A San Francisco Engagement

I’ve got an announcement today: I’m engaged! Here’s a little peek at our San Francisco engagement and whirlwind trip to the Golden Gate City a couple weeks ago! 

It’s been quieter around here lately, and if you read the title of this post, now you know why! I haven’t even shared a recap of our December trip to Nashville yet, but this seemed more pressing! I’ve been dying to tell you.

Chris and I got back last week from a 10-day long trip to California, most of which was spent on a work trip in Silicon Valley. At the start of our trip, we took 48 amazing hours to explore San Francisco, and I came home with something extra sparkly on my finger!

Getting engaged and married was something we had discussed, but part of the fun is never knowing when the question will be popped — right?

It was in the back of my mind that Chris might ask on this trip, but I didn’t want to psych myself out or ruin the surprise.

We arrived on a Friday night and enjoyed dinner at Uma Casa down the street from our Airbnb in Noe Valley.

Portuguese small plates and cocktails? Yes please. Best way to start the trip!

We focused this trip on touristy stuff. I’ve been to San Francisco before, and seen most of the “must-see” stuff, but it was Chris’s first visit, and he wanted to see a lot of the things he’s seen in movies and on TV. So that’s what we did!

Our first day we took the Muni from near our adorable Airbnb down to the Civic Center.

As we waited for a bus near the Asian Art Museum, some nice folks gave us their unused tickets, so we checked it out.

I’m usually a contemporary art museum kind of gal, so this was an unexpected but lovely stop. We probably wouldn’t have gone in if it weren’t for the kind strangers who offered us their tickets!

Next we explored Fisherman’s Wharf and Ghirardelli Square, and took in the sights. We grabbed a lunch of fish ‘n chips, because that’s what you do in this part of San Francisco.

Our bus that was headed to the Golden Gate Bridge (unbeknownst to me, to get engaged!) ended up going out of service early due to the Chinese New Year parade in Chinatown, so we never made it to the bridge by sunset.

Instead, we explored the Tenderloin District and grabbed cocktails at Rye and Tradition, and a ramen dinner at Katana-Ya.

Rye had amazing cocktails, but Tradition was my favorite. In lieu of booths, they had little private rooms, which was perfect for us to recant our day and plan for the next.

On Sunday, we had quite a checklist.

Mission-Dolores Park, check.
Painted ladies, check.
Mr. Holmes Bakeshop, check.
Chinatown, check.

I’ve been to a few Chinatowns across the country, but San Francisco is my favorite.

They were having a festival for Chinese New Year this weekend, so the colors were vibrant and the decorations were out-of-this-world.

We got bubble tea (my fave!) at Boba Guys and headed on to the Golden Gate Bridge. This time for real.

Once we got the bridge, we grabbed a snack and started snapping photos and video of the bridge. So majestic and strong.

(I should add here: Chris is working on a montage video of this trip, which I’ll definitely share soon! Perks of marrying a videographer, I guess! Normally I’d share that with the recap blog post, but we’ve only been home a week and we haven’t had time to put it together. Soon, I promise!)

Though I’ve seen it up close before, it was even more magical this time. I was 18 when I last visited SF, and I can appreciate the architecture much better at 28.

What a feat to build this bridge without modern technology! Incredible.

So here’s where the feels come in. Ready?

I was ready to head to dinner in Sausalito, but Chris tried to talk me into walking down a hill to get more photos.

Surprisingly? I didn’t want more photos. My friends have been laughing at this part, because I never ever EVER balk at the opportunity to take more photos.

But my feet were hurting, so I shocked Chris when I told him I didn’t want to climb down a steep hill with him. He took it in stride, went down the hill and stopped at an overlook to grab more photos.

He came up the hill and said, “Susannah, there’s a really gorgeous view from down here. You’re going to want to get a shot from this angle.”

So I caved. I slowly treaded down the hill, toward the picnic table Chris had claimed for his backpack.

I stood at the edge of the overlook, snapping photos with my DSLR camera and phone, and whipped back around in time to see Chris put his hand — holding a small black box — behind his back.

And that’s when he got down on one knee, said some romantic things, opened the box to display a sparkly ring and asked me to marry him. The sky at that moment began to turn shades of periwinkle and lilac — my favorite sunset colors.

And that’s when I teared up and said, “Of course! Yes!”

Ahhh, you guys. The best moment ever. The most perfect spot. (Chris gets the last laugh because it was totally worth it to climb down that steep hill!)

We sat at the picnic table for a while and phoned our parents and grandmothers, then trekked off to the gift shop for a couple souvenirs before dinner.

After possibly the craziest cab ride of my life, to Sausalito, we treated ourselves to a champagne toast at The Joinery, a cute little restaurant right on the water.

We spent most of this outing calling our families and friends (who were on Eastern Time) and telling them all about our San Francisco engagement, but it was actually great timing so we could enjoy our dinner uninterrupted.

Dinner was pizza and tiramisu at Sandrino, which has about four or five tables total. Tiny!

It was the cutest Italian eatery, and it so reminded me of a trip to Italy I took with my mom and sister. Just perfect. Dessert was tiramisu, and it’s one of a few photos from our outing to Sausalito! (Most likely because I was just too giddy and excited to care — and also my phone was dying. UGH.)

The next morning, we headed down to Silicon Valley for work, so that was the end of our whirlwind engagement weekend! It was absolutely perfect.

I’ll keep you posted on wedding plans as they happen (there are none so far!) but for now, thank you for being excited for us and reading all about our SanFrancisco engagement.

I turn 29 today, and I have to say that finding my guy has been the greatest joy of my life so far. We are so happy! <3 // susannah