Happy Thanksgiving! Happy turkey day! Happy gobble gobble day! Thanksgiving is a day to give gratitude. I wanted to give my gratitude before spending the day with my family.
To SALLY♡THINGS readers & supporters: I wanted to thank all of the SALLY♡THINGS readers & supporters. I’m very thankful to have this group of support and love. It means more than you know. I’m very blessed to have supporters who inspire me, supporters who help me, supporters who listen and read my content, supporters who motivate me. It has not been a content filled year, but you’re all still here waiting for the next post. Thank you for being there for me, when I am not. ♡
To my friends: To my closet friends all the way to just regular friends, old friends and new. I could thank you over and over and over for the next million years. I have the most supportive friends. The love from my friends has saved me from many, many hopeless days. You help ground me, but also help me live more. You stop me from doing stupids things, but also help me do those stupid (but good) things. This year, I’ve gotten many random messages, tags, phone calls from lots of people that included check ins, random compliments, silly jokes, serious conversations, motivational quotes, memes, etc. They all helped me more than you will ever know. Thank you for taking time out of your life to be apart of mine.
To my family: Thank you for loving me the way you do. I am nothing without the love of my family. The times spent together is always the best. I promise that I will do better with being more present.
To love: Thank you for the time spent together. Thank you for the love, I will hold on to it. Our time spent together as a small unit is all I ever want out of life. I’m thankful to be able to grow with love.
To my work: Read the friends portion as well because it also applies. I’m at work almost 24/7, so I spend most of my days with all of you. I’m thankful for that, I have made new friends and reconnected with old ones, I have made real connections and had so many laughs, work is never boring. My position can be very stressful, but knowing that I have a great team really helps with that. We’ll get through it all together.
To me: I’m thankful for being able to feel, to be able to sit with myself, to be alive. I’m thankful for my life and I will always strive to live my best life. There’s many days where I hold love and pain in the same place and I still come out soft, understanding and loving. There’s so much more, but I can’t find the right words. I’m just thankful that I still have room to grow, heal, and love.
I will now stop being so mushy and start my last minute grocery shopping. I am making deviled eggs for the first time today, so let me get focused on that. Again, I’m very thankful for those in my life. Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!
Hello SALLY ♡ THINGS readers! If you follow me on any social platforms, you might have noticed that I have been out more and doing more solo. Lately, I have been pushing myself to do more things solo and forcing myself outside of my comfort zone. This has been something that I’ve been working on for years and years now. When I turned 30, something really clicked and I just see life in a new perspective. I get to be “selfish” by standing on my boundaries and choosing better. You only get older, so live your best life. Stop holding yourself back. One of the best advice I ever got was to date yourself. ♡
My original plans did not work out, but instead of just staying home I decided to make new plans. The week of, I decided to buy Jonas Brothers concert tickets in Detroit. I am a long time fan of the Jonas Brothers, ever since 2005/06. I’m very blessed that I have the privilege of being able to do things so last minute. I took this day to date myself. I explored, adventured, spoiled myself and got to sing and dance my heart out to the Jonas Brothers. I have only been to Detroit a couple times and never have I’ve driven or really explored the area, so this was very brand new adventure for me. Come explore the east side of Michigan with me!
My first stop of the day was two hours away to Moose Pastry & Tea in Novi, Michigan. Moose is a pastry shop that has tons of buns and sandwich-like options. I’m never really on the east side of the state, but when I find myself over here I try to grab some goodies. My go to buns are the Garlic Hotdog Bun, Moose, Doraemon, and Piggy (Buta). The pastries are all a good size and price! I believe all the buns I got were only $3 each. I bought a bag full to take home with me.
Garlic Hotdog Bun:Filled with hotdog and pork floss (dried, shredded pork) topped with garlic butter
Moose: Our signature animal! Filled with blueberry cream cheese richness.
Doraemon:Come and test our ability to recreate the famous Japanese manga character, Doraemon. This delicious pastry has a creamy custard filling and a cherry on top
Piggy (Buta): Our strawberry jam filled bread is the perfect reason to PIG out
Down the street from Moose is this place called MIRAI – Coffee, Bubble Tea, and Stationery. Yes, it has all those things plus more! I was surprised at how much seating they have for the cafe side. They also had a lot of gashapon machines and a decent amount of mini claw machines! I got a hot vanilla latte to keep me going, it was an early morning & late night day. I also won two little plushies from the mini claw machines. I couldn’t resist!
