Girls' Weekend in SF

Thanks to my amazing husband (and the husbands of these other 3 gals) my sisters, mom, and I had a AWESOME girls' weekend in SF. My sister-in-love, Laura, had never been to San Francisco before, so it was fun giving her the tour.

Here are a few of my favorite shots with brief explanations under each...

This picture was taken just moments after they surprised me by showing up at the restaurant where Andy & I were enjoying my birthday date. We were all so giddy! After a delicious dinner at Tamarine in Palo Alto, and then stuffing ourselves with cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory, we spent the night at our apartment in San Jose before heading up to SF the next morning.

 First stop: Golden Gate Bridge, of course! It was the clearest, sunniest, 

and warmest (maybe even hot) day that I have EVER been to the city.

 Then we enjoyed lunch at a waterfront restaurant in Sausalito followed by a little 

browsing the shops and then an ice cream break at Bi-Rite Creamery. 

 We drove down Lombard Street on our way to our hotel. After checking in and freshening up, 

we headed out for dinner. Andy had made reservations for us at the Cliff House. The walls of 

this restaurant are pretty much all glass and it overlooks the Pacific. We were there for sunset, 

and there is nothing like a Pacific Sunset.

After staying up way too late talking that night, we got up the next morning and headed to the 

Farmers' Market at the Ferry Building.  My sister-in-love was in heaven and declared that if 

she lived in SF, she would be there every Saturday to buy her fresh produce for the week. 

It was a cool (but slightly overwhelming) experience for me.

 Then we headed back to Pier 39 for our windblown picture of Alcatraz and a peak 

at the sea lions basking in the sun. We stopped for some good ol' clam chowder and 

San Francisco's famous sour dough bread at Boudin.

 We enjoyed an awesome dinner that night at McCormick & Schmick's overlooking the bay and 

the Golden Gate Bridge. Then we walked over to Ghirardelli Square for yet another dessert. 

Did I mention that we ate a lot of dessert (and food in general) this weekend?! Look at my 

ridiculously excited smile as I'm about to kill that chocolate brownie sundae with mint ice cream!

The best part of the weekend was the conversation that we carried on from a restaurant to a coffee shop,  back to our hotel room and then back out on the town again. It was the most "talk time" that I've gotten with them in a looooong time. My sister suggested that we each take turns sharing how we were doing physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It was such a great way to frame our discussions because it really covered all the bases of what is going on in our lives at a deeper level.

This weekend will be one of those memories that I carry with me always. I am so thankful for our time together and so thankful to have a family that truly loves each other and enjoys time together!