Things to Do in Orinda

Since 1994, when the first iteration of Terra Mia Decorative Art Studio opened, Christine Simmons and her team have been helping kids and adults get creative. The studio eventually relocated to its current site, a large space full of natural light and color splashing from finished ceramic pieces. The wide variety of paintable pottery the space contains, as well as the helpful input of friendly staffers, earned the studio SF Weekly's award for the best DIY ceramics shop in 2012.

After adding finishing touches to pottery, guests can sit for spells on an outdoor patio loaded up with plants. The patio leads to a cozy, sunny-walled room that's ideal for birthday parties, girls' nights out, or private gatherings of people born with brushes for fingers.

Independent and perennial craft distilleries take center stage during the San Francisco Craft Spirits Carnival. Across two days, more than 100 producers—including Outlaw Moonshine, Bulleit Bourbon, and St. Germain—pour samples for aficionados and curious customers alike to highlight the taste and texture of handcrafted whiskeys, gins, vodkas, mescals, absinthes, and spiked grape juice. The festival also works to expand knowledge of the alcohol arts through industry and consumer educational forums, dinners with spirits pairings, and a culminating two-day tasting event at the Fort Mason Center Festival Pavilion. In keeping with its vaudeville-style carnival theme, the festival typically features live performances by fire-eaters, trapeze artists, and contortionists, who keep any self-proclaimed Twister champions from bragging all day long.

Monte Carlo Night combines the indulgent pleasures of gambling and carousing with a wholesome investment in the health of the community. This year's event is a fundraiser for the City of Dreams organization to help San Francisco's youth in low-income housing achieve success through education and mentorship programs. The VIP pass allows guests to mingle at the mezzanine level alongside an open bar kept flowing by Jaqk Cellars and innovative sushi from Yoshi's executive chef. Throw money around like a child millionaire in a candy store with $1,500 in 21 Fun gambling money, 10 Casino Prize coupons, 10 Ace in the Hole coupons, and 10 Lucky Buck coupons, all good for competitive play around high-limit blackjack and craps tables.

Within the Winery Collective's multi-winery tasting room, grape savants uncork the flavorful nuances of liquid harvests hailing from more than 2 dozen of California's boutique wineries from Santa Barbara to Napa Valley. Winemakers and enthusiasts guide palates through wine-flight menus, which are culled from the more than 100 vinos that line the tasting room's walls and, like the political views of a housecat, change daily. The Winery Collective also hosts private and semiprivate parties and corporate events, during which guests mingle and sip in a lofted earth-toned lounge outfitted with crisscrossing wooden shelves that display colorful wine bottles and shapely decanters.

A pianist's ivory tickling underscores Big City Improv’s heralded cast of joke tellers during one-of-a-kind improvised comedy shows. Crowds lob laughs and suggestions toward the performers who incorporate shouted-out ideas into scenes, games, and skits. The entertainers also invite audience members onstage to participate in bits and get the spotlight to stop staring at them.

Foxhound Urban Adventures founder Shannon Bruzelius is an organizer. Growing up in Colorado, Shannon was always outdoors, putting together events such as epic games of hide-and-seek at night, holiday scavenger hunts, and New Year's Eve sledding festivals. When he moved to San Francisco, visiting friends and family put him in the role of designated tour guide, which naturally progressed into what is now Foxhound Urban Adventures.

Jericho San Francisco: Operation Rendition is a spy adventure based on the party game Jericho, which offers locals and visitors a new way to see San Francisco neighborhoods. Players are split into two teams of up to 10 and charged with a specific mission, then armed with a bag of modern spy gadgets, including laser-tag gear and walkie-talkies. During the game, agents race through the city for up to 4 miles and just as many hours, sightseeing, outwitting opponents, and wasting time interrogating statues.