San Francisco Day 3: A Shopping Odyssey

Today was set aside primarily for shopping. We woke fairly early, and lounged for a bit before heading out to the stores. Our first stop was Saks. I fell in love with a beautiful silk chiffon skirt made up of black and silver layers. I don't recall the designer's name, but I wasn't about to drop almost $400 on a skirt.

Our next stop was at Tiffany's. I am trying to pick a wedding band, and I saw three I liked. I am horrible at making decisions. After that we began the hunt for a restaurant to get hungry hubby fed. He checked around while I checked out Kate Spade (nothing much interests me in her summer collection). He came back with a croissant and the dismal news that there weren't really an eateries in Union Square. We continued on to Kenneth Cole and Neiman Marcus, then down a narrow street in a hunt for Marc Jacobs. We couldn't find it, but did find a couple of tiny little cafes. Hubby turned down the first one, saying it looked too "frou frou." The second one caught his attention - it had a stereotypical French man playing accordion out front.

After lunch we headed to Nordstroms, which had the single worst shoe department I had ever been to. We grabbed a cab and headed to Ghiradelli Square. We went to the Ghiradelli store, saw them make chocolate and shared a banana split at the Ghiradelli ice cream shoppe. We wandered around for a few minutes, then realized there was NOTHING else at Ghiradelli square. By this time hubby's feet were blistered to the point of being bloodied, and he was exhausted from three days straight of walking, so we hailed a cab and went back to the hotel. Hubby stayed at the hotel for the evening, and I went back to Union Square for more shopping!

I started out at Macy's. They had a HUGE shoe floor - my jaw dropped. I picked up a pair of plum suede Coach pumps that I had been eyeing for a while (they are my new favorite shoes - keep checking SporkFashion.com for photos and review.

After Macy's I went to H&M for the first time ever. Several people have told me I would love H&M... these people are not my friends any more. It was miserable. THe clothing was mostly awful, very very cheap (not just inexpensive-cheap, but cheap-cheap). The store was messy and disorganized, the music was horrendous techno, the staff was rude and obnoxious - much like the horrible teenaged clientele. There was a 20 minute long line to try clothing on, and a similar line to check out. I did end up with a cute orange skirt and a really cheap black beaded bracelet.

I shopped more, hitting up Paul Frank, Lush, DSW, Loehmann's (and almost buying Kate Spade feathered shoes at 70% off, but decided that I didn't need MORE shoes - besides, the feathers were ruffled and messy looking). Oh and I finally found Marc Jacobs (they didn't have the shoes I wanted). I damn near collapsed when I finally made it back to the hotel.

After a long, hot shower, hubby and I took a cab to the Richmond area to meet a couple of old friends for dinner. We sat at a cafe while waiting for a table, then went and had one of the best meals I have ever had - a tiny hole-in-the-wall Burmese place. Burmese food is kind of like Chinese/Indian fusion. It was fantastic. From there we went to a Mexican restaurant with an extensive tequila bar. Hubby and friends had tequila and margaritas; I stuck to water and chips n' salsa.

And so concludes day 3 of our San Francisco adventure. Tomorrow: dim sum and home sweet home.