BAY AREA BIRTHDAY

It's been 2 weeks since I celebrated my 31st birthday playing tourist in my hometown and like my diet I've managed to neglect my baby blog. So here I am playing catch up...

the boyfriend & I flew home to celebrate not only my birthday but my dad's as well. This was the first birthday I celebrated without my dad. It was sad of course, but there was so much joy & happiness as well. Like my best friend said, I may have lost one celebrant but I gained someone special worth celebrating my birthday with. I only wish my dad was around to meet him but I'm sure he was celebrating with us in spirit. It was the boyfriend's first time in the Bay Area so it was only right to show him around San Francisco.

We started out at Fisherman's Wharf where we had clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl at Boudin Bakery & for dessert Trish's Mini Donuts. Trish's Mini Donuts are freshly made mini donuts that are warm, melt in your mouth, soft goodness with a cinnamon sugar coating that's not too sweet but just right to tickle your tastebuds. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking off our lunch, taking photos, checking out the seals sunbathing by the pier. One of my favorite tourist spots to visit when in Fisherman's Wharf is the Musee Mecanique, which consists of a collection of antique coin operated pianos, games, slot machines, and vintage photos booths to name a few. Some of the items in there are interesting, some disturbing, and some just plain fun! One of the games in there happened to be featured in the Princess Diaries; the arm wrestling game. If you've seen the movie, you'll know exactly which one I'm talking about. The hand on the mechanical arm has definitely met its fair share of battles being held together by layers of duct tape & I highly recommend using hand sanitizer after having a try at it. Who know's how many hands have held that thing!

Two new instagram worthy photo spots were set up in Umbrella Alley which is a few ways down from Ghiradelli Square; the Greetings from SF painted by muralist Maxfield Bala & the SF Heart Balloon installed by Brian Huber. Deeming both pieces worthy of that picture perfect photo for your instagram feed! We ended the night with family & friends at the California Academy of Sciences Nightlife. If you happen to be in SF on a Thursday evening, this is definitely something fun to check out! Each week is a different theme and we so happened to be there for Chocolate & Coffee! You get the opportunity to view exhibits, creatures, & cocktails. It makes sense that their tag line is "See Science Differently" which definitely will happen after a few drinks (evidence based, haha). To soak up our science induced alcohol, we headed over to Taqueria Guadalajara for shrimp burritos, steak nachos, & shrimp quesadillas! Our food was devoured in seconds & the food coma was imminent that night. All in all, it was a trip for the books!

SF THINGS TO DO

• FISHERMANS WHARF

• MUSEE MECANIQUE

• UMBRELLA ALLEY

• BOUDIN BAKERY

• CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES; NIGHTLIFE (OR NOT)

• TAQUERIA GUADALAJARA

• GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE

• LOMBARD STREET