San Francisco - Day 1!

Kirk and I had been talking about going to SF for months and months, so when I saw a great deal on flights/hotels I booked it. The only problem was that I had booked this trip in early February and wanted to keep it a complete surprise for Kirk's birthday, so I couldn't talk about it, and it was killing me! Normally Kirk and I would be researching restaurants, bakeries, markets - EVERYTHING so doing this on my own was really tough to say the least, but I was successful and I, nor any of my friends gave up the surprise :)

I had been emailing Kirk's boss once I booked it, requesting he was able to take Friday off, so she scheduled a fake marketing off-site meeting so he was able to complete all his work he needed to. When Kirk came home telling me the marketing meeting sounded "fishy" I almost died laughing, but kept it together.

Our flight was at 6 AM, so when my alarm went off at 3:45 I woke up Kirk and told him we were leaving in 15 minutes. He looked super grumpy and suspicious, but got up quickly when I told him he either could fit in a shower or not. I had packed his bag the day before, so I instructed him to just wear something comfortable for the day and we were off! My sweet, sweet friend Katelyn met me down by my car at 4AM so she could drive with us to the airport and take my car back (it was all about keeping the surprise going till the very last minute) Oh, I also blindfolded him and made him put his iPod on so he couldn't hear Katie and I talk :) -- THANK YOU KATELYN <3

Once we were at the airport, I checked in, Kirk saw the boarding passes and goes "you sneaky wife." 

Ya, we look a little rough, but it was EARLY!

Once we got off the plane, the first stop was Tartine Bakery! I really, really admire the owners, husband/wife, bread baker/pastry chef, Chad Robertson and Elisabeth Prueitt! We didn't eat breakfast knowing we would be coming here. We were in line for about 20 minutes, but came out victorious with a coconut macaron, Valrhona chocolate eclair, pain au chocolat, and an open faced croque monsieur. SO DELICIOUS! The pain au chocolat was by far the best I've had in my entire life. We had meant to save it but it was gone so fast, we didn't even get a picture!

Top: Open Faced Croque Monsieur, Kirk with his Valhrona Chocolate Eclair, Me outside Tartine (touristy, I know)

I swear, we walked around the city all day (we estimated about 25 miles on day 1, literally!) and explored random little shops, but most of these pics are from all the delicious bakeries & restaurants :)

For lunch, our journey led us to Sweet Woodruff for lunch. I was super curious about this place. The owners/chefs Matt McNamara and Teague Moriarty are both Michelin starred chefs from their other restaurant Sons and Daughters, but Sweet Woodruff was their creation of a more casual and affordable place for lunch. They use very few, and simple ingredients, and just let them speak for themselves, something Kirk and I definitely appreciate. 

Top: Our view from the counter where we ate lunch - I loved how they displayed their desserts, and the wood block counter, where they made our lunch.

2nd: Where they stored a lot of their produce, LOVED how they displayed it, and would constantly be going to retrieve different items for different lunches.

We made a stop by Miette, I was DYING to try their sea salt caramels I read about in Food and Wine. Super charming little shop. We also left with a bag of their lavender shortbread, and a chocolate macaron.

After we had dinner, we went to Bourbon and Branch. When I was researching cocktail bars in the city, this one came up a lot which oodles of strong recommendations. If it wasn't for the homeless guy on the corner, I don't think we would have found this speakeasy at all! Luckily, he pointed us in the right direction and we used our secret password to get in. I have no pictures of this, because one of the house rules is no photography. I got a gin cocktail called the Naughty Sundress, which was definitely spirit forward, but a good cocktail with peach and basil bitters!

I'm trying to keep these somewhat short, so for Day 2, you will just have to wait :)