San Francisco 2013

Last week I celebrated turning 27 by eating nachos after work, going to bed really early, waking up the next day and flying to San Francisco (California is the 14th state I've been to this month, if you're keeping track - that number is bigger than the number of states I'd ever visited before combined).

We discovered on this trip that Brittan and I like to take a very laid back approach to traveling which really stresses Natalie and Danielle out. We may have barely made our flight, but we did make it (during last call). When we got to San Francisco we were starving and after dropping our things at our Air BnB on Nob Hill we walked to Little Italy for a late lunch of pizza, Caesar salad and beer. After lunch we walked to the really curvy part of Lombard St., took pictures, admired the best sunset ever and then walked back to our Air BnB where our hostess's husband was waiting outside for us. His name was Nick. He creeped Brittan and I out a lot and we may have slept with knives beside our round bed out of fear that he was coming for us in the night. But that's another story for another day.

 ^^View from the top of Lombard St.^^

 ^^Me, Danielle, Brittan and Natalie at the bottom of Lombard St, looking the wrong way^^

 

After resting for a bit at our apartment (there are a lot of really steep hills in San Francisco, OMG), and discovering the amazing view from our roof, we walked downtown to Zara and then back to our apartment to call an Uber and head down to the Marina district to grab a  drink at the Tipsy Pig (which was soo cute) before our 10pm dinner reservation - how hip are we, am I right? Ha! For dinner we had margaritas and arguably the best Mexican food of our lives at Mamacia before calling it an early night and making endless hashtag jokes on the ride home.

 ^^discovering the roof top view from our apartment, most amazing thing ever, right?^^

 

^^Brittan, Danielle, Natalie and I at the Tipsy Pig^^ 

Saturday morning we woke up early, grabbed coffee and bagel sandwiches and headed down to catch our ferry to Alcatraz. None of us had ever been to Alcatraz and it was such a neat experience. I would recommend it to anyone visiting, but make sure you book in advance as apparently you can't just walk on a ferry. We took an audio tour of the prison which was really cool and the views from the island were stunning. It probably helped that it was gorgeous all weekend (suck it, Seattle rain!). I just wish we would have been able to see more of the island and also I wish I knew more about all of the "Indains" graffiti all over (see: Indian Occupation).

^^The welcome sign at Alcatraz "Indians Welcome"^^

^^3 floors of jail cells in the prison at Alcatraz^^

^^Natalie in solitary confinement^^

^^Danielle and I and SF from Alcatraz^^

 

^^The Golden Gate Bridge from Alcatraz^^ 

After Alcatraz we hopped in an Uber driven by Dan, the best ever Uber driver, and headed to Alamo Square to see the Painted Ladies, or as I refer to it, the Full House Houses! It was a little anticlimactic but I had never seen them before and I was glad to cross it off my bucket list.

^^The Painted Ladies from Alamo Square with downtown SF in the background^^

We grabbed lunch nearby then Danielle and I decided that it was necessary that we walk through the neighborhood in search of ice cream. We ended up at Smitten which was so good! You guys have to go if ever you're in San Francisco. They make small batches of ice cream using liquid nitrogen and the ice cream is so smooth and delicious. Danielle and I split a giant sundae which we were so excited about (obviously)!

 ^^Smitten is inside an old shipping container and it was the cutest^^

 

^^Danielle and I with our sundae that consisted of salted caramel ice cream, dark chocolate sauce, cookie crumbles and whipped cream^^

 

 ^^the liquid nitrogen doing it's thing^^

That night Danielle's friend Ashley and my friend Courtney who I love and who I worked with at Ground in Hood River (and her boyfriend Danny, yay Danny) met us for some delicious Sushi a few blocks from our apartment. Side note: I'm convinced that all of the food in San Francisco is delicious. Seriously. After sushi we headed down to the Mission district to meet up with some more friends and have some drinks. My friend Micah and his wife Alexis even came from Okland to meet up with us and I had a blast catching up with them. It had been too long! We ended the night by eating Mission style burritos in the Mission district (I mean, c'mon!).

^^Micah, me and Alexis^^

The next day we woke up, got ready, said goodbye to our roof and headed to the airport. We were all feeling ok until the Uber ride made us all want to vomit and die. But we made it home safe, sans vomit. It was a really amazing weekend getaway.

