bae in the bay | san francisco, california

one of the nicest things about living in california is having so many weekend getaway options without ever leaving the state (although, i can't say i've taken advantage of this until this last year). the one place i've always visited though is san francisco. these trips started at a young age with my family to visit our relatives. in high school, my friends and i would road trip up and stay at the cheapest hotels possible. nowadays, it's mostly been solo trips to visit the bae... in the bay. yes, i had to say it. this summer, i was able to make a few trips to sf to visit my friends and my boyfriend, aaron, who was interning there for the summer.

there's so much to love about san francisco. one of them being, union square. aside from it being super touristy, i love the concentration of shops and good places to eat. the best part was that aaron only lived a ten minute walk away. union square itself is a great place to take a short break from shopping on the grass or tables, take cute pictures next to the hearts (they paint them every so often), or have an expensive snack at the cafe. around it is where you'll find the best shopping in the city. i love going to the macy's to get a good view of union square and also grab a delicious dessert from tout sweet patisserie. down the street is where you can catch a ride on the cable car or continue your shopping addiction at the westfield san francisco centre.

view from macy's

one of the four hearts at each corner

tout sweet patisserie in macy's

you can take some photos at uniqlo's "photo booth" - it prints you a copy and emails you the photos

there's just so much to love about this city and only one thing to strongly dislike...hills. so. many. hills. not only do i hate walking up & down the extremely steep hills, but driving them is a living nightmare. whether i'm the one driving up the hill or the passenger, i always scream a little inside while waiting at the top for the light to turn green. what trips me out the most are the cars parked perpendicular to the sidewalk on a steep hill.

for one of the weekends, the ramen festival was being held in japantown, but aaron and i ended up leaving and going to the ramen shop, katana-ya, near union square instead because the festival was wayyy too crowded. if i had to live in sf though, i would probably want to live in japantown so i can have easy access to all the best japanese restaurants in the city and the japanese market, nijiya.

outside of katana-ya

sorry for the horrible quality in the photo, but in all the times i've been to sf, i never went to ghiradelli square until this summer with my sister and cousin. the city has several locations, but this is their main tourist attraction. be prepared to wait in a long line and indulge in a delicious ice cream sundae. i can't eat ice cream so i had to settle for the salted caramel hot chocolate which was still satisfying.

you definitely can't go to sf without going to the golden gate bridge, which i'm told is actually not red but "agent orange." there's a nice little trail and grass area to take cute pictures. you can also walk on the bridge or of course, drive on the actual bridge. we opted for the trail and took cute pictures with it.

i've been fortunate to have such great friends and family who live in san francisco and the bay area who take time to hang out with me and show me around the city. there is so much more to do in this city than just the few things i talked about -- i just wanted to highlight the things i did this summer. maybe this calls for tbt posts on my other trips to san francisco...

p.s. if you're driving to sf from southern california then i highly recommend taking the 101 for beautiful scenic route. if you just want to get there asap then the 5 freeway is your best bet, just be prepared to smell some really bad cow manure and pay for the toll once you get to the city.

xoxo,
camryn