I left my heart (and some fingerless mitts) in...

San Francisco was wonderful. A bit stressful with the scary news that the cat was ill, but still wonderful. Despite having been to the SF Bay Area many times, I haven't spent much time in the city itself. This situation was remedied on this trip.

We stayed with a dear friend in her amazing apartment in the Mission. It's full of light, heartfelt art, great food, amazing coffee, and lots of love.

I took a number of long walks through the neighborhood, and was continuously blown away by the amazing public art. This wonderful mural is on the Women's Building.

We spent a morning over in Hayes Valley, where I could have wandered around for hours.

This rainbow-colored candy shop was a feast for the eyes as well as the palette. In addition to candy, they had epic macarons. I tried a "rose geranium" flavored one - it was light and chewy and full or unique flavor.

I had forgotten how much California wild flowers differ from their Northern cousins. This one is a sea lavender - they grow up and down the California coast.

I had not forgotten just how darn good the bloody marys are at Zeitgeist.

Based on the hoodies, tees, and other merch, Zeitgeist appears to have updated its slogan to "Hangovers installed and serviced" which I'm quite fond of. The previous motto ("warm beer, cold women") was also quite good.

Lest it appear that the whole trip was eating, drinking, shopping, and looking at art, I have proof that there was knitting involved!

These are the wonderful "Dashing" fingerless mitts from Knitty. The (free!) pattern is here. I did a yarn substitution, and made these using Shokay's Shambala yarn, which is 100% yak down and worked out great - soft, cozy, and warm.

These guys stayed behind with our wonderful hostess, who made everything possible. Thanks, LM!