Lifestyles of the Young + Suburban

Archive for July, 2007

As you can see our website has changed a little bit. We are working hard to get things in order and make it a fun place to be! I’ve created a few more slide shows, but need Ryan’s help to piece things together. Keep checking back with us to see how we grow!

Pictures are up! I sent out an e-mail to a bunch of folks, so if you didn’t get the link then let me know! I hope you enjoy!

Ok, so I’ve gotten all the pictures uploaded…all 316 of them. However, stupid Snapfish uploaded them in alphabetical order so they aren’t arranged very well. So, if I can re-arrange them soon I will be posting them any day now!

For the Fourth Holiday, we decided to slow down a bit and just enjoy the day. We started our morning out at a small cafe, La Taza. Mmmm, garlic bagel… Then we hopped a bus to the other side of town to explore the off-beat Haight Street. This street was filled with locals and tourists, but the locals looked more like something out of a comic book. They had tons of interesting shops, vintage clothing shops, and tattoo parlors. After a few hours of interesting we headed back toward Embarcadero and the Ferry Market Building. Here we grabbed lunch at Taylor’s. This place was pretty cool and the burger was pretty good. After getting our fill of burger and garlic fries, we headed over to Recchiuti (like we needed it!) for some dessert. Oh, I love that place!!! We sat on a bench over looking the bay as we enjoyed our chocolates.

We headed back to the hotel to rest for a bit before heading out for our holiday festivities. We left for Pier 39 around 5:30 and was able to snag a table for two outside at Wipe Out. The restaurant and the whole pier had an increasing crowd as the night went on. There was a live band – 80’s cover no less – at the front entrance of the pier that we could listen to as we sipped our drinks and ate our dinner. We were there for a while and wrapped up about 9 to head toward the end of the pier for the fireworks. The pier was insanely crowded with people trying to see, but we had a good view. After the ooooing and aaaing we stopped into the Hard Rock Cafe for a night cap. It was sad to think this would be our last stop for our trip!!

We had an awesome week and San Francisco is a great city! I highly recommend it!

On Tuesday, before Ryan set off for work we were able to grab a bite to eat at Sear’s Fine Food. Now, I know we have sworn off Sears, but this is of no relation to the devil-sent appliance store. This place didn’t look like much from the outside, but had quite the charm on the inside. The restaurant was packed full and after we left the line was down the block! After our yummy breakfast Ryan set off for work and I set off for the bus stop.

I had to wait for three buses to come before I could catch one. I’m not sure if it was the usual morning rush hour or the forty people who couldn’t walk three blocks to China Town. Anyway, I passed through China Town to North Beach when the bus driver stopped and kicked us off with an unexpected “last stop” call. I transfered on another bus across town to The Presidio where I got off and walked down to the Palace of Fine Arts. I got an awesome view of the Golden Gate Bridge from here, but couldn’t see it all because of the fog. It was still pretty amazing. The Palace has been home to many concerts and events and was an awesome sight. I don’t think my camera captured how cool it was. After strolling through the columns, I headed next door to the Exploratorium. This is a museum dedicated to hands-on science. It was also very cool. There were lots of things to play with and discover. There was even a special section for hearing so I could reassure myself of how deaf I really am. Did you know that the average person can hear up to 20,000 Mhz? I think I top out at about 12K.

After playing around I headed down a couple of blocks to an area of town refered to as Cow Hollow (and I’m still not sure why it’s called that…). There were tons of cute shops, restaurants, and markets. I popped into the local knitting shop, Greenwich Yarns, for a peak. It wasn’t too much different than many I’ve been in, but they did have tons of yummy yarn! Most of the shops I stopped into were very, um, unique and had the price tag to go with it. I found a few cute things I could afford and stopped for lunch at a bakery in the middle of it all, La Boulange. I did a bit more shopping before walking down to Lombard street to test my willpower for the hills of San Francisco.

I won’t lie. I had to make several stops before reaching the top of Lombard Street. Man is it steep. I think if my head were any heavier I would have tumbled straight back down. Once I did reach the top, it was breathtaking – and a little scary. I could see straight out to Alcatraz like I could reach out and grab it. There was also a beautiful view of North Beach and Coit Tower. Looking straight down the street definitely tested my ability to balance. The view of the Curvy Street was awesome too! It was paved with dark red bricks and lined with beautiful pink flowers and bright green bushes. You wouldn’t be able to tell that every car driving down the street were tourists if it weren’t for their screams and arms flailing out the window the whole way down. There were stairs on either side of the street so you could easily walk down. From there I headed up North Beach to wander around. I went to grab a slice at a restaurant I had heard of, but it didn’t open until 5, so I headed back to the hotel instead of waiting around for an hour. I had attempted to take the bus back, but just kept walking and headed back through China Town to the hotel.

