Adventures with Lisa & Kevin

Now that work isn't crazy busy anymore I've made a goal to get out of the office once a day and go for at least a 30-40 minute walk. Generally I just walk down Embarcadero but that started to get boring so I looked up how close Coit Tower was and it turns out it's only a 15 minute walk to the base of the staircase. Twice last week I walked up to Coit Tower and was amazed by how beautiful (and strenuous!) the walk was.








After raving about my lunch-time adventures, on Kevin's day off on Saturday we decided to take advantage of one of the city's last sunny days and go explore North Beach for brunch and then hike up to Coit Tower.

We really wanted to go to Mama's Cafe for brunch but the line was ridiculous and we were starving so we Yelp app'd across Curly's Coffee Shop. It didn't look like too much on the outside...

But it ended up being a yummy breakfast spot! And turn's out it's a Japanese diner as well--interesting mix dontcha think?

Walking through North Beach we saw them painting over my favorite mural (see photo in old blog post here) to celebrate the SF Giants' recent World Series win. I guess I'm okay with them painting over my favorite mural...


With bellies full and Lola in tow, we started off on the Barbary Coast Trail (aka Stockton Street) to the base of the tower (never really knew what those street markers were for all this time, but looked it up and you can see the info. at this link if you feel so inclined).

We took a slightly different path down the hill and saw some more really neat homes and yards.





We ended up at Levi's Plaza which I pass by everyday on the way to and from work and hadn't spent much time there before. Lola was in HEAVEN with the grassy hills and the shallow river and since there weren't many people around we let her off leash to explore.

Friday night was not like a typical Friday night for us. The reason? Kevin didn't have to work the next day!! He finally has Saturdays off from now on (we're keeping our fingers crossed that that continues through the holidays) and it was sooo great to be able to go out and not worry about staying out too late (since he usually has to work at 6am, yuck!)

We had a delicious date night at Goat Hill Pizza in Potrero Hill. Some of the best pizza ever!




Cute goat-and-pizza-themed artwork. Check out the top left one where the girl is looking at the goat and in her thought bubble it says: "That got shur luks gud." HA!


Then we rushed over to visit with our favorite friends Carleigh and Scott.





We spent many hours (okay, maybe 30 minutes) playing a new game we created called "guess the celebrity's age". Scott and I are PROS at the game--the first time we played, the two of us obliterated the competition. The second time we played we let Carleigh and Kevin win a couple so they wouldn't be upset. ;) Some of the celebrities we guessed: Martin Short, Bette Midler, Eddie Murphy, William Shatner, Joan Rivers, etc. etc. Never a dull moment when the four of us get together! ;)

It's been a while since I wrote a foodie review...here are some of the places we've explored to get some grub!

Little Yangon (Burmese food)
in Daly City
What do you get when you cross Indian food and Thai food? Burmese food, apparently! Jessie and I visited Little Yangon after spending the day car shopping for her and it was exactly what we needed after that long day. I had never had Burmese food before and I was so so so impressed. I have to admit, I think about this food occasionally and can't wait until I go back. ;) The Rainbow noodle salad and eggplant were my favorite. Amazing food and really great service too!

Holy Grill
in SOMA, SF
YUMMMMMY burgers! Big, juicy, super flavorful. Not the cheapest burgers in the city ($6-9 each) but definitely worth every penny. I got the Yoga Burger (veggie patty with yummy toppings) and it was great. We ordered the garlic fries to share but they were a tad bit too garlicky for our taste (which is a LOT for us) so next time we'll just go without. We loved this place so much we tried to eat there a second time within the month but were sad to find out they were closed on Sundays. :( Now we know!

La Corneta
in Glen Park, SF
We were so happy to find this great taqueria near our apartment without having to deal with the crowds and the horrible parking situation in the Mission. We've only had burritos there but damn are they good. Good prices and great portions and only a one minute walk from the Glen Park BART station.

Jitra Thai
in Lakeside, SF
We went here with Carleigh and we were not disappointed. Really friendly service, good portions, tasty Thai food.

Big Nate's BBQ
in SOMA, SF
Kevin and I were starving one day and our Yelp app led us to this place. Hole in the wall in every sense of the word. I wasn't too impressed with their bbq beef burgers--the buns tasted like Safeway-brand buns and the meat, though tender, was just doused in BBQ sauce instead of cooked in it. We've heard raving reviews about another BBQ joint in our neighborhood (Johnson's BBQ on San Bruno) that we'd like to check out for our BBQ fix next time 'round. It wasn't terrible--but it wasn't great either.

Last Wednesday as I worked from home and Kevin had the day off we took a quick little lunch break trip to Bernal Heights mini-park slides that Kevin had heard about on SF Secrets (if you're ever in need of a good laugh, watch some of this guy's videos, they're hilarious!)

We were not disappointed!

While Kevin was at work :( Lola and I spent Halloween morning taking a hike up Mt. Davidson. The three of us took a hike up to the top before in May (check out the post at this link) and it had been quite some time since we visited so I thought that sunny Sunday was the perfect opportunity.








Instead of "Where's Waldo?", Where's Lola?





For your viewing pleasure, a video clip of our hike (if you listen carefully you can hear the wet ground and Lola panting hard in the background!)

Before I get to the hoopin' part, I wanted to share some exciting (to me) news. After the Bridge School benefit concert and after a whole cup of beer was spilled on our 3 year old digital camera, it was time to trade 'er in for a new one. On Sunday I met Kevin on his lunch break and we made a trip to Best Buy and walked out with a brand-spankin' new Canon PowerShot AX210 IS. We are huge Canon fans and the past two cameras I have had were both PowerShots and I really can't recommend them enough.


So the pictures from now on will be from this gorgeous little machine and I'm super happy with it.

Okay, enough of the camera love.

I met Jessie and Brandon at Dolores Park on Sunday afternoon for some hoopin' action. They were both recuperating from a wild night at Treasure Island's Ghost Ship Halloween party. Jessie has recently gotten into hula-hooping and so brought along her pink and gold hoop and boombox...and Brandon and I just DJ'd and watched.

Halloween 2010 was not as eventful as years past, but it was kind of nice taking it easy at the same time. The two holiday-themed activities we participated in were dressing up Lola in costumes with her buddy Bailey and we also attended Barktoberfest at Kevin's work Pet Camp.




Barktoberfest is an event that Pet Camp puts on each year for the community. It was nice being able to see where Kevin spends a lot of his days at work. They set up hay bales, had hot dogs, a keg of beer, beer for dogs (meat flavored, of course) and dog pupsicles too (which I thought were for humans at first, glad Kevin told me before I made a fool of myself! haha)








Though this year's Halloween weekend wasn't super exciting, it really was nice to take it easy and just enjoy time together (which has become a rare treat for us lately). Next year, though, it's on! ;)