So, most of you know from my last couple of posts, and my desperate Facebook status updates, that Zach has been gone for an entire week. He's been in San Luis Obispo working at the hangar. I know, I sound pathetic, but it was really difficult to be away from him for that long. I realize I sound like a love-struck teenager, but this was LEGIT. He called me at the beginning of his little work trip down there and asked me if I wanted to meet him in San Francisco and I couldn't say no. That city has a special place in my heart, and probably always will. I did my Design internship with Mauk Design there, and fell in love with it. Zach drove all the way out there with me, helped me unload all my stuff, and then said goodbye to me for the summer. (Realistically, we met up almost every weekend in Monterey, CA and went to church together. He eventually proposed to me there as well.) We were lucky enough to go back to San Francisco when Zach graduated last spring, and we both love it even more.
So my mom dropped me off at the airport, and I boarded my flight to SFO. Zach drove up from San Luis (4 hours) and met me to pick me up. Here is when you know you're in San Fran: I run up to Zach when he pulled up to the curb, and gave him a HUGE hug and kiss. He helped me load my luggage into the back seat, and he turns to me and says, "Katie I HAVE to go to the bathroom." I tell him that there is one by the baggage claim, so he runs back inside the airport. I get in the car's passenger seat and wait for him to get out. After only waiting a minute and a half, a police officer blares his flashlight in my eyes, and swirls it around in my face.....like I didn't notice he was doing it. I rolled down my window and asked if he wanted me to move. He informs me this is a unloading and loading area, NOT A PARKING AREAAAA. He sound just like that too. I tell him my husband is just getting a Bart map from reception, and he'll be right out. He was NOT having it. He told me if I didn't move in 10 seconds, he would give me a really expensive citation. He wasn't lying either. When I lived in San Fran for the summer, my car got towed because I forgot to move it on a Tuesday for street cleaning. It cost me $465. So I ran out of the passenger seat and got to the driver's seat of the car. I started to move, and I see Zach running out of the baggage claim area. The car was moving when he opened the car door and hopped in. Thanks San Francisco, for making life with an automobile miserable. So we didn't have time to pull over and switch spots, so I drove from the airport and over Bay Bridge to the city. Driving in San Francisco is like a scene from Grand Theft Auto. Being as I don't have the best driving record, I thought Zach was going to have a seizure in the seat next to me. Luckily we made it there alive.
This is in the lobby of our hotel, waiting to check in.
The next morning we wake up, shower up, and get our shop on. What's funny, is Zach loves to shop even more than I do. We always walk up to the front of a large store and say, "Meet me here when you're done." We both go our separate ways, and even after hours when I go to our meeting spot, Zach is always STILL shopping...even after I have tried on all my selections. I usually have to go search for him. We shopped all morning and then ate lunch at the top of the Macy's building in Union Square and went through the outdoor art show.
Later that night we went to this Italian place called Piazza. It was down the street from our hotel, and was pretty authentic. Zach's version of dessert is Popcorn, so we decided to go to a late movie around the corner. When both Zach and I were here for internships, people laughed at us when we told them there was a "Dollar Theatre" in Utah. Movie tickets in Cali are $14 a pop. We saw Ironman 2, and both liked it.
The second morning we took the Muni to Fillmore Street. Zach and I have walked through streets in Paris alone in the middle of the night, and have never been as scared as we were walking through an area of San Fran called "The Tenderloin". We had to pass through this area to get to the bus, and instantly regretted it. NEVER walk through The Tenderloin for any reason. It wasn't the homeless people we were worried about, it was the junkies. It's a place like that where you could get jumped for money, and NOBODY around you would lift a finger to help. Once we got to the Muni stop we got over to Fillmore (much more picturesque) and walked all the way up and all the way down.
We ate at a great Thai food place, and Zach was patient enough to stop in EVERY design store along the way. DWR, The Shade Store, Jonathan Alder, Livingdesign, Orla Kiely, and everything else in between. Zach even got me my Orla Kiely bag that I've been wanting for months.
We topped off our spicy lunch with some ice cream....from Coldstone. Yes, we skipped out on Gelato for some Cake Batter flavored bliss. Then for dinner we went to our favorite spot: The Foreign Cinema, this awesome restaurant where you eat outdoors under a canopy of string lights and watch foreign films. We are sitting there, totally relaxed and enjoying the amazing food, when I look across the table and spot Molly Ringwold (for Sean: She's the main character of Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, and the Breakfast Club.) She looked amazing, and to top it off she whips out her iPad and shows her friends at her table her adorable Son...Roman. I know...it's pathetic that I know that. I wasn't gawking, she was just really close. I was so jealous of her new toy. I kept taking pictures of Zach, telling him to smile, every time she would look in my direction. The pictures aren't great, but it was the best I could do considering I didn't have a more gutsy person to take a picture with me. She's on the left of Zach in the shadows.
We finished off the trip with a Giants baseball game. It was so much fun, and the weather was perfect. The stadium is awesome, right off the bay. People were even in their Kayaks in the water, catching balls from home-runs. We beat the Astros 5-4. Quickly after the golden pitch, we had to head off to the airport...in our Giants gear.
I will always love this city, and if you ever go, be sure to stop in the Mission at Foreign Cinema. The best meal you'll have in the City by the Bay.
