I’ve been in San Francisco for the last 3 days and every time I’m here I experience something new, incredible and glorious. Whether it’s the time I spend with my friends/co-workers or the different places we go, it’s always a wonderful addition to my memory bank.

This week was, in some respects, harder for me than usual. I felt weighed down with a heavy emotional burden and it was hard to shake that at times. But I did, thanks to the people I’ve been with here, and it’s helped me a lot.

Though I’ve been in the city for work meetings this week, we always manage a bit of play. My friends from our London office are generally the life of the party and they certainly didn’t disappoint this time.

First, just two blocks or so from my hotel was the Blue Bottle cafe. Now, I’m not a serious coffee person. I like my chocolate with coffee rather than the other way around. This place is not meant for people like me. These people are serious about their coffee. Take a look at this contraption – they tell me it’s vacuum-sealed brewing or something but it just looks like a chem experiment to me:

We ate at the Wayfare Tavern, a Tyler Florence restaurant, in their Bartlett Room. I’m not sure what Bartlett they are referring to but I prefer to think of President Bartlett (in the utopian society inside my head):

The food was excellent. The tri-tip melted in my mouth like prime rib. Awesomeness.

That day I gave my presentation at our meetings. It was received with thunderous applause and accolades while confetti was shot from the ceiling and showgirls danced. Okay, fine, there were no showgirls. There must have been confetti though, right?

The meetings culminated in last night’s “holiday” party at Harry Denton’s Starlight Room at the top of the Sir Francis Drake Hotel. What a treat! We sang, we danced, we cried! (oh, no, the crying was when I got back to my room and pried my high heels off my swollen & bruised feet. Why oh why must we do that to ourselves? I can barely hobble today.) It was glorious and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Here are some views from the Starlight Room:

The Westin St. Francis towered over us:

And we towered over Union Square:

But, to be honest, I think my favorite picture from the trip was taken in a quiet moment in my hotel room. I was contemplating friends, relationships between them, life and its ever evolving nature, as I sat in my hotel window watching the sunset. My room overlooks Yerba Buena gardens, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and the Jewish Museum. As dusk was settling in and the rain was starting, these little lights popped on and they were so random, and somehow elegant, and they beautifully illuminated this gloomy eve.

A patch of light in the falling darkness:

San Francisco is my city-home. I don’t live my life here but I feel at home whenever I visit. “Save me, San Francisco,” indeed.

XOXO,

Stef