I was all over the east side of the state. My next stop was to OVERRATED in Clinton Township, Michigan. The store is located in The Mall at Partridge Creek. I found this store on tiktok and everyone kept saying that they had tons of blindboxes, so you know I made sure to visit. I bought a Sanrio fruit keychain plush blind box and a snowglobe Studio Ghibli blind box. Let’s say I was very satisfied with my pulls! Can we get an OVERRATED over on the west side? They also sell authentic Labubus, Sonny Angels and Smikis. OVERRATED really does have it all!
Not the final destination, but the final city. HELLO DETROIT! (located midtown Detroit) At this point I was on the road more than I was visiting places. There’s a lot of construction happening on that side of the Michigan, but what’s new? 40 minutes later, I made it to Hihi, a super cute store with all the Sanrio plushies and merch that you can think of. At Hihi, they have some items that were only released Japan or Korea, so it was very cool to see those items in person! They sell more than just Sanrio, like Bearbricks, Toki Doki, Pusheen, Pokemon, etc. The prices here are a little higher, but you do have to consider the out of country items and how much it cost for them to get them here.
What is a solo date without a nice wine and dine? Choosing where to eat was a challenge for me because Downtown Detroit has so many good places to choose from and let’s face the real fact, I’m a girl. It’s very true. We have a hard time deciding what we want to eat! I wanted to splurge on myself and try something new. We live to eat and not eat to live, right? I decided on Experience Zuzu for: 1) easy parking 2) menu items and 3) aesthetic. Parking was pretty easy, even with the blocked roads for a jazz festival and all the construction going on downtown. I was having cravings for a really good steak or lamb chops, which all three options had, but what really caught my eye was the Sailor Moon Mai Tai. I’m a sucker for cute things. Since I’m a sucker for cute things, I saw photos of the interior of Experience Zuzu and knew they would be the place I would eat it.
Experience Zuzu has a very fun vibe the moment you walk in and it was perfect to get me concert ready. There’s lots of reds, golds, and metallics. I sat at the bar and was blown away at the set up. I bartend myself, so I LOVE seeing how other bars are at other places. The bar itself, like the table, has built in LED lights and the table changes colors as you eat. The music they play is the perfect mix of edm house, it was a great time. I got the Sailor Moon Mai Tai, which came in a cute Artemis cup; the Waygu Beef Gyoza, 10/10, very rich in flavor and melts in your mouth; and the Prime Miso Lamb Chops, full of flavor and tender. I would recommend Experience Zuzu, so if you’re ever in downtown Detroit area give them a try!
Prime Miso Lamb Chops: Tableside Grill Presentation, Red Onion + Mint Salad, Pickled Cucumber, Shishito Pepper, Fingerling Potatoes, Miso Anticucho Sauce
Before heading to theJonas Brothers concert, I drove and ran around downtown to try to find a portable battery because my phone was dying and my car charger takes forever to charge. That was the adventure of my life because why did I have to go to FOUR different locations until I found a power bank? I even got a parking ticket, RIP. Nothing like being stressed right before a show, right? This caused me to get to Little Cesars Arena a lot later than I wanted to be and I still had to find out parking around the arena.
I’m not sure if you guys are aware, but this Jonas20: Greetings From Your Hometown Tour is super important because not only is this their 13th tour, but it also celebrates their 20 year anniversary as a band! It’s a huge milestone, especially since the band broke up for a bit. If you love them, you know how it is. As I was in line for their specialty drink, Boys Like Girls were closing out with ‘The Great Escape’. It took me back to middle school days. Russell Dickerson was the hometown guest for this show and Marshmello played a set mid concert, so there was a little rave break. Then at the end, Detroit got all the Jonas men (Paul Kevin Jonas Sr & Franklin Jonas) on stage singing ‘When You Look Me In The Eyes’. Even though I was by myself, I had the best time singing and dancing with thousands of people around to my favorite boy band. To describe what a Jonas Brothers show is like, a room filled with thousands of feral women, ready to jumpship LOL. Nick sang “ReeeEEEeEeED DReeeeEEssSSS” and the crowd went wild, Joe took his jacket to show a shoulder and the crowd went wild, Kevin played a little guitar solo and the crowd went wild. Look, WE LOVE HOT DADS, what can we say? I’ll also admit that I did cry when they first came out on stage. These boys are seriously so talented with voices from heaven. Listening and watching them on tv in 2005 to seeing them live for the second time in 2025. It’s been a great 20 years of music and to many more ♡
Burning Up’ “Slip into the LAVA with the Joe Bros Hurricane” Captain Morgan, Barcardi, Passion Fruit, Orange Juice, Lime Juice, Grenadine in a Red Flame Glass & Light Up Ice Cube.
