered out of your San Francisco housing and are desperately seeking coffee, but in such a big city, where do you start? (And do NOT say Starbucks.) Don’t worry fellow caffeine fiend, we have you covered. Below are the best coffee shops in SF for every type of person. So whether you are the type of fellow who just wants to grab-and-go a cup of joe to take back to your San Francisco student housing to get studying, or you feel like spending the day dilly-dallying away in an airy cafe, listed below is your dream coffee shop. Make haste, your coffee awaits.

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Sightglass Coffee: For the Wi-Fi Wanderers.

270 7th St, San Francisco, CA

Calling all college students, freelancers, iPhone aficionados, and ‘the world is my office’ free spirits. If you are uninspired by your San Francisco corporate housing, you are desperately seeking caffeination and even more desperately seeking Wi-Fi, this is the spot for you. Not only does this coffee shop offer some incredible java, this spot easily boasts the best ambiance. High ceilings? Check. Natural light? Check. Wood Floors? Check. Great People watching? Double Check. Plus, it has Wi-Fi for days. So all you tech-savvy coffee-guzzlers can settle in, get one of their incredible espresso-based drinks and a nice pastry, and zone in on your screen in peace.

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Blue Bottle: For the Minimalists.

66 Mint St, San Francisco, CA 94103

When you go to a coffee shop and there are more food options than coffee options, the minimalist knows they have found their haven. At Blue Bottle, they do not sweeten, garnish, or shake. Blue Bottle is famous in San Francisco for its extremely high-quality coffee, yet very basic menu. Best of all, the lack of options does not speak to the lack of flavor, because this coffee surely packs a punch. The biggest choice you may have to make is whether you would like the Hayes Valley House Espresso or the Guatemala Single Origin Espresso, which is great, because you hate choices. In fact, I’ll make the choice for you: get the New Orleans iced coffee. That way, you can sit back and admire the minimalist ambiance as you sip your minimalist beverage without having to ponder too hard about anything at all.

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Elite Audio Systems Coffee & Wine Bar: For the Insta-Inclined.

966 Minnesota St, San Francisco, CA 94107

Free up some memory and head on over to the most unassuming yet rewarding coffee shop SF has to offer. Elite Audio is a teeny spot with barely four tables to its name, in the midst of an unassuming street in the middle of SoMa. Here, you will find the most beautiful and intricate latte art you could ever imagine. The barista is a verifiable artisan, and in the swirl of steamed milk her mochas become masterpieces. For the Insta-inclined, order the mocha and prepare to liven up your feed, because prettiest cup of coffee award easily goes to Elite Audio.

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Andytown Coffee Roasters: For the Espresso Extras.

3655 Lawton St, San Francisco, CA 94122

I’ve been there. When you order your “grande half-caf blonde vanilla latte with just two pumps of syrup, steamed almond milk, and one raw sugar please” and the barista looks at you like you’re from outer space. But don’t worry, if you like your coffee with 25% milk, 25% sugar, 25% espresso, and 25% extra, this is the spot for you. Andytown is known for their Snowy Plover, a must-try iced drink involving espresso, Pellegrino, and brown sugar syrup, topped with house-made whipped cream. Otherwise, they offer all of the regular accoutrements, and are more than happy to help you concoct your own coffee creation – with a smile, believe it or not. Andytown offers an excellent variety of pastries and some superb Irish soda bread, and they choose and roast their own beans, so you know your coffee is legit. But the best thing about this place is that they get it. You aren’t extra, you just know what you like … Down to every specific detail.

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Philz: For the Go-Getters.

5 Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, CA

I know, you have already heard of this coffee shop. But this one had to be listed for the jet-setters and grab-and-goers, because they know that convenience is key. Boasting over 14 locations in San Francisco alone, Philz is the spot to get your fix on wherever you may be. The Bay-native business has excellent coffee, original drinks, and great food options, set at a decent price point. My favorite libation is the Mint Mojito, but if you are more of a traditionalist, their menu boasts extensive options for a regular cuppa. All of their coffee beans are also available to purchase, just in case you might fall in love. And the best news for those of you who are one-stop shoppers? They have a wide variety of food options, ranging from pastries to some pretty delicious avocado toast! Because you have better things to do, so you can take your joe straight back to your San Francisco room rental and proceed to your day with haste  – ain’t nobody got time for lunch.

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Four Barrel Coffee: For the Hipsters.

375 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA

This place is for the true hipster coffee connoisseur. Four Barrel Coffee boats a pour over and espresso bar, in which the friendly barista will allow you to scent-test the various roasts and help you select your favorite. The coffee is phenomenal, so be sure to mention your opinion on its country of origin. There is no Wi-Fi, because assumably the clientele would prefer sketching, writing poetry, or simply observing a songbird atop a branch outside. The atmosphere is gorgeous, and will make your original latte photography even more aesthetic. Minimal food options, but that is ok, because you prefer consuming literature to food anyways.

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So there you have it folks! Next time you chose to wander out of your single room in San Francisco, be sure to stop by one of these spots and get your fix on.

Did we find the perfect coffee shop for you? Like and share this blog post, and let us know what you think of our choices!

Want to live in San Francisco? Check out our open San Francisco room rentals, San Francisco temporary housing, and SF furnished apartments here.

Like this post? Check out our other blog posts here!

Post made by contributor Isabelle Kaplan.