Oh fellow tomatoes who love the fashion…there are so many fabulous designers of all types in SF, and I recently discovered three that knocked my socks off! I also found the Telegraph Hill Gallery and want to tell you about an exhibit there by an ever so talented tomato, Barbara Fracchia. Union Square Live has returned with so many fun artists and interactive events, plan a day around it and you won’t regret it. For a truly unique and only in our area kind of event, head to Alameda this weekend for “Island City Waterways” a very creative public art festival. Have I said this too many times? SF ROCKS!

A Passion for Fashion

MAIKA bags are the coolest and most functional bags! Totes, pouches, backpacks and desktop organizers come in canvas and waxed canvas, as well as denim and feature bright and cheery prints for the gals and subtle ones for the guys. Her website gives you organizing tips, recipes and travel thoughts. Her ideas provide easy everyday solutions that are simple, unique, fun and beautiful. Perfect for those of us Tomatoes who love a little originality!  https://www.maikagoods.com/

Pockets, soft drapey fabric on clothes that fit, are washable and travel easily? What more could a tomato want? Oh and they are sewn right here in SF! Sarah Liller is the designer of these yummy pieces and she started out her career as a scientist! These are wardrobe staples you can throw on and yet feel put together. You can even make a studio visit to see creativity in process! https://www.sarahliller.com/

If shoes are your happy place like they are for designing  Tomato Tamar Miller, then you will definitely be glad you discovered Bells & Beck.  Miller, a veteran retailer just launched this direct to consumer luxury brand of wearable, fashionable and feminine shoes that will make you drool. Not as pricey as Prada, but no DSW either, they are shoes you will want to wear due to the comfort and the style. The shoes are bold, not showy and I love the way they look. I’m saving my pennies, because they are definitely distinctive and the Italian made shoes I know will fit like a glove. www.bellsandbecks.com

Get thAdd It to Your Beach Bag

Now-June 8. New at Telegraph Hill Gallery

I adore the title of Barbara Fracchia’s current exhibit, “Classical Adventures – Ballet and Operatic Paintings”. This is a showcase of several series of her works focused on her love of ballet and opera. Arts, which I admire and appreciate. Her interpretations are contemporary and reflect the modern adaptations the performing arts have embarked on.  She works in a true “painterly” tradition with a modern flair.

Her most recent series of paintings are based on Wagner’s “The Ring” and ballet performances from Stravinsky’s “Unbound”, an account of ballet’s history and future. You can even get one of her works printed on a t-shirt in the War Memorial Gift Shop. It’s a depiction of the story of “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelly, and turned into a ballet. So if you don’t have room for, or can’t afford, one of her spectacular pieces, you can wear it. 491 Greenwich St. www.telegraphhillgallery.com

Island City Waterways

Alameda is calling! This weekend you can explore a really unique public art event that animates Alameda’s past and present through music, dance, theater, storytelling, and more. A cast of forty actors, dancers and musicians lead audiences on an easy stroll around Crab Cove, Crown Memorial State Beach for a 75-minute performance that brings to life the Cove’s rich history and celebrates the sea.

The carnies and bathing beauties will lead you down memory lane back to the roaring twenties, and then a drum corps takes you to the officer training station. You may be encouraged to do a few push ups! More surprises await and you won’t realize how much you are learning as the time flies by. http://www.islandcitywaterways.org

Union Square Live

It’s free, it’s fun and it’s back! Every Wednesday at 6 p.m and Sunday at 2 p.m., from now through October Union Square Park is the place to be. In the heart of all those delightful shops, restaurants and hotels you get to experience unforgettable performances. This Sunday, a trio, hailed as “the world’s most sophisticated jam-band,” brings their quiet soul, diverse compositions and somewhat twisted sense of humor to the square.

During this several month long season of free performances you will find literally something for everyone’s tastes. From blues, to swing, indie rock, to stand up comedy. Ethnic dances from all over the world, musicians from Hawaii, Japan and China. And don’t forget it’s always free. Such a great and inexpensive way to entertain those out of town guests that you know are coming! https://unionsquarelive.org/