After getting cleaned up we headed back out to Cow Hollow/Marina (via cab this time) to eat dinner on Union Street. I think Ryan told you all about our evening excursion below, so I’ll leave it at that!

We’ve been so busy and all the places I’ve been over the past two days have left me little time or energy to keep up with my blogging! Today we’ve taken things a bit easier, so I’ll have some time to dish on my outings!

On Monday I woke up a little late and Ryan was busy working on the computer before he set off for his meetings in San Jose. We didn’t have enough time for breakfast together, so I set off on my own. I stopped by a cafe I had read about, but I was a little late to catch breakfast and just grabbed a quick bagel at a bakery. On my way I passed a restaurant that Ryan would love. It was called “What’s Up Dog”. Too funny. I still don’t know how to embed pictures yet, but I will figure it out eventually! Anyway, after that I walked back toward Union Square to visit a jewelry shop and picked out a charm of San Fran to add to my bracelet. Then I walked around the corner to Macy’s. Ok, so the other day I said it was five stories. I lied; it’s eight. Wow, what a store! There was an entire floor for jewelry and hand bags. I think I spent most of my time there! Then up stairs to clothes and shoes, then another for more clothes and shoes, then another for more clothes, and another for home stuff and I can’t even remember what else! I decided not to visit the top floor since it was all furniture and luggage (although, we may have to go back and buy some luggage to fit all of our stuff on the way home!). I went back down to the first floor and finally found the hidden elevator to the cellar. In addition to all the kitchen supplies, there is an entire food court. However, this was not your average food court. There were several nice restaurants like Wolfgang Puck and a bakery filled with awesome cookie smells! After doing my fair share of shopping I headed back to the hotel to drop off my bags.

Then, I caught a bus across town. On the way I passed Alamo Square which was kind of neat, but I didn’t know what it was until I looked at the map later. I got off the bus a few blocks away from Golden Gate Park hoping to find a place for lunch, but everything was residential. It was kind of cool to see the other side of things with not so many tourists all around. I walked down a few blocks to the Peninsula that is right before the park. There were several locals out laying in the grass and playing with their dogs. I finally reached the entrance, which was I think a side entrance because there was no big sign or anything. The park is ginormous! It is a huge park with streets and paths every where. I walked and walked and walked today!! I made my first stop at the conservatory of flowers and took a few pictures. The conservatory was closed, but many museums and things are closed on Mondays in the city. I picked up a $4 hotdog from a street vendor for lunch and got lost on some of the beautiful paths and gardens. I was hoping to find the aquarium listed on my map, but I think it was under construction from what could see. I then found Shakespeare’s Garden. It was very quaint and beautiful. The stones at the back of the park dated the area back to 1920. Then I walked over to the concert area where there was a beautiful stage with rows and rows of benches with beautiful trees like I’ve never seen. Next to that was the De Young Museum which is supposed to be awesome, but again was closed. I ventured next to the Japanese Tea Garden. This was very peaceful and charming. Lots of little pathways, streams and fountains. I also spotted a tiny little lobster in one of the ponds! There was also a quiet nook looking over a pond where you could stop in and get some tea and snacks. Across the street from the tea gardens was Botanical Gardens. This park was a large collection of plants and flowers from all over the world. There were a number of people lounging on the vast lawn and soaking up the sun. I stopped by the perfume garden which was wonderful and very beautiful. From there my curiosity got the best of me and I went to see about the lawn bowling. There wasn’t anyone playing, but they had some charts and found out they gave free lessons once a week! Very interesting…Right next to it there was a huge playground and another open lawn with lots of families and kites. As I walked by “Hippie Hill” (seriously – it’s on the map!), a guy on a bike rides by and yells “hippies galore!”. It was very funny. There were hippies everywhere! I caught the bus at the entrance to the park off of Haight Street. This street is known for it’s eccentric and mostly tattooed crowd. So, the people watching was extremely fun on the way back. I picked up my charm bracelet on my way back to the hotel and came back for a rest.

