San Francisco with the cousins

We spent last Saturday in San Francisco with my sister Kathy, her husband Mike, and their two kids. We had a blast walking all over Union Square. We darted in and out of shops looking for the best Christmas decorations. Of course we did a little shopping, too. The Paul Frank store was definitely a hit with the kids.

Our first stop was Macy's. We were all quite impressed by the large, shiny red balls hanging in the entrance to Macy's. We ooed and aaah'd as we went up the escalator trying to find Santa. Once you get to the top floor (where Santa is) you can go up one last escalator to the Cheesecake Factory (inside Macy's) and go on a deck outside! It's pretty cool.

We all posed in the big window in front of all the beautiful Christmas decorations and experienced a bit of vertigo as we pressed our noses against the glass and looked down.

The best part for the girls?? Trying on glittery Ivanka Trump stilettos that were not on the sale rack. eeeks! After that I said "don't touch" about a hundred times. "Look with your eyes!" I kept reminding her. "Then why are you touching things?" she asked. "'Cuz I'm the mommy." Smarty pants.

Ivanka Trump Stilettos

I don't think they're ready for these shoes.

Remember the movie Elf? Yep. We watched it the night before.

We made quite the grand entrance at Neiman Marcus with the kids going round-and-round-and-round in the revolving door. Lucky for us there are other people out there that have seen Elf, so we were safe. In fact, they actually smiled as we walked in. Impressive for Neiman's.

We checked out their giant tree, even going up a few floors into the restaurant so we could pose for photos near the top! My sister and I drooled over the beautiful clothes, shoes and Christmas decorations as we zipped up and down the escalator.

Hi, enjoying your high tea? Don't mind me. Just getting a picture.

After a quick swoop through the huge Nike store we walked to Chinatown for lunch. Don and I wanted to take them to House of Nanking for some authentic Chinese food. It was a great lunch. I'm not sure my niece and nephew would completely agree with that statement, but my sister and brother-in-law seemed to enjoy the experience. It's definitely not like the Chinese food you eat in the burbs.

Chinatown in SF.

The House of Nanking is crowded, cluttered and the waitstaff can be a little, shall we say, short when it comes to serving? They were very nice to us - very accommodating and quite funny!

We sampled a bunch of stuff. That's the best way to do it. Some dishes take a little longer to prepare than others and they don't wait for everything to be ready before serving. They serve them as they're ready. So the best way to eat there is to serve everything family style and just start passing plates around as food arrives.

Our tasting menu:

Fried Pork Pot Stickers

Onion Cake

Steamed Dumplings

Sesame Chicken

Beef and Mushroom dish (special of the day)

House Noodles

Blossom Tea

House Noodles

Beef and Mushroom

This is what you get if you ask for hot sauce.

This is all that is left of the Sesame Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

Elli loved the Sesame Chicken. Maya, her cousin, is looking on saying "Ewwww." She was not very adventurous and spent the meal hugging her plate until the white rice arrived. Poor baby missed out on all the good stuff.

Blossom Tea (it blossoms right before your eyes in the mug.)

If you're ever in SF I highly recommend a visit. They prefer cash. But don't worry, if you forget your cash there are plenty of ATMs close by.

After lunch we wandered all over Chinatown going in a bunch of the crazy tourist stores. The kids were on a mission to find knit animal hats. Elli found hers and was dancing around the sidewalk like a proud peacock. We're not entirely sure what the animal is. But it sure is cute, and she loves it.

Silly monkeys.

The girls loved the Joe's Jeans store. Not sure the dude's there felt the same way.

The street performer captivated the crowd, and the girls.

Me and my honey bunny.

That's it! So glad my sister has a new iPhone 4G with an awesome camera, because I forgot my camera. DOH!! All these pictures are from her. YAY!  Thanks, Kathy!!!

Come back soon! The pink canopy room with the view of Mt. Tam is ready anytime.