We Heart San Francisco! (Day 1)

Our trip to San Francisco was the best time we've ever had! I thought I'd share a little bit of our adventures from each day with lots of pictures....enjoy!

On our first morning we walked down the street (well, really everything is up-hill, but you know) to the most amazing cafe we've ever experienced. We still talk about it and miss everything about it! The Sugar Cafe became a morning ritual for us and we couldn't get enough of the modern atmosphere, local artwork, cool vibe, and and a menu full of organic goodness, including fair trade Bicycle Coffee mochas made with Ghirardelli Chocolate topped with home made whipped creme! *sigh*...oh how I wish we could still go there everyday. We loved sitting and talking about life, our dreams, and making plans for the day...

how amazing is that fireplace?! It was raining so they kept us quite warm in there!

Mocha magic....so wonderful!

Then, we went on an adventure, exploring Union Square and saw adorable trolleys!

 ...and lovely "Golden Gate Inspired" public artwork!

As we strolled along the streets of Union Square, we came across a gallery with lots of famous artists mentioned in the windows....Picasso, Miro, and even Chagall (one of my favorite painters)!

So, my incredibly brave husband agreed to step inside and ask if we could look around. It was a pretty fancy place, but everyone was very nice and they welcomed us out of the rain and into a gorgeous 3 story Weinstein Gallery! I immediately recognized some of the original prints hanging on the walls and got very excited. We decided to ask for a brochure to help us learn about each work of art. Jeremy (again, the brave man that he is) walks over to a man at a desk and asks for a brochure and the man stands up and says "Hi, I'm Mr. Weinstein and I'll be your brochure." Seriously!? Best gallery experience I've ever had...hands down. His family owned the galleries and he was excited to share all of the stories of the paintings and the artists, and gave us a private tour! He showed us the VERY FIRST abstract paintings as well as the biggest original Marc Chagall prints available! Then, he welcomed us to look around the mentioned that practically the entire top floor was full of ORIGINAL Marc Chagall paintings!..... I almost fainted. 

There were also originals by Miro, Dali, and Picasso!

Here are a few of our favorites...

Marc Chagall

"L'Arbre de Jessé"
Oil on canvas 47 1/2 x 32 inches  1975

Joan Miro

"Femmes dans la nuit"

Pastel and pencil on cardboard 9 1/2" x 18"  1977

"Rencontre (The Meeting)"

Gouache, pastel, India ink, and pencil on handmade paper
20 1/4 x 27 1/4 inches  1980

Marc Chagall

"Violoniste au bouquet"
Gouache on paper 25 1/2 x 19 1/2 inches  1982

Marc Chagall

Marc Chagall

Pablo Picasso

"Tete de femme a la couronne de fleurs"

Ceramic 12 7/8 x10 inches 1964

Joan Miro

"Le rebelle" (D. 439)
Etching, aquatint and carborundum 36 3/4" x 25 1/4"  1967  

(This was Jeremy's favorite!)

Marc Chagall (one of his largest original prints!)

After we left, the sun came out and we found another San Francisco "heart" on our way to Chinatown!

We especially loved all of the banners and lanterns hanging all across the streets!

We decided to stop in a small Chinese restaurant for lunch and to our surprise and delight, we were brought hot tea before our meal! It was SO GOOD!

Then, we just walked the streets and looked in all of the cute little shops and I even got a bubble tea! It was so fun!

Then we walked back to Union Square and found another amazing heart with pretty artwork on it and just wandered the fantastic shopping!

The Anthropologie had THIS amazing installation....made from Rice-a-roni "A San Francisco Treat"! ha! 

I can't even tell you how tired our legs and feet were after this day, but it was all worth it!

Thanks for letting me share a few stories and pictures from our first day in San Francisco! I can't wait to show you more!