Ryan got in shortly after me and we cleaned up to head to dinner. One of Ryan’s work colleges was in town for their meeting so we met up with him at Lark Creek Steak. The restaurant was on the fourth floor of the Westfield Plaza which is kind of like a mall on Market Street. Bloomingdale’s and some other high-end shops were in the mall. The wine was good and the food ok. The strawberry shortcake was pretty good I must say. Ryan was tired from work and I was extremely tired from all my walking for the day, so we crashed back at the hotel after dinner.

A very good day and I can’t wait to get all the pictures up! We are going to head out soon for fourth festivities, but will finish filling you in on the rest of our adventures later! Happy Fourth!

After a couple meetings and conference calls, I was ready for a nice evening out with the wife.

We just got back from dinner and drinks in the Marina District. When I was out here a few weeks back, one of my colleagues who lives here had mentioned that the entire area was once a landfill. Wikipedia confirms this and I have to say this is a pretty cool former landfill.

Comprised of residences for the young professionals of SF, it also includes some boutique shops and trendy bars and restaurants. Lisa spent a bit of time enjoying the shops earlier today, but I will let her share her fun-filled days when she gets a chance to hop on my laptop in the morning. We had made reservations at a little Italian restaurant off of Union called Luisa’s. I had the lasagna and Lisa had the chicken parm. I think Lisa picked the better meal, but overall we were pleased with our selection for the evening. I have only found two restaurants in SF that did NOT have Chimay on tap or in the bottle…this was not one of them, so I was happy.

After dinner we headed down Union passing over a few places that were a bit too packed or lacked service (imagine sitting at a restaurant and wanted to order a drink in the first/last 15 minutes you were sitting there). We made our way to Fillmore and to the chic and historic MatrixFillmore. Lisa immediately found her place by the Jenga-inspired fireplace that had black pebbles in place of faux-logs. After a drink (both Chimay Red and White were available), we decided to move down Fillmore and stopped in to KT’s Pub. This was a little bit more our style, which could be because it reminded us just about any bar in Athens and it wasn’t just the odor of stale beer that greeted us as we showed our IDs.. A drink later and we were in the cab back to our hotel for some R&R before whatever Independence Day on the Bay has in store for us.

Today I’ve got to think quick since Ryan has to take his computer to work in a bit!

Yesterday was a jam-packed day! We began the morning by heading out on an old street car trolley to the bay and piers. The city brought in old street cars from all over the world, so each one is a little different. Our trolley was Italian (at least that is what the safety instructions inside looked liked), but was a little scary, slow and jerky. We got off at Pier 39 and stopped for breakfast at Boudin Bakery. After that, we walked around gazing at the shops and other eateries. There was every kind of shop you could imagine from sports, toys, and magic to shrimp, chocolate, and ice cream. There was also a very pretty carousel in the middle of the pier. We passed by a fresh fruit stand with the most amazing looking fruit. They had beautiful strawberries the size of your fist and bright cherries you could swear were too pretty to be real. We picked up a handful of fruit for a snack later (and they were yummy!). At the end of the pier there was a great view of the bay, Alcatraz, and both the Bay and Golden Gate Bridge. We also saw a few sea lions hanging out on the docks kissing and barking at each other.

After the pier we walked back to pier 33 to check out our departure area for our tour of Alcatraz. It was buzzing with tons of people and a sign read that they were sold out of tours until next week! We headed across the street to Houston’s for a quick bite to eat before heading out. The line formed early, but we were able to get a top seat on the boat across the bay. The views were spectacular, but that wind can bite! The boat ride only took about ten minutes and we unloaded onto “The Rock”. A volunteer guide welcomed us to the island and gave us a brief overview of what to expect and while we were standing there we were about ten inches from our own white badge of honor. There were birds everywhere! We headed up the hill past the officer apartments and into the compound. We passed by an old water tower, chapel, and a mortuary. At the top of the hill we entered the prison and went straight into the shower facilities. There we picked up our headset and radio for our audio tour. We climbed up more stairs and started our tour. It was very cool. As we walked along the prison we heard about the history, what life was like there and even the escape attempts by prisoners. The tour lasted about a little over an hour and then we made our escape back to the boat. They had taken our picture before we got on, but we thought we had gotten a lot of good ones ourselves and also thought they ought to pay us the $22 for looking so good.

