Katie looking cute in front of Wurstküche. I would go here ALL THE TIME if I lived in L.A. Gourmet sausages (vegetarian sausages for me), belgian white truffle oil glazed fries, and like a zillion delicious german beers. I fell in love with the Koestritzer Schwarzbier. The giant sunshiny, lofty, chic space didn't hurt either. And it wasn't crowded.
We were totally full, but Katie wanted me to see Clifton's Brookdale so bad, we went there for dessert. Also in downtown L.A., it's a Cafeteria built in the 1930's decorated in a woodland lodge theme. There are waterfalls, animated stuffed woodland creatures, wall to wall scenic murals, trees, and a little chapel in a mountain. It used to be even more over the top. We were able see photo evidence of that and check out the place's history and artifacts in the banquet room on the third floor.
My tres leches was pretty good, too.
We ended the night drinking local beers and finishing off these seating card trees for the wedding. Katie's boyfriend gets bonus points for cutting out every one of those little leaves while watching Project Runway with us.
Before setting off for SF, we had breakfast at the cutest, tastiest, little outdoor cafe, The Trails, which is inside Griffith Park. The food (mushroom-cashew savory pie and iced coffee for me) was all veggie/vegan friendly and delicious. They had all kinds of baked goods with herbs and lavender in them. And I saw a coyote come out of the woods while we ate!
Our hotel in San Francisco: Good Hotel was pretty sweet. It's made mostly of reclaimed or recycled building materials, has this neat little sink that runs water when you flush the toilet so you can wash your hands before the water fills the toilet tank, and is a lot like staying inside a ReadyMade magazine. They are somehow affiliated with the magazine, because they have a ReadyMade vending machine in the lobby and I recognized some completed ReadyMade projects in the hotel's decor. Also in the lobby: a place where you can very easily sign up to volunteer locally, bicycles for borrowing, a photobooth, and a puppy channel on flatscreen.
Oh, and my room cost $89 a night. Brian and I once slept in our car in SF because the only affordable room we could find had literally 20-30 roaches crawling the walls.
The Wedding:
Sooo impressed with the D.I.Y. woodland-themed decor. Everything was cute and cozy and so very fitting for Callie and Jay.
The wedding was held in a lodge in the Berkeley Hills, The Brazilian Room.
Callie's dress, 1968 Bill Blass was actually featured on Good Morning America before she snatched it up.
They walked down the aisle to Thirteen by Big Star which obviously got everyone sobbing, except for Katie (singing Boogie Shoes in her head to prevent said sobbing).
The cake was uhhhmazing, especially loved the little owl couple/ bride and groom.
The centerpieces consisted of bunches of wildflowers, votives in Ball jars, little woodland creatures (I think from the couple's personal collection), moustaches on sticks (fun for everybody!), Katie's little potted, hand-embroidered table numbers, a silhouette of the couple in a vintage frame, and the favors which were antique keys in stamped pouches.
With D.J.s Carrie and Kylee rocking the house, the night was perfect.
I tried out two of the best brunch places while in SF, Foreign Cinema in The Mission, and a French Bistro The Butler and The Chef, Looooved The Butler and The Chef. Their pastries and quiche looked incredible.
Another good find: the fabric outlet in the Mission, found a bunch of great trim for my bags at insanely cheap prices.
On the road back to L.A. we stopped in Gilroy, The Garlic Capital, where we bought garlic ice cream and garlic lollypops at The Garlic Shoppe, a place which peddles all kinds of garlicy goods and Thai home decor? Also in Gilroy, tons of really great antique shops. I picked up this scary mid-century owl and little bear guy mounted on genuine California redwood.
We hit up a carnival in Soledad. Jeremy lost the gun game.
And, finally, we arrived at The Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. The Madonna Inn is a themed room hotel with some fantastic ornate vintage kitsch decor. I highly recommend clicking the link and checking out some of the guest suites. This is Katie's Favorite Place in The World. Since she wanted to pick up one of their signature goblets for her collection, we had a drink in their bar, where you can sit in these sweet vinyl club chairs and the sassy bartender will begrudgingly keep you in peanuts for the duration.
And that's where my trip pretty much ended with the onset of the virus from hell. But, good times, good times. Thanks to my hosts, Katie and Jeremy, and congrats to Callie and Jay!
