Party time Thanks to the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center (465 California, SF. 415-541-8580, www.rencenter.org), a nonprofit that helps locals start their own businesses, San Franciscans can enjoy Filipino fast food at House of Lumpia, on Bush Street, and local designer duds at Ooma, on Grant Street. Join event cochairs Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and Assemblymember Mark Leno at the center's annual benefit, on Thursday, Sept. 8, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $100 ($50 for center clients). (Camille Ricketts)

Go native Gardening isn't easy in a microclimate, but you can't go wrong at the Sept. 10 annual nursery sale of the San Francisco Botanical Garden (Golden Gate Park, Ninth Ave. at Lincoln, SF. www.sfbotanicalgarden.org). Every reasonably priced plant is suitable for our fickle weather patterns. (Deborah Giattina)

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