san francisco DOS.

the more rain/snow/sleet that falls here in utah
and the more routine life gets with finishing my undergrad, lame neurophysiology exams, and work,
the more i find myself wishing that i was back in san francisco.
it bewitched me.
there is so much to explore and i simply must explore it.

people kept telling us to not eat at la boulange,
that there were better bakeries around,
but we did it anyways
and it was goooood.

even the entries to the many homes were lovely. i can't imagine what they looked like inside!
(wait... i can now... because i spent over an hour browsing craigslist for rentals that night. just some... "research".)

we stayed in the marina district,
which was walking/biking distance to many beautiful things
including the exploratorium.
we spent nearly 4 hours there and didn't even see the whole thing.
it's a gem, that one.

being fresh off sensation and perception courses,
the light + perception exhibit was by far my favorite.

plus, the exploratorium had me feeling all sorts of inspired.
a couple of examples below...

we grabbed some juice from pressed juicery and wandered around the streets as the sun went down.
i think that's one of the best parts about being in a new place...
getting down on its level and seeing what it's like when it's not trying to be anything but itself.
you know?
just seeing the way it breathes when no one is looking
so you can really get a feel for what she's all about.

let's end on something of a non sequitur:
umami burger because it's amazing and i would drive back just for that darned burger.
it's just worth mentioning, okay?
that thing was unreal.
we kicked ourselves for getting one to share instead of ordering our own.

my favorite part of san francisco coming soon to end these north cali posts.
i am all too excited to share those ones.

xo.

the city by the bay.

i've become infatuated with calling san francisco "the city by the bay", which i've learned is somewhat antiquated. 

but i don't care

because it evokes all sorts of magical images of summer sundays full of children running with kites along the shore in the california heat, while their barbecuing parents watch from a short distance

before calling for them and packing their picnic up in their '69 convertible 

and saying so long to the joneses for the weekend.

you could nearly hear the conversations that were once had in this fashion around fisherman's wharf. 

that place.... oh, that place is something. else. 

i've not felt as vibrant and alive as i did while walking this area in a very, very long time. 

i know i fall in love easily with nearly everything,

but i really, really loved it here. 

to get a better feel for what it feels like to be there, look up the word "magical" in the dictionary/thesaurus

aaaaand there you'll have it. 

we deemed this the official song of san francisco. we don't think anyone will mind. 

[it was serendipitous that my sister, hannah, and i would find this lock at the end of the pier!]

[please feel free to leave comments on this post with only compliments for my beautiful sister. you could mention how she rocks short hair, if you want. that brave girl.]

[the seafood along the pier was out of this world.]

[i tried my hand at a love tester at musee mecanique, only to find that i was clammy at best. so i tried another one hoping for another result. nope. sorry, adam. i'm doomed to be clammy.]

to be continued!

xo.

now, i don't hardly know her.

my sister & i took a spontaneous trip to san francisco this last weekend
and it's taken me some time to somewhat compose my thoughts about the city.

i haven't ever been anywhere like it in my entire life
and i don't think with even a hundred visits to the city that i could ever really understand her.
see, i felt like i would feel immediately at home when i traveled there
and when i didn't, well, that threw me for a loop.
don't get me wrong, i loved every second of it.
it just wasn't what i expected
in a very lovely way, mind you.

when you don't really understand yourself at a point in time
and you visit a city that you can't understand
it makes a girl spin 'round in some sort of speculative loop.
but that's for another day...

san francisco is extremely beautiful and unquestionably vibrant and alive.
i sort of feel like it's now a personal life quest to attempt to understand the city before i die.
there is so much to see and do,
so many streets to walk and people to look at
and so many different flavors to take in.
it's impossible to describe the bay area with only words. it's something you have to taste yourself to understand.

i have dozens of photographs to share and i'm excited to relive the experience through them.
san francisco is captivating.

ending note: spontaneous trips are something to behold, so if there is even a slight window of opportunity to take one, do it. seriously.

xo.