Recently Matt had some training up in San Francisco, so I decided to join him for a little getaway. We decided this year to make a goal of taking some more local trips to get away from LA every now and then. Matt works at a law firm, so it can be hard to plan long trips or vacations. But, we figured, we can always squeeze in a weekend with new scenery.
Here’s what we did during our weekend in San Francisco.
I flew up Thursday evening and had most of Friday to myself to wander around before Matt finished work. Unfortunately, it was raining most of the day.
Instead of wandering around a wet city that I wasn’t used to, I turned lemons into lemonade, found a local spa, and booked myself a massage to start my mini-vacation. If you live in or near San Francisco, or you’re planning a trip there and you have some time for relaxation, then I recommend Spa Radiance. It’s a cute little place in the Cow Hollow/Marina District and the perfect balance between no frills and full-on day spa. There’s no steam room/sauna, but they do have showers if you need them. They sell local jewelry, skin care, and makeup in the front and house services in the back.
I went for a 90-minute massage, but they also do facials, waxing, tanning, and makeup. Now, when I get a massage, I want to leave without any knots. To me, I’m not paying for relaxation; I’m paying to get fixed. My massage therapist was a man named Haluk, and he worked out knots I didn’t even know I had in spots that didn’t even feel tight. I left much calmer, looser, and rejuvenated and absolutely recommend this place. If we ever go back to San Francisco I’m for sure carving out some me-time at Spa Radiance. (Not sponsored! I found this spa on Yelp and Google after searching local places for an hour, and purchased my massage on my own.)
After, I stopped by Le Marais Bakery for a glorious double chocolate croissant and some tea to warm me up. Yum!
Later that evening we switched hotels to Hotel Zetta. (Matt was in one hotel for work and we wanted to switch areas.) Our room was enormous (seriously, it could have fit 2 other king beds) and service was wonderful. The lobby was so cute; they had a bar in the front, a community table, and then a loft area that had shuffleboard and giant Plinko. You know that weird time when you’re done for the day but it’s not quite dinner? This lobby was perfect for that time with a couple of games.
Also! If you’re a workout junkie like me, you can book a room with a Peloton bike. YES! I was too late to the game on this so there weren’t any Peloton rooms available, but talk about a cool concept. I love hotels that have wellness initiatives for guests and understand that people want to stay active, even on the go.
Later that night we visited some family friends who recently had a baby, then headed to dinner at Wayfare Tavern. I don’t have any photos from dinner because the restaurant is dark, and honestly I just wanted to eat a good meal without my phone.
I used to be totally obsessed with Food Network and this is a restaurant by FN chef Tyler Florence. The food here is amazing. I came here probably like 8 years ago with my family and it was just as good as I remembered. The menu changes seasonally, but their constant is the amazing popovers they bring before the meal.
Food & Wine named this place having the best fried chicken in the US, which I can confirm is pretty dang good. (Also, their burger was SO good and the burrata infused mashed potatoes… well, I could have had seconds for sure.)
On Saturday we woke up to a beautiful blue sky, so took advantage of no fog and went to the Golden Gate Bridge. Matt and I decided since this was our only full day in the city, we would be in full on tourist mode and see and eat all of the things. (Although we did manage to feel a little less guilty because we went to a Soul Cycle class in the morning!)
We had lunch at a pizza place called Pizzeria Delfina. Every time I eat salty I always crave sweet, so we found a bakery nearby (Sift) for what might be one of the best cupcakes I’ve ever had. They have these cute little things called cruffles, which are basically cake pops without the stick, in truffle form. I obviously had to have one. Get the birthday cake flavor, even if it’s not your birthday. Does anyone else always need sweet after salty?
We continued sightseeing with a trip to The Painted Ladies. These houses are so iconic, and just so cute. But I wouldn’t want to live in them because SO many people were taking photos (including me). From that moment on I couldn’t get the Full House theme song out of my head…
We continued our day of eating with a stop at a cute little wine bar called Wine Down. There were a lot of other wine bars in the area, and I don’t know that the cheese plate was the best I’ve ever had. But, it would be a cute spot for a girl’s night or happy hour with friends because they had group games like Cards Against Humanity and also had something called Blackout Bingo.
Dinner came from a recommendation from a San Francisco blogger, Tamryn of Wannabe Fashion Blogger, and perhaps my favorite meal of the trip. Wayfare Tavern was amazing, and a great sit-down, date night spot. But Dumpling Time, an affordable Asian fusion restaurant that had a 30 minute line was beyond legit. Everything we ate was good, but honestly, I would have been happy with 15 orders of the soup dumplings. HOLY MOLY. Out of any of the food stops in this post, make sure you go to this place.
One of our Uber drivers had asked what we had eaten during our trip and when we said dumplings, he immediately asked, “Dumpling Time?” Yes. It’s that good.
The next morning, we found a teeny tiny but delish breakfast spot called Farm:Table. It always amazes me when places in cities like NYC or SF have mini kitchens but turn out killer food. We are talking one, maybe two little desk-sized counters and three people back there making breakfast and drinks. I had seen this interesting Daily Toast on their Instagram, and it didn’t disappoint. A slice of brioche was covered with a cinnamon mascarpone, then a variety of fruit was piled sky high onto it. I’m going to try to attempt making this at home.If I figure out a good remake, I’ll share it with you!
We then spent the late morning and afternoon just kind of wandering around Pacific Heights and the Marina District; looking at the pretty homes; and popping into local stores.
A handful of locals we talked to mentioned Hayes Valley for good shopping, so this was our last stop. San Francisco definitely has a little more of a hippie vibe than I personally like, and it was fun to visit. But I don’t think I’d fit in if I lived there. Unless, my friends, it was Hayes Valley.
This was a trendy little street with high end but independent retailers and much more along my vibe. If we go back to San Francisco, I definitely want to check out this area a little more, because we weren’t there that long. It reminded me a bit of Williamsburg in New York; artsy, good shopping, good food, but also a little bougie (which is probably why I liked it). Hey, at least I’m honest, right?
So there you go! My weekend in San Francisco basically just consisted of Ubering up and down a bunch of hills to eat with Matt.
