Brothers' first trip to SF!

Even though I have been living in San Francisco for almost a year now (!), my younger brothers had never been up to the Bay area. After hearing me talk about SF during Thanksgiving, Christmas, and a weekend trip to LA in January, a sibling visit was overdo. My parents and brothers (Jessica would be flying up the next week) finally had planned a trip to see me over the President's/Valentines weekend. On that note, let's ignore how I'm writing this months later.. In true tech culture, I set them up with their first Airbnb and immediately started planning a weekend for the SF newbies.

My brothers and parents live for hikes, and I could not have gotten luckier with the weather. I knew rain or shine we would be outside exploring, but I was thrilled that the rain came the weekend before--leaving President's day 75 degrees and sunny. While my parents drove up that Friday, I worked from home/the La Boulange on my street and was lucky to finish up my work right as they rolled in to Inner Sunset at 2pm.

I joked that I was giving my parents the true San Francisco experience as they ordered lunch and coffees while I kept my laptop (complete with my tech company sticker) open at the coffee shop. I may have kept attacking my younger brothers with hugs and picture requests because I was so excited for them to be at my new home. After walking the few blocks back to my place, I gave them the tour of my apartment before heading out to explore the best part of my neighborhood --Golden Gate Park. We walked all around Stow Lake, hiked up to the top of Strawberry hill to get a view of the Golden Gate bridge, and kept walking for another hour or two until we got to the DeYoung Museum. I actually had not been before, but I was blown away by the top floor views of the city which was an awesome and free surprise. Our luck got even better when we realized that after 4:30 the art gallery is free for visitors. We browsed through the exhibits before walking back to my place.

After a quick break, the family met us back at the apartment to head to dinner. While I would usually take visitors to a nicer restaurant like Park Chow on my street or my mom to a more trendy venue, I ultimately decided to go for the more laid back option of Cybelles with a cute interior and simple food. The second my brothers got their hands on cheesy garlic bread I knew I made the right choice. We left full and with plans for an early start Saturday morning at Sutro Baths.

The last time I hiked Sutro Baths I immediately knew I had to take my my parents and brothers when they came to visit. Our hike took us from climbing on the ruins to walking the labyrinth at Land's End; down to the beach hopping on a makeshift driftwood seesaw to finally taking in the view and photo opportunities at Eagles Nest. 

 After realizing we had spent a few hours walking around and hiking it was (not so calmly/hangerily) decided it was time to head back to the car and grab lunch.

Since it was still Johnny and James' first visit to San Francisco, it was officially time to hit some of the touristy spots. First stop: off to Fisherman's Wharf to grab bread bowls from Boudin. I originally was not overly excited about the idea (I had a trendy brunch place more in mind), but I re-realized how exciting it is to be at Boudin for the first time. My brothers (true lovers of bread) watched the loafs made in the window, and Johnny bought a little turtle shaped loaf of sourdough for his girlfriend. We ate bread bowls and clam chowder in the sun until we were energized enough to start our hike up to Lombard Street.

While it may be the curviest street in San Francisco, it was funny to see my brothers so confused on exactly why it was so immensely popular. After long hike up with the dozens of other tourists, I can definitely say I that I have no answer either. Our next stop was a little more exciting to the crew, as we were just quick cable car ride away from Gharadelli ice cream sundaes.

Everyone left feeling full and tired after hours and hours of walking throughout the day (which my mom and her beloved fitbit can attest too). While we had big plans to meet up for dinner, once we got to our separate apartments it was game over. Scott and I ordered in Chinese food while my brothers and parents relaxed at their Airbnb and did homework.

I thought I had created the perfect plan for Valentines for Scott and I: late night reservations at Zazie for dessert. A cute, well known cafe near my apartment with late enough reservations to take into account my parent's visit. However, after getting all dressed up we arrived at the restaurant and quickly realized it was a very expensive prix fixe menu. Although a little disappointing, we walked back to my neighborhood, grabbed a pastry from an open bakery and headed to a bar for some drinks. A testament to my adorable ability to not double check details (one of my many endearing qualities), it was still a great and more natural end to Valentine's with the best boyfriend ever.