^^Waiting for our Uber, the last time we all felt decent for the rest of the day^^

Also, random things about San Francisco/our trip: it is sunny and 65degrees there in mid-November; all of the buildings in San Francisco are connected and it's so confusing and amazing and beautiful, it feels so much more romantic than modern Seattle; Uber in San Francisco is the best thing ever (ok they have it in Seattle too and really it's good everywhere); staying in an Air BnB is awesome and I would definitely recommend it, just be ready to maybe sleep with a knife by your round bed if your host creeps you out; AND finally, Brittan and I need to purchase round beds immediately because round beds are amazing, no joke. San Francisco, thank you for being so good to us, we heart you #itsofficial.

^^Brittan is going to kill me for this one - round bed 4eva!^^

 

^^best. rooftop. view. ever.^^

 

GRandadventure or GRandventure or SOMETHING

It's been a busy month-ish for me. Lots of traveling, lots of good things, good people, not a lot of time to stop and relax and clean my shower which, gross, but I'm not complaining. It's been really wonderful, this past month.

Last Wednesday I got back from a cross-country road trip in which I flew to Tampa, not without first getting caught at LAX during the shooting causing my layover to last 6 hours instead of 50 minutes (I realize I'm lucky that I made it out of there safely, my heart hurts for the victims and their families), swooped up my friend Gaby after a night at "St. Pete's hottest night club" and moved her back to Washington in her little pink nugget of a car.

We left Tampa on Saturday and made it back to Seattle on Wednesday afternoon. Our days looked like:

DAY 1: Left St. Petersburg on almost no sleep after a quick stop at the beach and a few errands, hoped for some roadside gator jerky, didn't get/see any, stopped to pop my Dunkin Donuts cherry, drove through Georgia, saw more billboards this day than I've ever seen in my whole life, popped my Chick-Fil-A cherry, got late night Taco Bell in Tennessee that tasted different from Taco Bell elsewhere (yes, there was a lot of unhealthy food this day) from a woman with a trashy southern accent, ended up in Nashville at about 11pm where we got ready in the car, watched the clock roll back an hour, grabbed a fancy drink with Gaby's friend Krista and then watched some live music (Wagon Wheel!!) and a street fight on Broadway.

 

DAY 2: Krista lives with the guitar player from Thompson Square and his wife, he showed us his recording studio then invited us for breakfast at his mom's house which was amazing. We stopped for sweet potato lattes at the Frothy Monkey on the way. We drove from Nashville, through Kentucky which had more road kill than any other state ever (Gaby swears she saw a dead pony on the side of the road), through Illinois, into Missouri where we got stuck in the only traffic of the whole trip, stopped in St. Louis to see the arch, have the worst service of our life at dinner (I ate BBQ), said "hi" to one of Gaby's friends and then drove until almost midnight and almost Kansas city where we spent the night.

 
DAY 3: Drove through Kansas City, we got pulled over in Missouri (BOO), drove into Iowa, stopped at a weird welcome center, and then got dinner in Lincoln, Nebraska. All of those states look the same. We almost ran out of gas in WY, and finally made it to Cheyenne at almost midnight. We stayed at a Days Inn where the man at the front desk assured us our room wouldn't smell bad so we were extra pissed when it was the worst smelling room ever and it was like twelve degrees outside so opening the window to air it out sucked, ordered pizza only to have the delivery man tell me he made an "oopsie no no" and forgot the credit card receipt while awkwardly asking me for a cash tip and then after all of that was said and done we discovered our pizza wasn't at all what we ordered before passing out so tough.

 

DAY 4: Woke up to snow in Cheyenne. It was gorgeous and also 12 degrees. Frigid. Drove through downtown Cheyenne to get Starbucks and take pictures. I drove us out of the snow and it was my favorite part of the trip, so beautiful. We ate 50cent ice cream cones from Little America for lunch and Gaby did an ice cream dance out of delirium. We stopped at the prettiest ever rest stop in Utah, and finally made it to Beth in Boise, Idaho after traveling for 13 hours. We grabbed drinks (and took shots, what?) downtown Boise with a few of her friends, Beth and I cuddled on the floor of her apartment and we ate Calfonapzaktnch (translation: California Pizza Kitchen).

