vacation update part trois

THURSDAY: JAPANTOWN and HAIGHT/ASHBURY/MAGNOLIA PUB & BREWERY (AGAIN)

we went back to japantown thursday to pick up some tiny glass figurines we'd seen in the window of one of the shops.

cadence had fun running around and chasing the pigeons. i think the hardest part of the vacation for cadence was not being able to run around as much as she wanted. we tried to make time for her to let loose every now and then, but she threw quite a few tantrums when we wouldn't let her run as freely as she would've liked.

after japantown, we went back to the haight to get a burrito at Zona Rosa per our friend yvonne's recommendation. it was definitely yummy. and cheap! see, not everything in san francisco is expensive! we peeked into the resale shops, but really, they were way overpriced.

we stopped by magnolia pub and brewery again to try more of their beers. i wish we'd been hungrier so we could try out their menu, which looked fab. they use mostly organic and locally grown/raised produce and meats.

FRIDAY: RIDING THE MUNI, THE MISSION DISTRICT, MORE BEER, DOWNTOWN, CABLE CAR RIDE, and DINNER w/ HAYUTA and MAHEESH

on friday, we decided to give the car a rest and try out san francisco's public transportation system. our hotel was only a block away from van ness ave, which has several buses that frequent it. we took the 49 bus all the way down to 16th and mission in the mission district.

the mission district seemed to me to be a mix of chicago's pilsen and wicker park neighborhoods...very ethnic, old and hip all rolled into one little area. there was a lot of graffiti art, like this stencil in the photo above, as well as plenty of formal art galleries.

what can i say...i can't resist a good puddle! which is why i love sunny days after a really good rain shower.

we stopped by dolores park, which has a pretty steep hill with great views of the city to the north and east. everything was still pretty wet from the previous evening's rain showers, and there was a lot of mud around, which cadence fell into at one point. she didn't get too dirty, thank goodness, since i had forgotten to pack an extra change of clothing for her.

at this point, cadence refused to get back in her stroller and wanted to walk while holding her daddy's finger. actually, she would've run if ted ever let go of her hand. luckily, we did find a playground in the neighborhood that was dry enough to actually play in. we stopped there for a brief respite and a snack for cadence.

we walked south on valencia, and found the pirate shop (part of the 826 valencia writing center) that our friend michael had told me about. we found a really nice big shell for cadence to listen to the ocean with, and i got me a pair of red and black striped pirate hose!

the mission district was really interesting. i wish we had more time to spend there. definitely next time.

yes, it's true. we are at yet another brewery. this one was called the 21st amendment (get it?) and they make some lovely brews as well as yummy eats.

serendipity led us to the thirsty bear brewery. we were walking from the 21st amendment to catch a cable car on powell and market and we just happened to be walking down howard when i spied the sign for thirsty bear. we were still stuffed from our lunch at the 21st, and i have to say that ted was probably a bit inebriated since he wasn't driving.

thank goodness for 3oz samplers for 50 cents. we ordered 4 different beers, and i can't remember what they were but i do remember that they were yummy. i think i was getting a tad lit on my tiny sips of ted's samplers.

ok. this is getting long. here are more photos and less words.

some fountain downtown on our way to the cable car.

reflection of the late afternoon light some other fountain's waters.

we happened to be passing by st. patrick's church (on st. patrick's day no less!) so we went in to take a look.

i love prayer candles!

dude was walking around powell and market with this sign.

here's the cable car we took back to our hotel up powell and hyde streets.

friday night, we met up with my old-time friend hayuta and her husband maheesh at a mesopotamian restaurant called ya ya cuisine just a few blocks away from our hotel. if you're wondering what mesopotamian cuisine is like, it's basically iraqi/middle eastern style. lots of phyllo. the food was absolutely yummy, and our waiter jerome was the perfect host. hayuta and maheesh were great dinner companions so we all had a good time. they also gave us great tips on where to go for our berkeley trip the next day.

alright almost done, but later.

vacation update part deux

ok. so we're back in the windy city. and windy it sure is. and we thought san francisco was cold! and today's the first day of spring...*sigh*...

alrighty. so where did i leave off? oh yeah...here goes...

TUESDAY: GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE and EXPLORATORIUM

if you're like most people, the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions san francisco is probably the grand old golden gate bridge. i'm not sure why they call it golden gate. it's really quite red. whatever. it sure is quite magnificent up close and personal though. and you can't get much closer to the bridge without actually being ON it as you can at Fort Point, which is where we went on tuesday morning. unfortunately, cadence fell asleep before she could witness the magnificence of the GGB up close and personal for herself.

after Fort Point, we stopped by a marina across the street from the Exploratorium. cadence finally woke up and at least got a view of the GGB as well as alcatraz.

we spent the afternoon at the Exploratorium, which is a museum of science, art and human perception and is housed in the beautiful Palace of Fine Arts, another prominent San Francisco landmark. cadence (and her parents) really enjoyed all the hands-on fun and interactive exhibits.

