San Francisco

Last week D and Baby J and I enjoyed a long weekend in San Francisco with our friends Chris and Nicole and their little Isabel. (Little S stayed with Grandma and Grandpa in Vegas -a big thank you to them!) We've decided San Fran is our new favorite city. It's close, architecturally beautiful, cool weather, art-filled, and the shops, the shops! The list goes on and on.

Basically, we ate our way through the city. I think we all gained weight during our 5 day stay. D even declined a treat at Ghirardelli Square because he was full from the day's eats!

Our friends Evan and Carrie and their boys were with us Saturday and Sunday. All of the people in the pic above piled into Carrie's van at one point - don't ask how, we just made it work.
Evan and his son enjoying the local chocolate.

A dozen macaroons from Paulette. My favorite was almond flavored but peach was a close second. Rose tasted too much like my grandmother's lotion.
We stayed one night at Nicole's grandmother's home just outside the city. Grandma's entry gate provided lots of fun for the 4 kiddos running around.
Saturday morning breakfast (and later lunch) on the water at the Ferry Building - so many fantastic food shops.
We had to show Baby J the ugly sea dogs! She thought they were pretty funny. You can see Coit tower above Baby J's head.

Other highlights included:
Our day in Berkeley and Sausalito visiting shops recommended by my friend Susannah: Heath Ceramics factory - so awesome - handcrafted tiles since 1948 founded by an inspiring woman, Edith Heath!

Castle in the Air and Tail of the Yak in Berkeley - whimsical, creative hotspots - I want to take one of the classes at Castle in the Air sometime. The lovely items in the shops made me want to throw away all the ugly plastic toys in our home and start over.

Lunch at Cheeseboard Pizza in Berkeley - unique and delicious co-op restaurant.

We also stood in line for breakfast at Dottie's True Blue Cafe. Worth the wait - even the locals stand in line for the "best breakfast in San Francisco." Carrot butterscotch muffin was awesome as was the coconut french toast and the 3 different egg scrambles we ordered.

We'll be back soon!