When I think of vacations, I think of out of the country trips. I rarely, nay… never, think of stay-cations. Staying in the area is actually a really relaxing getaway. I’m just a girl who’s always on the go, always booking up my weekends, and wanting to travel elsewhere.

My husband is the complete opposite. Ask him where his favorite vacation spot is, and he’ll tell you San Francisco… (we live in the Bay Area and that’s a 45 minute drive away).

Since he’s been traveling for work every week from Wednesday through Saturday, he was able to get Monday off. So stay-cation it was (which also meant fill our belly day)! We slept in and then set off to the city around 11am to catch a late lunch at Cotogna at 1:30pm. On our drive there, we decided we could just spend some time walking around the city.

First we went to Japantown for some fresh mochi at our favorite little shop called Benkyodo. The mochi is made fresh every day! When I first moved to San Francisco, MG and I came here every other weekend to buy mochi. My favorite ones are the fresh fruit ones – strawberry and blueberry. They are so soft like a baby’s belly, or clouds in heaven, or puppy paws. I think you get it… And I think you can tell I love mochi.

Then we found parking in the Financial District and set out on a delicious lunch date. The pasta is tasty. The steak though… Amazing. I’m very picky with my steaks (being from Texas and all), but I’m also a stickler for it being seasoned correctly. Many restaurants over-season their steaks, with sauce or butter. But simple is the best to get the yummiest steak taste. Anyway, Cotogna does it right though it comes with a hefty price of $95. Worth it for our stay-cation!

After lunch we drove over to my old neighborhood, Outer Richmond. We got a milk tea to share at Purple Kow. I kid you not, best milk teas. The line is usually out the door, in the cold, but thankfully it was 3:30pm and those high school kids are still just getting out of school. We got our orders in, sat around, and watched as the kids piled in.

Then we headed over to Ocean beach to sit around and enjoy the scenery. When I lived there, there were evenings that MG and I would just sit on the beach and drink some wine. I even brought dinner once to have a nice little beach picnic. One time we had too much caffeine, and we just ran along the shoreline for a good 15 minutes at night. Many memories are associated with Ocean beach, great memories.

We ended the evening with one of my favorite restaurants in the Bay Area, Shanghai House. I used to eat here at least once every 2 weeks. Every time my parents come to visit, it’s a must on the to-do list. Their xiao long baos are fan-fricken-tastic. And they make my favorite pan-fried pork buns (the best I’ve ever had). Their chicken wings are twice-fried. Every dish is so delicious and authentic. Promise me that if you’re ever in the Bay Area, you’ll try this small mom-and-pop shop out. Really delicious and hence that’s why it’s in my top 5 favorite restaurants ever.

Then at home, we put together a shelf for the garage and organized (so married life…). And when it was midnight, MG decided to start cleaning his keyboard, key by key. Great timing… I left him to it and 30 minutes later “Jay… I need help!” I find him sitting on the carpet, using his phone’s keyboard picture to try and place every key back together. Wife to the rescue!

That ends our stay-cation in SF. That’s also why I said this means that our bellies would be filled; we ate through the entire day!

This day date was a great reminder that it’s important for married couples to work on your relationships. Days seem collide together. First it’s me always on my phone. Then it’s MG always on his laptop. And that’s how you start to drift apart. It just happens and no one can be blamed. A day date was exactly what we needed, especially with him traveling so much now.

What are you favorite places to go in the Bay Area? Also, what do you do on a stay-cation (I need some ideas instead of eating my day away for our next one)?

Love and for food,
Jay