summertime hello.

A few fun things from around the web!

1. What it costs to eat at every 3-star Michelin restaurant in the world.

2. Genius Picnic Bag on my wish list. 

3. Consider this yet another reason I dream of being gal pals with Kristen Wiig. 

4. Can't wait to visit the giants in Mariposa Grove with my parents this weekend!

5. Grown men reenact conversations with a toddler. 

6. Rent in SF is actually the worst. 

7. Lowland Hum plays at the Garage. Their album Native Air will be available two weeks from today. I already have it and man is it good.

8. I will be playing on this beach in Costa Rica with my handsome husband love in just 2 weeks! 

Hope everyone is having a full and happy summer : )

. . .

madi 2.0

The final installment of the Madi-time excursions:

We visited Golden Gate Park and went to the top of the 360º observation tower at the de Young art museum. It was my first time up there and you can see so much of the city. Though admission for the art museum is pricey, you can visit the tower for free.

We rode a cable car to Fisherman's Wharf and were right up front. I love reaching the top of this hill where the bay comes into view. Look at that water!

Our exact location in Golden Gate Park! Did you know Golden Gate Park is 20% bigger than Central Park. Tuck that away in your trivia knowledge brain folder.

And this is where I live.

This wild looking fountain is along the Embarcardero very close to where our big saturday farmer's market is held. It was built from the remnants of a nearby freeway that was torn down.

Genius Madi realized that you can actually walk through the fountain, which is something I'd never noticed! 

I enjoy having visitors so much. Who's next?

. . .

madeleine slides.

My friend and past housemate (woop woop 208 McCauley) Madi was in the city last week and together we made the wonderful discovery of an SF gem: hidden concrete slides! Many people know about the Seward Street slides but I had never heard of any others in the city. We were originally on a mission in Golden Gate Park to ride the children's carousel (which was sadly closed) and happened upon these slides, which were tucked away in the Children's Quarter. They were fun. And fast! I will definitely visit them again next time I'm in the park. 

How to Slide Like a Pro:

1. Get piece of cardboard and scoop up sand for extra speed (bonus tip from the neighborhood kids).

2. Run to the top! Do not spill your sand, do not fall down.

3. Pour the sand onto the top of the slide, set down your cardboard on top of the sand, and push off.

4. You will be surprised at how fast you go; be careful to not careen off the edge. For real.

5. Get tons of sand in your shoes upon landing and be proud that you're the only adult using the slide.

Have fun and repeat!

. . .

golden gate + hair advice.

I took a beautiful walk over the Golden Gate earlier this week. It was an oddly sunny, clear skies day, there was no fog, and we even saw seals and dolphins in the waters below. Finn's sweet cousin Kendall (who stayed with us for a night) and I had a great conversation about life while walking over the bay. Whenever I get to the edges of the city where everything feels more wide open, I get really happy about living here.

Also, this is what your hair looks like if you try to wear it down while walking on the bridge:

In other words, leave your hair up.

. . .

my people depart.

Our place has felt a bit empty since our friends left. The apartment was at full capacity last week in the best way possible and I miss their pallets on the floor and the extra toothbrushes in the bathroom. It felt like summer camp being all together and, much like Sarah's time here, the week flew by. It meant a lot for them to make the trip out - it's expensive and a long way to come and I'm so thankful they did. Love you friends.

Here's the all-star lineup if you don't know these people very well:

       1. Lauren/LaViss: triathalon-doing, outside-enthusiast, med-school student, early riser, and runs as fast as boys (really). Grew up with brothers and knows a lot about Pokemon as a result. We met the very first week of college & email each other pictures of baby animals frequently. 

       2. Caroline/Liney/Miami: Spanish-speaking, travel-loving, witty-as-they-come, genetic night owl with an affinity for international food and humongous dogs. Also keeper of many hilarious stories as the most ridiculous things happen to her. Has a large crush on South African comedian Trevor Noah.

       3. Nick/Nicky D/Tron/DaBrat: awesome story teller, law-school bound, loud-laugher, and a surprisingly huge fan of "So You Think You Can Dance?". Falls asleep within the first 15 minutes of all movies, talks in his sleep, and is incredibly nice and positive. Nobody dislikes Nick.

       4. Me: I have never received a nickname and yes I'm bitter. 

Here are a few pictures of our time together: 

Outside of Musee Mecanique. Nick and Caroline messing up the photo op.

Finn scored us tickets to a Giants game. The stadium is beautiful!

Nick and Lauren enjoying the cable car ride. Nick befriended the brakeman and even asked where he lived. 

Lauren matching a mural in the Mission.

4th of July in Golden Gate Park.

