This past weekend I went to San Francisco to visit Ames, Brother Bear, the Twinwitts and Parker. Amy is one of my best friends from college, but we’ve actually known each other and been friends since elementary school. In college we were sorority sisters, roommates and roommates again after college for a summer in New York City. Rick aka Brother Bear (I have no idea why I started calling him that) is her husband who she met in Chicago while she was in law school. The Twinwitts are their five and a half month old boy-girl twin babies, Carter and Maddison or Maddie. The Twinwitt name comes from their last name Greywitt. Lastly, Parker is their four-legged fur baby who is the sweetest and most well behaved puppy.
I left Arizona on Friday night and got to spend a weekend living like a Greywitt. They live right outside the city in Marin County in the town of Larkspur. Their house is on Mount Tamalpais in the redwood forest. We call it the “tree fort” because that is literally what it is! It’s up in the trees on the side of the mountain with a creek in their backyard and a hiking path up to a waterfall.
If you’re ever in this area and want a few recommendations for restaurants and things to do, I highly suggest going to Magnolia Ave, which is the cutest “downtown” area. There are a lot of great walkable areas. On Magnolia Ave you’ll find the cutest boutiques, frozen yogurt, ice cream, coffee shops, healthy eating restaurants, Italian food, etc. Not too far from there in the neighboring town of Corte Madera is Metta Yoga, which is the yoga studio that Amy owns with her business partner, Rachael Koss. Amy has a very unique story about how yoga became a life passion. She is an Intellectual Property litigator and found yoga as a great spiritual and physical outlet to relieve stress, stay fit, and keep her grounded in life. She is pretty much superhuman – not only did she give birth to premature twins and nurse them to health with her husband and the support of their family and friends, but she also opened a yoga studio during her maternity leave with her business partner, which has been a dream of hers for years. I was able to go to a class on Saturday and again on Sunday to experience the friendly yoga practice that is Metta Yoga. It feels like family inside the modern studio. Almost as if you’re practicing at home. Or maybe it reminds me of my home because it’s painted grey and white, just like my house!
Other than yoga and hiking behind the tree house, we enjoyed a delicious dinner of rice bowls with poke at Pacific Catch, brunch at Farm House Local (I got the French toast and highly recommend it), lunch at Urban Remedy (mint and cacao chip protein shake and protein bar is where it’s at), coffee at Equator with house made cashew milk, and fro-yo at Mags Local Yogurt. We also cooked out at home and enjoyed dinner and wine on the porch. Pretty much all we did was eat, snuggle babies, practice yoga and drink wine. The best part, besides everything else I’ve already mentioned, is that I didn’t open my makeup bag once! It was the perfect weekend.
Have you ever explored outside of San Francisco? If not, I highly suggest staying in this part of town or somewhere nearby like Sausalito or Sonoma and driving through for a yoga class and brunch at least.
4 Comments
I love San Fran. Such a cool city with a ton of culture. I need to plan a trip back there sometime soon!
This looks like such a fun trip!
Allie | http://www.lunavidablog.com
What a fun trip! I used to live in the Bay Area and love San Francisco. And, your friend has a great story!
This looks like such a fun trip!