It's such a pleasure to experience differing lifestyles. Urban living has many advantages, especially now with high gas prices since walking to stores, restaurants, and shops is all so doable here in Noe Valley, CA.
Yesterday, within less than 30 minutes of walking, Kelly and I had picked up 'the perfect child's" dry cleaning, shopped at the hardware store (which will probably be a twice a day visit while their renovations are underway), & bought fresh produce at the farmer's market.
This is a very pedestrian & dog friendly area.....benches and dog water bowls line the streets.
Of course you'll find a Starbucks about every 5 blocks. I had my skinny, sugar free vanilla latte yesterday morning and am already yearning for another. BUT.....wait......this is true.....the perfect child just brought me a cup of hot coffee, made with his own hands. Life is good....tx's Chris!! Talk about perfect timing....and I'm not making this up......
Many of the homes are built right up to the sidewalks. I'm amused by the fun window displays some owners have provided for the passers by.
Although many of the streets in SFO are very steep, our son's house is on a relatively flat one at the top of several hills. Much of this neighborhood has already gone through major redevelopment. I wouldn't even want to imagine the amount of money spent bringing these Victorian homes back to life. The houses pictured here are directly across the street from our son's. The style of his home is quite different; more arts and crafts, which will lend itself nicely to their decorating style.
Kelly's parents joined us for dinner last night.....seriously, one would never need to cook here.....there seems to be 4 restaurants on every block. We had an amazing meal last night at nopa I'm not an inexperienced cook, yet I had a difficult time understanding about half of the meal descriptions, but trusting everything would be divine.....we all just took our best guesses when we ordered and were NOT disappointed. One of our appetizers was called "Little Fried Fishes"....the photo is a bit blurry, however you should get the idea. Those of us who grew up along the shores of Lake Michigan......think smelt! Yummy and not a bit fishy.
With all the fun and culture I've been enjoying......surely you must think we've given up our redecorating projects. NOT.....I oiled several pieces of wood furniture, and spent HOURS scrubbing off years of dirt from louvered doors. The prep work is now completed in our targeted room, and painting has begun.....we intend to hit it hard today. Chris has to fly to London on Monday and I head back home very early on Tues. morning......with that said.....I'm off to find a paint brush.
