By the time this post finds its way to your inbox, we will (hopefully!) already have arrived in the city by the bay. How beautiful is San Francisco? This city holds a special place in my heart. Eric surprised me with a trip there for my birthday when we first started dating. It was our first vacation together as a couple. It will be amazing to return now, 8 years later, as a family unit with our tiny human in tow.

While Eric works, Miss Avery Etta and I will be SF Girls by Day, exploring the city and discovering the bay area and all it has to offer. Since we already did a lot of the touristy attractions back in the day, I'm feeling like we can skip most of them (Alcatraz with a baby? No thanks!) in exchange for some unique neighborhood gems and inspiration. But however touristy, I insist on taking Avery to see the snuggling sea lions at Pier 39. And possibly following that up with lunch at In-n-Out. Yes, I will be feeding my child nibbles of an Animal Style burger - sorry I'm not sorry.

And please Please PLEASE let Miss Avery sleep on the plane tonight, for everyone's sake. But especially so mommy can crack open this beautiful candy-colored confection of a book by one of my favorite bloggers, Victoria Smith of SF Girl By Bay. Even though we just did a thorough clean out of our books in attempt to become more minimalist at Le Petit A.P.T. (see previous post The Next Phase), this was one I just knew I had to physically have on my bookshelf.

If we can see San Francisco through the rose-colored lens of this SF Girl then we'll be very happy campers. (Great podcast interview by Jess Lively of Victoria Smith and the making of this book here).

Below, our SF must-see list... a conglomeration of suggestions from friends, family (and ourselves!) in no particular order.

Alamo Square Park (Everywhere ya look, everywhere ya look...)

And, we gotta take a cable car. At least once. For Avery.

So, how do you Frisco? Are we missing anything major? I'm all ears to your suggestions on what we should hit up + skip. (And on how to fly a toddler across the country without anyone having a nervous breakdown). Please leave some advice in the comments below!

~L.S.

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