It was such a pleasure to finally get to host her for once (as she's done for me in at least five different houses over the years), and our first night together my parents joined us for buddha bowls at my house. They hadn't seen her in six years-the last time she was in California and spent two weeks with us. It made my heart so full to have us all together in my home.
Look at this beautiful ceramic cup she made me!
Another evening during the work part of her trip, we met up for tacos at one of my favorite restaurants in the city: Loló. We didn't talk nearly as much as usual that night; the food was too good.
Then she disappeared for a week to continue her project in Los Angeles before returning back to SF for three days off work together. We kicked things off with a drive down Highway 1 towards Pigeon Point, stopping for a walk along the stretch that was formerly the highway, stuffing ourselves with seafood at Sam's Chowder House, and doing our usual sing-alongs on the ride.
We saw whales!
Pescadero is such a sweet little town and there's a surprising amount with which to entertain oneself-a garden, a tasting room, a pottery shop, an eclectic hipster coffee shop that anywhere else would seem to be trying too hard but is so out of place there that it works, and a great local market whose crowning glory is artichoke bread.
We stocked up on delicious treats from the market, like Harley Farms goat cheese and illicit wine to bring back to the lighthouse.
And then we were there, at my happy place. Which was soon to become Letizia's, too. (All the gorgeous black and white or sepia-toned longer shots are by Leti, taken on her analog camera).
The lighthouse at Pigeon Point is also a hostel. There are no frills, but so many charming amenities like a fire pit, a hot tub on the cliffs, and linens you get to put on the bed yourself! Let's call it glamping.
Chatting with hostelman Michael, who is basically
a matured hippie skater boy sloth. Think exactly THIS.
And yes, I was just like the bunny.
Not a camera trick, but real life:
half the world looked black and white!
The biggest selling point of the Pigeon Point hostel is that you can pay a little extra at check-in to reserve the hot tub all to yourself. I always get there right at check-in so I can get the exact time I want: sunset.
#fashion
We did a lot of contemplative ocean-staring while sharing one secret tumbler of wine and noming on Pirate's Booty.
You only get half an hour, which is actually fine because the water's so hot we felt like the boiled lobsters we'd eaten for lunch after half that time. Next: feast!
Basically we would just rotate from one absolutely beautiful, pleasurable, relaxing activity to the next. We rounded out the night with tea and pumpkin cake in front of the fire we had proudly built ourselves.
Breakfast in a thousand words:
The only weird thing of the trip was this: while I was packing up the next morning about to check out of my room, a woman knocked on the door and asked if she could use our bathroom. Since it's a hostel and everything's pretty free and open and I was on my way out anyway, I let her pass. But then I remembered there's a common bathroom right in the hall! And it was unoccupied! What a weirdo. A short time later, I saw her in the hostel's staff room and she thanked me again and said, "I just really like that bathroom." Who does that?!
After bidding adieu to the lighthouse, we headed on to Pie Ranch for strawberries. Just kidding, it was for pie! But the strawberries were on point, too.
Wanting Letizia to experience the full extent of American fall, we stopped by a Half Moon Bay pumpkin patch.
This lady gave us a pumpkin discount after I taught her
how to take a screenshot on her phone. She correctly
stereotyped me as capable after learning I live in San Francisco.
Back in the city, we met up with Brittany and Gio for drinks and a creole dinner.
When Letizia's around, I'm always her subject!
On our last day together, we spent it exploring a couple neighborhoods in the city. What a rare joy to wander San Francisco on a weekday, and sharing it with her felt like I was seeing it all for the first time. We started in the Haight (primarily shopping for weird socks and Grateful Dead tees), wandered to Divis for a BBQ lunch, said hello to the Painted Ladies in Alamo Square, and finally stopped on Valencia to visit Tartine.
Letizia, come sempre, vedo il mondo sotto un luce più brilliante quando sono con te. Torna presto, cara mia, perché c'è ancora tantissimo da fare tra di noi qui.
