{dear friend}

san francisco no. 3 // muir woods

May 8, 2014

On our second day in San Francisco we decided to spend the morning at Muir Woods. There were so many perks about this day right from the get-go. First off, it was Easter Sunday. Besides being at home feasting on my mom’s famous Easter cupcakes, I cannot think of a better place to be on such a day. Enjoying the beauty and peacefulness of the earth? THANK YOU, GOD! It really was truly special. Also, the weekend we were visiting SF just so happened to be “Free National Parks Weekend”, so a point for us on that front, too.

Early in the morning we headed out to breakfast at Tartine {a place HIGHLY recommended to me by a number of people} only to find it closed! Dang you, Easter Sunday, after all. JUST KIDDING! So instead of loads of pastries {which, don’t worry, we got our fill of the next day}, we found The Dolores Park Cafe down the street that served us a good dose of eggs. And donuts! Fine by me. :)

When we were just about done with breakfast, we dialed up an UBER and headed over the Golden Gate bridge to get on a shuttle that would take us out to Muir Woods.

During our time in San Francisco we mixed it up between using UBER and using public transit. We found out that there was a shuttle service on weekends that went out to Muir Woods, which was great! It’s pretty far from the city {maybe 45 minutes or so}, so taking an UBER the whole way would have been pricey, making the shuttle was perfect for us. It was a long and windy road up to the woods. A few times we were so close to the edge I had to close my eyes! But was it ever beautiful!

Then, when we arrived at the National Monument we had a few hours to explore the beauty of the forest. It’s just so humbling and amazing to be in a place like this. You really feel like such a small part of a big world. I get caught up a lot in the “me me me” of my life, but dang! This place will set you straight. And the bigger picture is so important and incredible to see. We walked through the main trail for a little while, and then decided to take a longer hike up and around after looking at the map. You could stand inside the trees! One look up and it takes your breath away.

MUIR WOODS-35

{thanks for the blurry photo, dear stranger! but really, I do love that last one a lot.}

It was such a good morning. California, man. What a fine, fine place.

14 Comments · Filed Under: california, life, travel ·

san francisco no. 2

May 6, 2014

SAUSALITO // MARIN HEADLANDS // THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE

After we spent the morning settling ourselves into the California goodness, we took the ferry over to Sausalito. If you’re ever in San Francisco you MUST hands down without a doubt take this ferry ride in the sunshine. It is GLORIOUS. The views in all directions are stunning, and it was during the ride across the bay that I got my first official glimpse of The Golden Gate Bridge. M-A-G-I-C. We passed Alcatraz, too, which is something I REALLY wanted to see/experience– but we just couldn’t fit it all. NEXT TIME!

When we got to Sausalito, we met up with our friends Laura and Johnny for lunch at Salito’s Crab House which was right on the water. Perfect! Laura is one of Meg’s best friends from college and over the years I’ve gotten to know her, too. One of the perks of having a sister. :) Our lunch was delicious– crab enchiladas, the crabwich, and! the crab benedict. We like crab, apparently, and this place does it right. Also, heat lamps and sunshine with a view, it doesn’t get better than that.

{California people– WE LOVED YOUR HEAT LAMPS. Two thumbs UP.}

Sausalito is so beautiful. Rolling hills and constant views of the water. And it’s so close to the city! A little oasis away from the hustle. After lunch Laura and Johnny offered to drive us through the Marin Headlands. This was one of the top things on my list and I’m SO glad we were able to go on such an amazing day. As we drove closer and closer to the Golden Gate Bridge I started to really get a sense of how big it is. Mind blowing, honestly. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything more spectacular, really.

I loved it so much.

Hope you guys like pictures of The Golden Gate Bridge. ;)

As you can see, the fog rolled in about halfway across the bridge. How fitting, I thought! I was wondering if we’d see “THE FOG” and here it was! Right in our faces! So thick that by the time we reached the other side the world was nothing but white.

I loved that part, too. It was everything I’ve ever heard about San Francisco and I’m glad we got to experience it!

That night we ate dinner at Delfina’s with Claire and Chris— Beaktweets! I love that girl. We had a great time enjoying drinks and pizza and catching up on life. I got the Salsiccia– fennel sausage, and Claire got the Proscuitto Pie. SO GOOD! So good. There were also some fried risotto balls that I still dream about from time to time. And again we were under the glory of the heat lamps. :) After dinner we walked down the street to Bri-Rite Creamery, too. Salted caramel ice cream! Take. me. back.

