Restaurant Group // The Stinking Rose

Res•tau•rant Group | groõp | noun
a number of people who gather once a month to partake of delicious and unique foods and sometimes even babies.

First Documented Stop: The Stinking Rose/San Francisco
Type of food: GARLIC
Atmosphere: Dark (hence no inside pics), full of character and old bw pictures of famous people.
Biggest Surprise on the menu: 40 clove garlic chicken
Approximate number of days the smell lingered: 2
Was it worth it: Heck yes
Favorite item: the garlic relish to dip your rolls in
Best Part: Watching my husband hold cute baby Vivian and hanging out with good friends.

Next Stop: Chicken and Waffles. TONIGHT!

Anniversary Day Trip: Palo Alto

We had a late contender in our options for our anniversary day trip, Palo Alto! Home of Stanford university.

The highlights:
-Eating brunch in a little cafe downtown.
-People watching and spotting a Kate Middleton look alike. Alden even said she looked like a princess... thanks babe, happy anniversary to you too! ;)
-Shopping and blowing our entire anniversary budget at Gap. what the?!
-Trying Sprinkles cupcakes for the first time. Not sure they lived up to all the hype but I think Alden is more of a cupcake critic than I am!
-Walking around Stanford University and dreaming about college life. Their campus is gorgeous you guys!
-Being REALLY hot and wishing for one little moment that we would have gone to the beach instead.
-Eating fish and chips on the sidewalk at a French cafe for dinner. YUM!

Overall the day was a success and sometimes flying by the seat of your pants is the best way to live life. Thank you for such a fun day Alden!

wear//there//san francisco

chambray top (bought mine at F21) | shoes | bag (bought mine at jcpenney of all places!) | pants (bought mine from F21) | necklace | t-shirt | picture by my sister Branae

A few weeks ago my mom and sister came for a visit. Of course we HAD to go shopping (because that's what girls do best) so I thought it would be fun to feature some of the clothes that I picked up.

San Francisco is SO chuck full of things to do. I love taking weekend adventures to the city because we can always do something different. I think it will take a lifetime before we have done it all.
Some of my favorite things to do in San Francisco...

• Rent electric bikes and ride along the bay to the bridge (or even across the bridge if you are feeling up to it).

• Go to the Ferry Building and enjoy the fresh food from the market, live music, and beautiful views. Click here to see some pictures from when Alden and I went.

• Go to Hayes Valley and walk through the fun boutiques. Stop at Miette and get a treat and go to Absinthe for some French onion soup.

• Visit the Mission District. They have awesome vintage shops there and a really cool taxidermy place called Paxton Gate (with a unicorn!). We also had the most DELICIOUS breakfast at Luna Park and yummy Mexican food for lunch.

• Ride the trolley's. The very first date Alden and I had in the city we rode the trolley's to and from dinner at Frascati. I will never forget seeing the city light up that way. Magical!

Weekend Getaway pics

We had a fabulous time on our weekend getaway to the city. We stayed in the heart of Union Square at Hotel Union Square, hailed a cab to a delicious French dinner with live jazz at Cafe Claude and shopped around Union Square for the evening.

My absolute FAVORITE part of our getaway was on Saturday when we walked down to the Ferry Building Marketplace and enjoyed delicious food, live music on the pier, and people watching. Thank you Oh Happy Day for this awesome recommendation. I cannot wait to go back!

And thank you to my sweet husband, Alden. I can't think of anyone I would rather spend the weekend with.

We're Moving!

Because of the recent passing of Alden's father we have decided that we need to move to California. Instead of looking at this in a negative way, Alden and I have chosen to see the positive. We are going to get involved in the family business and carry on the legacy of Jon Aikele. While we are sad to leave Hawaii and the friends we have made here we see this as an opportunity to learn and grow. We have a big year ahead of us but we are excited for the doors that have been opened. Alden will continue in his degree via web or night classes and once we get settled I can look into getting a job doing something I love!

Stay tuned for our adventures in the San Francisco area!

San Fran

One day I hope to live in San Francisco, because that is where my honey is from and because it is an amazing city filled with delicious food, culture, and sites. If that day was today then Alden and I would be going to this show. Why? Because who doesn't love art and cake! And what is better than the marriage of the two?!
Click here for more about the show.