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San Francisco

Friends, San Francisco

That view

 

 

I love riding bikes in San Francisco, mainly because of the view. Pretty sure my friend Dominique loved it too:)
Friends, San Francisco

Haight & Hayes

My friend Dominique came out last weekend for a girls getaway, so I did what I do best — plan us a weekend full of fun activities, starting with San Francisco. Because Dominique is a total fashionista, I made sure we hit up the Haight-Ashbury district for some thrift stores, and then some late dinner in Hayes Valley. But not before some brunch {and early dessert} at the Waterbar.

Dominique in her element above — shopping! She found some great things. We could have spent an entire DAY on Haight street. AMAZING vintage finds and shopping. We ended the day with dinner in the up and coming Hayes neighborhood. As we were trying to find parking, we kept eyeing all these fabulous restaurants to eat at. We must have walked into 4 different restaurants trying to decide which one to eat at — there were so many to choose from! And every one smelled so good. We decided on Absinthe, because Dom wanted a dirty martini and me some red meat! It was really great. We had a window seat, and chatted into the night. The perfect end to our fabulous day in San Francisco.
Finding joy, Friends, San Francisco

To do in San Francisco: Alamo Square

 

 

 

 

 

 

When our tour bus never showed up at Union Square {sad}, we made the best of it. The trolley line was too long, so we spent a good hour or so at H&M and then jetted off to Alamo Square to see the famous Painted Ladies, as seen on Full House. I’ve been wanting to see these houses FOREVER. It’s a beautiful park where people lounge around and picnic, walk their dogs and throw the frisbee. Such a great “find” – I highly recommend! We stopped at a local corner ice-cream / pie shop to feed our sweet tooth, and then headed home to meet the boys back in the Cruz. That blue sky is to die for, and so are all the houses in this neighborhood!

Friends, Heather by Hand, San Francisco

Waking up in San Francisco

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miss Heather and I headed to San Francisco this past weekend for a cheesy bus tour of the city, and drove up the night before to stay with her aunt & uncle – even drove down Lombard Street {they live a block away!}. Their house is the epitome of houses you only imagine exist in San Francisco. Views of the bay, multi-floor, hidden rooms and a wall of book shelves. Their home belongs in a movie. I woke up to a beautiful, blue morning. We made some coffee, watched some funny videos on You Tube {have you guys seen Kai?} and then hit up Pier 32 for monster breakfast sandwiches. It was so wonderful waking up in San Francisco:)

hotel, San Francisco, Travel

To stay in San Francisco: Hotel des Arts

Since it was my sister’s first time in San Francisco, I wanted to find a hotel that was in the heart of everything. So, using hotels.com I went searching for the most central, cost-effective and unique hotel I could find. The Hotel des Arts was exactly that!

I love that it showcases the work of local artists and serves both as an art gallery and hotel. The art was electrifying throughout and the staff was just the right amount of friendly and bubbly I love. The art in every hallway, stairway and room really made the hotel come to life and the experience rather unforgettable!

We were so excited to open the door to our bedroom, knowing how many great painted rooms the hotel had. I was hoping for a colorful room, full of life… but because I booked so late, I got the last room available and didn’t plan far ahead enough to hand-select our artist {room}. Our room’s artist was Anthony Skirvin. It wasn’t as “girly” and colorful as I had imagined it being but we DEFINITELY won’t forget it. Read the artist’s inspiration for the room here. I think it would have been beneficial to know this going into the room, ha. It was creepy and unique at the same time:

I am definitely going back to this hotel! Plus, they have free continental breakfast. It made my world.