Day 3

Day 3--the busiest of all! We started off with a stroll to Outerlands for breakfast. It is the most brilliantly designed cafe. I waked into the scene, Fleetwood Mac playing throughout the wood paneled room (which is why I am now getting into their music). Homemade caramels, cookies, and Sightglass coffee gave it that cabin feel. Of course the guy who delivers the produce has a beard, tattoos, a plaid shirt, and also works at the restaurant. I had the "grilled cheese sandwich--brushed with garlic oil, seared on a cast iron skillet combo with early girl tomato soup--basil, garlic, toast." It was over-the-top comfort food heaven. I saved half my sandwich to eat in Washington Sq. park later in the day.

Next door to Outerlands is the General Store. They carry a vast array of sweet items, like a Native American turquoise necklace for $180. Thank god that's completely (not) in my budget. Places like this are fun to wander in and treat like an interactive museum. If you visit, please check out the backyard of the store! (It is the cactus garden pictured above.)

And next to the General Store is Trouble Coffee. The best bad-ass cup of coffee in a tiny little shop too cool for words. They steal all the best sayings, such as, "Do you have a useful skill in a tangible situation?" read on their website. Buy a bag of the Elbow Grease. Their half pound is ridiculously affordable for such great beans!

That tiny section of the Sunset has too much fun compacted into half a block. So, Hanako and I took an hour-long bus ride downtown to digest and try another coffee spot. Reveille Coffee Co is a truck parked daily, whose clientele is mainly start-ups and successful designers. They use Four Barrel coffee. That Tuesday was so dang hot we had to order it iced, which was quite refreshing without any cream or sugar.

We walked from the truck to City Lights. Of all the days of the year, on a random Tuesday, it was closed! So we walked to Washington Square park to enjoy this warm fall weather. There, a bum told us he loved us because we were human beings.

Again, we walked from the park up the hill to meet my friend West at his school--the San Francisco Art Institute (which is not the same as the Academy). What a lovely campus. It is open to the public so everyone in SF should check it out. The views (as you can see in photos above) are spectacular! There are many public art events, like the one we went to that Tuesday which had an artist talk with cheese and wine. Divine. You never know who you'll see, like that man in the background wearing killer red stilettos.

From there we had to run to the Mission (this time we took a bus) to have dinner with another friend, Wilson. Luna Park was better than I thought. The salmon was perfect and the drinks very stiff. After, Wilson took us to Bottom of the Hill to see Braids and Painted Palms. How magical.