 

DAY 5: Idaho to Oregon to Washington! We stopped at the trailer I used to live in on the Umatilla Indian Reservation (that gave me severe anxiety), and we met Gaby's dad in the Tri Cities for a few minutes, and we finally made it back to Seattle that evening totally exhausted and happy to eat dinner that consisted of (not fried) vegetables.

 

Other notable things from our road trip: we listened to a lot of Ashlee Simpson, Backstreet Boys, N'Sync, country, and old school gangster rap. Basically Spotify Premium was our best friend. We don't know what we would have done without our phones in general (music, GPS, cameras, general entertainment like looking up weird stuff). We stopped at every welcome center and took pictures with every state sign we passed except Washington. We had a hastag mix up we only discovered 1/2 way through the trip, I thought Gaby way saying #GRandadventure and she was saying #GRandventure (combining the two words) so we were both hashtagging different things the whole time HA. Gaby stayed in Seattle with me Thursday and explored the city in the crazy rain while I went to work and then we both headed back to White Salmon on Friday to celebrate my birthday early with all of our White Salmon/Hood River friends and also Beth which was so fun! I loved our trip a lot, it was so much fun, and I'm so surprised I didn't get sick of Gaby at all (I actually felt separation anxiety after we were finally apart for more than like 5 minutes), but I'm probably good with not driving that far again for a really long time!

FIVE things

Today I have like FIVE things for you that probably (mostly) deserve their own posts, but sometimes life gets in the way, you know? So here they all are, an update of sorts. Enjoy!

ONE.
I got sworn into the bar the other week. It felt like more of a hoop than a monuments occasion, but it was nice to get dressed up and celebrate my last law-school-ish-related-thing, nonetheless. Hello being a real lawyer.

Dustin went with me to the ceremony and acted as my cheerleader/photographer (he may have been more excited than me, considering he had to deal with my stressed out self for like three years of law school and bar studies - someone give him a high five) and afterward took me to the Ballard Annex Oyster House for seafood - I had oysters, bites of Dustin's clam chowder, and a lobster roll - and champagne to celebrate.

TWO.
That same week, I went back to White Salmon where it was beautiful and fall-like, to do some hunting. I ended up getting a deer opening morning which was so, SO exciting and after tracking it through the woods with my dad and brother Jim, I took this picture in which I was exhausted and so happy.

Note to self: it might be a bad idea (or the best idea) to spend Friday at a coffee shop working really productively (Hood River is the most magical for all things), then go get a manicure (which held up so well through my hunt) before meeting up with pretty ladies for dinner and then letting them convince you to go out for a drink or two and dancing at Jack's until like 1am. But it was really fun and I was really exhausted when I had to get up before daylight to go hunting and when my dad let me go inside and nap while he finished skinning my deer for me, you'd better bet I did just that.

 

And then, that evening, instead of hiking through the woods looking for a deer, I was able to go to dinner with Josh and Sarah, and then grab another drink with everyone in Hood River before I called it an early night because I was SO tired, you guys (spoiler alert, see: THREE below).

 



And, this last weekend, my really cool brother Jim got his deer. I wish I could have been there. Also, jeal that his was bigger than mine (it ALWAYS is).

 

THREE.

I definitely got strep throat last week, which was a total bummer. My tonsils swelled up to the size of cherries and got all white and disgusting, even the Doctor was shocked when he looked at my throat which made me LOL really hard, because you don't expect a doctor to freak out when he looks at your throat, amiright? After not getting sick at all last winter coming down with strep so early in the season was not a fun one. Hey antibiotics forever.

 

FOUR. 

Sunday someone had a birthday. We celebrated with Ba Bar for dinner followed by a drink and a shot for him thanks to our gracious bartender, then home for cake (vanilla with raspberry filling, made by yours truly) and presents.

FIVE.
This next month is going to be full of travel for me and I'm so excited. This weekend it's back to Hood River for some Halloween fun, picking up a freezer full of deer meat and getting my teeth cleaned.

Then, next week I fly to Tampa to swoop up my friend Gaby and drive with her back to the northwest. I'm really excited for our cross-country road trip. We're doing the whole thing in 5 days, Tampa to Seattle (to White Salmon for her). We're definitely stopping in Nashville, St. Louis, Cheyenne(ish) and Boise. Does anyone have any must-sees or dos along the way?

