I've been meaning to show you guys around our new place for months now, but if you've ever moved across the country (or even just down the street) then you probably know how easily days become weeks when you're getting settled.

Our place in California is a lot smaller than the house we were in last summer, but it's close to the same size as our first apartment in Charlotte, so even though it initially felt like we were downsizing a bit, all of our stuff fits really nicely. We bought a new piece for the entryway (a nice tall white cabinet that holds all of our shoes) and some curtains once we arrived, but other than that we just stuck with the stuff we've been collecting over the past few years. The only things on our living room wishlist were an upgraded coffee table (we've had the same $10 one from IKEA for quite some time now), an area rug, and to somehow fit more seating in (other than the couch we only have my grandmother's/Ender's chair when people come over).

Early this year, Hayneedle was so kind as to send us a few lovely pieces to finish off the ol' wish list: this gorgeous chair with an ottoman, this beautiful and cozy rug, this sweet table set, and this super soft throw which I think ties everything together perfectly!

I've always gravitated toward neutrals when it came to furniture and decor, so the pops of color that kept coming through really surprised me as our living room started taking shape. Color-coding my bookshelf felt really silly at first but now I think it adds a really lovely brightness to the otherwise grey, white, and black space. I really like the combination of neutrals with a super colorful wall of books, especially next to my grandma Eileen's baby blue chair.

My cousin Ashley gave us the R&M wall hanging, which her husband made for us as a wedding gift; and my sister-in-law found that Where the Wild Things Are crown and sent it to me. I really love all the little details in our living room--they're what make it my favorite spot in the house for sure. (And let's not forget that sweet little pup who's always looking for an afternoon snuggle on the couch every day! Oh Ender--what are we going to do with you?)

Hayneedle sent me the items I linked to in exchange for a mention in this blog post. Thank you for supporting the brands that make content like this on Freckled Italian possible.

We're just far enough away from San Francisco that we don't go super often, but we're close enough that we really could spend more time there (it's only 45 minutes without traffic); so this weekend we decided to put Ender in daycare and spend the day in the city.

I don't think I'll ever really feel like I know my way around, mostly because it's just such a huge city but also because there are so many places to go, eat, and see that I've only been to a fraction of them so far, but Rob and I do have our favorite places that we always make time for every visit. We went to a couple new ones on Saturday, so I thought I'd make a list of our favorites.

• We always go straight to the Mission for croissants at Tartine Bakery. I'm sure you've heard of this place already because it's pretty famous, but seriously--it's worth the trip. Sometimes I feel like I could go into the city, stop at Tartine, and head right back home and it would have been worth the drive.
• We get our treats from Tartine to go and walk to a coffee shop--usually Ritual but this time Four Barrel. My other favorite coffee shop is Sightglass, although I haven't been to the one in the Mission.
• After we were properly caffeinated we walked back in the direction of the bakery to spend some time in Mission Dolores Park. There are benches everywhere, or you can bring a blanket and lounge in the grass--in the morning there are always a ton of off-leash dogs playing, and in the afternoon people come out in droves to hang out in the sun. It's such a fun spot.

Some other favorite spots in the Mission:

• Trick Dog: Amazing cocktails, really good food. We didn't go this time but I love having dinner there if I'm in the city later.
• Bi-Rite Market: One of the sweetest little grocery shops I've ever been to. Across the street is Bi-Rite Creamery, which has amazing ice cream (get the black sesame if they have it). 

• After watching the pups play in Mission Dolores park, we decided to really take a walk and strolled through The Castro on our way to The Painted Ladies. The Castro is another favorite spot of mine, and The Panhandle is super gorgeous along the way.
• We sat in the park in front of The Painted Ladies for a while before deciding to Uber back to the Mission for some tacos. There are tons of spots to choose from but we decided to go to Tacolicious--they have great margaritas and I really like their queso dip. The tacos are way more filling than I think they're going to be and we always end up ordering too many--I've found that one is actually all I need if I'm having chips and guac or queso, too.
• After lunch we found our car and headed to the Ferry Building, which is one of my favorite places. We walked through all the stores (you have to check out Heath Ceramics--so gorgeous) before meeting up with one of Rob's coworkers at a brewery in North Beach.

Then we headed back down to the South Bay, picking up our very tired pup on the way!

There are so many other places I love in the city, and even more that I haven't experienced yet, but these are just some of the ones that I always plan to go to whenever I'm nearby. Sometimes I have doctors appointments in the city and I always just try get in and then get out, but I want to start slowing down a bit and take myself out to coffee or lunch more often! 

As usual, I posted plenty of photos on Instagram, so if you want to check those out, you can right here.

If you have any San Francisco favorites, I want to hear them! My list of places to visit is never-ending and I kind of like it that way.

Rob, Ender, and I went to Lake Tahoe for a few days this weekend and had the best time. It was so nice to spend a few days together with no real plans other than skiing, eating, watching Harry Potter on TV, and relaxing by the fire or in the hot tub. We don't travel with Ender very often, but it's always so fun when we do--he got to go on lots of walks and especially loved jumping in the snow.

Here are a few details from our trip, in case you ever plan on visiting South Lake Tahoe:

• Where we stayed: A magical little cabin we found on Airbnb--use this link to get $40 off your first stay. The place was perfect--a little pet-friendly studio apartment with a fireplace and a hot tub in an adorable neighborhood just a few minute walk away from a couple of restaurants. The listing has old photos so I was expecting a dumpy little place, but they've done some decorating and updated the TV recently so we were pleasantly surprised at how charming the place was.
• Where we skied: Heavenly. It was, well, heavenly. I used to ski several times a year but haven't been in a long time. These slopes were amazing--the intermediate ones were perfectly long and wide and had gorgeous views. We went on a Friday and luckily the slopes weren't too crowded. Also, you can't beat the gondola ride up the mountain. 
• Where we ate: 
  • Bear Beach Cafe: We walked here from the house and it was great. The food was delicious and the portions were so large that we brought home half of our entrees for the next day. Everything comes with a warm, fresh muffin that was worth the gluten.
  • Blue Dog Gourmet Pizza: After a day of skiing, all we wanted to do was get dinner delivered and hang out in the hot tub, so that's exactly what we did. Rob got a pepperoni pizza and I had the gluten-free pesto chicken pizza. They were great. Somehow we wound up with free cinnamon sticks but they weren't great so we ignored them (ever since we adopted keto, we want our carbs to be super worth it).
  • Tamarack Lodge (at Heavenly): We had lunch on the mountain the day we skied. The food was really good but super expensive (two beers, a bowl of chili, a burger, and garlic fries were $63)--next time we'll probably bring some granola bars or something.
  • Free Bird Cafe: This place is the tiniest coffee shop I've ever been to. They make their own chai and the whole place smells amazing. There's nowhere to sit, so be ready to take your drink to go. I got a dirty chai and Rob got a regular latte. The cafe is next to a sweet looking diner that we're planning to hit up on our next visit.

We ended up having to leave a day early because there was a big winter storm coming and we didn't want to get stuck, but two nights was better than no nights! We're definitely going to be back next year (and maybe even this summer). 

Do you ever visit Tahoe? I'd love to hear your favorite spots so I can add them to my list for next time!