Niki's Parent's Visit: San Diego

It's taken me longer to publish this post than I originally thought because honestly, San Diego wasn't my favorite. They did have beautiful weather and it was great getting to spend time with my parents, but as far as cities go San Diego is low on the totem pole (in my humble opinion of course). Here's some pictures for you to enjoy.
Self-portrait down in Seaport Village
The skyline from the Coronado Bridge
The Del Coronado. They have this really cool back deck type thing facing the ocean. It has sea-walls (to block the wind) and cushy furniture with firepits all around--it's a great place to have a cocktail!

Sometime during the week we all went to the San Diego Zoo. Although Graham took tons of pictures of the animals--I'm only going to post my favorites.
Mom and I in front of the Flamingo's--Mom's favorite!
Awww..cute tigers
Polar Bear :)
Elephant Pedicure
I didn't get pictures (unfortunately) of Old Town, San Diego (where our hotel was located). Which is unfortunate because it was definitely really cute with lots of shops and restaurants. Also, we didn't get any pictures of La Jolla because our camera battery had died at that point. It's a beautiful beach where we saw the most gigantic Star Fish--If you are planning a trip to San Diego, La Jolla is a place that can't be missed!

Niki's Parent's Visit: San Francisco

Sorry I haven't been a more faithful blogger. The sad part is that it's not even like I haven't had fun things to blog about. For example, Graham's parents came to visit us last MARCH, and then I was in Virginia in July where I was able to spend some quality time with former roommates and college friends (LOVE them). AND my dad's "surprise" 50th birthday was also during that time where I saw a lot of my extended family and it was lots of fun!....but here we are...

I can not even begin to tell you HOW excited I was to have my parents visit. We have been living on the peninsula for 16 months now and this was their very first visit (They did come to Tahoe for skiing but that was 4 hours away and they didn't see where we lived)!! I even cried..and I mean CRIED when I found out they were not flying in until a day later than I originally thought (such a baby..I know...but they did change their flight [insert cheesy smile here]). Anyways..enough jibber-jabbering and onto the photos!

Friday evening mom and dad arrived and we took them to our favorite local restaurant "The Tied House" for a bite to eat and then onto the Giants game!
Going to the game was really fun AND a great idea because it kept my parents up until 11pm and helped them adjust quickly to "west coast time".

Saturday we went back up to the city and did the fun touristy things like ride a trolley down Hyde street (commonly known as the rice-a-roni street), fisherman's wharf, Ghiradelli Square, Union Square, and drinks at a speakeasy.

Dad taking a picture of himself on the trolley.
The four of us on the back of the trolley. The man taking the picture had to hurry to jump back on the trolley as it started moving while he was taking this picture.
Mother and daughter and Ghiradelli Square
Dad and Graham at fisherman's wharf observing the sea lions.
Mom petting a homeless guys bunny rabbit.
Dad's Bourbon flight at Bourbon and Branch. You're not allowed to take photos so this one was taken very hastily.

On Sunday we traveled once again to the city, but first we had breakfast at Alice's. Yum!
If you are a faithful reader of this blog you should know that last November I mentioned wanting to take my parents here. Well...here's the proof that I followed through.
Afterwards we went up to Haight-Ashbury, Golden Gate Park, the Marin Headlands, Moss Beach Distillery, and dinner at the Crab's Landing in Half Moon Bay. And as you will see it would have been better for me to wait to blog until I was able to access my parent's pictures...because I didn't take many this day. However, I was afraid that if I waited I would never blog.
Marin Headlands/Golden Gate Bridge
Higher up in the headlands.
Sunset at Moss Beach Distillery. If you have never been there for the sunset you should make sure you do it next time you're in the bay area! They have blankets and fireplaces outside, it's so cozy and romantic! The drinks are pretty good too!

Monday, I worked and my parents ran secret errands and then came and had lunch with me and Graham at Stanford. When I got home that evening I had a clean patio, patio furniture, and autumn decorations on the patio! It was soooo adorable and such a great gift because we have been wanting to get patio furniture since we moved in but have been slow to pull the trigger!! It was so sweet. I can't believe how hard they worked getting it done. Mom and Dad going to every store to find the perfect patio furniture and the perfect decorations! So cute!

Next up...the trip to San Diego!