Each weekend, I try to explore areas outside San Francisco. I spend most of my time in Half Moon Bay, or I'll explore other regions around Marin and Sonoma counties. Those areas make me feel at peace. I guess it's the country bumpkin blood that I inherited from my dad (after all, he is a country boy). My reasoning always boils down to my need to leave the fast paced urban/city life. Then I thought about it carefully. I'm rarely in San Francisco. I work in Silicon Valley. I spend weekends along the Peninsula. My hair appointments are in North Oakland. I shop antique/vintage fairs in Alameda. The area in San Francisco where I reside and the SF State campus couldn't be more suburban (The Sunset). My local hangout is West Portal where I always bring my visiting family; it doesn't even feel like San Francisco (which is how I like it).
This weekend I decided to stay in town. With Daisy in tow, I set out to stroll around the following areas: SoMa, Haight Street, Hayes Valley, Noe Valley, and Mission. I did my usual vintage shopping along Haight so that I could visit some of the vintage boutiques (and I don't mean those repro stores. I mean real vintage clothing). Of course, most of the clothing is severely overpriced (especially at Decades of Fashion), but I did make out with a late 1950s day dress for a relatively good price (and I got a discount). I received a text from a friend asking to meet for lunch.
We opted to hang out in Hayes Valley; some place different for a change. When we met up, I showed him my purchase. He absolutely adored it. He asked if I bought anything else along Haight. I just shouted, "I HATE shopping at brick and mortar shops. There's just no negotiating the price. I'll stick to the vintage fairs. At least I can haggle there." He just started laughing, but it was true! We walked into Ver Unica. The shop was appropriately named considering that the prices were astronomical! Completely ridiculous as most of those dresses I can find for a quarter of those prices.
Dark Garden was just around the corner, and I'd been wanting to go there for a fitting. Though I love my hourglass figure, I've always wanted a waist cincher for that wasp-waist look. I tried a few samples on and fell in love. I was warned that corsets can be quite addicting. They certainly are. I'm already thinking about getting an overbust (and possibly an underbust) later in time. But today, it was a waist cincher. I placed a custom order in the fabric and colors of my choice. It's going to be an agonizing six week wait.
My friend and I had lunch at a random cafe. Overpriced food with an underwhelming taste. Oh well. There's just no
satisfying this vegetarian. (We should've gone to Herbivore up on
Divisadero.) We sat outside so that Daisy could eat along with us. We headed over to a small park, Patricia's Green, to take in the sun and let Daisy play with other dogs. So much had changed in the area. I remember back in the 90s it was a total ghetto area. Gentrification happens. The old freeway offramp is now occupied by the Hayes Valley farm. I remembered thinking, what happened to the Fell exit off 101? That was always my exit whenever I drove to USF back in the day. Now I know.
We later had an urge for frozen yogurt and settled on a hole in the wall in Noe Valley. Afterward, we perused some shabby chic shops.
We made our way back through the Mission when we decided to call it a day. I kept thinking how much I've forgotten about the wonderful places urban San Francisco has to offer. It's quite nice, but I do prefer the quieter areas where I can relax far away from the crowds. I'll still leave for Half Moon Bay eventually, but it is nice exploring San Francisco once in a while; especially on a warm, beautiful day.
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| San Francisco in a nutshell. |
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| My newest vintage acquisition |