We hopped a bus down Embarcadero to Fisherman’s Wharf. Wow, is this place tourist central! People, street performers, and shops everywhere! Of course Ryan spotted a cigar shop down the block so we made a short stop there and then headed down the block for Ghirardelli Square. This place was also busting with people and the line for Ghirardelli was out the door! The line moved fast and we had to move faster to decide what yummy treat we wanted. Ryan got an ice cream with toffee and I had an ice cream with cookies, both of course had lots of hot fudge! We ate half of each others by mistake, but they were oohh so good! From there I stopped at Lori’s Diner for some much needed milk and we headed up the street to do some shopping along the way to North Beach, San Francisco’s “Little Italy,” for dinner. Oh, we did pass The Cannery on our way to Ghirardelli and it looked very neat. It was kind of sunken beneath the main street and filled with tables, brick pavers, live music and cocktails.

On the way to North Beach, we found several touristy shops and even a Harley-Davidson shop, which we popped into for a bit. Then we walked for a while, passing cute shops, bistros and Lombard Street, the most crooked street in San Francisco (which I didn’t realize it was that at the time and didn’t really look, so I may have to go back!). We stopped at Rose Pistola for a drink at the bar and a time to relax. It was a very nice restaurant and we got a to hear a few minutes of a live jazz quartet before we left. From there we headed around the corner to the North Beach Restaurant for dinner. The waiters were in tuxedos so I felt a bit under dressed in my sneakers, but they were very nice. The wine and fresh pasta were both so good and so filling.

After a very long day we were ready for some rest. We took a cab back to the hotel and I think Ryan passed out on contact, but of course we woke up again at 6am!

Today I am off to do some five-story shopping at Macy’s and who knows what else! Ryan has to go into San Jose today for a meeting and hopefully will be back for dinner with me! Pictures to come soon – promise!

Saturday morning we woke up early and headed down to the Ferry Building for the market and shopping. We walked through the Financial District (and stopped at a Radio Shack to get a cord so I could upload pictures!) and got to see Ryan’s office. We had breakfast at a great little bagel shop right by the market called Noah’s. Then we walked through the tents looking at art work, jewelry, and odds and ends. Then to the fresh market and the Ferry Building! There were probably a hundred tents with fresh vegetables, fruit, and flowers. We got to taste a lot of it too (not the flowers though) – so yummy! We had grapes, peaches, nectarines, and such. We really could have made a breakfast off of the samples and we got a package of nuts and raisins to snack on later.

Then we headed into the building for more shops and food. The building is long and narrow with lots of high-end food shops and stores. We stopped by Recchiuti , a absolutely fabulous chocolate shop. Everything in there is wonderful! We bought some brownies, smores, and chocolate bites (and got a free bite!). Then we browsed a kitchen store, cheese shop, wine store, and other eccentric food shops. We went around the back of the building outside for a great view of the bay and walked around more fresh food tents. Our appetites ready for lunch, we stopped at Mijita, a great little Mexican restaurant. We headed from there to a bakery in the building for dessert!

After our cupcake we headed out to the wine bar Ryan had previously been to a few blocks away. When we got there it wasn’t open yet so we walked down the street for some shopping. We stopped at Polo and H&M. The H&M was a girls only store, so we went down a few more blocks for the bigger (huge actually) H&M store with men’s clothing too. We took a break in Union Square at a cafe and had a drink. The cafe was very busy and popular and I had to hover over tables to sneak in as folks left. While I was waiting for Ryan to get our drinks a pigeon sat down at the table with me for a few minutes – they were every where! After a bit of people watching we walked a few more blocks to another shop, Pink. Then we headed back to the hotel for a rest and refreshing for dinner.

We had dinner reservations at 6pm at Bix; it was a little farther than we’ve been so we took a cab. It got very windy out and a little chilly, but still sunny. The restaurant was very tucked away down a little alley way and you’d never know it was there. Inside, they had a long bar and very nice atmosphere. It was kind of empty when we got there, but nice and quiet. The cocktails and food were absolutely awesome! After dinner we got one hell of cab ride to a wine bar. Now I’m not a seasoned cab rider like Ryan, but I had to keep my head down the whole time because our driver was obviously nascar material. Scary. Anyway, we went to Vino Venue, a great concept that needs to catch on in Atlanta. Here’s how it works: you buy a card for any amount you want then there are several different stations with multiple wines. You put your card into the machine and press a button over the wine you want and voila you have a one ounce sample! The amount is automatically deducted from your card and the prices are listed right over the bottle. They also had descriptions and good pairings. It was really fun! We found a great Pinot Grigio we liked and had a bottle with some cheeses and meat. We got a bottle to go and headed back to the hotel to crash!

Sunday we have tickets to Alcatraz and we plan to hang around Fisherman’s Wharf and North Beach most of the day. I will try and post pictures later today!