Mellow Weekend!

This past weekend, SMS and I had a pretty mellow time.  Well, I think that I was the main culprit for the mellowness since on Friday night, I had mentioned an ambitious Saturday Japantown adventure.  At some point, to SMS' disappointment, my energy fizzled out and I was excited to just hang out PLUS I had made a reservation to Outerlands that I was really excited about and that, to me, was enough excitement for one day since I had been waiting weeks!  So, the morning was mellow leading into the early afternoon.  Then we headed out to check out a coffee house in San Francisco.  We got slightly distracted when we heard music from Castro St and we ended up strolling through the tents set up for the Art & Wine Festival in Mountain View.  We also picked up some kettle korn- yum!  The highlight was watching kids in these reverse vacuum-blown up bubbles that got pushed into a really large wading pool.  The looks on the kids' faces were hilarious, especially when they got pushed into the pool from a slight drop.  As SMS points out, I tend to find kids being scared (in a harmless way) hilarious!

Inside Andytown

Then it was off to San Francisco.  We went back to my favorite neighborhood- Outer Sunset!  First, we went to Andytown coffee.  The menu had a "Snowy Plover," which SMS had read was a real highlight.  I looked it up on Google and noticed that a Snowy Plover is my favorite beach bird!

My favorite (beach) bird!!!  So kawaii!

Well, at Andytown Coffee, a "Snowy Plover" is two shots of espresso, sparkling water and whipped cream.  The whipped cream is amazing and the whole drink is pretty good.  I told SMS that I would definitely order it again but not necessarily make a pilgrimage for it.  Does this make sense?

Another Snowy Plover

 After Andytown, we walked a few blocks over to the Trouble Coffee shop and then enjoyed a brief sit-down in the patio of The General Store.  There are beautiful succulents and dried driftwood- it's just gorgeous!

The General Store Patio/Back Yard

Then, we started walking over to Golden Gate Park in order to pass the time before our restaurant reservation.  On the way, we checked out 3 Fish Studio which had awesome prints with the originals made from linoleum.  I wasn't in a total shopping mood but I will definitely go back in the future for a little SF/California print.  I recommend checking it out!  I didn't take a picture inside since the art was displayed everywhere and it just seemed a little rude.

3 Fish Studios

 Outerlands was pretty wonderful.  The menu is quite small but everything is on point!  SMS had their famous bread with incredible butter, cheese and strawberries; a melon & patrons chile salad with fingerling potatoes, feta and greens; smoked trout on salad; and an amazing chicken dish tomato panzanella, castelvetrano olive and charred gems.  The food was terrific.  I never order chicken but because the menu was so small and I love castelvetrano olives (my favorite, for those who care!), I went with it.  The reason I don't order chicken and most pastas is because I feel I can make a pretty mean meal of those things myself, recent rubber chicken courtesy of Williams Sonoma's Fast Weekday Meals excepting.    I was wrong and I have le sads because this chicken was like nothing I've ever made before.  It was spectacular!  I think though, my favorite dish was the butter I had with a side of bread.  It was really delicious.  I mean really, butterfat, butter and fat...what's not to love?

Shoreline Park

The next day, I still had the lazies.  I read a book and in the afternoon, SMS and I decided to get out of the house.  We heard a great salsa band at the Wine Festival and then headed out to Shoreline Park where we went on a really long walk along the bay.  It was really beautiful.  I usually don't think much of flat topography walks, but this is one I'd highly recommend!