Tourists for the Weekend

I am finally getting around to posting about the wonderful October weekend we spent hosting my parents. This was the first time they came back to visit since they helped move us in, and it was such a blast getting to take them to some of our favorite spots and discovering new ones. On Friday night,  I made my chicken enchiladas that my Dad had been begging for and we just relaxed and talked in our living room. Then we jumped right into being tourists on Saturday morning.

Our to-do list included: eating breakfast at Crepevine, exploring more of the mission (dolores park, and the absolutely wonderful Tartine Bakery),

Bread pudding and a lemon tart

showing them Russell's office, heading to North Beach for our favorite Golden Boy Pizza and Naia gelato, sampling some beer at Rogue, taking in the view on the top of Twin Peaks (see above photo taken by Russell), eating dinner at Pyramid Brewery in Berkeley,

tracking down the Creme Brulee truck in the Castro, walking through Golden Gate Park and touring the Japanese Tea Garden,

and checking out South Park....whew!! We accomplished it all in a day and a half (and gave my parents the full muni experience while we were at it).

Thank goodness we were blessed with warm weather! It is funny how places that we go on an average day are so much more enjoyable with family. 

This and That

First up: FLEET WEEK, aka my new favorite holiday (I wish). It all started with the Blue Angels flying in formation all over the city and right over the school I work at. All of my first graders gathered around the window with me as we "oooooed" and ahhhhhed". My friend Annie explains that they are simply majestic, and I would have to agree. When my mother-in-law was in town to visit, we made it a point to head to the air show to take it all in. (Sadly, Eric missed it, but we were so thankful to spend Sunday with both parents). This is definitely something we will attend annually for as long as we live in San Francisco.

On the way to catch the bus, we stumbled upon Alamo Square. It is the location of the famous Painted Ladies (Full House, anyone?)

We also explored North Beach (one of our favorite places in the city). We sampled some beer at Rogue brewery and enjoyed watching the festival parade while eating lunch in Little Italy.

A random guy we passed who was nice enough to take a picture!

This past weekend, we took a day trip to Napa and went wine tasting. First, we stopped at a small, family-run winery called Goosecross and got to see Cabernet being made as well as taste the grapes straight off the vine! Next, we headed to Beringer where we took a tour of the old winery and caves. It was such a blessing to get out of the city and spend the day just the two of us.

 

 

Change

I don't adapt well to change, to say the least, so getting used to city life has been nothing short of challenging. However, I find that now more than ever God keeps placing wonderful people in our lives to guide us along the way. Lately, we have made the conscious decision to actively seek relationships by opening our schedules, our home, and our hearts and San Francisco is slowly starting to feel more like home because of this.

We have started a "foodie" group with our friends Jess and Travis. We take turns hosting dinner and we make meals from different countries. They started it off with a delicious french meal complete with cheese and champagne! Next, we made red curry, pad thai, and thai iced tea for (you guessed it) a meal from Thailand. We feel like we have gotten to know them so quickly and have loved every second of it!

New friends!

Ever since we sat next to the Wagners at church our first Sunday in the city, we knew they were put in our lives for a reason. For those of you who don't know the story: we knew no one when we went to church and happened to sit next to Brett and Annie who both grew up in Grass Valley! What a sign that God has brought us here for a reason :) Anyway, they moved here to start Redeemer City Church, so we have the pleasure of meeting every Sunday evening in their living room with Christians from many different backgrounds. We cannot wait to ride along on their journey.

Spending time with precious Naomi

We have also started attending a weekly community group that is connected with RealitySF, the church we have been attending. On Wednesday nights we meet with about 25+ people in a home nearby to learn more about God, pray together, and go over materials that Francis Chan is developing. It has been a great way to know people that live close to us and I am so glad this is becoming part of our weekly routine.

Two weekends ago,  Russell and I  took advantage of our days off and went to the flower market, explored Hayes Valley, and watched the Cal game. I always love weekends to explore!

We already had to say goodbye to some of our first friends in San Francisco, Matt and Margaret. He moved back to San Diego for school and she moved back to Sunnyvale for work. Luckily we could send them off with a visit to Off the Grid food truck fair in Haight. We ate yummy food and the two of us plan on going every Thursday!