Maybe my favorite excursion of their time here: we rented a car for the day & drove to Muir Woods, Marin Headlands, and up the coastal Highway 1. It was so beautiful and we had windows down & Paul Simon playing. I had fun driving on the winding roads & we pulled over several times for the views. 

"Do something interesting with the fence!"

I pulled over and these 3 all instinctively ran down the hill to the cliff's edge with no discussion. I love this shot.

Awesome shot by Nick. Lauren is in the corner.

Not pictured: breakfast for dinner & chocolate chip/peanut butter chip/banana pancakes, our evening at a real life speakeasy, playing with dogs in Dolores Park, a chipmunk eating out of Nick's hand, fireworks at Ghiradelli Square, the farmer's market, a traveling circus show, and me doing this after they all left.

. . .

the 4th.

Part of our afternoon was spent in magnificent Golden Gate Park where we heard a big orchestra play patriotic tunes at the park's 112-year-old bandstand. Afterwards, we settled on a sunny patch of grass, some of us throwing a frisbee, others just chatting it up & watching whiffle ball games. In the evening, we went to Ghiradelli Square to see the city's fireworks show over the water. It was around 55º and very windy, definitely my coldest 4th of July to date. We ate free samples of chocolate (compliments of Ghiradelli) and jumped around to keep warm until 9:30 arrived - the show was beautiful and worth the chilly wait. Fun indeed!

. . .

my people are here.

I am having a really fun week. 

Three of my favorite friends in the world (Caroline, Lauren, and Nick) are all here. 

Our little one bedroom apartment is filled to the brim and it rules.

. . .

a pretty journal.

A friend of ours who has lived in San Francisco for a few years encouraged us to invest in a guest book of sorts for visitors to write in while they're here. I loved the idea and ordered a journal from Minted and am really happy with how turned out. I got to customize many of the details and it was surprisingly inexpensive (just $16!). I like to think that in a few years we can flip through its pages filled with funny stories and small details that we might have otherwise forgotten. I think one of their journals would make a really great gift.

Isn't it nice? I keep picking it up and petting its cover like it's a gold medal or something.

. . .

liney arrives.

Caroline (also a seriously best friend) was my roommate for all of college and just got back from South Africa last month - I have only seen her a handful of times in the past year and am ecstatic to have her as a roomie once again, even if it's just for a week. We have shared so much of life in the past 5 years, she is family to me. And two of my other best friends will be here in a few days - I love this month!

Now purely for entertainment, I will share a story that encapsulates 

the ridiculousness that is Caroline and why I love her so much:

While in South Africa, Caroline had her birthday and her friends in Cape Town threw a surprise "tacky-themed" party in her honor. After a few months of knowing Caroline, these nice people knew a dress-up party would be perfect and encouraged the attendees to arrive in wild garb. That evening, Caroline received a text that read, "you have 30 minutes to get as ugly as you can". Caroline got to work. Other people came in what they considered to be zany: mismatched pieces of clothing, outdated glasses, pajama pants, 2 different earrings or a backwards shirt - overall very mild adjustments to their everyday wear.  

What these friends did not expect was the sheer level of commitment with which Caroline would approach her own costume and the wild disregard she'd have for still looking cute. Caroline took the full 30 minutes to become as ugly as possible and succeeded wildly. I give you a photo of the amazing masterpiece she created:

(building suspense)

Can you guess which one is Caroline?

. . .

other sarah-times.

Sarah's time here zoomed by. Maybe because it's just easy to be together or because we kept so busy, but it seemed like no time passed at all from when she got off the train at Powell Street Station to when we had to wave goodbye. I'm so glad she visited me - we talked about everything, laughed often, and struck a good balance of seeing a lot and resting too. Here's a hodge-podge of other pictures I like from her visit. 

The first place we went when she arrived: the SF zoo (obvious choice).

Us on a bear. Asking another adult to take this picture wasn't the most comfortable situation.

A most majestic lion waiting for his feeding. I've never been so close to one! He was so regal. (ps he isn't always in this little cage, just for his meal!)

Loved this little guy. It took me a very long time to cut down on the
number of zoo pictures I wanted to share.  Consider yourself spared.

We walked along the beach and stuck our toes in the FRIGID water. I think if Alcatraz were in the Atlantic, way more people would have tried to leave. 

Saturday market. We ate extremely good burgers for lunch.

Beginning our walk across the Golden Gate bridge.

Us in our natural state.

. . .

the tale of alcatraz jack.

The main thing Sarah wanted to do while in San Francisco was to visit Alcatraz Island and tour the prison. A reasonable request, I was on board to make it happen. Unfortunately, I was not aware that Alcatraz tickets sell out several weeks in advance, especially in the summer months because only one company owns the rights to ferry visitors to the island. So when we tried to buy our passes the day she arrived, they were totally sold out for the entire time she'd be visiting. I felt awful. In hopes of finding tickets, we headed to Fisherman's Wharf (via cable car - weeee) where several tour companies have booths and tour packages.

