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California Coast Adventure: San Francisco

California Coast Adventure: San Francisco October 9, 2013Travel0 Comments

A little over a year ago I married my best friend but due to wedding budgets and such a honeymoon just wasn’t in the cards for us. Instead we opted to do a big trip in celebration of our one-year anniversary, which just so happens was this past September. We toyed with many destination ideas and eventually decided on a California coastal adventure commencing in San Francisco.

I’m a bit of a nut when it comes to travelling. If it’s not an exotic all-inclusive vacation, I need to know what to do, what to see and most importantly where to eat! Some would call me a nerd for doing such thought out research (and compiling it in an extensive excel spreadsheet…) but I call myself s m a r t.

After a rocky flight there was no time to spare as we were only in San Francisco for the weekend before heading south. Now if you were a tourista, where is the first place you would go in San Fran? My husband would probably say Starbucks, but naturally we made our way to Golden Gate Bridge and boy was she (naturally I assume it’s female due to its beauty) a stunner. I know I know it’s just a bridge, but it felt so cool to be seeing it for the first time in person. We’ve all seen it a million times on those digital boxes in our living rooms so for me it was a thrill, that of course involved the obligatory selfie.

Next we headed to Pier 39 to really get our tourist on. Featuring numerous kitschy shops and restaurants, we had a blast just walking around. The energy was infectious and the sea lions were a riot. Coined as the pier’s “Sea-Lebrities,” the boisterous pinnipeds have been hanging around their docks since the 90’s. Sun bathing on top of one another on multiple floating rafts, there is never a dull moment as barking can be heard all over.

After a much needed good nights sleep (jet lag is my nemesis) I needed to quench my shopping thirst and quench it I did. Union Square and the five story Nordstrom did me proud and from there we headed to Fillmore Street to check out one of my favourite makeup haunts, Benefit Cosmetics. As always it didn’t disappoint and it was extra special due to it being the companies original flagship location. It also didn’t hurt that Marc Jacobs was a stone’s throw away and drew me in like a moth to a flame.

Before heading to dinner we made one more quick stop at the incredibly famous Painted Ladies (ie: the Victorian houses across from Alamo Park, best known from the opening credits of television show Full House.) Though very picturesque, our visit was purely nostalgic as every child of the 90’s grew up with the Tanner family.

Pizza Delfina provided the most delicious margherita pizza that only dreams are made of. We were lucky enough to score a table for two before it became insanely busy, which meant adding your name to the long list on the super cool chalkboard wall at the entrance. Service was impeccable and again the pizza was mouth-watering. We were now only missing one thing—dessert. Enter Sift Cupcake & Dessert bar conveniently located right across the street from Pizza Delfina’s California Street location. We both devoured homemade ice-cream sandwiches (mine featured coconut cookies and vanilla gelato) and perhaps purchased cupcakes for later in the evening. We were on vacation after all, so calories don’t count. Or at least don’t count as much.

We loved San Francisco! Nonetheless, we couldn’t wait to get our road trip started the next morning, which as it happens was our anniversary. Next stop—Carmel!

Check out some of my San Francisco snapshots below!

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