Pooches: Pooches of San Francisco

We are always pointing out dogs we see on the street, especially bully breeds such as pit bulls. On our trip to San Francisco, we were basically paparazzi, running to take pictures of different dogs and their owners. For the picture above, we were running in full sprint down the street on the other side of the street just to get one decent picture. Our first pit bull sighting in San Francisco was on the MUNI heading to Haight-Ashbury. The dog was pulling her owner on a skateboard in the middle of the street and went right past us on the bus. Later while window shopping we ran into the dog and her owner at FTC Skateboarding.She loves skateboarding so much, that she even skates by herself in the store.Here are some photos of her skateboarding in the shop.The shop owner informed us that pit bulls are associated with street kids, especially in the Haight and Ashbury area.However, we did see quite a few non "street kids" with pit bulls.Though it seems dangerous to us, we saw several dogs being transported around in truck beds.We kept seeing this dog and his owner in different areas of San Francisco. They were begging for money and the dog would pose just like Ms. M when she's begging for food. We think this dog is Ms. M's doppelganger.

Travel: "She Said" Best of San Francisco

We had such an amazing time eloping in San Francisco; it is now one of our favorite cities. E and I love taking photographs and had "dueling cameras" to capture our favorite moments. Here are some of my highlights:

The vibrancy of The Mission District. This neighborhood has tons of beautiful murals, fruit stands, and great dining. Can you believe we picked up 6 tangerines for only 80 cents?
Eating at Bombay Ice Creamery. I had Cardamom Rose ice-cream; E had Falooda. I wanted to try them all.
The city is really accessible. We took the Muni buses everywhere, and walked everywhere else in between where we were able to admire these amazingly beautiful Victorian houses with intricate details. Much different than the Chicago brownstones and houses in our Chicago neighborhood.
Heading back from City Hall after getting our Marriage License, we stumbled across this French Soul Food brunch spot. The entire place was probably the size of our dining room. E had the oyster scramble; I had the crawfish andouille pot pie with watermelon ice tea. We both thought the crawfish beignet was outstanding.
I loved seeing the original 826 Valencia with its pirate theme. This writing center, founded by Dave Eggers, helps the city's inner-city youth. It sells collections of books, written by the students, and other "pirate-themed" items to raise money for the center, including: a peg leg sizing chart, scurvy begone pills, and designer glass eyeballs. We rented a tandem and biked the hills of San Francisco, across the Golden Gate bridge and into the Mediterranean-esque city of Sausalito. E was our trusty navigator skillfully guiding us up hills and around throngs of tourists. This is what it looked like crossing the bridge:Being in the back I had to have complete trust in E. I couldn't see what we were headed into, or even predict the huge hill we rode down, because the whole time I just saw this:Sausalito was filled with shops for an older demographic, though we did enjoy the ice-cream. The best part was riding the ferry back, passing Alcatraz, Angel Island, the Golden Gate bridge under a setting sun, and the nighttime city landscape.We loved these sourdough clam chowder bread bowls from Boudin Bakery. There was an outpost located in the Macy's right near our hotel, so we were able to make several stops. This was the last meal we shared together right before getting married.
City Hall, and coming home with a husband, was my favorite part:And completing our family:

Travel: "He Said" Best of San Francisco

My Favorite Parts:
Breakfast in United Airlines First Class. Whenever possible, we opt to get bumped so we can earn a free plane ticket and an upgrade to first class on our next flight. Everyone was so nice to us in first class and the breakfast was really quite delicious.Not only was our hotel room reasonably priced and in the heart of Union Square and near all sorts of public transportation, we also got a free rubber ducky.Our "go to" meal in San Francisco was the New England Clam Chowder in a sourdough bread bowl from Boudin Bakery, which is also what we ate right before our wedding.
The view of the city from de Young Museum's tower was quite stunning and the best part was that it was free.Though the MUNI is really confusing, the three day pass was well worth the money. The only time we took a cab was on our wedding day with our photographer.The french fries with truffle oil from Frjtz was really good, especially paired with wasabi mayo.I love how biking is huge in San Francisco. Though I feel Chicago has more bike lanes and actually more bike friendly.Our best meal was at Brenda's French Soul Food. The flight of beignets, especially the crayfish beignet and the pot pie with andouille sausage and crayfish was really delicious.Though it was really difficult, I really enjoyed walking up and down the hills. The sights were amazing and it was a good workout.The day we biked across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito on our tandem was such a great day. Though our timing was off and we had to walk up the hill a few times, it was so much fun working as a team on the tandem.
Plus we got some quiet time in Sausalito.The view of the bridge was amazing from the ferry which took us back from Sausalito.I think our wedding was perfect at city hall, wearing Vans, and carrying a backpack of flowers.Though San Francisco was great, the best part of our trip was coming home to see Ms. M and Mr. B.

Budget: San Francisco Elopement

We normally don't post a lot of personal information about ourselves, but we had some life-changing news; we're taking this opportunity to burst through the 4th wall.
This past week E and I got married; we actually flew to San Francisco to elope.
This was the right decision for us. We didn't want the stress or expense of a big wedding, so we decided to do something classy and special, for the two of us, without spending a lot of money.
We had always considered moving to San Francisco, so it seemed like the perfect place to elope. Plus, they perform civil ceremonies at City Hall: an amazingly beautiful domed building occupying over 2 city blocks.
Every inch of this building is absolutely beautiful. You don't even need to be a California resident to get married here; just bring your documents and reserve a time to get a marriage license and have a civil ceremony. They perform the civil ceremony at the top of a great flight of stairs in the rotunda.
We wanted to wear something nice, but not too formal, and we were able to take advantage of JCrew's 30% off holiday discount to get amazing deals on E's suit and my dress: I wore the silk tricotine Gracie gown. Plus, we got free shipping by going to the store and ordering from the red phone.
We wanted to get some fun pictures "on location" around San Francisco, so I posted an ad on Craigslist to find a non-wedding photographer. We chose a photographer specializing in natural light, so he was a perfect fit to take some candid shots around the city. We ventured allover the city: The Mission Dolores, Petrillo Hill, The Golden Gate Bridge, and various parks and buses in-between. We looked at murals, ate ice-cream, and shopped at fruit stands. It's amazing how friendly people become when you're running around town in wedding clothes.Overall, our photographer only cost about one-third of the typical "City Hall Photographers" rate. Plus, we received a disc of all the photographs only two hours later. With these digital rights we can now share the photos online and print out as many copies as we needed. We're also able to use the digital images to make our own hardcover photo books to give to our families.
We also had a ton of fun around the city, and it wasn't too expensive. We were able to use our free tickets to fly to San Francisco, and we stayed at The Chancellor Hotel right in the heart of downtown's Union Square.
Our hotel was a great deal; it was only $100/per night for a boutique, European-feeling hotel. Our room even came with its own rubber duck.
We spent a memorable weekend riding tandems across the Golden Gate Bridge, eating Dim Sum, and meeting skateboarding pitbulls in Haight-Ashbury.
Our only regret is our parents were disappointed that we didn't ask them to come. We didn't really think about that when we planned it. We just wanted to do something inexpensive without having people spend a lot of time or money. Knowing this, we probably would have invited them to come. I guess we will also be having some kind of celebration in the near future.

Pooches: Laughing Pitbulls

I don't understand why people still think pitties are so vicious; I think they laugh more than any other breed of dog I've met.
Like this dog Rocky, who was lost in Humboldt Park, was still able to laugh about it.
This pittie mix from the Mercury Canine Cruise.
And of course Mr. B:
Even when he's woken from a nap ...