After gorging ourselves silly near Fisherman's wharf, we came back to the hotel and rested for a while.  Then, we got the bright idea to go get mani-pedis...Millie's first time.  I swear, I've never seen her smile so wide and for so long.  She was in utter shock throughout the whole process.  It was obvious by the look on her face that she felt VERY Hollywood!  The ladies at Lux Salon were very sweet, and their location is smack dab in the middle of everything.  Super cheap, too...especially considering how long they rubbed my feet and that they touched Bobby's hooves at all!

Next on the list?  Head to North Beach (our favorite span of Italian restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and other hot spots that pay homage to the Beats) for some grub.  We decided to hit up Panta Rei, our consistent top pick.  Where else can you get authentic Italian food, free tiramisu, and witness a waiter and a bartender tangle in a fistfight, spouting expletives in Italiano?  Can't get that back home in McKinney, that's for damn sure.

On the way back, we used our pampered peds to trapse through Chinatown.  We definitely found a recurring theme:  SALE!  Every single store seemed to be having the sale of a lifetime, but we weren't buyin' it.  Our personal favorite?  The Retirement Sale.  Also weird?  Ya never know who you'll run into.  This time?  A white Obama and Santa.  Gotta love the city.  All of that in ONE NIGHT...oh, holy night, in this photographer's world.

If I could build the perfect day, it would definitely involve seafood and chocolate.  Thank heavens for Pier 39 and it's neighbor Ghirardelli, as my dreams came true.  Yeah, I've been to both places several times, but I got to do it with my man and my kid and that made the experience ten times sweeter.  Clam chowder and sourdough and chocolate peppermint sundaes, oh my!  We probably should have walked back to Union Square after eating all of that, but it was freezing, so we wussed out and took a cab after waiting for a cable car for 30 minutes.

Sorry for the random non-Pier 39 images at the bottom, but that car was just far too bitchin' to NOT photograph, AND one of my neighborhood besties is a chica named Natalie who is obsessed with antiques, so...that one was another shot that begged me to take it.  I gave it no mercy.  Karate Kid style.  Sweep the leg.

So...this is the last post of the year for me.  I'm slowly but surely working on a 2009 favorite images slideshow, but it will be done in 2010, peeps.  Gotta get my party on.  Nobody likes a boring photographer, right?

My favorite day-time adventure spot in SF?  Easily (I'm talking HANDS DOWN), Chinatown.  I couldn't wait to take Mills there.  I was absolutely chomping at the bit just to witness her reactions to every nook and cranny of the place.  She didn't disappoint.

Bobby and I decided to take her for dim sum and also walk around through the markets on Stockton and the touristy gift shops and jewelry stores on Grant.  We loved the people to the crazy good almond cookies to the strangest vegetables we've ever seen.  It was like being in a foreign country, but safe.  Gotta love that in the wake of the flight dramatics of last week.

And if you are wondering, my fortune already came true (a week after we got back) and I have an inkling that Millie's will happen one day.  If you know her, you can vouch for me!

After all of the rain and the sleepless night (getting used to the clanging of the trolley and the endless honking), we were more than ready to swing from the chandelier.  However, it was STILL raining.  We played a little and kept checking out our surroundings.

Too bad, so sad that we got to our favorite city and IT WAS RAINING.  Bummer.  However, when we Meffords are handed grapes, we freakin' make champagne, y'all, and we were on that cable car in no time. 

We made good use of the hours it was raining by shopping at all of the supah hip stores around our hotel (Hotel Union Square---the kids suite was the coolest evah).  Check out Millie's new beret, courtesy of my poor choice of hats at H&M.  She loves it when I give her hand-me-downs!  If I do say so myself, she rocks it like a hurricane.