The next morning we were up bright and early to grab brunch. My parents had grand plans of spending the remaining part of the holiday weekend driving down the California coast, so they had to leave San Francisco early that morning. My Dad and Mom had one request for breakfast: Art's Cafe. They had both been on their last visit, and were excited to show off the small, one counter wide diner to my brothers. My brothers are not easy to impress, but they left promising me they had a great time and loved San Francisco.

My sightseeing, exploring, decision making, and entertaining duties left with my parents, brothers, and Scott that Sunday, and the pace of my holiday weekend turned from a whirlwind of adventure, laughter, bonding, and hangriness to a slow lull. The lively (and early) Sunday brunch morphed into long naps, an early dinner with friends, and Netflix in bed. Lucky for me, I still had one more activity planned to enjoy the Monday off. I met my friend Hannah the next day, for a picnic at Alamo park. While I strolled up to the grass, she had grabbed a prime spot in front of the painted ladies with a bag full of baguettes and bruschetta, salad, lemonade, and other goodies. We basked in the sun and lurked French bulldogs until we decided to stop at Birite grocery for San Francisco's famous BiRite ice cream. Tip: the Nopa location lines are only 5-10 minutes compared to an hour in the mission.

Just as the sun started to go down, the fog rolled in. Although I will always love sunny, hot days, there is a special charm to the SF fog coming right at the end of the weekend. It gives you time to bundle up, reflect on the amazing weekend, and feel a little less bad about spending the work week inside. Although, this weekend was months ago, my parents and brothers visiting was too great of a memory not to document and relive through blogging.

Adventures in the New Year

My big goal for the new year was to survive a crazy transition at work and to start taking advantage of living in San Francisco and Bay area more. It may have been a few late nights and some crazy schedules, but it's still been a great start to 2015:

1. While I've visited Scott's apartment in San Jose several times, I haven't done much exploring of the area. So when my grandparents asked what a good Christmas gift for him would be, I knew exactly what to suggest: two tickets to the Winchester Mystery House. It's a San Jose landmark, and something that Scott and I had contemplated doing for months. The first weekend we got back from our holiday break, we cashed in the gift certificates and took a tour. The house was designed by Mrs. Winchester who believed that if she ever stopped building, she would be haunted by all the people who died from the guns her company produced. It was the craziest house possible--doors that lead to two story drops, over a hundred small steps to go up one floor, and rooms with 4 exits but only one entrance.  It was a super cool tour, and a fun thing to check off the bay area bucket list.

2. Our company's annual rallying cry/celebration/look forward to the new year took place in LA this year. I decided to fly down a few days early so I could get a whole weekend with my family and friends. MLK weekend was filled with hiking, homemade food, and hours of watching Parks and Recreation with my Mom. Just when I thought my relaxing weekend at home couldn't be topped, I checked into a luxurious hotel downtown and met up with my coworkers. The whole event was planned with extraordinary detail, extravagance, and enthusiasm from a half pipe with BMX bikers at the dinner party to watching our CEO dance to Uptown Funk. To top it all off, one night may have ended past 4am at The Pantry eating late night bacon and eggs.

3. One of my Dad's Christmas presents to me was coming up to SF and painting my room. I was excited for him to see my apartment and my neighborhood for the first time, but if I knew what a difference he would make at my place I would have been jumping off the walls. He got in Monday night, so my Dad and I grabbed dinner with drinks, an appetizer of mussels, and delicious food at Park Chow before heading back to my apartment. I made up the couch (he's the first person to sleep on it and exactly why I bought such a large couch whee!) and headed to bed. I worked during the days and my dad would work on my house/explore the neighborhood/surf/keep the local Ace hardware in business while I was gone. After work we would have dinners at Crepevine, Marnee Thai, or grab pizza to take to the local bar before saying goodbye with brunch at Art's Place (which my Dad and Mom now love). I underestimated how much painting my room and the million of other fixes to my apartment would help, and I now finally feel like my room is a finished product and am proud of my apartment. I'm getting obsessed with fixing the rest up!

