Welcome to the She-Woman-Man-Haters Club jk jk jk just wanted to make a Little Rascals joke. But like seriously who’s ready for another girl trip, yeah??

Aaaanyway I wanted to round up our girls weekend in SF and give somewhat of an informative weekend guide. This one is based mostly on our weekend for the Nike Women’s Half Marathon, and partly on past experience I have from traveling there relatively frequently. Ideally, I’d like to put together something more comprehensive by the end of the year that I can update now and then.

So first, a quick travel diary, and eventually I’ll use this to create something organized and usable for the general traveling public.

Travel Diary

As you may have read in my race recap, we got in early so we could spend Friday in the city. After a breakfast at home, we went to the Marina to take a SoulCycle class. As you may recall from my first time at SoulCycle, that class was led by what appeared to be a clone of one of my sorority sisters. This one was even better because our instructor actually was one of my sorority sisters, Natalie! Go figure! It was so cool to see her in her element, leading spin class. If you’re in the SF area, you definitely need to take one of her classes.

After totally taking advantage of all the amenities and shower products SoulCycle had to offer, we popped into Sephora and Nike (being super basic) and grabbed a quick bite at Illy Caffe for a caprese sandwich and iced latte (which was AMAZING) before going to Union Square to get our race packets. If you’re in the mood for a heartier, more sit-down meal in the Marina, I highly recommend Delarosa.

On the way home, we went back to the Marina to walk along the beach by the Golden Gate Bridge  – Beach at Presidio, according to Google maps. I’d highly recommend visiting here, it’s gorgeous! We walked all the way to Chrissy Field, and then back so we could get some food at the store  for the next days of our trip (chiefly Eggos, pumpkin spice oatmeal, and coconut milk for shakes).

On Saturday we headed to the Ferry Building Farmer’s Market in the Embarcadero to sample as much fruit as necessary to constitute half a breakfast. Then we went to Nike’s Shakeout Run in Union Square, before doing a little shopping in the same area. Window shopping, for me – all my money is specifically allocated for snacks.

We then wandered around Chinatown looking for dim sum, which was a total bust (yelp was not helping me that day). Cool vibes, though. Lotta lanterns. I’ve been to one good restaurant in that area, called R&G Lounge for Peking Duck (my favorite Chinese dish, besides dim sum), so check that out if you’re visiting soon.

 

We headed back to the house to relax before grabbing dinner aka the last supper/carb-load 2015. We got gnocchi and ravioli in North Beach (aka Little Italy) at a location I won’t mention (unfathomably rude staff). The area itself is wonderful though; definitely hit up Cavalli Cafe for coffee and cannoli, Caffe DeLucchi for lunch, or Calzones for …you guessed it… calzones (and also gnocchi).

After a good (decent) night’s sleep, we ran our half marathon and treated ourselves to brunch (back in the Marina because that’s where the race ended) at The Tipsy Pig. I’ve mentioned it a couple times because it’s really one of my favorite spots. In terms of food, I will always recommend their burger, and the chicken sandwich has been a crowd favorite. Their cocktail menu is awesome – we usually opt for the strawberry fields or mornin’ tea.

Before we left, we had to stop by Mr. Holmes Bakehouse in Polk Gulch/Lower Nob Hill, but unfortunately we were not there early enough for cruffins. Next time, I swear. We grabbed some donuts and hit up Golden Gate Park for a little stroll. Our last meal before departing for SFO was bomb ass dumplings at King of Noodles in the Sunset, which is the neighborhood where my family’s house is.

Side bar, I love the Sunset. V chill vibes, v good Chinese food. Access to Ocean Beach, Cliff House, GGP, etc. Many colorful houses.

Favorite Airport Ensemble

As mentioned in yet another SF travel diary, I’m really happy with my backpack from lululemon and Nike Free Flyknits. They’ve proven to be really ideal over the past several months of traveling, and the Nike Frees especially came in handy when Arielle and I had to sprint through our terminal of SFO because Arielle checked the flight time from a 2013 itinerary, and we were mere minutes from missing the last flight home of the day. Super chill.

Unfortunately, due to said time constraints, I didn’t have time to snap a picture of the outfit. But in an attempt to showcase my horrible photoshop skills, I recreated it via images from the internet. Behold.

Sweatshirt | Pants | Tank

So there you have it.

Keeping the friends-trips-stoke alive, I’ll be finding another half marathon to travel to in the not-so-distant future. Who’s with me?!

xx,
Dominique 

ps. please bear with me as I piece together the SF city guide… there’s a lot to cover! if you have recommendations, requests, or submissions, please let me know: dominique@beautyandthebeach.co 💌– hoping to have it done this month.