Day 22: Glass-blowing

Day 22: Here's a photo of Brandon blowing glass on our back patio. Not to be too advertise-y, but if you want to see some of his finished pieces, click here.

Day 21: Golden Gate Bridge

Day 21: Nighttime view of the Golden Gate Bridge with lovely San Francisco in the background.

Day 18: Church in San Rafael

Day 18: This is a photo that I took on Monday on my lunch break in San Rafael. I love the palm tree next to the beautiful architecture.

Day 16: Berkeley Hills Hike

Day 16: Just behind my house in Berkeley is the Berkeley Hills. I've walked my dog up there multiple times, but only about half way. So today my boyfriend, Brandon, and I decided to trek up the entire hill to see what was at the top. Although the trek was a bit grueling, we made it. And the sights we saw were definitely worth it! Above is a view of the bay with some of the wonderful landscaping that ventured off the property of the house below. Sorry, that's actually the guest house, but you get the picture...A quaint little hiking trail.

Berkeley's famous Sather Tower, "The Campanile" and carillon of UC Berkeley.

Day 15: Sunset

Day 15: I'm not a big fan of chains, but last night we went to Chevy's in Emeryville. It's hard to resist the temptation of half-prize appetizers, dollar-off margaritas and this view from the dock behind it.

Day 14: Fog on the Lake

Day 14: A foggy day at Lake Anza in Tilden Park.

Day 13: Bird Bath

Day 13: It was a warm day in California today. Here's a bird that was bathing on my lunch break. I'm afraid the camera didn't capture the extent of the splashing this little black bird made, but it was quite a sight to see!

Day 11: Snails

I have to admit that I did not take a photo yesterday. Having a guest in town and Valentine's Day got the best of me. But I took two photos today to make up for it.

Day 11: I noticed these two snails on my walk this morning, so I ran home to get my camera. Lucky for me, these slow-moving snails were in the exact same spots as I left them.

Day 9: Napa

Day 9: Here's a photo from the V. Sattui winery that I went to this last Saturday. Even though the grapes have been picked, it's still a picturesque vineyard.

Day 8: View from the Berkeley Hills

I realize a lot of these past photos have been very similar, but I think the view of the bay is one of the prettiest views in the San Francisco bay area. I wanted to share all of the angles I've seen it from because they are very different.

Day 8: This is a view of the bay from Grizzly Peak Road in Berkeley. This is a great spot to take a glass of wine and try and relax a bit. However, one time I did it, and a bunch of high schoolers came up blasting Mariachi music. Not very relaxing...

Day 7: View From the Financial District

First, I want to apologize for not updating the blog recently. I had a guest in town, so I didn't have time to update the blog; however, I still took a lot of photos each day.

Day 7: I went to the top of a friend's apartment building in the Financial District of San Francisco. This above photo is of the Embarcadaro with the Ferry Market, where we tasted various cheeses and chocolates right before going to this rooftop. Behind the Ferry Market is the Oakland Bay Bridge and Treasure Island (where NBC's medical drama, Trauma, is filmed). Below is a photo of the Transamerica Pyramid in downtown San Fran. It's the tallest and most recognizable building in the San Francisco skyline. I made it a black and white photo because I really wanted to emphasize the blanket of clouds hovering over the skyline.

Day 6: View of the Bay

Day 6: This is the view from the park that I take my dog to almost every day.

Day 5: Four-Leaf Clover

Day 5: I found a four-leaf clover today!

The Car Wave

I'm a big fan of the car wave. I do believe that it can make someone's day. And even I — red-faced in the worst California traffic — will stop complaining if I receive this kind gesture from the asshole that just cut me off. Unfortunately, not many people in California know about the car wave — or they know about it and are too busy to use it. Instead, I've received several car honks, car fingers and I even had a guy follow me and shout at me through our open car windows. It's because of these moments that I believe there should be required car waves in this state. Screw not talking on your cell phone, not wearing your seat belt or — heaven forbid! — having a couple of beers before you get behind the wheel. It's the none car-wavers that deserve a ticket more than anyone else. I hope that common decency hasn't been swept away with our fast-paced lives. Think about it: Traffic would be a lot easier to handle with more car waves. So, for my sake, for the driver behind you's sake and to avoid a drive-by yelling, try adding a wave to your driving routine. You'll be surprised at how much better it will make you feel.

Day 4: Sailboats

Day 4: These are sailboats from a marina in San Rafael, California. I took this on my lunch break at work.

Day 3: Succulents

Day 3: One of my favorite things about California is the succulents. These are from a neighbor's front yard on Piedmont Ave.

Day 2: Hanger Pile

Day 2: This pile of hangers was a piece of artwork at the Oakland Heart Murmur (or First Fridays) last night. Definitely the most hangers I've ever seen at one time.

Day 1: Tree Bark

Day 1: Here's a photo of a tree that I see every time I take my dog, Sahara, on a walk. The bark on this tree amazes me every time. I'm not one of those people that knows types of trees or birds or flowers. So, if you know what kind of tree this is, I'd be very interested in learning more.

Welcome to The Berkeley Chronicles

As my profile says, my name is Jessie. And I recently moved to Berkeley from Kansas City, where I lived my whole life. I'm a professional blogger, copywriter and social networker for Virtual Inventories. And I work part-time as an editorial temp at String Letter Publishing. I decided to start this blog to document my time in Berkeley, as well as to create an outlet where I can write about whatever I want and share photos that I take along the way. In fact, I took the above photo of the Golden Gate bridge. I recently stumbled upon this photo project that I read about on Facebook — Take one photo a day for 365 days. As a photographer, I thought this would be a good way to inspire me to continue taking photos, even when I don't feel like it. I thought that creating this blog would be a good way to keep me creative in my 45-hour long work weeks when all I want to do is come home and watch episodes of Lost on Hulu. Tomorrow I will post my first photo and hopefully continue to do so for the 364 days after. In addition, I will update the blog on anything ranging from things that bug me to my experiences in every day life. Anyways, whether you like it or not, here are The Berkeley Chronicles...