WEDNESDAY: FRENCH BOULANGERIE, PIER 39/AQUARIUM-OF-THE-BAY and SUSET ON THE OCEAN...oh...and YET ANOTHER BREWERY

we found this really great bakery/cafe called LE BOULANGE de POLK. the pastries are delectable and they're cheap! they have these really yummy hazelnut madelines for only 75 cents! they could be selling that at the dollar store! we went there twice during our vacation, and that's saying a lot because in san francisco, you don't have to go anywhere twice if you don't want to since there are so many great eateries to choose from.

this particular boulangerie is in the russian hill neighborhood, on polk just north of green. i highly recommend it.

we spent most of wednesday at san francisco's biggest tourist destination, pier 39 on fisherman's wharf. the sunny, somewhat mild weather brought out the crowds, and the pier was bustling.

while we were there, we visited the aquarium of the bay, which has this cool hallway that's enclosed underwater so you're walking beneath the sharks and and skate fish and starfish...

after pier 39, we decided to drive down the coast because it looked like the sunset was going to be a doozie. i wanted to get to half moon bay for the actual sunset, but by the look of the sky, ted didn't think we'd make it, so we stopped at fort funston. when we got there, we saw people hang gliding along the shore. boy, were they whizzing by! it sure was beautiful with the sun low on the watery horizon and the graceful aerial display of the hang glider.

the coast to the south was so beautiful and serene. we didn't make it down to the beach, but the view from where we were was still quite lovely.

there's nothing quite like a sunset on the ocean, i say.

even cadence was pretty wow'ed at the beautiful sight.

after the sunset, we did make it down to half moon bay because we knew that there was a brewery down there, and far be it from us to get that close to a microbrewery and not stop in. oh, they have the best mac and cheese i've ever tasted at that brewery.

alright. more later.

vacation update

...baby is napping, so here's a quick update...

...the wedding was absolutely beautiful...michael and ruthy seem to have been made for each other...i really think they will be very happy together for the long haul...i am so happy ruthy found michael...he is one of the best of men i've met in a long time...the ceremony was lovely, and the reception was a gazillion course chinese wedding banquet! my friend ann moon was at our table, as well as some other fine folk who were more fun to chat with than your usual wedding reception crowd...the topper was when one of the guys at our table, kevin, sang a couple songs with his guitar, including wilco's 'i'm always in love'...michael knew i'd like that one! all in all, it was good times all around...

...sunday, we met up with my high school friend hayuta at yoshi's in oakland...i haven't seen her in like over 10 years, and she looks as young as she did back in college, except maybe shorter hair...and really nice eyebrows...i wonder who does her eyebrows...anyhoo...it was great to spend some time with her, and i hope she'll visit us soon in chicago...

the jazz show we saw at yoshi's was ron carter and his quartet...he used to play bass for miles davis, so he knows what he's doing...the music was really hot, but i'm afraid i had a migraine and got so nauseous that we left after a little over an hour into the show...

...after a series of mishaps, we somehow made it to our hotel, which is in the marina district...we're just west of that section of lombard street which is the crookedest street on the continent or something...i didn't think it was all that crooked...

alright, this is getting kinda long, and there's still lots to tell, so i think i'll just put in more photos for now...

MONDAY: GOLDEN GATE PARK AND HAIGHT/ASHBURY

...cadence tries out her bridge legs...this is in the japanese tea garden in golden gate park...

...i just love all the moss and greenness everywhere...especially with all the rain they've been getting lately...

...they have this really big buddha statue in the garden, but i think buddha statues in and of themselves are boring...except when cadence waves and says hi cuz she thinks the buddha is waving hi at her...

...and this photo's for wany cuz she asked for more photos of me and cadence! and it's at the historic corner of haight and ashbury...viva la revolucion! or however you spell it...

...TOTALLY!

...we stumbled onto the magnolia pub and brewery right on haight street...the bartender/server was really nice and let us try some samples...ted had a half pint of something that was pretty good...we may have to go back there before we go back to chicago...

...here's me with some hookahs...seems like haight street is the place for all kinds of smoking paraphernalia...notice my denison witmer track jacket yo...

more later...

on vacation!

...this is what greeted us at SFO when we landed to begin our family vacation...an auspicious start, maybe, but i hear it's gonna snow, hail and rain in various parts of the bay area the whole time we're here!

