"If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair..."

Wow... I am not a very good blogger at all these days.  Blurgh.  And how is it already September?!  I promise I'll catch up on my posts one day.  To start, here's a quick recap of my birthday trip to San Francisco... 

Mary and I decided to road trip to NorCal.  One thing that made the trip decidedly more enjoyable was this song suggestion from my music savvy brother (which quickly became our theme song of the weekend....)

Inspired by an amazing California playlist and the hope of a glorious weekend, we made it from LA to SF in potentially record-breaking time.  We stayed with our dear friend Valerie (who went to OU with us and used to be Mar's roommate in NY) in her quintessentially San Franciscan townhouse. (and we went to an incredible Indian restaurant around the corner for my birthday din... pictured here). :-)

The next day, after a bottomless mimosa brunch, we entered the woods of Golden Gate Park (literally) to  go to Outside Lands...

It was fuh-reeezing in SF!  I knew it would be chillier than LA, so I purchased a new lightweight sweater for the occasion and packed a couple scarves... but wow, I was completely unprepared.  In the evenings, I think this mid-August music festival was colder than the coldest winter's day in LA.  I might be slightly exaggerating... but I was thrilled to borrow my friend Natalie's furry Russian hat thing for a bit. Yowza. 

There were approximately 60,000 people and extremely spotty cell service at the festival, so if you got separated from your party, it was not a good thing.  Therefore, many people had distinct beacons they would hold up in the large crowds to summon their people.  One of my favorites was this large staff. (I also very much enjoyed the cute little Outside Lands photo frame Mary could use with her app). 

My favorite show was probably Best Coast (even though she had been tweeting about how sick she was and she came on stage wrapped in a shawl and carrying hot tea, so she appeared to be on the verge of death).  She played on the small stage, so we got to be really close.  She didn't let her the fact that she felt horrible keep her down... she put on a really great show!  My other favorite sets include: Foster the People (so adorable and fun. I now have crushes on every member of the band), the Black Keys (Mary and I actually maneuvered our way through the extreme crowds to get pretty close for this one! They are so freaking talented... I can't believe the band consists of only 2 guys?!), and Girl Talk (imagine a crazy dance party in the middle of a forest with tens of thousands of people.  That was this).

One night we took a little drive across the lovely Golden Gate Bridge.  

In addition to 3 days of great music, there festival also featured wine tasting and a plethora of amazing food.  Mary and I sampled from many wineries across Cali in the Wine Lands tent one day (which I kind of wish we would have done every day...) ;-) 

My darling Sheri was there too! (and miraculously, we actually found each other)!

Mary is my favorite concert partner. (and check out her awesome new sunglasses... perhaps the best purchase of the weekend). 

On the way home, we took the more scenic route which included the gorgeous 17 Mile Drive at Pebble Beach.  I love seeing new parts of my state!  It's so, so pretty.

We then toasted to our wonderful SF weekend at the 18th hole at the Pebble Beach golf course, which I think is safe to say is the most beautiful place I've ever eaten lunch. :-) 

And thus concludes one of the best birthday weekends ever!  I absolutely loved Outside Lands and San Francisco and will definitely be making return trips to both. (and THANKS AGAIN, Mar, for coming all the way here to celebrate with me). :-) 

xoxo, 

Annie.