Never have I ever

Two weeks ago I went on a weekend trip to San Francisco with my friend Jordana from Secret Garden Social and we decided that we would spend this trip doing things we’ve never done before – at least things we’ve never done in San Francisco. I’ve been there a few more times than she has, so I had to plan it out better so we wouldn’t duplicate things either of us has done, like places we’ve visited or eaten at. Jordana had booked us an apartment through Air BNB, which was the first thing to mark our list. We also took an overnight charter bus through Bolt Bus from Los Angeles to San Francisco (at a great price, by the way). We were supposed to check in early on Friday and drop off our luggage at the room, but due to some issues we couldn’t go until later on in the day. So there we were, at the Greyhound station before the sun was even up. Our phones indicated that it was 5:50am. We walked into the only familiar place that was open and nearby: Starbucks. It was time to get this show on the road. From Starbucks we took the Muni to Castro and jumped on a Lyft ride over to Twin Peaks. This was our first official stop. Twin Peaks was breathtaking. I have seen so many pictures on Instagram and this place was magical in person. It’s one of the highest points where you can see most, if not all, of San Francisco. That is, of course, if your vision was not obstructed by the opaqueness of thick, white fog. But then again, fog is just as much a part of the Bay as the Golden Gate Bridge. We spend the better part of 30 minutes taking pictures and shivering from the early morning cold as we watch the sunrise. It actually felt nice though since LA was in the 100’s that week.

We were getting really hungry, so we called a Lyft to pick us up and take us to the Mission District. Let me tell you this now: No one wants to pick you up from Twin Peaks! It feels out of the way because you have the take the right streets to get up there and back. Luckily someone did get us before we froze and we were on our way to have some delicious treats at Craftsman and Wolves. I have been following them on Twitter for a while now and if you don’t know who they are, go find out. Amazing pieces of art pastries and savory bites served alongside artisan teas and caffeinated beverages. I was really there to mainly try their “Rebel Within” muffin. Savory ham and cheese muffin with a hardboiled egg inside of it. Delicious!

From there, we stopped by next door at Grub. A modern diner offering American classics in a cute and comfortable setting. I ordered one of my favorite breakfast bites: French toast. Bountiful bites of fried toast topped with strawberries and served with a side of hash browns. This was among the best that I’ve ever had! Six toast halves topped with about a cup of sliced strawberries. Yum!

After filling our bellies, we finally headed towards the Air BNB in the Tenderloin to drop off our stuff and quickly change outfits. After a quick meet with the apartment owners and resting for a few minutes, we were back on the streets heading to check off another thing from the list (only mine, this time): a pedicure. We went to North Beach to this little place that Jordana knows about. I’ve never had a pedicure before and guys should do things like this more often! People in general, per say, should treat themselves. Pamper yourself to all the little things that will make you feel good – this was definitely one of them!

After giving my tootsies (and her finger nails) a makeover, we strolled through North Beach checking out all the little shops and snapping photos here and there. We made our way to and through Chinatown and into Union Square. One of my favorite department stores in Macy’s and there are two in Union Square, a men’s and a women’s location. Each is about six floors and the women’s location has a few places to eat in it, including: Tout Sweet. Yigit Pura owns this patisserie and he is an amazing and creative pastry chef. His sweets are literally edible bites of sugary art. We stopped by to scope out his shop and nosh on some macaroons. After getting our sweet tooth fix, we proceeded to the men’s Macy’s for their one-day sale. 1) I don’t turn my back on a sale, and 2) I’m kind of a shopaholic. So…let’s just say I went a little crazy pulling hangers off the rack. I finally got what I needed and we headed back to the room for some much needed ‘R and R’.

We got some much needed rest and got ready for the big night ahead of us. We traveled back to the Mission District. I haven’t spent much time in this particular part of the Bay during my previous trips to San Francisco I feel like it’s such an underrated area and I don’t know why because there are so many good restaurants, cute shops and fun-looking bars. We went to a restaurant called Gracias Madre, which also has a sister restaurant by the same name and concept in LA. It’s a vegan Mexican restaurant that is actually worth visiting. Most Mexican restaurants that serve vegetarian food usually means “just cheese”. Despite my love for cheese, that doesn’t really offer many options and it isn’t very healthy. I’m not vegetarian or vegan, although Jordana is, but I will always try anything once and their food was just as fulfilling as if I would’ve eaten a meat-filled dish. A potato gordita topped with lettuce and avocado and a sweet potato stuffed empanada paired with sangria. Everything was so delicious; very flavorful! Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, there was no room for dessert.

We walk off the food and check out some vintage clothing shops and second-hand book shops and stumble across a store that is inspired by everything beautiful that West Asia can offer. Colorful tapestries, detailed sculptures and staff that welcomed us with glasses of Rose upon entry...what?! I think that was my favorite part. Neighboring stores included Craftsman and Wolves, again, a chocolate shop and factory, a cheese shop and everything else that’s delicious. If I could’ve eaten more at that moment, I would have, but after 15 hours of being awake and walking all over, it was finally time to turn in. This was the only day that we completely spent together as we both had workshops to attend the next day, but this day was definitely the highlight of our weekend in Fog City.