Once you got your drink, you got to choose from three different stickers and OF COURSE I needed the one that said “Greetings from Camp Rock Bar”. How Iconic.
I see more concert trips to Detroit in my near future and more solo dates. Do what you love for yourself and don’t let anything stop you from experiencing life! It’s fun to be with friends, but it can also be fun being with yourself too. Date yourself and give yourself love. Until the next adventure, live your best life and live for you ♡
Not in my vlogging era cause I never finished this 😂 I visited Overrated in Clinton Township, Hihi in Detroit, ate lamb chops at Experience Zuzu and then to the Jonas Brothers concert 🙂↕️ It was a great day #vietnamesegirl#detroit#solotraveler#jonasbrothersconcert#healingenergy @Jonas Brothers @Nick Jonas @joejonas @Kevin Jonas @Franklin jonas
Yes, it’s finally here, the San Francisco adventure! I posted up some clips and videos on my personal instagram as I was in San Francisco and I got a lot of ‘where is that at?’ questions. You’ll find all your answers in this blog!
After my 2 days in Colorado, I flew to San Francisco to finish off my birthday trip. I have never been to San Francisco, but has always wanted to visit. I loved it and I’ll definitely be back. There were so many other things that we didn’t get to do or visit. What took me by surprise though was the weather. It was 85º F in Colorado, so I was expecting the same, but I was very wrong. I guess in July for San Francisco the temperature is between 60º-75º F, or in better terms a warm Michigan Winter 65º F. It was quite a weather change for me coming from a hot and humid Michigan summer to a dry and hot Colorado summer to a long pant, light jacket cold San Francisco. I also read that this July in SF, it is holding the record for the coldest July they ever had. I also read that SF summers don’t start until October. So if you ever plan to go to San Francisco make sure you REALLY look at the weather! Do your research!
San Francisco, California – Day One
The first stop in San Francisco was Boba Bless. This stop was not planned, we actually were walking around the area while we waited for our table to be ready at Gao Viet Kitchen. After a super early morning of traveling, something sweet and cold sounded like the best snack before our first meal of the day. Boba Bless is a smaller cafe, but it’s cozy feeling and the workers are super nice! We got a taro milk tea, one of my favorites.
I actually didn’t even realize this when we were there, but the L in bless is a cross, so I decided to look up their website and socials pages. Boba bless is actually a mission driven business that opened exactly 1 year ago on the day that we went. They are involved with their community and serve the homeless every month on the 4th. This is what I got off the internet, “Boba bless is a mission driven boba shop. Boba Bless partner with a missionary organization in support to raise funds & awareness of their missions across the world giving and being a blessing to communities that are often ignored and needs help.” I’m not trying to promote religion on my blog as all, so I’m sharing without that aspect, but what they do is very awesome and wholesome. It deserves to be recognized!
I’ve been following Gao Viet Kitchen for a while now, so it was a must go for this trip! The location we chose to visit was in San Mateo, California. They are known on social media for their huge Zilla bowls. We wanted to try multiple things, so we opted out of those and got the regular sized bowls. For appetizers, we ordered the Fish Sauce Chicken Wings and the Marrow Cracker. Then for the noodle soups, we ordered the Chubby Pho and their Old School BBH (Bún bò huế). I also ordered the Milky Pandan to drink, which was non-alcoholic.
