San Francisco Treat

Although Chris & I have both previously been to San Francisco we decided it was such a great place to visit that we would go for a week this year. We were also able to make a day trip up to Sonoma to see the wine country, and then down to San Jose to check out Stanford and Los Gatos. October is the perfect time to be in the bay area.

The weather was beautiful, cool in the mornings/evenings & warm all afternoon! Just perfect! We used the trolleys to take us all over town. We had the most amazing milkshake at Ghirardelli Square, clam chowder in a bread bowl at Boudins on Fisherman's Wharf & a wonderful birthday dinner for Chris at One Market! Basically all our vacations revolve around food - there is no reason to deny it, its who we are! I bought tickets in advance for a nighttime tour of Alcatraz which was great! Chris missed it on his last trip so it was a must see this time around. The views of the city at night were spectacular! One morning we took the trolley to Lombard and hiked the crooked street and then the hill to Coit tower. Again more amazing views of the city & the Golden Gate bridge. After a few days in the city we rented a car and drove up to Sonoma and toured a few wineries. We can't wait to go back just to the wine country for a few days. What an incredible area! So much to see and do. Chris also wanted to see Stanford and the southern parts of the bay area so after lunch at In N Out (cause we love it) we drove back through the city and south to San Jose. Stanford has a beautiful campus - its hard to imagine that people actually live and go to school there. We are certain they do not appreciate it! For dinner that evening we headed to Los Gatos - a great little suburb of San Jose. Food was fabulous and then we made our way back to the big city for a few more days. We attempted the Go Cars, but I just couldn't do it. The helmet was to much for me! Ha! So we settled for a bus tour that took us to Golden Gate Park and passed the Full House homes. The park was stunning! Lots of museums and other things to do. As for the Full House homes, well you just can't miss seeing part of your childhood :) Another bonus to this trip was meeting up with my cousin Nathan, his wife Chenda and their baby girl Preslea. We met up with the Shepards in Chinatown for some peking duck and catching up. They are the experts on the restaurants and it was nice to have an inside track on things. This was our first time meeting Chenda and Preslea. Chenda moved to the US just a year ago to marry Nathan. She has a wonderful personality and fits right into our family! We stayed at a great place near Union Square. Our trip happened to fall the week before the womens marathon in San Fran and the Nike store at Union Square was head quarters so we ventured in to see their store. Incredible! Chris really loved it. The last day was short and sweet. We managed to find an amazing sushi restaurant to grab lunch before we headed out of town.

I'm certain the pictures really tell it all.

Texas State Fair

About five years ago Chris & I made our first trip to the state fair together, funny thing is I was on a "date" with one of his friends! And to make the story better Chris was the one responsible for the set up! So this year it was our turn to make OUR memories at the fair.

October has been a busy month so this was our only available weekend to go and well I guess nothing says Texas like the state fair during the UT vs OU football game weekend! It was crazy busy and there were a few to many sooners & t-sips for our taste - but we made the best of it! I would say the goal of the trip was mostly food related. We had fried oreos, chicken fried bacon, fried twinkies & I think there was a hot dog in there somewhere. All in all a beautiful day to take it all in!

FOUR - New York Style

This year we had the opportunity to spend our 4th Anniversary in the Big Apple! Chris was making a trip to Long Island for work and I was able to tag along. We spent 3 glorious days back in the city - it was beyond wonderful! We took the LIRR into the city on Friday morning and had lunch at Carnegie Deli. They have some serious sandwiches! It was beyond filling! After lunch we made our way down to meet up with my old work buddies for a few drinks. We had such a great time catching up with Stacy, Mary & Jerilyn. I miss these girls so much! After happy hour we ran to the TKTS booth to find a show for the night. Chris landed us some great seats for "Rock of Ages". The show was great! Who doesn't love some good 80's rock n roll! When the show ended we made a quick trip to Juniors for some cheesecake and headed back to the room to devour it! Our hotel was perfect. Right in Time Square and just the right price! We highly recommend Hotel Mela for your future NYC trips. Saturday we slept in and then took the train down to Soho for brunch with Ramon & Lily. We met them at The Cupping Room Cafe. Chris had his favorite french toast! Lily brought along some of her famous meat spice for us to take home. These 2 people are just precious. So giving and so loving! It was a treat to get to spend just a few hours with them. That afternoon we roamed around the city and made sure to stop in at the NBA store - Chris' favorite! Then we cleaned up for another night out! First stop was drinks at 230 Fifth - The Rooftop Bar. Great sights and good drinks! We left there with just enough time to stop at Fish's Eddy in Union Square - my favorite shop! Then we jumped back on the train and headed to Greenwich Village for dinner with The Passaro's at Market Table. Dinner was amazing! The food was incredible as was the company! We could spend hours just chatting with Nick and Sue. In fact we basically were asked to leave - the next reservation had been waiting for like an hour :) Sunday morning we slept in until we had lunch plans at John's Pizza with the Bohannon's. So fun to catch up with their crew! That afternoon we toured the Central Park Zoo. We caught some incredible views of their polar bears! On our way back to the hotel for check out we made a few purchases at a street fair and took a quick walk through FAO Schwartz. Then we made our way to NJ to fly home. All in all the PERFECT anniversary weekend!