Adventures in San Francisco

This past weekend, we enjoyed beautiful San Francisco as a family. It was beyond amazing; I love, love, love that city. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't to move SF up to my top three favorites cities ever! But, alas -- that's where you can now find it. Top 3 Favorite Cities. Ever.

We flew down for my work retreat (my company is based out of SF). So, along with exploring a new city, I got to meet all the people I've only known virtually for nearly 2 years. It was crazy... putting faces to voices, sharing inside jokes that we've only ever laughed about over IM or email. It was a blast. I'm blessed to work for an amazing company.

My husband was scheduled to fly down with us (Porter and me), but then he was invited to attend a conference in LA for our church (where he works). So, on Friday AM - at 4am - Porter and I were picked up by our friends, Richard and Ashley (Ashley also works for the same company, which is great!) and I flew down sans husband -- Porter's first flight ever.

I was beyond nervous. I'm independent and all, but something about being a new mom sort of takes you down three notches. What if Porter was that baby on the plane? And I was alone, unarmed? No backup? How was I going to carry a suitcase, a diaper bag, a laptop bag, a stroller and a carseat by myself through security and onto the plane?

Turns out, people are pretty nice to traveling moms -- especially traveling moms that are alone and unarmed. It wasn't that bad. Next time, I would probably try to condense even more, and I would have definitely utilized my Ergo carrier sooner than I did. Either way, it's a workout. Porter is no dainty little kiddo... he's 23 pounds of solid CHUNK. He weighs the same as his 18 month old cousin, and she feels about 10 pounds lighter, because she's taller. He is just a solid mass of baby fat. I love it to death, but not so fun when you have no one to relieve you of child-toting duties.

We also booked an apartment to stay at on the website Airbnb... have you ever heard of it? Absolutely amazing. Well, scary -- I mean, you're staying at people's apartments or homes -- but we had an amazing experience. I feel like we made a new friend. Natalie was so sweet, and we were so grateful to be staying in a 2 bedroom flat. With two babies under one year old, being sardined into a small hotel room would have been torture. 

The apartment was spacious, uncluttered, clean and somewhat kidproofed -- Natalie, the homeowner, has a two year old daughter. Ironically, Natalie was leaving down this particular weekend for a work trip... to Seattle. So, it was fate. :)

Some awesome highlights from San Francisco:

• People are so nice. People are not that nice in Seattle.
• Painted Ladies. I definitely hung out of the window of our rental car singing the Full House theme song at the top of my lungs as we looked for a place to park at Alamo Square Park. Such a tourist I am.
• ARCHITECTURE. The detail in all the homes and buildings is just so intricate.
• FOOD. Oh my gosh, SF has is heaven for foodies. So many amazing restaurants. I feel like we only got a glimpse, but my glimpse included a gourmet grilled cheese, so I'm not even mad.
• Our apartment. It was a perfect location for everything we wanted to do.
• ZipCar. It was amazing to have a full-sized SUV to drive around with.
• Parks, parks, and more parks! I need to be there for a full month, you guys, just to visit all of the amazing parks.
• Fisherman's Wharf. So much to do, so many shops, so many restaurants.
• Those ridiculous 10-person bicycles that you can rent. So cool. I needed to have done that, too.
• Alcatraz. We didn't go, but I saw it from the Wharf. It was pretty amazing.
• The Bay Bridge, lit up. The most gorgeous thing I have ever seen.
• The view from Treasure Island (over the Bay Bridge). STUNNING. All bright and lit up, with just a glimmer of fog floating over the tops of the highest buildings. So perfect.
• THE FOG. It rolls in like powered by a freaking fog machine, you guys. It's thick and has a personality of it's own.
• De Young Museum, in Golden Gate Park. Sweeping, 360º views of the city. So pretty.

The real Full House house. :) It was painted darker and had a gate up with a No Trespassing sign. I can only imagine how annoying it must be to live there and have to deal with hundreds of photographers

Paul flew in on Saturday evening, and met us at Starbelly, where we were having a fun company dinner. It was so amazing to see him. Porter was so glad to have his daddy.

This picture doesn't do it justice, but this is the view from Treasure Island. It's moments like this that I wish I had a full-sized camera. I wish I could remember the detail of this view forever.

And, err, some lowlights:

• I dropped/shattered my iPhone getting out of the car.
• I got sick. Horrible head cold. And unfortunately, I passed it to my hubby and Porter. Poor boys. I'm doing better, but they're both still fighting it.
• Traffic. Eww. At 9pm! Freeways are really a parking lot at 9pm!?
• There was a BART strike. Super lame that I didn't get to experience that... and it made traffic that much worse.

I'm already debating when to plan my next trip back to this fabulous city. Have you ever been? What is your "must do/see" for San Francisco?