My God parents visited us for a day this weekend! The weather was beautiful so we walked around Inner Sunset and the park, got to see the view from the DeYoung tower, and they treated us to an excellent seafood lunch at Tadich Grill, the oldest operating restaurant in California! I think the best part of the day was seeing their facial expressions as we rode muni. We also saw a movie being filmed while walking downtown!

Russell finished this bowl of ciopinot!

Now, I am enjoying the sound of the rain outside while reading a book and drinking hot chocolate. I could get used to this!

moon cakes

This week in first grade we learned about the Chinese Mid Autumn Moon Festival. Actually, it was more like the students taught ME about a yearly tradition their families take part in. The teacher I work with brought in moon cakes for each person to taste, and she even gave me two to take home so Russell could learn about the Chinese culture as well.

The legend of  moon cakes goes like this: China was ruled by Mongolians during the Yuan dynasty, and people were very upset about submitting to foreign rule. To get the word out about a rebellion, leaders had special messages baked into the cakes that families would eat while gathering together during the Mid Autumn Festival. The leaders were successful at overthrowing the government with an attack on the night of the Moon Festival. Now, moon cakes are eaten every year to commemorate this legend.

The cakes are made with bean paste but are actually very sweet. We both like the taste of them, but I couldn't eat the full thing. This was yet another opportunity to immerse ourselves in the culture of this city.


On a different note, here are some things we have learned this week

-Only get on the front train car during the morning commute, since crazy people can get on any of the other cars without paying. (I ran into Bloody Elbow Man this week...to my surprise he is still alive. If you have not heard this story of our first city experience, you are missing out!)

-Never get off the bus in the Haight, even if it is just to catch a different bus. I was screamed at by a schizophrenic lady while waiting for a bus that was supposed to come in 3 minutes, and never showed up.

-Blue Bottle coffee is crack coffee. It always lives up to our expectations.

-Never try to leave the city on a week night. If you have to, take the Golden Gate Bridge and cut over.

Evidences of God's Grace:
-A husband who loves me and puts up with my complaining while sitting in traffic for 2 hours.

-Spending time with family to celebrate my dad's birthday. What could be better than listening to good country music under the stars with the people who mean the most?

-The words of Sara Evans to put my heart back in the right place: "Looking in your eyes, seeing all I need, everything you are is everything in me. These are the moments I know heaven must exist,
And these are the moments I know all I need is this..." Sometimes it is hard for me to embrace life in the city, and this was a good reminder that I am so fortunate.

-The opportunity to connect with new friends over a delicious French dinner and good wine.

-A sweet little girl at my school who stopped me on the playground and said "Wow, you are beautiful!" Thank you for helping me feel more confident.

Not quite the city, but our favorite place...

 We took advantage of the three day weekend and braved the holiday traffic back to Grass Valley so we could spend some time with family and relax together at our favorite place: Island Lake. Three years ago in August, Russell proposed to me on top of Fall Creek Peak overlooking many lakes in the foothills, and we had not been back since. In high school, we used to go hiking and backpacking at this hidden gem, and it will always hold great memories for us. Someday, we hope to take our children there (Russell's dad took him on many backpacking trips to this very spot when he was a little boy). Although this is not quite city life, this is our getaway and the place where we feel like ourselves the most.

On the hike in

We joined the cows in a meadow for lunch

The day he proposed :)

We were so thankful for the opportunity to take a break from the city and spend some time just the two of us surrounded by beautiful trees and fresh water. It was much needed!

While in town, we also got to:

have a big family dinner/bocce ball game/sequence tournament,

Simple idea I got from pinterest

meet this little guy (James aka "Peanut"),

How sweet is this?

I'm in love!

while spending time with his wonderful parents,

and drink wine with family friends at a bbq.

God Father/Wine Provider/Peanut's Grandpa

I would say it was a pretty successful Labor Day weekend!

Now we are back in the city, and here is a look into our SF life:

-It is ironic that we have to take public transportation just to get to our vehicle (but parking 14 avenues away is better than paying $200/month for a space in a lot).

