Posts tagged san francisco
Maya’s trip to the farm. Some serious goat lovin’ up in here.
It was cold and foggy in Half Moon Bay. Didn’t matter; our hearts were warm and happy that day.
![Maya contemplates life and love over hot cocoa at our favorite cafe.
[Photo via Instagram]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m92fb09IZO1rtbcgno1_400.jpg)
Maya contemplates life and love over hot cocoa at our favorite cafe.
[Photo via Instagram]
![The littles play happily at Rigolo Cafe while mama sips a petite espresso.
Blissful Monday morning.
[Photo taken with my iPhone]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8pcel0Yx11rtbcgno1_400.jpg)
The littles play happily at Rigolo Cafe while mama sips a petite espresso.
Blissful Monday morning.
[Photo taken with my iPhone]
Only in the Haight.
As a San Franciscan for nearly a whole year now, the fact that I’d never been to Haight Ashbury was a cryin’ shame. Thank goodness, I have a good friend who helped me to remedy this blight yesterday!
I must admit, I had a total misconception about these famous streets. From everything I’d heard, I thought it’d be dirty and full of old hippies. Actually, Haight Ashbury is lovely, clean and super fun (albeit a tad touristy). And as for the hippies? Well, there were certainly a few colorful folks out and about, but I only saw one true hippie (see bottom right photo).
The Haight is full of AMAZING vintage clothing shops. Stuff you just can’t find anywhere else. I bought a really cute blouse, a bracelet and of course my obligatory Haight Asbury purchase - some incense for the house. It smells amazing!
Alison and I walked up and down the Haight, wandering in and out of shops. We stopped for lunch at this little diner and had some really yummy eats. I ordered a vegan burrito and man, that sucker was HUGE. I couldn’t even finish a third of it.
Such a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Thank you so much Alison, for showing me around. Peace and love, sister!
(All the pics were taken on my iPhone because my old camera is out of commission and my new one has not arrived yet! Apologies for the sub-par photo quality. I really wish I’d had my new camera because there were so many incredible photo ops on the Haight! I guess I’ll just have to go back again when this lady comes for a visit.)
This. Just this.
Henry and I met the birthday boy on Fillmore Street today for a little lunching and furniture reconnaissance (we still haven’t furnished our living room since moving into our home last February!). We stumbled upon an quaint little cafe called The Grove and had an amazing lunch!
We decided to split an appy and an entrée of the birthday boy’s choosing: A Caesar salad and some cheese quesadillas. These wouldn’t have been my first choices, but it’s not my birthday after all, so I went with it. To my surprise (and delight), both were absolutely delish! The salad was so fresh and crisp, and the salsa that came with the quesadillas was crazy yum.
After lunch, we shared a cookie for dessert. Be advised, people: The Grove makes giant, freshly baked cookies every hour. Den chose a huge oatmeal raisin bad boy (again, not my first choice), and wow. Just wow. That may have been the best cookie of my life. We bought another one to take home for later!
We walked off our meal on Fillmore Street, wandering in and out of the shops. We stopped into my favorite art and antique store and chatted up the owner for several minutes (she’s become a dear friend since we’ve moved to our new neighborhood). Dennis and Henry ended up minding the shop for a few minutes while I got a tour of her home upstairs! I’m so glad I got to see her space because I left feeling incredibly inspired with ideas for our own living room. In fact, I just completely revamped my whole plan for our living room and office area, and I am so excited about our new design direction!
It’s kind of a good thing that we couldn’t afford to completely furnish our home when we moved in. Because now that we’ve lived here for awhile, we have a much better idea of how we want to use and utilize each room.
It was a yummy lunch, a lovely walk, a blissful day.
And what did the birthday boy want to do after all that lunching and walking? What every 40-year-old wants: A nice long nap.
My view as I sit at the desk in the master bedroom. Not bad. Not bad at all.
LOVE that bright blue San Francisco sky!
Shhh. Don’t tell my husband. I’m having a love affair.
It’s wildly passionate and makes makes me feel happier than I have ever been in my life.
I’m madly in love. I love our home. I love our neighbors. I love our neighborhood. I love this city.
I love my family. I love my friends. I love being a mama. I love my job.
Moving to San Francisco has been a game changer. Maybe it’s the blue skies. There is something so magical about this city, it’s hard not to be deliciously happy here all the time. And when we bought our townhouse in February, that’s when everything really fell into place. We found the loveliest little corner of SF to call our very own and we planted our family and our roots right here, and dug them in nice and deep.
I count myself extremely EXTREMELY lucky that I am able to stay at home with my kids. I never really had any real career aspirations, but the moment I decided I wanted to be a mama was the first time I ever felt passionate about something that I really wanted to do. And since having my kids, that passion has intensified. I take such incredible pleasure in spending my days with them. There is so much joy in the milestones and even more in quiet, ordinary moments, like tying little shoes and goodnight kisses. I am truly living my dream.
I’m already thinking about the holidays. I cannot wait to celebrate our first Christmas with my whole family in our new home, in our new community, in the most amazing city on earth. I’m thrilled that my kids will get to grow up here, with neighbors, parks, shops and bustling tree-lined sidewalks right at their front door. I’m excited for visits from dear friends and family, opening our doors wide and sharing this magical place with everyone we love. There is just so much to be happy about. Every day.
I called my mom a few days ago just to tell her how happy I am. I told her that while I miss having her and dad so close, moving to San Francisco is the best thing that could have ever happened to me. I told her how Maya is thriving at school, Dennis is enjoying his work, and how life feels pretty perfect these days. She said she misses us, but knows that moving was the right thing to do.
Every morning I wake up so excited to spend another day living this life. I don’t know what I ever did to be so lucky as to end up here. I am truly grateful for every precious minute. This is the good stuff. I am head over heels in love.
<3 <3 <3
After creating last week’s new housekeeping schedule, I decided to start things off on the right foot by doing a whole-house general cleaning and decluttering. My timing couldn’t be better because the donation truck is rolling through our neighborhood on Monday morning and I will be ready!
Yes, this does go against my declaration of having claiming weekend’s off. But hopefully, this will be the last chore-filled weekend for a long while. Means to an end, people. Plus, I’m feeling especially “nesty” right now and when the urge to clean strikes, you’ve gotta seize the moment!
Yesterday, I deep cleaned the whole kitchen. Man, that felt so good. I loved getting all those little areas clean that rarely get touched. Today, I’m going to work on the master bedroom and the kids’ bedrooms. Oh, and I want to move our holiday stuff down to our new storage locker in the garage. Lots to do! All while hopefully fitting in an hour at the gym this afternoon.
In other housey news, after a search spanning many months, I found the perfect runners for our long hallway and ordered the rugs. I LOVE them and I can’t wait to see them in our space. I placed the order right before bed last night and I was so giddy about the whole thing that I fell asleep and literally dreamed about rugs all night. How sad is it that I am this excited about my new rugs? (Answer: Quite sad, actually.)
Anyway, the best part is that we paid cash (as we ALWAYS do these days because we are credit card FREE) and we got a smokin’ deal on some pieces for the house that I am really in love with. We’ve got our whole lives to get this place exactly how we want it, so I refuse to settle. Nothing is coming through our front door unless I really love it. And these rugs definitely fit the bill!
I’ll do a before and after hallway post in mid-August once our new runners have arrived!
It’s a beautiful sunny San Francisco morning and I’m really looking forward to enjoying a quiet Sunday puttering around at home. Puttering Sundays are THE BEST.