I have mixed emotions about Gao Viet Kitchen. Everything was good, except for the Chubby Pho. The Chubby Pho in my opinion isn’t anything special, it was actually less in flavor than some pho places here in Grand Rapids and it hurts me to say that. Plus, they use the bigger and thicker pho noodles and I’m not a fan of those. I would love to give the pho another try. I’ve convinced myself that the flavor comes from the specialty meats and other proteins, so maybe we just didn’t order the right one this time around. Am I delusional? Could be, but I would love to give it another shot. The Old School BBH (Bún bò huế) on the other hand was actually so flavorful! It tasted great as leftovers too, probably even better than when it first came out! The appetizers were the best though. The Fish Sauce Chicken Wings were so good, I could have just eaten those the whole time. The flavor/taste of wings had the perfect amount of fish sauce and a burst of flavor with every bite. The Marrow Cracker was also good. The crispy sticky rice that the bone marrow sat on top of was an interesting choice however. The crispy sticky rice could have been crispier in my opinion, I think a rice cake/cracker could have been used instead. Note that the Marrow Cracker is best when eaten right away!
Milky Pandan:Creamy milk and sweet coconut meets the unique flavor of pandan
Fish Sauce Chicken Wings:Chicken Wings, Fish Sauce, Vietnamese Coriander, Garlic, Chili, Jalapeño, Bell Pepper, Lettuce, Onion
Marrow Cracker: Crispy Sticky Rice, Pork Belly, Beef Marrow, White Onion, Green Onions, Fried Shallots, BBQ Sauce
Old School BBH: Spicy Lemongrass, Shrimp Paste, Brisket, Pork Blood, Pork Belly, Pork Hock, Vietnamese Ham, Thick Vermicelli, Vietnamese Coriander, Onion, Green Onion, Cilantro
After eating, it was time to check in to our cute Hello Kitty themed Airbnb! It was meant to be with this airbnb. We had a budget, certain dates and a certain location to stay, so it would be centralized according to our itinerary for this trip and this Hello Kitty airbnb fit all of that! The host had so many cute Hello Kitty/Sanrio items everywhere, it was perfect for the Hello Kitty lover that I am. The best part was the big Sanrio plush wall! I can’t lie, I have about a quarter of the same plushies in my room LOL. The airbnb fit our needs perfectly for our trip and the neighborhood was great! Jessica was also a great host and attentive. I would recommend this airbnb for a party of 2 and I would definitely book it again. If you want to check out the airbnb just click HERE for the listing!
Chinatown, San Francisco
After checking in to the airbnb, we headed to San Francisco’s Chinatown. I have also heard so much about it and seen it in movies, so it was must go on this trip. I wasn’t surprised by how it looked or how busy it was, but I was surprised about the parking. The parking signage in San Francisco can be so confusing and there’s garages/driveways everywhere, so finding street parking can be a little chaotic and you have all of the electric trolley buses and driverless Waymo cars going around. I think we drove around for about 30 minutes and 500 times around chinatown to find parking.
Fun fact: San Francisco’s Chinatown is the largest chinatown outside of Asia and the oldest in North America!
We walked all around Chinatown, visited all the stores and checked out all the cute trinkets that they had there, but there’s one place that everyone talks about online, so we had to visit too. Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory is this tiny store where they make tons of fortune cookies and gives out fresh free fortune cookie samples. They have tons of different flavors and types of fortune cookies to buy as well. The workers were so hardworking too! I didn’t get the hype and the line was so long, but I will admit that fresh samples were really good. Fortune cookies are best hot right off the press.
Okay, I looked it up and Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory has been open since 1962 and is known for making custom fortune cookies by hand ever since. They are the oldest handmade fortune cookie factory and they have tours available! We love fun facts!
We couldn’t leave chinatown without getting Dim Sum, so we choose a random place out of the many and ended up at House of Dim Sum. They had a huge variey of dim sum to choose from and it’s all decently priced. There is some dine in tables inside and outside for you, but it is quite small and can be loud. We ordered our dim sum to go, but ate it when we got back to our airbnb. It was delicious! I wanted to grab more on one of the other days, if we had time. We ordered Har Gow (Shrimp Dumpling), Siu Mai (Pork Dumplings), Shark Fin Dumplings, and Chives and Shrimp Dumplings.
