Amanda FINALLY Came!

What better thing to do while on your drive to Laguna Beach than blog, right? I don’t have a too busy excuse this time! Especially thanks to the MBB Card that lets me browse the web while sitting in the passenger seat. Except that means I have no pictures to add to the post. And it's REALLY long. Sorry!

So Amanda FINALLY came to visit last weekend. I’ve been begging her to come out since we moved here and since she’s leaving for North Carolina (in like 3 days!) she didn’t have much time to keep putting us off ☺

Friday
First stop, the See’s Candy FACTORY by SFO. We were assured the chocolate we consumed was in fact THE freshest candy available. The entire pound we consumed was proof.

After that, we proceeded to Costco where we indulged in Super Bowl size samples. Yes please, I’ll try the nachos. And the hot dog, and the popcorn and the potsticker and the chips…

For dinner, we went to THE best Mexican place in San Francisco. El Farolito. Hands down best Carne Asada tacos I’ve ever eaten. Between the three of us we consumed 9 tacos and two orders of chips.

What’s a Friday night without a trip to Bi-Rite, right? We finished off the evening with San Francisco’s finest artisan Ice Cream. Flavors indulged in: Coconut, Chocolate, Cookies & Cream and Vanilla Malt w/Peanut Brittle. All topped off with a little homemade hot fudge and whipped cream, of course.

Saturday
We started the day off right by sleeping in and wandering down to the Farmer’s Market. If I haven’t told you yet of my obsession with the Ferry Building’s Farmer’s Market, apparently we are not very good friends. We absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE going down to the Ferry Building on Saturday mornings to sample all the delicious fresh fruits, cheeses, toffee, etc. We left with a bag of chocolate covered almonds, a few tangerines, a Cara-Cara Orange (Never heard of it before, but really great), some lemons, some fresh parsely, and of course small-batch butter (so so so good). We also ate lunch at Rolli Roti. Incredible Porchetta and Carmelized onion sandwiches and fresh rotisserie chicken just like in Florence (and that's coming from Miss I spent a semester in Italy, Amanda, so you know it's true). I highly recommend stopping by when you’re down there. Mmmmm…

After a brief detour at the De Young Museum and the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit, we ended up at Burgermeister in Cole Valley for dinner. Yes, we had been warned it was overpriced and mediocre, but did we listen? No. It won best burger in SF we reasoned. Still, lesson learned, trust your friends. They know better than the awards people any day. Not that it was terrible, but if I’m going to spend $13 on a cheeseburger, I want it to be the best dang cheeseburger. And quite simply, it wasn’t.

Anyways, if you’re a true Saraceno, you can’t leave SF without a stop at Mitchell's—which rivals Bi-Rite as our favorite SF Creamery. While Bi-Rite’s Coconut is incredible, I think Mitchell’s Toasted Almond is my hands down favorite flavor ever. None of that almond extract crap from Fenton’s either. This tastes exactly as it should. Mix that with a little Mexican Chocolate and you’re in heaven. If you’re Lia, Linda, or Amanda that is ☺.

Sunday
Wrapping up the trip with a bike ride through Golden Gate Park with stops at the roller bladers and swing dancers, we took Amanda home just in time to miss the delicious Super Bowl food. Patrick and I grilled Ribeyes and fresh Jumbo Prawns in celebration of the big game. Not that I could have cared any less about the actual game, but spending the afternoon with our good friends made it a fabulous day. Not to mention Patrick’s commercials (1 & 2) airing!

Amanda—we’re definitely excited for you to go on your mission, but I have to say, I’d much rather you come and live in SF with us!! Thanks for visiting!