4. San Francisco is known for being a foodie city, and I definitely love all types of food. One of my New Year's resolutions was to explore more of the delicious restaurants and go on some food adventures. Brenda's Meat and Three was perfect meal out. It was a talked about restaurant, but small and down to earth, and most importantly delicious. They have a few things on the menu, but the best is a choice one of four entrees (meat) and 3 sides. 2 of my college friends and I decided to share two plates and ordered the fried chicken and BBQ ribs with roasted Brussels sprouts, Mac n cheese, sweet potato fries, cauliflower grautin, cole slaw, and red beans. Everything was unbelievable and the sides were just as good if not better than the meat itself. The best part is with a beer for each of us and a shared blueberry cobbler for dessert the whole meal came out to around $25 each. I'm already planning on taking Scott back to try it.

5. Scott and I went on an adventure to Ocean Beach and walked on the sand checking out the water--but mostly checking out all the dogs running around and wishing we had our own. From there, we decided to take the more complicated way to the baths and head up the dunes to Sutro tower for great views and a quick workout. Our only plan was to see Sutro Baths, a ruined pool house from the late 19th century, but it was such a beautiful place and weather that we continued exploring along the path for a few hours. We hiked the path from Sutro Baths to Lands End, and I immediately fell in love with it. I instantly made plans to take my parents when they came to visit, and have decided that I will make this a usual occurrence.

February brings a different type of crazy, but in the best way. All four weekends, I have visitors to San Francisco including family, a childhood friend, and college friends. It's a good thing I've been exploring so much lately because it's helping me plan fun weekends for the rest of the month!

A Summer in San Francisco

My summer in San Francisco has been full of great memories. I've had spontaneous Beyonce fueled nights out, music festivals with my boyfriend, work adventures and trainings, trips to wine country, Giants games, and more than a few delicious restaurants.

These past few weeks have also been filled with a traumatic family emergency at the beginning of September, and the only thing on my mind for the past five weeks has revolved around that. Although things are on the way up, I know that I will remember the more traumatic memories of my first summer in San Francisco before some of the great experiences I had. The best part of this blog is being able to look back and remember all the fun things I did or trips I've taken, so I'm going to back track a little and write about the amazing things I've done since I moved up to San Francisco.

5 Highlights of Summer 2014:

1. Spontaneous Beyonce Concert - Nothing feels more young and spontaneous than deciding to buy tickets to see Beyonce and Jay the morning of the concert. From our nosebleeds seats, we spent the whole concert dancing and fan girling out over Bey. Seeing Beyonce (and Jay Z for a second time) perform was the best last minute plans to ever happen on a Wednesday.

2. Outsidelands - A SF experience and summer festival done right. Also a belated anniversary celebration for Scott and I and worthy of a much longer post to unload a million pictures. But highlights were Arctic Monkeys, Flume, The Killers, and delicious Gilroy garlic Mac n cheese.

3. Ad Ops Work Trip to San Diego - After my hometown and Los Angeles, San Diego is one of the cities I've visited most (and I was just there for Comic Con!), but I have never experienced San Diego like I did for a work training. Spending a few days at the island resort Paradise Point with unusually warm and humid weather felt like taking a tropical vacation - except with a bunch of hilarious coworkers and an amazing company. Plus, beach volleyball was an activity, which always leaves me happy.

4. Exploring Golden Gate Park - I only live a few blocks away, but it took me a few weeks to get off the main roads during a sunny (unusual) after work run. All of a sudden I found myself on forest paths, running by lakes, and checking out views of the Golden Gate Bridge. So, of course I had to go back a few times with my new wolf friend.

5. Belated Birthday trip to with Scott - Also deserving of another post. Scott whisked me away on a romantic trip to Napa and Petaluma for the weekend where we wine tasted $80 bottles and felt particularly classy.

I'm excited to bring blogging back as I'm officially into my post grad life. There's a lot of good things happening, and even more things to be grateful about.

I Got It From My Momma

I was looking forward to my Mom coming for weeks! As an early birthday present she was flying up from LA to spend my third weekend in SF with me.

