Happy Friday everyone!
This week seemed to fly by for me! I’ve been really busy with work and haven’t had time to blog, ugh. But before another weekend begins, I figured I should share some photos from our trip to San Francisco this past weekend!
We seriously had the best time in SF, I swear every time we go there I fall in love with the city a little bit more. This trip was definitely different than our previous visits as we tried to avoid touristy parts of the city we had seen and tried to branch out a little more. If you follow me on Instagram, you already know that we spent a lot of the weekend eating delicious food! It was so nice to be back in a place with lots of fun options. But we did do other things besides eat, I swear! We stayed with a friend from college that lives in the Hayes Valley area; this was a part of the city I hadn’t spent much time in but it’s a really adorable neighborhood. Lots of good restaurants and shops, pretty tree-lined streets, and it’s really well-located. We spent some time walking around this area both Saturday and Sunday, and I was so glad we got to experience this charming area of the city!
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| This store had the best clothing–it was all very California casual, but it was all locally made and I really liked the laid-back vibe. I ended up picking up two things–a really cute striped sweatshirt and a chambray tunic thing that Cam convinced me is long enough to wear as a dress but I’m not so sure-ha! |
We ate a few delicious places in the Hayes Valley area over the course of the weekend that I would recommend if you’re in San Francisco:
We ate here for breakfast Saturday morning and it seemed to be a pretty busy spot. More traditional breakfast food, but lots of choices and big portions.
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| Cameron, our friend Ashwin, and his roommate Craig |
This is place is located right in the middle of Patricia’s Green, the park in some of the photos near the top of this post, and they have the most incredible ice cream. Their approach is pretty unique–they have these special liquid nitrogen ice cream makers that they pour the ice cream mixture into, so each one is made to order right in front of you. Because the freezers are so cold, it makes the ice cream really quickly, resulting in a really smooth finished product. I got the TCHO Chocolate, Cam got Salted Carmel, and they were both amazing. Highly recommend this place if you’re an ice cream connoisseur.
This place had a fantastic brunch with a great ambience. Cam and I ate here on Sunday morning; it didn’t open until 11am and we got there around 10:45. We debated going somewhere else, but then when we saw people start showing up and getting in line that we better stay, and it was so worth it! It’s definitely more of an upscale brunch place, but it was totally worth the price in my opinion. I got this to die for duck confit ragout (pictured above) which was basically eggs benedict except instead of an english muffin, the eggs were on a potato cake and instead of ham it was duck and mushrooms. So good.
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| The man loves a good macaron-ha! |
So I am a sucker for macarons (they’re just so cute and colorful) but this place had a great aesthetic and they had the best flavors. Red velvet macrons? Yes please!
Located in the same spot as Smitten Ice Cream, Ritual has really delicious coffee and it’s a fun place to sit out and people watch.
Modern, trendy atmosphere with delicious Thai food!
This place was so much fun, it’s a little shop that only serves bread pudding! They had both hot and cold varieties in all different flavors that you could dress up with your choice of toppings. I went with S’mores bread pudding topped with more marshmallows and chocolate sauce. Ridiculous.
Cameron and I spent some time Saturday afternoon walking around. We started off doing some shopping at Nordstroms and the other stores near Union Square Park. But it was such a gorgeous day that even I couldn’t stand to waste inside shopping!
Next, we decided to walk around Chinatown; it’s an area that I’ve never spent any time in while in SF but it’s definitely worth checking out. It’s very touristy while at the same time retaining so much Chinese culture within the midst of the city, so it’s kind of this weird collision of two worlds in a way.
We ended up wandering over to the North Beach area (aka San Francisco’s Little Italy) for a snack and some people watching in the park.
After this we ended up randomly walking around and up lots of hills, and somehow ended up in an area with beautiful views and lots of pretty plants.
Sunday after brunch, we ended up driving with our friend/host Ashwin and another friend out to the Presidio to check out Walt Disney Family Museum.
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| Gorgeous day to take the top off the Jeep! |
I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this museum because I figured with “family” in the name it was probably going to aimed more at kids, but it ended up being quite the opposite. The Walt Disney Family Museum is actually not affiliated with the Disney brand, but rather it’s owned by Walt Disney’s family and it’s a tribute to Walt’s life and legacy. His family has lived out in the Bay Area for many years (and after our visit to the museum I realized that Silverado Vineyards that we visited in Napa last March is owned by Walt Disney’s daughter!) so that’s why the museum is in SF. The museum was so well put together and had a ton of information about Walt Disney’s life, which was really fascinating. I thought the museum was super inspiring because it really showed how many failures and disappointments he went through early on in his career but how he was just really imaginative/positive and pushed through to build this empire.
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| A quote from Walt Disney talking about how when he came to Hollywood he thought there was no chance that he could get into animation because he thought the industry was already too established! |
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| The museum is in the Presidio which is such a gorgeous area, you can actually get a good view of the Golden Gate from inside the museum! |
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| Model of Disneyland |
If you’re a huge Disney fan like myself, this museum is a must-see in SF. But honestly even if you’re not, I’d still highly recommend it as there’s a lot of really interesting history and it’s such an inspiring testament to American entrepreneurship.
When we left the museum, there just so happened to be this big picnic event taking place on the lawn. Apparently it’s the Off The Grid Picnic and it takes place every Sunday in the Presidio and features a lot of great food trucks/stands. We were pretty hungry after walking around the museum so it worked out perfectly!
Later on Sunday night, we headed to the Mission District of SF for dinner. Next time we’re back in town (which will hopefully be soon!) I definitely want to spend more time exploring this area! We had dinner with a big group of people outside at a funky place called Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. Kind of hipster dive bar-ish but lots of interesting dishes on the menu, along with pitchers of margaritas and Moscow Mules. Definitely a fun place!
And because heaven forbid we follow up a healthy meal like that without dessert, we may or may not have swung by Bi-Rite Creamery near Dolores Park area for some of their delicious ice cream. Luckily the ever-present line there was shorter this trip than last time!
I am already thinking about the next time we can go back to San Francisco. It’s such a vibrant city and I’m so glad it’s only a few short hours away from Tahoe!
Finally, I can’t end this blog post without wishing two very special happy birthdays!
Yesterday was my dad’s birthday and since I know he faithfully reads my blog and is one of my biggest supporters, I want to wish him a happy (belated) birthday! Love you Dad!! 🙂
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| {Dad standup paddleboarding on Lake Tahoe this summer} |
And then today is my sweet Grandma’s birthday and although I’m pretty sure she doesn’t read my blog unless my parents bring their laptop over to show her, I wanted to wish her happy birthday just the same! 🙂
And that my friends, concludes this extremely long post. If you’re still reading, I applaud you. Have a lovely weekend! Xoxo