Outfit // San Francisco Deconstructed

Frame Le Garcon jeans | size 29
Vince Blair Sneakers | mine are haircalf, suede & perforated still available, size down 1/2 size
Madewell shirt | seems to be sold out online, but I’ve seen it in stores recently
Everlane Cashmere crewneck sweater | medium
MZ Wallace floral oxford medium tote | LOVE
Jerome Dreyfuss mini twee bag | fabulous city bag

Well. I’m officially old. I needed yesterday to “rest” from vacation, which I’ve never really had to do before unless we traveled to Europe or something. We were just in San Francisco for heaven’s sake!! Which was glorious, as usual. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that we literally ATE our way through the city. I never really felt like I was completely stuffed, or sick-feeling, and we did a lot of walking, but I definitely ate differently than I normally do, which probably contributed to my feeling of lethargy yesterday.

We started with scotch, “snacks” and the San Francisco sunset at the Top of the Mark bar at the top of the Mark Hopkins hotel on Nob Hill which is where we stayed. The next morning we enjoyed the breakfast buffet at the hotel where I commenced to eat EVERY SINGLE BERRY I could shove into my mouth. Along with some lox, sans bagel, and maybe a small danish or two to go with my coffee.

That’s pretty much how the days went until we left; the breakfast buffet at the hotel was heavenly. And I didn’t even crack the surface of how much was there, sticking to berries and a pastry or two, but my husband enjoyed the dumplings, bacon and various cold cuts. We also went to Pinkberry a couple of nights in a row, the Slanted Door for lunch (one of our favorite restaurants EVER), and a random place in Chinatown for dinner (which was not so good, very Americanized much to my husband’s chagrin). We ate burgers at Gott’s Roadside, and had ice cream at Humphry Slocombe.

Our Napa experience was perfect – the Wine Train was an amazing way to see the valley, and not have to worry about driving/parking/drinking along with everyone else who drove up on Saturday. We actually don’t drink very much at all (it takes me a week to drink a bottle of wine) so we weren’t going to go crazy anyway, but I suppose we could have considering that we weren’t driving.

I did do some shopping while we were there, but didn’t buy anything. I got a chance to stop in to Uniqlo and shop the Ines de la Fressange collection, which was nice, but not really my style. I did wish I’d purchased one of their ultra light down jackets while I was there though, I could have used it at night.

Jennine (from IFB) was gracious enough to pick me up and take me to Pacific Heights on Friday for a little wandering around, and we went into a few places I loved. And James Perse, where I tried on the long trench. Jennine tried it on first, and it was PERFECT on her (she and I are about the same height), so I gave it a go as well, and I loved it. It’s pretty expensive at full-price I think, but now that I’ve tried it on, I’ll keep an eye out for it on sale – it would be great for travel, cooler weather, etc.

Overall, we had a wonderful time, and honestly, I can’t wait to go back. We love to travel to cities and just take it all in as much as possible; walking everywhere, and just wandering. I was generally comfortable in what I took, but was cold at night. My light military jacket was great for day (along with a scarf), but I could have used a lightweight down jacket in the evenings. And gloves – my fingers were freezing, but I was also holding on to my Pinkberry for dear life to save it from the wind.

I didn’t wear all the tops I brought – three stayed in my suitcase – but I did end up wearing the leggings more than I thought I would. And I didn’t need cashmere in the city; I just wore it on the plane. I do wish I’d brought my Nike sneakers instead of my Vince sneakers – my shins were sore after so many days of walking hills – but I didn’t because I didn’t like them with my harem pants. Which I probably also shouldn’t have brought, since they’re not great for sitting/traveling and don’t do double-duty. So yes, I packed “heavily” this time for the trip, but since I used the compression bags I really didn’t need to worry about space at all.

My thoughts on the compression bags are still positive; my Madewell shirt made it through without getting very wrinkled. I know a few of you left comments on that they’d lead to over-packing and maybe extra weight, but I honestly don’t see how unless I buy/use a couple more. The two I bought (medium & small) were perfect, and kept everything manageable. I could have gotten everything I packed in to the compression bags into my carry-on anyway, I just wouldn’t have had room for much else. And since I always travel with a teeny-tiny carry-on bag, these will be great for me, especially if I remember what I’ve learned recently about packing less/more efficiently.

Oh, and I did discover why it’s nice to have an extra shirt – or at least not plan to wear tops more than once; I splashed myself with sauce from my spring rolls on Friday getting spots on my James Perse shirt. I didn’t plan on wearing that one again, thank goodness, because water wasn’t enough to get the spots out and I’ve not had great success with stain remover cloths.

I’ll do a more thorough review of the Jerome Dreyfuss bag later, but I was so happy with it this trip. Everything was organized and easy to get into. And the MZ Wallace bag was great for carrying on. I didn’t do a very good job of keeping my toiletries in check – I brought WAY too much. But more on that later also.