Wednesday, October 8, 2014

San Francisco Trip Part I


Well over a week after I got back from my trip to CA, I am finally getting around to writing some recaps!  There's too much to cover in one post, so I am breaking it up into 3!

My trip to California started off with a presentation and some client meetings in the LA area.  I flew in on a Tuesday night and on Wednesday I presented at the board meeting at a large bank (which was kind of intimidating), did 3 other meetings, and then flew to San Francisco.  I had one more client meeting on Thursday morning and then I was FREE!  Woo hoo!

I could not get out of this business suit fast enough.  When I was young I thought business suits were so fancy and glamorous.  Now I know they are androgynous and unflattering.

I got back into the city around lunchtime on Thursday and met up with Lauren.  After changing out of my uncomfortable business suit, we walked over to the Ferry Building for lunch. 

Our lovely view of the bay bridge while eating lunch!

The Ferry Building is so pretty!
After lunch, we did some walking around, hit up a Nordstrom Rack (where we had no luck) and then met up with Kyria as she was kind enough to host us for the night!  We went to a Korean place for dinner that night.  I had never had Korean food and it's probably not something I would have checked out on my own but I am glad we did because the food was so good!  They brought all these different pickled vegetables and such!  The amount of food on our table was borderline obnoxious, but it was fun to try a different cuisine!


On Friday morning, we got up and went back into San Francisco.  Friday morning was not my best morning.  I am usually really good at navigating new cities thanks to Google map, but Friday was not my day.  We back tracked a couple of times, while carrying/dragging out suitcases but we did end up having a delicious brunch before heading to the Mission District to check into our airbnb (I also messed up when navigating to the Mission District.  Like I said, it was not my day!).

We opted to rent an apartment off of airbnb as it was less expensive than getting a hotel room.  Plus it's nice to have access to a kitchen for longer trips like this.  Our garden apartment was adorable.  We had the bottom floor of this building. 


We got a lot of use out of the kitchen/dining room area as we made dinner there on Friday night and also had breakfast there on Saturday and Sunday mornings.


But one of my favorite places was the backyard!  It's shared by the 3 units in that building but no one was out there during the weekend.  We enjoyed some appetizers out here on Friday night.


Anyways, back to Friday afternoon... After Lauren and I dropped our bags and rested our legs for a bit we headed over to Dolores Park which was just a couple of blocks away - down a STEEP hill, I might add.  We definitely got a workout in walking around our neighborhood.

The weather was picture perfect!
Our neighborhood was so charming but oh my goodness, the hills. This picture doesn't really do it justice so trust me when I say that all of the walks were heart-pumping.
Amber and Leigh arrived mid-afternoon and after they settled in for a bit, we went for a walk in our neighborhood. I thought the Mission District was so neat and had a lot of character.

How amazing is this mural?
After grocery shopping at a place that was described by our airbnb host as "the place hipsters buy their food" (which was totally true) we headed back to the apartment to whip up an easy pasta dinner (GF for me, of course) and a salad.  I had eaten out the last couple of days so it was great to enjoy a home-cooked meal.


We were in bed fairly early on Friday night as we had our big race on Saturday, which I'll tell you all about in my next post!

Have you been to San Francisco?  If so, what area of the city did you stay in?  I loved staying in the Mission District as there were a lot of restaurants close to our apartment and the neighborhood was quiet/felt safe.

19 comments:

  1. Business suits really are the worst- I only have ever owned one because ironically you are supposed to wear them to teaching interviews even though I would never ever wear one teaching 5 year olds. Thank goodness.

    I have been to San Francisco and both times stayed in the Fishermans Wharf area- it's a good spot but very touristy you probably got more of a real San Fran feel :)

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  2. I've never been to San Francisco but I am LOVING these photos!

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  3. As you are aware, I LOVE the Mission district! I am so glad that you guys stayed there; it was a treat for me to be back in my old hood. The great thing about San Francisco is that there are so many fun neighborhoods. Noe Valley is also really fun, the Castro, the Haight/Lower Haight...and even the Richmond, which is over by Golden Gate Park! You could come back 100 times and still would not see everything that there is to see!

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  4. I love "traveling" with you and really enjoy the pictures! The Korean food looks good as does the food you made in your apartment! Anxious to read the next part!

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  5. I had to LOL at the hipster comment mostly because it reminds me of my brother :)

    I've never been to San Fran but it's on my list!

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  6. I've never gone for Korean food so I wish I was there for it. Fun trip though! :)

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  7. Agreed on the business suit thing. I had to wear my suit for a meeting today and I cannot wait to get home and change tonight! On another note, I just love the pictures you took. They're all so gorgeous!

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  8. I'm sooo glad we stayed in the mission district! It was perfect! Me and my mom go for lunch all the time at this all you can eat sushi + korean bbq buffet and it's AMAZING! I don't know how traditional it is though so I would like to try a real korean place like where you guys went.

    Our weekend was so fun! Love reliving it through all of our recaps!

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  9. How cool! I've only been to CA once in 1994. Now I'm trying to get out to San Diego for a 50 mile trail ultra. logistical nightmare.

    Glad you had such a fun trip! It's always good to hang with Kyria and the other girls.

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  10. What a great start to your trip! I was n San Francisco when i was 14 so it is well past time for me to go back. Chris and I will definitely tack on a vacation one of these times that he has to go to Mountain View for work.

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  11. I've never been to San Francisco, but I'd love to go someday. Your pictures are so beautiful, too! Can't wait to read more.

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  12. Okay, okay. I'll put San Francisco on my travel list. You talked me into it!

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  13. That backyard to the airbnb place looks like the perfect place to enjoy a drink and chat with friends. Lovely! Also, so weird to think it was a year ago when y'all were in Chicago! The marathon is this Sunday.

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  14. We went to the Mission District our 1st night to go to a comedy club. So I didn't really get to see the sights of the area!

    I loved our airb&b apartment we stayed at in Nob Hill. Wish we could've done it the whole time!!

    That Korean food looks amazing! I love ALL things pickled, so that sounds like my kind of feast!!

    Great recap!

    I feel the same way about attire. I obviously don't wear business suits. But do a lot of pencil skirts/button downs. I used to think it was so sleek looking - and now I feel like I look like a boarding school principal.

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  15. Oh my goodness your pictures are amazing!!!! I love the picture of the purple house (I know it's not in this post but it was INSANE that day at work when you sent it to me)

    You look good in a business suit and I totally understand the thinking something was glamorous when I was younger but not so much anymore, I blame Barbie :)

    Love the little apartement y'all had, that looks awesome! I agree it's nice to have a kitchen and some place where you don't have to eat out for every meal!

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  16. You got some great pictures from the weekend of our little neighborhood. I also loved that back patio area and enjoyed our long chat and crackers and dip out there. So relaxing!

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  17. Crazy enough the only time I've ever been to San Francisco was on a day trip while at summer sleep away camp. So I guess while I've technically been there, I'm not quite sure it counts. But I definitely plan on making it back there for an actual trip at some point!

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  18. Wow -- that mural is spectacular. And it sounds like you had a fabulous time and really saw and did a lot -- and this is just part one!

    My SF experiences were either staying outside the city with friends or in some big hotel where our conference was. Downtown --but that covers a lot of territory. Looks like you lucked out with a great spot!

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  19. Yay!!!!! You had Korean food!! Did you try Bee Bim Bop? If not, you have to - soon!

    I've been to San Fransisco, but only for two nights. I stayed in Union Square, and didn't see much because the trip was so short.

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