Travel Recap: San Francisco & New Orleans

Hey peeps!  I’m starting to get back on task which means I have a mini-recap of where I was and what I have been doing the past week.

I flew out to San Francisco to attend Felix’s cousin’s wedding.  It was important for my MIL to have all of her side of the family together, so we trekked out there for the weekend.  We all rented a house near the beach (a short 3 minute drive to the seaside) and had a pleasant stay.  And by all of us, I mean Felix and myself, my in-laws, and his sister’s family (Stacey, her husband Shane, and the two kids: Jasmine and Jahnu).

Besides attending the wedding, the first highlight of the trip to San Francisco was discovering all the sea life in the tide pools off the coast of the beach.

L to R: Stacey, Myself, and Jasmine

Tide pool detail:

Can you spot the crab?? (It’s on the left, in the water near the rock.)

As we were walking around we happened upon 2 marine wildlife officials who were showing us a bunch of the hot spots which were filled with colorful starfish.  This image doesn’t do it justice but this star fish was such a bright pink and there were several of them in the same pool area.

I think I was just as fascinated as Jasmine and Jahnu were when we were hopping over each tide pool to discover what each of them had to offer: Star fish, crabs, tiny fish, hermit crabs, anemones, and loads more.

I even spotted some blorpies out on the rocks, and by blorpies I mean seals.  Seals are one of my favorite animals of all time; they’re like fun water-dogs who are always begging for my hugs.  heh

The seals are the small white blobs on the rocks, way out in the distance.

The second highlight was heading into the city to shop for yarn at Imagiknit and looking at the vintage goodies at Stuff.

Imagiknit is a great yarn store with TONS of yarn; and the staff are really friendly & helpful but never pushy.  The store was separated into two rooms, the first room being animal-derived yarns and the second room being plant-derived yarns.  I was shopping specifically for a fingering weight yarn for the bobble stitch jumper, and I was really hoping to buy a deep red.  Sadly, I didn’t see any reds that I liked but instead I found my favorite shade of green which I happily nabbed up.  While I think a tweedy-red would have looked more fitting, I do love the green I bought and have already cast on for this jumper… but more on that later.

After yarn shopping Felix and I headed to an antique shop called Stuff that I had read good things about online.

I’m still kicking myself that I didn’t buy this cute basket purse, but it was $68.  As much as I loved it, I really wasn’t loving that price!  I wonder if I can recreate this for my very own?  Hmm….

What could be more delightful than a tiny mouse picnic on a picnic purse?!

And who doesn’t love a giant stuffed big bird?!

 

From California, Felix and I flew directly to New Orleans as I was attending a conference there for my work.  (It was a conference about retention & graduation with regards to higher education.)

Since my days were taken up by the conference, I really only had time for meals and the quick shopping excursions.  Felix on the other had went out a bit more to explore the city.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much good food New Orleans had to offer.  I was never disappointed by any of my meals, but my favorite one has to go out to Green Goddess.  I had some sort of curry wrap and it was so delicious I don’t think I breathed between bites.  :)

On my last day in town, I browsed around a local yarn store called The Quarter Stitch and was nearly tempted to buy some more yarn but held back as it would only contribute to my growing stash.

But I did make a purchase at Trashy Diva!  I put two and two together and remembered that they have a store front in New Orleans.

I bought this little dress that will be worn on my cruise in January:

Trixie Sarong Dress

And I also bought two jumbo-plastic pearl necklace and earring sets, one in a mint green and another in a hot pink.

I was really hoping to fit into more of their 40’s style dresses but the torso’s (bodices) were all too long for me.  The Trixie Sarong dress (above) and the Dixie Dress (see link) were the only two styles in the shop that fit me well enough to buy them.  Since they’re quite pricey dresses, I just bought the one that was the most unique and this one’s fabric felt like it was of a bit better quality than the other.

One thing I loved about all of these dresses is that they really cinch the waist quite nicely without needing any under-shaping.  The Sarong dress gives me a much more defined waist which is perfect for this dress and really fit like a true vintage garment. I would totally buy another sarong dress from them in another fabric print!

And no trip to New Orleans would be complete without visiting Cafe Du Monde:

The cafe au lait was exceptionally tasty!

To sum it up: I ate lots of good food, did a bit of shopping, explored tide pools, and had fun adventures with my family.

P.S.  Don’t forget to vote!

In: Miscellaneous

Blogger for 6 years and counting, I am a passionate creator who loves to tinker.

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