Day 2 – Wednesday

I wish I was wearing a pedometer today. I would love to know how many miles my mom and I covered by foot. We started in Union Square and walked to Hayes Valley via the Tenderloin (sketchy!). On the agenda: Rose and Radish and Lavish. Along the way we discovered the loveliest candy shop, Miette, about which I plan to write an entire post.

For lunch we headed eastbound to the Farmer’s Market at the Civic Center. We ate our falafel sandwiches among the pigeons, shoppers and school children. Then we hopped on the F light rail towards Castro, getting off a couple of times to pop into various stores, including Rare Device.

By the time we reached Castro we were too exhausted to hike up the giant hill in order to get to Perch and Church Street Apothecary. We briefly considered taking a cab to those shops, but we were drained and my ankles were killing me (“lifestyle” sneakers, while fashionable, are not as supportive as “real” sneakers). Although it was only 3 PM, we got back on the F and rode it all the way to the hotel, where I promptly fell asleep.

Neither my mom nor I bought anything today, but we took a ton of photos. Here are some of the signs and windows that caught my eye.

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Day 1 – Tuesday

The Weather Channel told me that it was going to be in the mid-60s in San Francisco. Not remembering exactly what mid-60 degree weather feels like, I packed t-shirts, lightweight cardigans and jeans. I brought one wrap sweater that I wore on the plane because I’m always cold on planes. If I didn’t have that sweater, I would have needed to buy a jacket today because it was BRISK outside. This is what summer feels like? I was also told that it only rained between November and March, but there was definitely some precipitation this evening. 

Today my mom and I went to the Chihuly exhibit at the de Young. We took the #5 bus from Union Square down to Golden Gate Park, where the museum is located. We unknowingly picked a good day to visit; admission is free the first Tuesday of the month (although we did have to pay the $5 special exhibition surcharge for Chihuly at the de Young.) 

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I should be up in the clouds right now, somewhere between Omaha in Denver. Instead, I’m paying $3.95 for WiFi at Eppley Airfield and waiting for my flight, which, at the moment, is 2.5 hours delayed. This delay means I will miss my connecting flight to San Francisco, so I’ve been rebooked on a flight out of Denver to Oakland.  And the only reason that flight is available to me is because it’s also delayed about 2 hours. I’ll arrive in Oakland around 12:30 AM and take a cab into the city to meet my parents at the hotel. 

I hate flying. Always have. I hate the lines to go through security, the cramped seats, the take-off, the turbulence, and the landing. But I love to travel and have accepted that flying is only way to get to where I want to go. So I coach myself before every flight, reminding myself that millions of people fly every day, including celebrities, who often fly from roundtrip from East to West in a single day. If they can do it, I can do it. 

Having a prescription for Xanax also helps.

Update: My 7:44 PM flight is now scheduled to depart at 11:30 PM and get into Denver at midnight, meaning I will miss my connection to Oakland. Do I fly to Denver tonight and either get a hotel room or sleep in the airport and take the earliest flight to SF tomorrow, or do I go back to my apartment and take a 6:51 AM flight through Denver that will get my to SF around 10:15 AM?

(image via flickr)

I have so many stories to tell about my sister’s visit, but she hasn’t left yet, so I’ll do a full wrap-up tomorrow. Today we’re just relaxing and packing. When she heads back East around 7pm tonight, I’ll be heading out West. San Francisco, here I come… again!

SF has quickly become one of my favorite cities. I had a fantastic time as a tourist with my sister in March 2007 and loved being there for “work” last month for the Renegade Craft Fair. This time around it’ll be me and my mom pounding the pavement for three full days, practicing our photography and doing some shopping. My mom is flying out with my dad, who’ll be there on business and will join us in the evenings for dinner. Originally, they were going to come to Omaha this summer to keep me company for a weekend while J was away, but when I heard they were going to be in San Francisco, I asked if I could join them instead. Financially it made the most sense, really. One plane ticket to SF vs. two to Omaha. I’m doing them a favor!

My mom wants to go to the Chihuly exhibit at the de Young and to Beach Blanket Babylon (which we’ve both seen but constantly changes). I want to go to all the great stores I’ve read about on blogs like sfgirlbybay and design*sponge and in magazines like domino, including:

• Lavish
• Rose and Radish
• Perch
• Church Street Apothecary
• Rare Device
• Stem
• BellJar

Tell me, SF aficionados, where else should my mom and I visit while in town? What stores have I left off my list? Any restaurant recommendations?

(image by sfgirlbybay via flickr)