Monday, April 1, 2013

San Francisco Easter

Hi friends, and happy April! Ohmygod is anyone else so so so incredibly relieved to have the brunt of winter be over? Excessive morning sickness + cold and clouds and snow = a recipe for depression. It is, of course, supposed to snow here tonight and tomorrow morning, but I'm assuming that the meteorologists got it wrong on that one. And who knows, maybe it will just rain instead of snowing?!!

In other news, we've returned from San Francisco safe and sound, albeit a little tired because we had a delayed flight and a layover on our way home last night. Lucky for us the layover was actually in Aspen, Colorado. I've been to Aspen as well as many many other Colorado mountain towns, but I can now say that flying into a mountain town is something quite different, and many many times more breathtaking.

Sadly, I can't show you that because the camera on my iPhone broke on Friday morning. All I have to show of our vacation is a few blurry landscapes and some close-ups of food, since my camera seemed to take OK up close pics.

I first realized that my camera was malfunctioning after walking for about half an hour to visit Bob's Donuts and Pastries Shop. I had done some research prior to making this decision and settled on Bob's because it was supposed to have a spot in the list of San Francisco's top three donuts. Why donuts? Who knows. Well, actually, we all know that this is pregnancy-induced. I never never never eat donuts and thus prior to this trip I just decided that I was going to go off the reservation and hit up a donut shack.




As you can (kind of) see from the photo, there was a line going out the door. Seemed like a good sign, so I went in and ordered their "world famous" apple fritter. Geez. Couldn't they name it something a bit more discreet? Like, so ex-anorexics wouldn't feel so conspicuous about consuming fried dough?




Doughy close-up:




To top off the breakfast indulgence, I even drank real cow's milk, just like I used to do when I ate donuts as a kid:




Despite the hype, I'd have to give this donut a rating of average. I'm not a donut connoisseur, but...meh. The donut could've used more apple and more cinnamon, and just generally it wasn't anything special. On the bright side, however, I ended up walking around downtown San Francisco for two hours after breakfast, so at least it didn't sit with me and make me regret my donut indulgence all morning long.

In other San Francisco food news, I did have a really good Thai curry while lunching with my friend Julia on Friday:




As well as a really tasty Mediterranean feast on Friday night:




These two delights reminded me that not living in a city often means bad things for those who like to eat so-called "ethnic foods."

My final food pic is of the dinner we had on Saturday night at a vegetarian restaurant called Source. I got a veggie pizza which had all the ingredients of a great pizza--really delicious, quality handmade mozzarella, slightly salty and chewy crust, and spicy tomato sauce. Unfortunately, the crust in the center of the pizza wasn't crispy, so it became something of a mess to eat.




So sad.

Other highlights included:

1) Relaxing in the hotel after walking around literally all day on Friday:




2) Seeing (sort of) the original Ghiradelli chocolate factory:




And 3) Being near the water again:




*What was the food highlight of your weekend?

7 comments:

  1. Bummer about your camera! At least it looks like it was sunny in San Fran. I've been there once and it was so overcast the entire time. I've never been into donuts. If I'm going to eat something completely devoid of nutritional benefit can it at least be semi-filling? Odd, because my mom always tells me she ate a donut every day while she was pregnant with me.

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    1. It was pretty sunny! On Friday afternoon I went on a tour of the bay, however, and that's when it decided to get foggy and grey. I didn't know we were under the Golden Gate Bridge until one of the posts was like twenty feet from the boat:-( Oh well, though, it was still pretty impressive and it cleared up on the way back--just in time for us to see the backside of Alcatraz.

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  2. My dear girl you need to purchase a real live actual camera and learn how to use it before the little one arrives. Luv ya!

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    1. This is true. Do you have any recommendations or a camera that you love? I'm torn between getting a camera that is convenient to carry around with a baby and yet still capable of taking good, close-up pictures.

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    2. Well, your I-Phone (when it's working) is a decent point and shoot camera. I have a Sony point and shoot as well as a Nikon D80 DSLR. The DSLR is great because it takes a much better picture, but there is a learning curve. And they aren't cheap. The Canon Rebel is cheaper than the Nikon and is very popular with the bloggers. One of my blog friends has a rebel and is going to be starting photography tutorials on her blog so that might be an option for you. A DSLR is not convenient to lug around while also lugging around a baby, but you get used to it.

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    3. Excellent advice, friend--thanks!! What's the blog for the Rebel tutorial?

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  3. It's Cinnamon over at Eat Pray Tri http://eatpraytri.com/ . . . she hasn't started yet, but mentioned it on her blog briefly today. I am excited for what she has coming and it would be great for you to learn if you decide to go the DSLR route. I love my Nikon and can't imagine being without it. Depending on your budget you could buy a used camera if you wanted a better one. That's how I got my Nikon (Craigslist) otherwise we would have had to buy a lesser model.

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