Day Two – My 30th Birthday
HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY, SALLY! ♡
We started day two’s morning at the Balloon Museum: Emotion Air San Francisco. It’s a fun and interactive museum with all sorts of different types of balloons and ballon-like art concepts. There’s other locations and they each have a specific theme, the San Francisco theme is Emotions, so you’ll see a lot of “alive” balloons. I love these types of museums, they bring the kid out of you and they are just pure happiness and fun, plus the photo ops are always great! At the end they have a gift shop and a balloon bar, where there were huge balloon dogs and flowers. If we didn’t fly and drove instead, I would have bought some. They were so cute and huge, you can also customize your own colors and get other balloon shapes!
Right outside of the Balloon Museum building is the Palace of Fine Arts. It’s a structure that’s around a small body of water by the marina with a trail to walk around. The architectural structures themselves are beautiful and transport you to another place in the world. A great place for photos, it’s absolutely stunning!
Fun Fact: The Palace was featured in the video game SimCity 4 as a landmark. It was also replicated at Disney’s California Adventure as part of the entrance to a theater showcasing California’s history.The Palace of Fine Arts made famous cameos throughout the years in films like Vertigo (1958), The Rock (1996), Bicentennial Man (1999), and The Room (2003); and in series including Monk and Sense8.
It was time to get food that would be along the way to our next sightseeing location. We found the restaurant Blackwood and made it in time for their brunch menu! Our server was awesome, the food was great and the restaurant atmosphere was charming. We ordered the Ahi Scoops, which were full of different flavors that blended very well together, the Souflegg Skillets – Savory, which was a great big portion and the souffle was so soft, and Not Yo’ Average Ramyun, which the presentation was insane and it was such an upscale version of one of my favorite ramen packs.
Ahi Scoops: Sesame crusted seared Ahi tuna on spicy cucumber, seaweed salad and wasabi cream sauce
Souflegg Skillets – Savory:Soft steamed egg served on a skillet with rainbow potatoes and ciabatta. Fluffy, delicious, and wholesome. Savory: Spinach, crispy bacon, green onion.
Not Yo’ Average Ramyun:Dry tossed “Shin” cup noodles tricked out with maple candied bacon, fried egg, bell peppers, cabbage, mushroom
When in San Francisco, you need to visit the Golden Gate Bridge. The viewing area that most people talk about is right before you drive on the bridge, but I’m just a girl and I led Alan onto the bridge instead. While I was trying give directions on how to get back, to go the other way, I somehow got us to this other viewing/parking area. In the end, it turned out to be the perfect spot for our mini photoshoot! The photos turned out so nice and it was one of my favorite places of the whole trip. Sadly, the fog was out and it was windy, but we were warned ahead of time.
We were still so full and it was too early still for dinner, so we drove and walked around this neighborhood/shopping street. On my list of places that I wanted to check out, there was a charm bracelet shop called Tibetan Golden Lotus. I came in the store to just look around and came out with a brand new charm bracelet with the cutest charms that I personally picked out and a cute new ring! I’ve been to charm stores before, but none of them compare to Tibetan Golden Lotus. I still have my charm bracelet on now and it’s still in perfect shape, no rust or skin coloring and nothing has fallen off! The charms that I chose have little and simple meanings – a heart lock & key since we were going to put a lock next, ‘S’ for Sally, Hello Kitty for my love for Hello Kitty, a moon with July’s birthstone, and a bow because it was so cute and I’m just a girl.
Side note:Shoutout to my nail tech for absolutely slaying my nails, she did such a great job. These are so far are my most favorite nails and everyone else loved them too!
Yes, you read that right. We did put a love lock at Battery Spencer Overlook. This is actually our fourth love lock that we locked together around the US. Our first lock is in Houston, Texas, the second lock is in Orlando, Florida, the third lock is in Dallas, Texas and this one in San Francisco, California. We’ve been putting our locks around since 2021. It’s cheesy, but so cute, leave us alone! Let us have these little cute moments ♡ This is an overlook of the Golden Gate Bridge, but it was so windy and foggy up there that this is the most clear picture that I have of the bridge from here. They are saying that this year’s July weather is their record coldest.
Side note:I was super excited to be up this high cause I was pretty much where Prue, Piper, Pheobe, Rose Halliwell and Leo Wyatt felt when they orbed or transported to the top of the bridge in Charmed!