Sarah looking fly on the way to the wharf. I love riding the cable cars.

At Fisherman's Wharf, we meet Griffin, a fast-talking salesman from the Florida Keys who assures us he can get tickets for Sunday, repeatedly referring to his friend "Alcatraz Jack" who apparently is the underground godfather of Alcatraz tickets. The catch, however, is we will also have to buy a hop-on hop-off bus tour package (and pay double the price for the Alcatraz tickets).

Sarah and I discuss silently via the fantastic marvels of female nonverbal communication (a series of glances, sighs, eyebrow raises, and nods) and decide to go for it. We follow Griffin across the street to meet this Alcatraz Jack - I expect a older man in an office, perhaps wearing an Alcatraz baseball cap but generally professional. The reality, actually, is a unkempt man in a mini-van with fast food in the passenger's seat, crumbs all over his sweatshirt, and the dirtiest ipad I've ever seen. He says we can pick up our tickets from this sidewalk location on Sunday morning. And he wants cash, by the way.

Sarah and I "go to withdrawal money" where we speed-talk our way through pros and cons. Amazingly, we decide to pull the trigger but negotiate some conditions like the hard hitting ladies we are: Griffin consents to lowered bus tour prices with an extra day added to the passes. Also, we agree to only pay for the bus passes up front and will pay the rest once our Alcatraz tickets are in hand. Sarah and I figured if nothing else, we found an excellent deal on bus tours. About 20 minutes later, we see Alcatraz Jack walking down the road. The man has on high-top basketball shoes about 4 sizes too big. His shoes are flopping all over the place as he scuffles across the street in his sweatpant uniform. I'm not gonna lie, our confidence was a little shaken. This fellow did not seem like an outstanding professional.

So, we took full advantage of the hop-on hop-off bus tours and pretty much used the buses for all our transportation needs. As a result, we heard the same information repeatedly & I am now an expert on the architecture of downtown San Francisco and the history of the Italian district. 

Here we are enjoying ourselves:

Sunday morning we go to retreive our promised tickets and our names aren't on the list. I can feel the hulk inside of me coming awake when the gentleman helping us says a couple just canceled and we can have their tickets. Amazingly, it all worked out and we got to visit the infamous island.

We really took our time exploring and the different tours were all very well done - organized, informative, and entertaining. Sarah loves history things and I especially love hearing about the escape attempts (a few of which I suspect were successes). However, I will not be recommending Alcatraz Jack to other patrons. The moral is if you want to visit Alcatraz, get your tickets early and don't trust a man with floppy shoes.

. . .

golden gate stroll.

Yesterday afternoon Sarah and I walked across the 1.7 mile Golden Gate Bridge in the cold San Francisco summer weather everyone has been telling me about (I believe them now). The day after she arrived, the temperature dropped to 50º and hasn't climbed above 55º since. It's not bad, we've just layered up and carried on. Our crossing of the bridge was very picturesque with porpoises below and panoramic views of the city behind us. The Golden Gate Bridge really is a marvel...we kept looking up during out walk and were dizzied by its giant towers.

Once we reached the other side we got to ride up into the hills of Marin Headlands a bit, which feels like Jurassic Park compared to the city. It's all green and wild and the air smells so good. I cannot emphasize how refreshing the air is there. Afterwards, in proper beth-and-Sarah form, we returned home to change into pajamas, eat cereal, and Sarah napped. It is so nice having a friend here, it makes it feel more like home.

. . .

say say visits.

Sarah, one of my seriously best friends, arrives into San Francisco later today! 

She's staying through the weekend and I can't wait to see her! I have some fun things planned like a hike in Marin Headlands and a visit to Tartine (obviously) but mostly, I'm just really excited to sit on the sofa in our sweatpants and talk. We haven't lived in the same place for years so 6 days together is really a treat.

reasons i love sarah:

       1. We (she) once accidentally threw a slushie inside someone's car.
       2. She's sharp, witty, and could legitimately make money as a hip hop dancer. 
       3. Deep down I think she would actually punch someone for me if need be. She's as loyal as they come.
       4. We've been friends for 8 years.
       5. She wore high tops at her wedding (and is the bride on the left in the photo above).
       6. She's coming to visit me all the way IN SAN FRANCISCO people!

((Posts will most likely slow down a bit for the next few days since because I want to soak up my time with Sarah, but I'll be back at it again soon. I have so much fun writing this blog, thanks for reading!)) 

.photo by Smitten & Hooked.

. . .