Daily Oakland Sunset on Instagram

Wow it's been a while! And that while has been crazy, I must say! I'll get into what's been going on this past year in future posts...maybe...or maybe I'll just say I'm happy to be back and looking forward to the future! Now that that's out of the way, I wanted to dedicate this post to my new project, and tell everyone a bit about it. Ever since Instagram finally developed an app for Android, I've been hooked. After some time I noticed that a majority of my pics were of the absolutely gorgeous sunsets that we get almost every night here in the bay area. Sooo, I created a new account specifically for those shots so I could share what I loved with people who love the same thing, and feature their shots as well! In under just 8wks we're already over 750 sunset lovers strong, and 2 of my contributors have been chosen as Photo of the Week on an Oakland Tourism site visitoakland.org ! Its pretty awesome! It's been really fun for me to see all the different perspectives my fellow East Bay artists have when capturing their sunsets every day. And dedicating that little time each evening to finding somewhere to shoot, trying new ways of immortalizing the moment, and just consciously chillin out and watching Mother Nature at work has been so relaxing, and fulfilling. I'm grateful for everything around me on a daily basis, which has been a long time coming. :-) Feel free to come join us on Instagram: @dailyoaklandsunset

Views from the Bay Bridge

A couple years ago, I got stuck on the Bay Bridge with hundreds of other morning commuters as a deranged gentleman ahead of us threatened to throw himself into the Bay, and blow up the bridge behind him. The police set up a roadblock, stopped traffic, and handled the situation after a couple hours with the SWAT team and plenty of news coverage...and no harm to anyone. We weren't being evacuated, were told not to be alarmed, but were pretty much stuck. Being stuck in the middle of the Bay Bridge didn't really afford us much to do except mill around and snap pictures. But, in retrospect, (given that the gentleman did not end up hurting himself or any other person), what a unique opportunity! I'll probably never get a chance to stand on the upper deck of the Bay Bridge again, as it's not pedestrian friendly. Looking back at Oakland.. And out towards San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.. Just another reminder of how to turn a crappy situation into something better :)

Temescal Tool Lending Library

Hey all!.I'm knee deep in building a custom work table for our studio, as well as a few other projects! I'll document the whole build process in a couple days when it's all done, but here's a sneak peak at the mish mash of gathered items that'll be screwed/nailed/glued/willed together to create something very distinctly "Breanna" (rack full of stuff not included)


As part of this build, I've had the need for some tools that I dont (yet) own. Enter the wonderful Temescal Tool Lending Library!

This amazing little wing of the Oakland Public Library group has over 2700 different tools to check out, and it's all free as long as you've got a library card! From the gnarliest power tools to teeny tiny hand tools, they've got you covered, and are all smiles and helpful about it to boot!
The Tool Lending Library is located at the back of the Temescal Branch Library, a beautiful red brick building in the Temescal neighborhood in Oakland. They offer workshops, volunteering oportunities, and a super welcoming atmosphere for the wide range of patrons they see every day. I feel really lucky to a so close to this unique resource :)

Temescal Tool Lending Library
5205 Telegraph Ave
Oakland, CA 94609
(510) 597-5089


Now I'm off to rev up the power tools and get buildin!

Rainy Oakland

Some shots from a recent rainy walk through our hood...

(PS, finished shots of the door table and all the other projects I've got going are soon to come!)

Oh the possibilities..

Some may see another overgrown Oakland yard...I see opportunities untapped...I have dreams about what this yard could produce...

Tilden Regional Park

Took an afternoon hike around Lake Anza in Tilden Regional Park above Berkeley and Oakland. It's been pretty unseasonably warm around here..perfect opportunity to get out with the dog and wander around the woods for a few hours!

RATT at Oakland Metro Operahouse

Haha! Got a chance to see RATT at the Oakland Metro on Tuesday night. Had a total blast! I feel like this summer has been a string of show after show, lately going to and planning on going to see bands that are old enough to be my fathers. Awesome! Gotta do it now, may never happen again. Anyway, my friend Amanda runs Lava Booking, a local talent buying/agent company responsible for a lot of great shows here! She put on the RATT show, dealt with the band's shit, and still managed to come out stoked. What a woman! The dudes made the crowd wait a SUPER long time before coming onstage...for whatever reasons rockstars have for doing things that piss their fans off. When they finally did play though, they did us all proud and brought everyone back to their hair metal roots in a goooood way. Originally I was sort of questioning going, but since I'm saying yes to experiencing pretty much everything nowadays, (and I knew deep down it'd be fun), off to the show we went and thank baby metal jesus we did! Fun, fun, fun.

Mulford Point, Marina Park - San Leandro, La Estrellita - Oakland

Mulford Point, on the North side of Marina Park in San Leandro. Not done exploring this park yet :) On the lower side is this really amazing looking walking trail that curves waaaay out into the bay. It looked like a huge, curved, manmade pier or wave break. There were a quite a few people walking with their families, dogs, friends and the wind!!! Being surrounded on all sides by the San Francisco Bay pretty much guarantees you'll be windblown, but the views and the experience of feeling like you're walking on water must surely trump all that!Hoping to make it out there to take the long walk as soon as possible!








Day 5, July 27th: La Estrellita - Oakland

Checked out a new-to-me margarita spot a few blocks from where I live in downtown/Lake Merritt are Oakland. La Estrellita is a favorite happy hour spot for Jenn and Gretchen, and the fact that they can bring their dogs makes it that much better! I'm a fan of supporting little local restaurants, especiallhy when their staff is extra friendly! Many pitchers and many laughs were shared and enjoyed!

Lazy Dogs, Victory Warehouse, Tidal Wave Metal Fest

This was one of those days where you just feel antsy to clock out and get the weekend started. Don't get me wrong, I love my job...but there's definitely something to be said for cutting loose and lettin your hair down!

On this night, Andrea and I headed out to Victory Warehouse on 24th and San Pablo in Oakland to meet up with everyone and check out Sonny's roomie's band, Lazy Dogs. Love those kids. Good times.




After that show we all headed back to the house and somehow started up a spontaneous reggae dance party in Tar's room. So many different people, into totally different stuff, just dropping all inhibition and shakin what they got for a bit. Nice nitecap!!

Day 2: July 24th

Happy Saturday! Day 1 of the Tidal Wave Festival, a yearly free metal fest put on entirely by donations from fans and vendors! It's a 2 day event, of which I only got to see 1 day due to work today, but fun and full of friends, dogs, blankets and beer...the mild San Francisco summer day was absolutely perfect! The venue, The Jerry Garcia Ampitheatre was killer as well!