You would be surprised at how much of an appetite you build up when you’ve been fighting the wind and your long hair in SF, LOL. I was having real life moments of delivering Krusty Krab Pizzas. If you don’t know by now, read this next sentence carefully. We always try a seafood boil place when traveling and King Cajun in Orlando is still my #1 place. Cajun Bowl has an all you can eat option or order a la carte. We opt-in the ayce because we’re big backs. Cajun Bowl could have been better in my opinion, it wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t the worst either. It didn’t give me a wow factor at all. They have a good selection for their ayce and don’t limit you on items like lobster tails and snow crabs, but it is an extra charge every time you order them, which I would rather have that than the extra charge and limit.
What’s a birthday without a birthday drink? We ended the day with drinks. I’m old now and day drinking for me means I’ll need a nap and there’s no time for a nap when you’re on vacation! Surprisingly there weren’t many bars open on a Sunday night past 9 pm. Maybe I’m just spoiled here in Grand Rapids. Nighthawk in Redwood City, CA was the place to be on a Sunday. It’s a smaller bar lounge, but it was packed and everyone stayed there for a while. The seating inside was cozy and their crafted cocktails were delicious. I ordered Lucid Dreams and the boyfriend ordered Tiki in the Trees.
Tiki in the Trees:Mezcal, Pineapple, Benedictine, Lime, Orgeat and Amaro di Angostura
Day Three
We were so tired on my actual birthday to do the cake, so we did it on day three. The cake Alan got me was from Paris Baguette and it was in the cutest white bear design. Not only was the cake super cute, but it was also super yummy. It was a vanilla cake with fresh strawberries in between the cake, whipped icing (which is my favorite because it’s not as sweet) with coconut flakes. Overall, it was light and refreshing. The day we had to leave, we had a little over half the cake left and we couldn’t take it with us, I stuffed my face with it. I almost ate the whole cake before we had to fly out because it was too cute and too good to be left behind like that.
Day three is another stacked day, hope you’re ready for it! First outing of the day was to Pulgas Water Temple. It’s beautiful here and it’s another place that really transports you into a different world. It was so calm and peaceful here. There were people here, laying on their beach towels by the gates reading books and tanning. They had the right idea because I would absolutely do the same thing if I was a local! I love finding parks that have great sunlight, great views, but also not crowed and peaceful, so I can hear my own thoughts to journal and to be with myself.
We stopped at a Pacifica State Beach to try to touch the water, but it got pretty windy by the shore, so we just took a small moment to enjoy the sand before we made our way to Devil’s Slide Bunker. Pacifica State Beach is known as the beach with a Taco Bell, not even kidding. If we had Taco Bell right on the beach, best believe that is where you would find me!
The Devil’s Slide Bunker is an old WWII bunker that’s been abandoned and now heavily graffitied. The area that it is on is called Devil’s Slide. The history behind the name: that area is known for landslides and for being steep and rocky. When you are on the cliff, you have the prettiest view of the ocean and the surrounding coast and caves. Thankfully, it was clear and not foggy when we came. You do have to be careful about being too close the edge.
If you haven’t noticed yet, seeing the city of San Francisco from a higher view is very hard to do in July. You’ll have to deal with strong winds and fog. Our time at Twin Peaks was super windy. I thought it was pretty windy at Battery Spencer, but it was even stronger here. I was scared that I was going to get blown off the stairs going up and down the peaks. The pants I wore acted more like a parachute, so that was an interesting time haha. The views from Twin Peaks are beautiful though. You really get another view of the city. You feel so big & tall, but yet so small.
Miffy, do I need to say more? I’m obsessed with Miffy (sorry Hello Kitty). I even got a Miffy tattoo before a HK one. So when I heard there was a store that sells Miffy products, you know I had to go! The Kira Shop has so many cute Miffy products that you don’t usually see in stores, like stationary, plushies, keychains, clothing, houseware, beauty, etc. I got this cute plush keychain and a crewneck that saids SF with Miffy on it. They have another location in Hawaii. Fun fact: I just found out a couple days ago that at SFO Airport, there’s a Miffy store! I didn’t know and missed out, so it looks like I HAVE TO go to SF again! 🙂
There’s this park called Golden Gate Park and you can walk around and find other parks or amenities to go into with admission. There’s the Conservatory of Flowers, Japanese Tea Garden, San Francisco Botanical Garden, The de Young Museum and The California Academy of Sciences.