-Month long muni passes have saved us ($30+/each/month actually)

-a man carrying a golf driver on the 71 bus through the Haight is not an unusual sight


A few weeks back, Russell planned a day of surprises for me including a ferry trip across the bay to Sausalito and a tour of the Heath Ceramics factory. I wish I had pictures to show for it, but we forgot the memory card for the camera...

Back for a Visit

We figured it was about time to get our things that we left in storage in San Luis Obispo (we grew tired of all our clothes still being in boxes without our dresser). We decided to make the trip a weekend getaway and enjoyed every second of it...minus the traffic on the way back to the city.

Can you guess where we stopped first? Why Baileyana of course where we spent many weekends playing bocce ball with a bottle of sauvignon blanc. How could you not love this place?

love these people

We got to see Brit's kindergarten classroom that she has been working so hard on decorating and filling with love. What lucky kiddos to have her as their teacher!

Mrs. Manning

So proud of her!

Afterward, we tested out some burgers downtown and ended the night playing scrabble and listening to music at the new kreuzberg.

After waking up to puppy kisses and yummy breakfast burritos made by Kenny, Russell and I headed to See Canyon to go apple tasting (our favorite SLO activity in the fall). We cannot get enough of Gopher Glenn. From the apples for baking to those for snacking, the freshly pressed cider, and the caramel for dipping, this place has it all! We left with 20 lbs of apples to take back with us to the city and some to give our friends. There is some delicious apple crisp headed my hubby's way! We couldn't leave without driving to Avila and stopping by the barn for some ollalieberry turnovers.

 Although the weekend was bittersweet, I don't think we have ever enjoyed our time in SLO as much as we did this time around. We are incredibly blessed with wonderful friends who we can never get enough of and who graciously open their home to us. I feel very lucky to only live a few hours from our old town and I hope to spend many more weekends doing these very things.

Evidences of God's Grace:
Seeing the world through the eyes of a first grader
Bests friends who aren't stuck with you but choose to love you nonetheless 
The sweet baby boy who waddled across the grass at the park to me today saying "Momma?"
A bus driver who says good morning to everyone on Russell's work commute

Lessons learned:
Avoid the 101 through Monterey at all costs on Sunday evenings

Time with Family

Even though I got real sick the weekend of our actual anniversary, we were able to spend the following weekend celebrating our 1 year with the people who mean the most to us, our families!

Friday night the St. Johns were in San Francisco so we got to meet them for dinner at Perry's and then Diane took down an alleyway to a crazy little pub. Russell was extra excited since I recently got to have lunch with Diane and he was sad he didn't get his fair share. We are both incredibly thankful to have these two people in our lives and we have such a fun time with them wherever we may meet. Shout out to them on their 48th wedding anniversary! Hopefully their wisdom is rubbing off on us.

How could you not love them?!

On Saturday morning we woke up early, Russell walked 20 minutes to the truck, and we were finally on our way to sunshine and warm weather. We got to spend some time with my sis before she headed to work and then we were Tahoe bound with my parents. It was so nice just to spend time catching up and telling them about our new city life. It is amazing that even though we both grew up in Grass Valley, we have never viewed it the same way as we did that weekend. We spent more time in the truck over the weekend than we had all month combined, and it was nice. They treated us to dinner and cocktails at the fabulous Gar Woods right on the water!

Double date!

At Gar Woods

The view from dinner

We just could not get enough of the blue sky so we took full advantage of our opportunity to soak up some sun and took the boat out on Englebright with Stef and Eric. This was a weekly occurrence when we still lived at home so we were due for some storytelling, tubing, and drinking on the lake! I wish we could make the trip back every weekend.

We couldn't ask for better weather 

 

 Examples of God's Grace:
-My sister bringing home a cinnamon roll from the fair for us to enjoy (this is a family tradition that my Grandparents started years ago)
-Country music with the windows down on two lane roads
-Family (blood and adopted)
-the sweet woman at the muni stop who said "bless you" after I sneezed. This is amazing in the city.
- Russell's boss assuring him that his job is long term (thank goodness because we signed a year lease!)
-hugs from 1st graders in the class I work in