a san francisco {love} affair.

 Happy Thursday, folks! I'm excited to share one last California-centric guest post this week :) this post comes from Ashley at a {little} dash of ash, one of my favorite new{er} bloggers on the scene. She also spent a few years in California after college, so I thought she'd be the perfect person to shed a little light on Northern California! Thank you again, Ashley! Have a lovely day! xoxo {av}

P.S. Even though I'm on vacation, Friday's Fancies will certainly be on for tomorrow! Get excited :) I have a wine-tasting outfit prepared! yay!
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Hello readers of {long distance loving}!  This is Ashley from a {little} dash of ash guest blogging for {av} while she is on holiday in California (so, so, so jealous)!  She asked me to be part of her California inspired blog week since I lived out in San Francisco for a few years after college!

  

I am so excited to post about one of my favorite cities ever!  If you haven't already been, SF is one of the most diverse and fun cities in the country!  There is something to do for everyone and definitely more than enough things to do to last a lifetime!  For real, I lived there for over 3 years and didn't get to experience all that this city has to offer!  While there are a lot of "touristy" things to do in SF, there are so many hidden treasures that I thought I would share with you!  Hope you take this list on your next vacation, I promise it will not disappoint! :)

I love food more than anything in this world... and I definitely gained 20 pounds when I moved out west from trying all of the amazing restaurants!  It didn't help that I worked in an industry that had Vendor Dinners every single night! It was a luxury to go to some of the top restaurants in the Country, but my friends and I also found some of our own local favorites!  Here are just a few below:

Favorites: Range, Nopa, Town Hall, Boulevard, The Slanted Door, A16, La Taqueria, Andalu

and for some amazing BRUNCH try: Judy's, East Side West, Squat and Gobble, Beretta, Tangerine

Most tourists head down to Union Square for shopping - which isn't a bad place to go since it has every store you can imagine (including my favorite Bloomingdale's ever) - but if you want to venture off and find some unique boutiques head to Union Street, Chestnut Street,  

Fillmore Street, and Hayes Valley!

Ok, everyone needs to take at least one trolley ride in their lifetime and the Alcatraz night tour is pretty interesting as well!  But some other kind of "touristy" things to do is: Haight Ashbury, The Golden Gate Park, The Ferry Building, North Beach, and taking a bike ride across the Golden Gate Bridge!

If you are super touristy and head to Fisherman's Wharf - watch out for the Bushman!  If you are walking around Nob Hill, say hello to the famous Nob Hill Twins!  And don't forget to pay a tribute to The Grateful Dead by visiting Jerry Garcia's house!  The Painted Ladies (Houses from Full House) are beautiful and Lombard Street (the curviest street in America) is fun to drive down!

And... if you have time for a baseball game - I think AT&T Park, home of the SF Giants, is one of the most beautiful and fun stadiums I have been to!  Head to MoMo's for drinks before or after the game!

There are so many fun things to do outside of SF as well!  One of the local favorites is drinking on the patio at Sam's Cafe in Sausalito and one of my favorite weekend activities was heading up to Sonoma and Napa Valley!  Yes, we were that close for a day trip - It was heaven! :)

This post just brought back so many memories... and I think I'm going to head on over to Kayak to check out flights to the West Coast!  I miss you SF!

Thank you {av} for inviting me to guest post.  Be sure to hop on over to my {blog} for inspiration on fashion, home decor and things I love!  xxoo!