Wineries and Weddings | Napa Valley
Hall Winery 401 ST HELENA HWY S On this day, my friend had invited me to a wine tasting at one of her favorite wineries. As a member of their wine club, she is allowed to treat us to a free tasting once a year. …
Tag: San Francisco
Normandy Village | Berkeley, CA
A Fairytale Village in Northern California Location: Spruce Street and Hearst Ave Normandy Village, also known as Thornburg Village, is a neighborhood in Berkeley that resembles a French Village. As someone who adores European Architecture, it’s definitely my favorite continent, I HAD to see this …
A Day in Mission District | San Francisco
I wanted to share with you pictures from my day in an area of San Francisco many of you may not know of. Mission District is a part of San Francisco that even I rarely find myself in. I am a major foodie, so the few times I did go was solely to eat at one of the restaurants or bars. In fact, I never spent time looking around or even visited Mission’s Dolores Park before today. It’s kinda rare for a San Franciscan to not have visited Dolores Park at least once. And I can’t believe I was missing out on this skyline view until now!
Just like other large cities, San Francisco is split up into different districts. These districts each have a different subculture and look to them. It’s funny how walking from one part of a city to another can feel like a new place even though you’re technically in the same city. The buildings look different, the people are different, and even the way of life can be different.
Of course, we had to stop at a boba shop right when we got here. Since I can’t go to San Francisco without getting some milk tea.
I really enjoyed seeing the random murals on our walk. If you’re someone like me who loves to look at street art, and just art in general, check out Clarion Alley in Mission District. There you’ll find some bold and colorful political murals.
After the long BART(Bay Area Rapid Transit) ride to Mission District, and walking around different streets, we started to get hungry. The restaurant I was wanting to go to on this day was closed until 5pm so we decided to get a snack from Tartine Bakery while we wait. There are ENDLESS amounts of delicious food options in Mission District, but this bakery was saved on my Instagram for a while.
We got the Lemon Cream Tart and Morning Bun. Both were absolute perfection. The best lemon tart and croissant I have ever had. And you know what made this bakery EVEN BETTER? It was located right by a market with gorgeous flowers. You guys should know I love flowers by now.
After finishing our pastries, we walked around Dolores Park then headed to Farmhouse Kitchen. I have seen fellow SF Foodies posting pictures of this place for YEARS. I was happy we were finally in the area and I could try their food myself.
The restaurant was decorated so beautifully. From the lights on the ceiling to the plates on the table, it was a sight to see. Even the food was beautiful!
We ordered the Hat Yai Fried Chicken and Kao Soi Naau. The fried chicken was something I’d seen a lot of people order on Instagram and decided to get that since it was popular. It was all delicious! The chicken was boneless (love that) and the curry was perfect. I wasn’t sure what the Kao Soi Naau was or if it was good since I didn’t see it on Instagram. But, oh boy! I tried about a quarter of it since we were sharing and it was incredible too! I would love to go back just to order the Kao Soi Naau again and eat the whole thing myself. There’s another Farmhouse Kitchen location in the Bay Area, which probably means I should visit that one too and order it again. 😉
I hope you enjoyed this post on beautiful San Francisco. Sometimes I forgot how special and colorful this city can be. Looking through the pictures for this blog post brought me back to how I saw SF as a little girl. Back to when everything we saw felt like a movie. 🙂
I apologize for being so behind on my blog (and all my other social media) lately. I was feeling a lack of passion, and I guess fire, within me to make more content. When I started my blog, I had so much to share, and I was excited about the places I could visit and share with you all. Since the lockdowns and all this other craziness, I feel like so many possibilities to travel were ripped away from me. I’m sure a lot of you following my blog can relate to that. I am glad some international travel is opening up to the US with minimal restrictions. But with everything being so uncertain, I’m scared to book flights and get my hopes up… It’s been so long since I’ve left the United States I don’t even know where my passport is. I should probably go find that now…
-Ayla♥
Affiliate links may have been used in this post.
Wente Vineyards & Mitchell Katz Winery | Livermore, CA
I said in a previous post that I was going to start writing more travel posts about places that are near me in California. This is me finally delivering on that promise. As you probably guessed, I am avoiding any long distance travel due to …
San Francisco Travel Guide
A short guide to the best and commonly visited attractions in San Francisco for tourists and locals.
Afternoon Tea |The Rotunda
Many of you may not know I have a slight obsession with tea. I always order a cup of hot tea or a glass of sweet tea when I dine out. I’ll even go into grocery stores when I’m aboard just to look through their tea selection and buy the ones I’ve never tasted. It’s interesting to see all the flavors of tea that aren’t available in my home country. At this point, I may be a tea expert since I could tell you the most common flavors of tea in almost any country.
Due to my love of tea, I have always enjoyed the idea of having an afternoon tea in a fine dining setting. This is why for my 21st birthday, I decided a few close friends and myself should celebrate by having an Afternoon Tea. And what better place than going to one of the finest restaurants in San Francisco located on the top floor of Neiman Marcus.
I booked a reservation online because I read you need one (especially for afternoon tea). The tea service is only available during specific times so make sure you book in advance before the spots fill up.
Afternoon Tea is served daily: Sun-Thur 2:30 – 4 pm; Fri-Sat 2:30 – 5 pm
I was a bit nervous when we got there that the staff would see a bunch of 20 year olds and be rude to us. After all, we were having High Tea inside of a department store only the wealthy can afford. However, the staff was very lovely and greeted us with smiles when we walked to the front desk to be seated.
Three of us opted for the signature tea service for around $50 per person, but they also have a Grand tea service and Royal tea service. It just depends if you want wine or just tea.
Afternoon Tea Menu
4 Tea Sandwiches
Freshly Baked Scone
Fruit Preserves
Devonshire Cream
A Variety of 4 Petite Sweets
Choice of Dammann Frères Tea
I ordered the Jardin Bleu tea which is a “blend of teas from india and china, flavored with rhubarb, wild strawberry and cornflower petals.” I really enjoyed this flavor but they also have a few other flavors I would love to try in the future. They have a tea flavor for everyone, so I would recommend going with whichever flavor you gravitate towards.
Afternoon Tea at Neiman Marcus inside of the beautiful Rotunda is definitely all about the experience. It’s the perfect place to go if you want to dress up and feel wealthy with a group of close friends while sipping your tea and eating small snacks. If you’re looking to eat something more appetizing, they do have a regular menu as well.
If you would like to have lunch or afternoon tea at The Rotunda, make your reservations by clicking here. Reservations are a must due to the restaurants popularity!
-Ayla♥
Conservatory Of Flowers |Photo Diary
If you’re not from the Bay Area, or have been living under a rock your whole life, the Conservatory of Flowers is a greenhouse located in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park filled with rare and unusual tropical plants and holds special exhibits. I went during …