Moving to San Francisco was not an easy transition. Although I was excited and nervous to start my job, I had a million other things on my mind. My first priority was finding an apartment to rent as soon as possible. I made the five hour drive up to San Jose in a car packed to the brim with suitcases stacked together with tetris like precision. After meeting up with Scott, we drove around the city with everything I owned in the trunk, looking at places I found on craigslist. It was not an easy experience (one apartment used to be a massage room, no thank you), but luckily the next day, I met with some friends of a friend in Inner Sunset and decided in 10 minutes that I would be moving in later that week.

An hour drive back down to San Jose and a celebratory call to my mom later, I was headed down to San Diego with Scott for his graduation party. There we had a few drinks, I said my real and official goodbye to the family, and made the official drive back up to the bay on Sunday.

The following week was a whirlwind of starting my first week of work ever, living out of my car, signing leases, and shacking up with a sorority sister. Finally, I moved into my new apartment complete with only a bed, mattress cover, blanket, and pillows.

Needless to say my first two weekends proved a little busy, as I slowly pulled my apartment together and tried to get everything in order. So, I could not have been more excited knowing that my Mom was flying up to visit for my third weekend in the city. Not only was it going to be great seeing her, but it finally was a weekend where I could play tourist in my brand new home (instead of spending all weekend attempting to put together Ikea furniture).

Scott and I picked up my Mom bright and early from the San Francisco airport, and headed to my apartment to grab food. A quick look around and we were off for breakfast at a tiny local brunch restaurant. Art's Cafe is a single bar breakfast place, that is known for it's delicious hash browns (and cheap food!). My Mom and I shared an omelet with hash browns, and almost ordered more, but decided to save our appetite for the rest of the food ahead.

Scott was nice enough to drive us around, and we started our day off at the Golden Gate bridge to walk part of it and take tons of pictures. Our next stop, was Fisherman's Wharf for clam chowder bread bowls and hanging out outside to enjoy the rare sunny day. After lunch, we decided to work off breakfast and took a long hike up to Chinatown. We enjoyed the sun, and passed by Lombard street, and checked out the shops selling jade carvings and whole fried geese.

My Mom's first activity on her to do list was to ride a cable car in SF. We were lucky enough to unknowingly skip the huge lines and prices by jumping on at the Chinatown stop, and were literally holding on tight as we hung off the side. Once we made it back to the wharf area, we headed straight for Ghiradelli Square where my Mom and I shared and inhaled a salted carmel sundae.

Soon, it was time to check into our hotel. As excited as I was to have an apartment in the city and a new couch, I was even more excited to stay in a fancy hotel with my Mom. Scott dropped us off at the hotel, and we had just enough time to run up to our room, get excited about the "Happy Birthday" bottle of champagne, and make it to the free happy hour in time for a few glasses of wine.

It was the ideal amount of wine to help ignore the cold while hopping back on the trolley to North Beach in a little black dress. From that point on, we had a classic night in the city and one of my top two nights out in SF. From befriending the owners of a small Italian seafood restaurants, and managing to bypass the two hour wait, to tisply devouring a steaming bowl of cioppino. Filled to the brim with seafood, eating at Sotto Mare was the best food decision I've made in the city to date. We grabbed a photo of us sitting at the booth before rushing off to our next activity.

My mom had been told to go see Beach City Babylon by her friend and had bought us tickets in advance. I hadn't heard anything about it or done any research, so I walked into the theatre not expecting anything. I was blown away by the performance and spent the whole time laughing. The costumes were amazing (and amusing) and the pop culture references were hilarious. Afterwards, I introduced my mom to the wonders of Uber and we grabbed a ride back to the hotel. 

The next morning we sadly checked out of the hotel and shared an omelette at a neighboring diner. A quick walk around Union Square and a tour of the area where I work, and we were off on MUNI back to my apartment where maternal instincts took over and my Mom helped mop my floors to get rid of the ridiculous amount of dog hair in my room. 

The rest of the day was spent fighting off tourist for a quick photo opp of the Japanese tea garden, before walking back to my place stopping only for a late lunch and dessert at La Boulange.

It was sad driving back to the airport, but it was one of my favorite weekends in the Bay Area to date! I'm so happy my Mom could help me celebrate my birthday a little early and see my new start in SF.