Then, right after my birthday, Natalie, Danielle, Brittan and I are going to San Francisco for a long weekend. Again, if anyone has any must-dos in San Francisco please let me know. I am just so excited about all of it (my bank account, on the other hand, is not, but YOLO, amiright? ha)!

xoxo

Beth's Going Away Weekend

On Monday my Beth-Friend moved from Hood River to Boise, which made me sadder than it probably should have. Of course we had to spend the weekend before sending her off in style and giving her a few more amazing Hood River memories.

Friday night our friends Tonya and Launa hosted a going-away-Luau complete with Teriyaki Bowls, a living room dance party, lots of photos, a Tiki Bar, and a best-dressed contest (which Tall Paul, below, won).

^^Marissa and I^^ 

^^Tall Paul and Marissa^^

 

^^Maybe the most awkward picture of Me, Marissa and Beth ever ^^ Most of the pictures from the night aren't with me so this is the best it's going to get right now, you're welcome^^

 

Saturday I went to my parents' house to surprise my dad for his birthday. While I was there I spent some time spooning with my Fluffy cat, dreaming of the commune and visiting the kittens.  

 

^^Fluffy and I spooning #preciousmoments^^ 

^^My dad making the biggest kitten wave at the camera^^

 

After my visit I put on my rain jacket and boots and headed to Hood River Hops Fest. I've gone the past three years and every year it's completely amazing. If you've never tried fresh hopped beer, you should do so immediately. It's delicious.

 

 

It rained most of the day while we were at Hops Fest, but they had tents set up and we mentally prepared ourselves for the weather so we still had a great time.

 

^^Sarah, Launa and myself^^

 

When Hops Fest was over we headed up the street to the Pub to dry off, regroup and (of course) have another beer. Beth and I spent the rest of the night dance partying. First we stopped at this amazing office dance party downtown Hood River, complete with a DJ, free beer, the fact that it was new and different and a bunch of friends. After the DJ ended his set we walked down to Jack's to end the night in style. We danced until the lights came on and then I took myself to Josh and Sarah's and crashed on their couch.

 

The next morning I had breakfast with Josh and Sarah after waiting forever in line because of course everywhere in town was packed, but it was totally worth it because it gave us ample time to discuss the previous day/night's events. After breakfast I went to Beth's to help her pack some of her stuff before saying goodbye and heading back to Seattle in a crazy rain/wind storm. I'm so sad that Beth won't be in Hood River anymore when I go back to visit and also sad that she's a whole 7 hours away from me now, but I do love Boise, and this gives me an excuse to fly down and visit all the time! 

Paint Nite

Last night I went to a Paint Nite event with my friends Natalie and Danielle. I'm not artistic in the slightest so while I was really looking forward to the event, I was also a little nervous about the whole process. I was assured, however, that they great at guiding you through the process and will help you if you mess up (both of which were true). Also I was definitely reassured by the fact that there is wine to assist in the process! 

 

^^Sky and water base laid down^^

 

I've been feeling a little "off" this week and I think painting, friendship and wine was exactly what I needed. Painting was oddly calming and it was fun to do something artistic and easy. Plus it's really gross outside in Seattle right now, so painting a summery sunset took my mind off of that too. Score!



 

^^Danielle and Natalie with their works-in-progress^^ 

 

Activities with tangible results are always very satisfying for me, so this was perfect. At the end of the night I could hold my painting in my hand and feel proud that I spent the last two hours socializing, relaxing AND making something! Also I learned some new painting techniques, like dry brushing - don't judge me, seriously I have no artistic skills - which was awesome.

^^My finished painting^^

 

I think it's safe to say that I'm totally hooked. I want to go back and do another Paint Nite in the near future, or maybe just buy some canvas and paint and paint something on my own.

 

On second thought though, maybe another guided night of painting would be a good first step (I seriously have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to making art, and it was nice having a little instruction). Has anyone ever done an activity like this with another company they would recommend? Or any other similar experience they'd recommend? I would love to hear suggestions. 

^^Danielle, Myself and Natalie with our finished paintings^^



Today is Natalie's Birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATALIE!!) and we're celebrating with napoleon style pizza and red wine later. I can't wait. Two days of friendship in a row (during the week even) makes me so excited.

Happy Tuesday everyone.