...it rained a lot as we drove south from SFO to mountain view for ruthy and michael's rehearsal dinner...and it was butt cold! i can't believe it's warmer in chicago than here in san francisco! today seems nice though...no rain yet...we went to a cafe in downtown mountain view...everything is so nice and lush and green! it's weird seeing palm trees and actual oranges hanging from tree branches...we also heard birds singing a different tune out here than in the midwest...

regardless of the weather, i think we're gonna have a good time!

on the importance of having organized eyebrows...

yesterday was ted’s birthday, and i had a salon appointment at 5:30pm…now what kind of a wife schedules to have her eyebrows waxed around dinnertime on her husband’s birthday? a ditzy one like me…well, to make up for it, i had my friends john & jon bake a cake and show up at our condo to surprise ted while i was out…ted thought john was just stopping by on his way home from work, like we’ve told him to do on numerous occasions…he didn’t know what was in the big bag he was carrying…and it just happened to be a really yummy yellow cake with homemade lemon icing and cranberry filling…yum…when i got home from the salon, we ordered thai food and feasted and had a grand ol’ time…john & jon are good people and we love hanging out with them…

so regarding my salon appointment…this weekend is the wedding of my oldest friend in the whole world, ruth chung…by oldest, i mean she was the first friend i ever had here in the united states…we grew up about a block or two away from each other from first grade until she went off to college, and we were in the same class in school from first through 7th grades…our birthdays are 10 days apart, and we and our siblings spent almost every afternoon and evening playing together for a number of years…

ruthy asked me to read in her wedding, so ted, cadence and i are going out to the bay area of california tomorrow…the wedding is in palo alto, and then we will be staying in the marina district of san francisco for 7 nights after the wedding…this will probably be our only vacation this year, so we’re really looking forward to it…

so back to the salon appointment…i decided that it was high time i got my eyebrows organized professionally so that maybe, just maybe, i could lay off the plucking for the duration of our vacation…and then i thought, well, as long as i was meeting with the aesthetician, i might as well find out a few things about the mysterious world of cosmetics…you see, i have never been formally educated on the proper application of makeup, having been raised in a fundamentalist cult where makeup was discouraged until the date of your arranged marriage when women like my mom would cake your face to look like a beige geisha…so i’ve always had the sneaking suspicion that i’ve been doing it all wrong all these years…

now i know i’ve committed some stupid cosmetic faux pas in the past…like in high school when i started wearing eye liner, and out of my ingrained brainwashed modesty, only applied the eyeliner over half of my eye because i thought covering the whole eye would be, well, too radical…i still remember my friend kae kuk staring at me and saying, ‘uh…it’s different…’ different my ass, it looked horrible…

i personally don’t like wearing a lot of makeup…i still really take to heart what my dad told me time and time again, that beauty radiates from the inside out…and i don’t want to raise cadence to think that perfectly shaped eyebrows are what make a woman…that being said, i’m going to be 34 in may, and although i don’t feel like i’ve matured much since 24, my face sure has…so out of courtesy to my friend ruthy and all her wedding guests, i figured i should learn how to apply my makeup properly before i attempted to get up and read in a wedding…

which brings me to why the heck i had a salon appointment on my dear husband’s birthday…i found this relatively new salon called salon echo which is not too far from me in edgewater…it’s an enviro friendly salon that uses aveda products, so i thought i’d give them a try…i initially made an appointment to have my eyebrows waxed, but i found out they did makeup lessons and signed up for that too…[lielle, please don’t laugh at me for paying someone to teach me something you probably can do much better…]

the girl who was my waxer/instructor for the evening was named molly, and she was really nice…i gotta say, i need to have my brows waxed on a more regular basis…it was really relaxing, almost like getting a massage…she actually did give me a bit of a temple rub at the end…it was definitely not just a simple and quick wax-on/strip-off procedure…

for the makeup lesson, she spent a good hour and a half on me…i guess i needed more than the usual hour lesson…let me just tell you right now, if you ever plan on getting a makeup lesson, don’t ever do it right before you need to go out or be anywhere presentable…why you ask? because the instructor will only do half your face and expect you to do the other half, which means unless you are already pretty good or a fast learner, your face will end up looking like a freak…i don’t know how good of a job i will do with my makeup in the future, but one thing i know for sure…i won’t be wearing much eye shadow for probably the rest of my life! that stuff is damn difficult to apply properly…so i think i’ll just try to avoid it…

so that’s my salon story…and tomorrow we leave for the bay area for ruthy and michael’s wedding in palo alto…then on sunday, i am meeting my dear old friend hayuta for lunch at yoshi’s in oakland…hayuta was one of my best friends in high school as well as the valedictorian of our graduating class…i have fond memories of driving around in her car singing sinead o’connor or listening to WLUW 88.7 fm when it was still a high energy radio station…i haven’t seen hayuta in at least 10 years, so we have a lot of catching up to do…

we are going to be in SF until 3/19, and i can’t wait! i have such fond memories of that town when i visited josh while he was living in oakland…it’s such a walkable city…i remember that somehow, no matter where we thought we were going, we’d always end up at ghiardeli square…our hotel is going to be less than a mile from fisherman’s wharf, so i’m sure we’ll end up at ghiardeli square quite often…

i get to be with my baby for 10 days straight! woohoo! i love family time…