Hitting up all the places on my list– and spending time with people I ♥♥♥.

10 Comments · Filed Under: california, life, travel ·

san francisco no.1

May 5, 2014

The West Coast!

OH! My oh my oh my.

I guess if you’re looking for the short story it’s that I adored every minute. And really, well, it was a dream come true. Because that’s what it was for such a long time. Just a dream that I’d hope I’d experience one day. And so because of that I’m about to tell you the long story, too, if you’ll have it. I’ve spent the last few days figuring out how I want to tell it. And well, tell it, I’m going to. I’m going to tell it all. Every last bit. It’s not going to be quick, but it will be nice on the eyes and hopefully the heart, I’ll promise you that.

I’ve been thinking lately about how lucky I am to have this space. And how much I love it. How this is the place where everything’s put down. Memories stored, pictures tucked away. And that’s pretty good, isn’t it?

{It is, it really is.}

So— here we go… on the trip to the west that was everything. ♥

It might sound silly, but I don’t feel like a person that gets to travel a lot. Sure, I skitter around New England and New York a good amount, but see the world? That’s not really me. I can count on two fingers the times I took a plane out of the country. And two more the times I’ve taken a plane across it. And so, this was kind of a big deal for me. And it was amazing.

I’ll have you know, if I had my way I’d seriously consider leaving my job to travel the world.

Dang those, monies. And those crazy cool kids. ;)

Anyway!

We technically arrived in San Francisco late Friday night but didn’t get our party started officially until Saturday morning. We took the Bart in from the airport and walked through the Mission to our terrific airbnb in Duboce Triable. We loved being over there, a LOT. It was quiet like a neighborhood, but we were also able to walk to so many restaurants/coffee shops/ice cream spots AND! The street cars to anywhere. Which is what we did basically the entire time where were there. We took the street cars to EVERYWHERE.

The first morning we headed downtown to the Ferry Building. We had plans to have lunch with our friends in Sausalito, and so we were able to spend some time at the waterfront before boarding. It was so fun to ride the street car {we opted for that instead of the fast MUNI train} and were able to get a pretty good taste of what the Saturday market is like on the Embarcadero. It’s busy! And there’s so much to see!

Highlights of the Ferry Building:

Blue Bottle Coffee
Humphry Slocume Ice Cream
Hog Island Oyster Company
Cowgirl Creamery
The Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market

These last two views {above} were from the ferry boat to Sausalito– {to be mentioned again in post No.2!} WHAT A CITY. And we’ve only just begun. My thoughts on San Francisco at this point, {3 hours in, ha!} were that it was such a grand place. And honestly, I had absolutely NO IDEA what was in store. I so enjoyed walking slowly through the market, soaking in the sunshine and simply loving the fact that it was our very first morning there.

A whole 9 days ahead of us! Smiles on our faces and not a care in the world.

Heyooo, Zanner. Vacation looks good on you!

♥♥♥
{lettering by Brim Papery.}

9 Comments · Filed Under: life, travel ·

to the west coast we go!

April 18, 2014

It’s time! We’re off! Up, up, and away!

At this moment we are heading to the airport, bags all packed and ready to go. I can’t believe this day is actually here. All my nights pouring over photos on the internet and soon! so soon I will see it all with my own two eyes.

I can hardly believe I got my act together to show you what I packed in my suitcase, but I did! And this alone is something to celebrate. I decided a few weeks ago to be bold and go for the carry-on approach, but had a little bit of a hard time these last few days narrowing down what I wanted to bring. I’m a tricky sort, because I’m one of those people who can pack for a weekend in NYC with just a small shoulder bag, but I’m also the girl who stuffs her car to the brim when driving home for the week. It’s like I know how to pack light, but don’t always follow the rules myself. For this trip, I wanted to pack light, but I also wanted to bring a lot of outfits. First of all, I love clothes, and second I feel like I need to be prepared for all kinds of weather. Will it be sunny or foggy? Warm or cool? So I packed a little bit of everything, rolled it up reeeeeal real tight and… I can’t quite believe it, BUT IT FITS {pretty much perfectly}. A springtime miracle if there ever was one.

Here’s what’s coming out west with me: