Crystal clear day in SF.

 One of my secret resolutions for 2012 was to explore more of San Francisco. Like many other people, I tend to fantasize about international travel and cross-country excursions but rarely take the time to appreciate the city that I live in. Growing up in Northern California, I’ve always taken the city for granted a bit. Despite living here now (along with the countless trips of my youth), there are still so many places to explore, restaurants to check out and events to uncover. With my lovely new camera in tow, my goal for this year is to take time — weather permitting — to hop on a bus to uncharted territories (read: the Mission, the Inner Sunset, the Castro, Hayes Valley, etc.). Yes, I’ve been to all of these places, but I haven’t really spent enough time exploring and taking in the unique vibe that each district has to offer. For a $2 bus ride, you can get almost anywhere in the city, so it’s certainly an easy and inexpensive way to spend a sunshiny afternoon.

Palace of Fine Arts!

With the sun shining on Saturday morning, Boat Shoe Boy and I grabbed breakfast at nearby Nook, our neighborhood go-to for caffeinating. After a quick bite, we decided to jump on the bus and head to the Palace of Fine Arts, a place that I had yet to explore, for a jaunt and some quality photo ops. I’ve technically been to the Palace of Fine Arts before during a mini trek to the Exploratorium a few years back, but never spent any real time exploring the grounds. This time, I wanted to take it all in. Heading down from Nob Hill, we jumped off of the bus at the end of Union so we could trek through the Presidio en route to the waterfront.

Walk through the Presidio.

Not that I don’t love living in a city, but sometimes it’s nice to escape to a quiet pocket of the world, right? I tend to think that that involves a weekend road trip to Napa or down to Carmel, but it’s always refreshing to realize that there are some very un-citylike parts of San Francisco to explore, too. As a side note, how stunning is that image of the park, the bridge and the blue sky? It’s amazing how much some sunshine can add to your day. Cha-ching.

Palace of Fine Arts

Gorgeous day for a picnic.

After perusing, we made our way down the waterfront to Fort Mason Green for a quick stroll. With my cousin, B., and her boyfriend in town from the Peninsula for the day we headed back to the Marina to link up with them and grab a drink while getting our fill of Vitamin D. As per usual, we headed to our two staples: the Balboa Cafe and Tipsy Pig. The day quickly turned into the evening, so after some epic people-watching at Tipsy (I am truly amazed by the amount of makeup that is used within a 4 block radius of their location — I swear 75% of MAC’s blush sales can be attributed to girls that live in the Marina), we headed down to Delarosa per B.’s suggestion. Admittedly, I’m not a huge pizza person, but I was pretty in love with Delarosa’s food and drinks. Order the margherita + a ‘salty dog’ (without the salted rim) and you, too, will be in heaven. In my opinion, Delarosa > Pizzeria Delfina.

The night continued in North Beach with a quick stop at Tope and then on to Maggie McGarry’s. All in all, a successful day of city exploration. The weekend, we’ll be heading to McCormick & Kuleto’s for a company-hosted soiree followed by a night in Union Square (a good excuse for me to finally get some shopping done). Still on my city tour agenda: shopping in the Haight, a night in Hayes Valley and a foodie excursion in the Mission.

Check back as I continue my tour of San Francisco!

xoxo,

Hop Kiln

Per a friend’s suggestion, we made our way to Hop Kiln first. The winemaker at Hop Kiln, a whopping 27, is one of the youngest winemakers in the region (and in the country, I would wager). Now, I’ll admit I’m not much of a red wine drinker. Aside from a Pinot Noir here and there, there’s rarely a red wine that I love; they just tend to be too big for me. I was surprised — and ecstatic — to see that Hop Kiln had a couple of reds that I really liked (good start to the day). Either they make great, light reds or I’m just growing up. Wines aside, their interior is great — loads of gourmet goodies for sale; everything from fun olive oils and vinegars to a range of mustards (hello, raspberry jalapeño).

After leaving Hop Kiln, we made our way down to Matrix per our driver’s suggestion. So, in addition to not being a huge fan of red wines, I’m also (generally) not the biggest fan of chardonnay. Okay, I’ll be honest – I like my wine light and sweet. Kind of like adult apple juice. We tasted a range of wines, including a bunch of reds that were too much for me and two chardonnays, the Balletto and the Stuhlmuller Reserve. The winner for me, hands down was the Stuhlmuller Chardonnay. Sadly, Boat Shoes and I don’t see eye to eye on what we consider delicious wine (like I mentioned: apple juice) so we walked away with one of the Zins.

After Matrix, we made our way to Ridge Vineyards, the one winery that was on Boat Shoes’ agenda for the day. We sipped on their Chardonnay on the way in and I was immediately taken back to childhood. No, my parents didn’t give me white wine as a baby, but my mom used to make popsicle-esque delights in the summer that tasted a lot like Ridge’s Chardonnay; very light and crisp. Take that for what you will, but needless to say, I liked it. We made our way through a range of their reds and — no surprise here — left with a bottle of Zin. If I had my choice I would have gone with the 2009 Geyserville Zin — pretty light and drinkable for me — but since Boat Shoes was stockpiling his wine closet, we (read: he) nabbed the 2009 Lytton Springs version. 

From Ridge, we stopped at Oakville Grocer in Healdsburg to grab a bite for the road and made our way to Unti where we could sit at the picnic table to lunch before going in for a tasting. Unti wasn’t part of the Winter Wineland deal but was recommended to us by our driver, Shane. Per the winery’s request, we called in beforehand to make reservations for a tasting. The space is way too small to accommodate loads of people with any kind of personal touch so reservations are highly encouraged (required?) before you pop in. There were only reds available to taste which was okay by me since I’m trying to learn to drink red wines like a real person. We were able to try five of their wines (for a $5 tasting fee which is comped upon purchase): 2009 Segromigno, 2008 Grenache, 2008 Zinfandel, 2008 Syrah and the 2007 Syrah Benchland. We wound up with a bottle of the Syrah Benchland and the Segromigno, both of which were my faves, too.

After lunch + Unti, we headed to Family Wineries, a place that was very similar to the Wineyard that we had visited on Saturday. Apparently the gentleman who conceptualized Family Wineries acted as a consultant for the Wineyard. There were a number of small wineries that were represented under one tent so we had an opportunity to taste a range of wines from a few different sources. We talked to people from Collier Falls, Dashe Cellars and Mietz Cellars, amongst others. We left with a bottle of something (I think the Collier Falls’ Primitivo) and these little guys that we used to tell our wine glasses apart:

49ers v. Cowboys!

Boat Shoes & I at Dutcher Crossing.

After leaving Family Wineries, we knew we only had a short time left to pack in the rest of the places we wanted to see. We made our way to Dutcher Crossing to ensure that we got in before the 4P deadline. The hard part about a day of wine tasting is that the things that you like or don’t like end up blurring together a bit. I do remember liking one of their wines in particular (not that that really helps) and I recall Boat Shoes loving on one of their reds. Again, a bit of a blur, but I remember it getting two thumbs up.

...& at Ferrari-Carano

From there, we made our way to the last stop of Winter Wineland: Ferrari-Carrano. This place is really photo op central. Gorgeous vineyards and a pretty cellar. One thing that I did love about Ferrari-Carano: they actually had food pairings! We made our way down the line and got to enjoy the match ups of reds with soups and the dessert wines with biscotti. One thing I do remember: not liking their Moscato. As a rule of thumb, I love Moscato. I hate dessert wines that are syrupy, though. I found that to be a bit of the case with this one, sadly. Still, syrupy or not, it tasted pretty awesome with a biscotti pairing.

We prepared to head back to the Fountaingrove, but Shane (our awesome driver) proposed one last stop before 5PM: Quivira. Quivira wasn’t part of the Winter Wineland deal anyway, so it didn’t much matter that we didn’t get a free tasting. The tastings at this place are $10 and are comped with purchase. We ended up sharing a tasting and the one thing I took away from this place: the people were awesome. Maybe it was because the guy was a vegetarian who empathized with my difficulty of pairing food and red wine… I can’t be sure, but I liked him.

Now, I know I’m missing a few of the wineries that we hit up (wine-induced amnesia?) but that’s a fairly comprehensive overview of the ones that stood out to me along with some that really didn’t. We left with thirteen new bottles of wine and red wine-stained teeth; all proof of a successful weekend.

From an educational standpoint, my favorite part of wine tasting is getting to taste two (or more) of the ‘same’ wines (e.g. two chardonnays, two pinot noirs, etc. back-to-back) to see how the taste differs. Obviously, they’re not the same since they’re blended with different grapes, grown in different soil in different regions, etc., but for a novice wine drinker it’s an interesting comparison: to see that all pinot noirs don’t taste the same; they don’t just differ by winery but within the winery as well. I definitely have a greater appreciation for the whole winemaking process after this weekend and look forward to another wine tasting event in the future. Stay tuned — I’m hoping to make the next wine tasting excursion a family affair!

xoxo from California,

For anyone interested in hiring a driver for wine tasting in the Napa Valley or Sonoma County, I can highly recommend Shane! He was very reasonably priced for the area and has some great insider knowledge for anyone that needs help picking and choosing wineries.

Boat Shoes and I have returned from a fun weekend getaway in Sonoma County and had an absolute blast. Admittedly, it was a rather gluttonous weekend comprised of a lot of wine drinking and some incredible food. We headed up on Saturday morning and decided to make Saturday our less rambunctious day of the two. Our wristbands granted us entry to any of the participating wineries for both days but with the 49ers game on during Saturday afternoon, we knew the majority of the afternoon would be dedicated to a spot with a television.

D'Argenzio

Tasting at the Wineyard

We chose D’Argenzio for our first stop due to its proximity to our hotel. We pulled up to a complex that could otherwise house a Chili’s and a Marshall’s; a typical strip mall-esque area. We popped in to grab our wristbands and after sipping some wines and chatting with the owners in the complex (D’Argenzio, Kurtz Family Wineries, Sheldon Wineries and the Wineyard), I (we?) left hugely impressed with the space. What could be another complex in the middle of industrial Santa Rosa has be turned into a mini wine haven in the middle of nothingness. Quite a feat. The Wineyard’s concept is one that I found particularly enticing (it’s very similar to Family Wineries in this sense and apparently used Family Wineries as an inspiration for their space): it acts as a tasting room for a bunch of smaller wineries that couldn’t otherwise have a presence.

Beer Flight @ Russian River.

With the 49ers game on, we were able to catch part of it at the Wineyard before migrating. Boat Shoes had specifically mentioned his desire to head to Russian River Brewing Company while we were in the area and I wasn’t about to stand in the way of a man and his IPA. Plus, what goes better with football than pizza and beer? I don’t drink beer so brewery stops don’t particularly appeal to me, but I was loving Russian River by the time we left. Boat Shoes ended up ordering one of their beer tastings (see photo above) and was presented with 15 (or so) 2 – 3 oz. pours of a variety of beers that Russian River brews. Such a great, fun concept. As a side note, their food is also surprisingly delicious.

With wine, beer and a Niners win under our belts (mostly his belt, really), we headed back to the Fountaingrove Inn to check in and clean up for the rest of the evening. {Read my review of the Fountaingrove here.} We had debated on our go-to dinner spot for Saturday night. There were a few that stood out to us: Stark’s Steakhouse, Willi’s Wine Bar, Jack & Tony’s, Rosso’s plus a few X factors. After polling the Santa Rosa community, we came to a decision: Stark’s Steakhouse for the win. Seeing as how I don’t eat meat, I wasn’t 100% sure about Stark’s but felt inclined after looking over their seafood selection. After we walked in I had zero doubt that we had made the right decision. Fantastic drinks (with a drink menu that’s witty and with drinks that are concocted by the bartenders), great service and delicious food from start to finish. {For more, read my review of Stark’s}. We cabbed back to the Fountaingrove and called it a night (though we did attempt to watch an episode of Breaking Bad before passing out). Food coma really does get the best of you sometimes. No matter, though. All the better that I was refreshed and ready to take on Sunday! Check back tomorrow for more on our drive through wine country.

xoxo,

Colors of Christmas @ the Symphony

Boat Shoes and I kicked off our week of Christmas celebrations last Thursday after saying farewell to my international guest. I received two free tickets to the San Francisco Symphony to use at any time, so we took the opportunity to request tickets to Colors of Christmas, the symphony’s Christmas special featuring four singers, the choir and the symphony. We started the night with an awesome dinner at Seven Hills in Russian Hill and then made our way to the Davies Hall for the 8P show.

At the symphony with Boat Shoes!

The performance was absolutely amazing; I had pretty decent expectations but it was waaaay better than I thought it was going to be. The singers were stellar, the music selection was amazing and the overall vibe was perfect for kicking off Christmas week.

This stud is alllll mine.

The following day we continued our Christmas celebration with Boat Shoe Boy’s Ugly Sweater Party. Lots of ugly sweaters, lots of holiday cheer and a few pretty epic pictures from the evening. This one, in particular, is my most favorite:

Future Christmas Card?

After a weekend of holiday celebrations, we had reservations for a pre-Christmas holiday dinner so Boat Shoes and I could exchange gifts and celebrate the holiday together. We decided to head down to 1300 on Fillmore, an awesome cajun/creole restaurant with the perfect amount of swank for an intimate holiday dinner. The restaurant ended up being perfect for our evening out — an awesome cocktail list, a great menu and awesome service from start to finish. Definitely a winner.

1300 on Fillmore

We decided to exchange gifts before dinner so we wouldn’t have to walk around San Francisco toting our presents. I can’t even express the surprise when I opened Boat Shoes’ gift — couldn’t have been a bigger shock and also couldn’t have been a more perfect gift for me: a real, grown-up camera so I can take amazing pictures!!

My New Camera!!!

Huge shout out and thank you to Boat Shoes for this amazing gift. So thoughtful and so perfect. Bonus: my blog photos are going to be 1000x cooler now! Now I’m dying for a real photo-taking excursion so I can test this bad boy out. :)

Happy Holidays from Northern California!

I had heard amazing things about Scoma’s, but had never actually eaten there so I was more than a little excited to actually taste their famous fare. Unlike the House of Prime Rib where my options were extremely limited, Scoma’s seafood-laden menu made ordering easy. Or hard, rather — way too many delicious options. By the end of the night crab cakes, clam chowder, salads, cioppino, ahi, swordfish and calamari had graced our table and every single thing was stellar. I don’t know that there’s a bad order here. Bonus: They have a $39.95 prix fixe dinner menu which is a pretty solid deal for an awesome evening out.

Boat Shoes & Granny @ Scoma's.

After an awesome meal!

 Food aside, the whole evening was amazing. I always have an incredible time with Boat Shoes’ family and it was great to see everyone for a holiday rendezvous. I still can’t believe that Christmas is almost here — just a few days until Santa comes!

In other news, we’re mixing it up this year. My family and I are heading back down to San Francisco on Christmas Day to celebrate the holiday in a different setting. We made dinner reservations at a few restaurants in the city that are open and are figuring out our plan of attack. One thing’s for sure: it’s going to be epic.

xoxo from Northern California,

Getting ready for ice skating in Tahoe

P. and I started planning his trip to SF months before his arrival. He didn’t have anything too specific on his list but he had one special request: a trip to Tahoe. We were very fortunate in that Boat Shoes’ parents allowed us to use their place in Tahoe, making the trip infinitely more incredible than it would have been otherwise. The views of the lake are insanely gorgeous and despite the fact that there was zero snow for tubing, we ended up having an incredible weekend together.

Always gorgeous.

Boat Shoes, P. and I (along with another friend) headed up Friday night to get a headstart on the weekend. We did dinner at our all-time favorite North Shore eatery, Bite (I’ve talked about it before here and here), before heading to the Crystal Bay Club to try our luck at the casino. Sadly, it wasn’t the luckiest of nights, but fun nonetheless.

My dad and my sister joined us on Saturday morning for the weekend. Since snow tubing (which is what we had planned for Saturday) was a no-go, so we opted to head down to Northstar Village for a little iceskating. For $5 a person (for skate rentals), it was a really difficult option to beat.

P. & I trying to ice skate!

Time for couples skate!

P. & my sister tearing it up!

 We ended up spending a few hours hanging out at the village before heading back to the cabin for the remainder of the weekend. We did escape for an hour or so to grab dinner, but spent the day playing board games and having entirely too much fun playing Kinect. For anyone that hasn’t tried it out, it’s kind of like Wii but without a controller. It’s pretty brilliant and such a fun group game. I’m not much of a video gamer, but this is one that I could definitely get into!

Kinect dance off!

At some point in the night, my sister and Boat Shoes also had a mini Flip Cup battle to see who would be crowned king/queen of Flip Cup. I actually had a lot of faith in my sister, but Boat Shoes annihilated her.

Gearing up for Flip Cup!

All in all, it was a fun bonding weekend and despite the lack of snow, it was as gorgeous as ever. After spending the week in the city, I think it was a nice escape from the fast-paced life to a relaxing lakeside setting. After returning on Sunday, I had to say my goodbyes. My cousin jetted down to the Peninsula to spend time with other family members for his last day in California. The trip flew by but was such a blast! Now I’m just trying to convince Boat Shoes that a trip to Malta should be in the cards for sometime in 2012 or 2013. Fingers crossed.

xoxo,

San Francisco is, without a doubt, one of the most diverse cities in the world. Within a mile radius of my place, I can find authentic restaurants serving anything from Thai and Vietnamese to Greek and Italian; I can stumble into a Chinese Community Church or take a jaunt through North Beach or Chinatown. Yet, as diverse and accommodating as San Francisco is, there’s also something quintessentially American about it. The amazing steakhouses, old school seafood restaurants and 5-star restaurants unassumingly sprinkled about pay homage to the city of the 1920s.

My cousin, P., got to experience quite a bit of San Francisco’s diversity while he was here with lunch and dinner outings in the Mission, Chinatown and North Beach; definitely a far cry from the demographics of the Maltese islands. With Thursday night being our last big evening in the city before our Tahoe escape, we decided to make it a real San Franciscan experience. Our choice for dinner: the House of Prime Rib. 

Cheese and wine at dimly-lit Amelie.

My cousin and her boyfriend were able to come up from the Peninsula for the evening to join us for dinner. With an 8P dinner reservation, we decided to start our evening at nearby Amelie for happy hour before heading over to the HOPR. For some strange reason, I haven’t actually blogged about Amelie yet, but it is quite possibly one of my favorite happy hour spots of life. It was the one aspect of our evening that doesn’t fall into the ‘All American’ category — it’s French-inspired and staffed by Europeans — but it’s so fantastic that we had to give it a whirl. For happy hour, they have a you-pick wine flight option (3 wines of any they have on their extensive list) for $10. Seriously unbeatable and amazing. Their cheese plates just put them over the top.

Excited about our HOPR excursion!

After getting our head start at happy hour, we all headed down to Van Ness to experience the legend that is the House of Prime Rib. Boat Shoes has mentioned his deep-rooted love for this place on a number of occasions but didn’t really know that it was a place that we could actually go on a date. Let’s be honest, a restaurant that specializes in all things carnivorous isn’t exactly a vegetarian’s paradise. With my cousin in town and another meat-eating duo in tow, though, we were sold. The vibe is great — definitely an old school San Franciscan spot that makes you want to order a Manhattan even when you hate bourbon. It has that kind of power.

A 4-year anniversary celebration for B. and her boyfriend, A.

Meat eater's heaven?

Fittingly, everyone at the table ordered the House of Prime Rib cut which came with an insane amount of food: a salad starter and sides of potatoes, creamed spinach and yorkshire pudding. If you leave there hungry, you’re clearly doing something wrong. While they have a fish option, I wasn’t overly hungry so I ended up with the salad and a baked potato which were spectacular. Honestly, if I had ordered more food I very well may have exploded – they really don’t mess around with the portions.

Boat Shoes & I at the HOPR.

After dinner, we continued our evening at Johnny Foley’s, a dueling piano bar in the Union Square area. I am always a fan of piano bars and this place definitely didn’t disappoint. It was crowded when we arrived but we managed to snag a table and hang out until they performed their last song of the night. After leaving there, we decided to make one final stop at Bourbon & Branch, a speakeasy in the Tenderloin. We’ve been there once before, but this time I was much more awake for the experience. The concept of the place is awesome and their drinks are pretty stellar: think a great Cucumber Gimlet and a solid Old Fashioned. B&B was definitely a great call for a final stop – my cousin loved the vibe and the overall experience and it was definitely a great way to cap off an epic San Franciscan evening.

Stay tuned some pretty pictures from our weekend excursion to Tahoe!

xoxo,

With my cousin in town from Malta for a week, we tried to strategically plan our jaunts so he could get in as much of San Francisco as possible before we headed to Tahoe for the weekend (more on that to come). With two days and a number of evenings together (I mean, I did have to share him after all), I think we did a pretty decent job of cramming in some awesome sites, sounds and tastes without going overboard.

Photo op at the Hyde Street Pier. :)

As you may recall, Boat Shoes and I embarked on our own self-guided tour of San Francisco. We started at our home base in Nob Hill and made our way down Hyde Street to Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39 before heading through North Beach and Chinatown on the way home. It was a good 4+ hour jaunt and I thought it would be the perfect way for my out-of-town cousin to get an overview of some fun areas.

Seriously lucked out for December -- such a great day in SF.

We ended up grabbing lunch in Chinatown at a little hole-in-the-wall dim sum spot (Delicious Dim Sum on Jackson Street) where all orders were prepared to go. Now, my previous experience with dim sum was at Yank Sing with Boat Shoe Boy so my concept of pricing for dim sum was a bit skewed. The shop we popped into had signage only in Chinese (sadly, I haven’t mastered my Chinese literacy yet) so I had zero idea of pricing when we placed our order. The total? Around $6. For both of us. Seriously?! I had to ask her to repeat herself. Question of the year: why am I not eating every meal in Chinatown? After lunch, we headed home back in time to hang out and clean up before dinner in the Marina.

Our Tacolicious Spread.

We knew in advance that we were going to have two nights together for dinner in the city (Monday and Thursday) so we wanted to make them worth it. Considering my cousin hails from the Mediterrean, we wanted to make sure that he had a chance to experience food that’s different from what he can normally get at home. Monday night’s option? Mexican! Since we had to head down to the Marina for the evening, we chose to hit up one of the city’s newer gems, Tacolicious. Their taco options were pretty stellar and their pricing structure makes it super easy for group ordering (4 for $13 or 10 for $31). We made a few pit stops for drinks in the area to extend Paul’s Marina tour: the Balboa Cafe (always a gem) &  the Tipsy Pig (the Strawberry Fields are my go-to).

A little love at the Tipsy Pig - Strawberry Fields + Vodka/Lemonade

We definitely had a jam-packed Monday and I think P. definitely got a great overview of San Francisco for Day 1. Our Thursday evening was an epicly American night — more on that to come. Think steakhouses, piano bars + a speakeasy. #win

xoxo from San Francisco,

SMU :)

Saturday was our big day in Dallas; the reason we booked the trip in the first place: the homecoming game! I’ve heard tales of SMU’s tailgates and was excited to experience the madness first hand.

Go Mustangs!

With the game starting at 2:30P, we planned on being on The Boulevard by 12P or so to soak it all in. With that being the case, a hearty brunch at Penne Pomodoro was in order. Now, I have to admit, I was slightly skeptical before setting foot in the corridors of bellini and mimosa greatness. After glimpsing the menu, though? I knew that this spot held a special place in these kids’ hearts for a reason: $1 for up to 6 (yes, SIX) mimosas, bellinis or Bloody Marys! The group mentioned that the drink limit (I find six quite a generous limit, but still) was imposed during their college years after they frequently patronized the establishment during bottomless drink hours. I half thought they were joking, but I wouldn’t doubt that there was truth in that…

SMU Cornhole!

Following brunch, we headed down to The Boulevard to take in the festivities! I was wearing shorts, a shirt and wedges and immediately felt underdressed. Apparently I didn’t get the memo that sundresses, pearls, fur and boots were a requirement for entry. I also didn’t realize that manchildren actually wore salmon-colored pants with white lobsters in public… I half thought that was just a Brooks Brothers marketing campaign. For anyone else out there that thought the same, I can assure you that there are, in fact, men who rock that look. At football games. With croakies. And boat shoes. They just congregate in the South apparently.

Out and about.

After chatting it up with some SMU alumni, we made our way to game to watch a bit of the university’s triumph over Tulane.

Afterwards, we made our way to Ozona’s for a quick bite and some frozen margaritas (no surprise here) before making it into Twisted Root for dinner. I’m happy to report that Twisted Root is a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives spot that I’m able to check off of my list PLUS it’s pretty delish. Afterwards, we made it to Home Bar to grab a final round and to say our goodbyes to a bunch of Dallasites and fellow out-of-towners.

All in all, I’m impressed with Texas. I frequently had a California vs. Texas debate with some grad school friends that were born and raised in Texas. While I hadn’t yet been to Texas at the time, I was pretty certain that California trumps ALL states in the US, Texas included. Now, I realize that Dallas isn’t Texas and is probably not even kind of representative of Texas as a state, but still — I found myself impressed overall as I departed Dallas on Sunday. It’s a pretty cool (and young) city with a lot going on. Sprinkle in reasonable housing prices and a less expensive nightlife and the city definitely has its perks. I’m still not sure that Texas overall is better than California, but I think it could probably give it a run for its money.

xoxo from the Golden State,

We were still on California time, so waking up at 7:30A on Friday was a bit rougher than normal. After handling a bit of work, we cleaned up and headed uptown to Mi Cocina in West Village for lunch with some friends. I’m a little disappointed in myself for not giving their Mambo Taxi (think margarita swirl + a splash of sangria) a whirl, but considering it was only noon I wasn’t 100% sure that it was yet socially acceptable. After lunch, we had a few hours to explore a bit of Dallas before having to return our sweet Kia Soul to its rightful home at Thrifty Car Rental (which, for the record, is not that thrifty of an option).

Drive-by Tour de SMU

In honor of homecoming weekend, we started with a little SMU-themed tour. I have a few more pictures that I want to post tomorrow, but suffice it to say that it’s quite possibly one of the prettiest universities in the US; a mix of Ivy League panache and Southern charm. Throw in a few Brooks Brothers-clad fraternity boys and blonde sorority girls to the mix and you’ve effectively created the basis for a number of Hollywood films. After our SMU tour, we made our way to the West End to pop into the The Sixth Floor Museum and check out the spot where JFK was shot (quite possibly the only thing that would be on my Dallas ‘to-see’ list).

JFK Museum

After our mini tour and a bit of meandering, we returned our trusty sidekick to its home at the Love Field airport before heading back for a power nap.

Goodbye, Soul!

We started the evening with dinner (and some awesome live music) at Sambuca with a group before making our way to Black Friar Pub for drinks on the deck. I am a big fan of pubs and an even bigger fan of a pub that offers $14 half liters of sangria. Needless to say, I was more than happy with our choice of venues. After a few hours of chatting and meeting some glorious Dallasites, we called it a night and prepped for the big day: the SMU homecoming game complete some incredible tailgating on The Boulevard.

Check back tomorrow for some more pictures, deets on an amazing brunch spot and a re-cap of homecoming in all its glory!

xoxo,