I’m still feeling so much gratitude and warmth from the past weekend. Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate six years with us! We were elated to see hundreds of friendly, familiar faces - and we are so grateful to still be connected to you all and to be part of such a vibrant community.

It was a special day, good folks, and good vibes- one of those wonderfully rare times where everything seemed to just fall into place. Granted, the day, the week - hell, the last year or two - have been a succession of pendulum swings. Tragedies and trials with occasional small triumphs. Little joys where we could find them. Luck where we could make it. The week just before the party was cold with lots of rain, and so everyone kept mentioning how lucky we were this weekend. Someone asked if we do this event every year, and we recalled darker days of the pandemic, and I thought about how lucky we are. Max wrote a newsletter last week about how much the neighborhood has changed in six years - businesses opening and closing - and I thought again about how lucky we were and are. 

And I know the pendulum will swing, but I am holding on to this feeling this morning and I hope you are too. I hope the good feelings stay just a little longer. That you feel lucky too, or that good fortune finds you. That little joys await. And that maybe one morning when your stomach is growling you see that the café that you just passed is open and there’s no line and there’s a spot right out front and there’s money in the meter and a stranger smiles and your body doesn’t ache and oops you can’t find your wallet but that’s OK because a stray $20 bill is hiding in your pocket and the bread is fresh and the coffee is just the right temperature and a text comes through and an old friend was just thinking about you.


This week at OAKLAND YARD... lets keep the good vibes going. TONIGHT: A very special Thursday Night FLIGHTS with Portuguese stars, FILIPA PATO & WILLIAM WOUTERS, here at the bar pouring flights of new Filipa Pato delights! Passion for traditional indigenous grape varietals of Bairrada led Filipa Pato to start her own project in 2001. Utilizing biodynamic farming practices and minimal-intervention winemaking, Filipa and her husband, Belgian sommelier and restaurateur William Wouters, produce what they call “vinhos autênticos sem maquilagem” ("authentic wines without makeup"). Come meet the winemakers and taste these amazing wines with us TONIGHT from 5-8pm! Flights from 5-9pm and wines by the glass until close!

SATURDAY: Trail Marker Wine Co at OAKLAND YARD! Winemakers Emily Virgil & Drew Huffine will be here pouring flights of their stellar wines from organically farmed vineyards in Lodi and Santa Cruz mountains. Drew and Em will be pouring their new Kerner and a fresh, chillable Zweigelt from Mokelumne Glen, and Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from renowned vineyards in Santa Cruz Mountains. Flights $15 from 2-5pm and wines by the glass from around the globe until 9pm!


All love,

Daniel