Birthday Weekend

Andy and both turned the big 2-7 in the past few days. To celebrate, we did a weekend in San Francisco. There were a couple of "touristy" items that we still hadn't done and wanted to cross off the list. These included a visit to the Haight-Ashbury area, a stroll through China Town, and a photo op at the base of Lombard Street.

The famous legs above Piedmont on Haight Street

In Chinatown

Lombard Street

After that, we wanted the rest of the weekend to be about getting to know the "real" San Francisco. This would require us to do a lot of walking and exploring. And since we were staying at a hotel in the city (as opposed to just day-trips we had previously taken) we had two full days to do just that. I know there are hundreds of thousands of die-hard San Francisco fans out there and they probably would hate me for this, but I don't love this "city by the bay." It's too busy, crowded, smelly, expensive, dirty, and loud. In just a day's time I had been yelled at and taunted by a homeless man, cursed out by a woman when I politely declined to eat at her restaurant, and witnessed another woman doing drugs on the floor of a McDonald's restroom. Andrew and I both left on Sunday slightly confused as our discussion was based on what all these SF lovers see in this city of theirs. When I got home, I couldn't help but see if we were the only people that feel this way. We're not the only ones. There are hundreds of blog posts and sites that have a distaste for the city, a few are here, here, and here.

I will give you this, San Francisco. You have some cute stores and you can somehow make a non-shopper like me want to shop. Here's Andy displaying one find that I thought was particularly charming:

So while we will be back (my mom will be visiting in a couple weeks and we'll be showing her around the area), we'll be sticking to those touristy attractions and letting the native San-Franciscans keep the "real" city to themselves.

And in other birthday news, although we promised each other no gifts, we lied. Andy gave me a gift certificate for a massage and also a new Bluetooth speakerphone for my car (hands free calling in CA!). Andrew got an ice cream maker, recipe book, and a little custom art I made.

And here are a couple of other things that were surprises on the big day:

 Yum!! A huge cookie bouquet from Jacqueline and Karen.

 Loose leaf tea and infuser from my mom. Seen here with my going away gift from Mary and Marissa.

It's like a match made in heaven!

Thank you to everyone who sent birthday wishes to us. We are very lucky to have so many thoughtful people in our lives. Here's to making 27 the best yet!