We only had time to do one, so we chose the Japanese Tea Garden. It’s a smaller park, but there tons of spots here to sit down and enjoy all the Japanese plants and structures. The koi ponds are so fun to walk around and the koi’s are huge! There’s also a gift shop and cafe located inside, so you really could spend a good amount of time here. I heard that the matcha is one of the most popular things that you have to try at the cafe, but we were short on time and there was quite a line. A very tranquil place.
We drove over to the Haight-Ashbury District to check out a number of locations on our list and came across Dragon Eats. Dragon Eats is a small Vietnamese cafe/eats. We needed a mid day snack before the big dinner. I can never say no to Café Sua Da (Vietnamese coffee) and Bánh Mì (Vietnamese sub). The Café Sua Da and the Pork Meatball Bánh Mì were on point. The meatball pork was so good and full of flavor that I ordered a second one so I had it for my flight the next day.
Writing every place we went to in order, I notice that we keep going back and forth from nature to the city. We’re balanced, okay? *cues music* – in the city, ‘member used to drive a Yukon* San Francisco has a lot of vintage photo booths around, either in stores or in their own locations. The Photomatica Photo Booths were the ones that we found in the Haight District. This neighborhood is a thrifters dream. I think we visited 3-5 different thrift shops and that wasn’t even all of them!
There were 4 photobooths in the front of the store, each with their own printing style and color. The photo booths are vintage, meaning they are older so there is no screen that shows you what you look like and it’s an old school flash bulb that goes off when your photo gets taken. You definitely have to wait a little in between each photo booth for your photos to develop and for your eyes to recover from the flashes. Your photos strips will come out good as long as you fully draw the fabric shade close!
We visited the most talked about Pier 39 and as you can see, it was still very windy. If you have long hair like I do, just plan to wear your hair in a pony or bun in July. Save yourself the trouble and don’t curl your hair, cause the wind will just blow them right out. I’m not sure how Pier 39 differs from the others, but this one is known for it’s carnival like charm, gift shops, restaurants and the sea lions! Yes, you can watch the sea lions chill on the docks all day and you can see Alcatraz from a distance!
Finally the birthday dinner! Everyone has been asking questions about where I chose to eat for my birthday and why. The Holbrook Housewas the restaurant of my choice for my 30th. The Holbrook House has 3 dining options to choose from – regular dining table, martini table and patio. I specifically wanted to experience the martini table. You still get full menu service, but you also get the champagne and martini switches! Whenever you are ready to get another drink, you flip the switch and they come around with either the champagne cart or the martini cart. They have drink menus specifically for the carts, so you get to customize your drink and they’ll make it right in front of you!
It was the good ol’ dirty thirty, so martini me please! I got to customize my drink every step and it was the best dirty martini that I have ever had. The caviar bump was *chefs kiss*, it was an add on, but for the price I would have done more bumps.
Sally’s Dirty Thirty Martini:Harku Japanese Vodka, Veso Tomato Vermouth, Olive Juice, Tabasco Hot Sauce and Blue Cheese Creme Fraiche Olives with a bump of Caviar on the side
We ordered from the raw bar, the Petit Seafood Tower, then Deviled Eggs and Caviar for an appetizer and an entree to share the Baked Pasta Alla Vodka. Everything was phenomenal, 11/10 would recommend The Holbrook House. It is on the little pricier side of dining, but everyone should treat themselves with good food once in a while. I dream about eating here all the time and it won’t stop. I can’t wait to have it again!
Deviled Eggs and Caviar:American White Sturgeon Caviar, Shallot Brunoise
Baked Pasta Alla Vodka:Calabrese Sausage, Parmesan, Vodka Sauce
Before ending our last full day in San Francisco, we went to a spot nearby to look at the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge at night. It was very simple, but still pretty to see. There’s definitely nothing like it in the midwest. This time I did not accidentally take us on the bridge and I’m very thankful for that! When I was flying in to SFO, I saw the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge from above and it was actually terrifying. This super long bridge in the middle of a large body water with nothing surrounding it and once you are on it, you can only go one way to get off. CRAZY.
Day Four – Last Morning in San Francisco
We only had time to do one last eating adventure before heading off to the airport and the lucky winner was In-N-Out Burger. I still think In-N-Out Burger is overrated, but it’s not bad like I said it was in my past food blog. I’m slowly coming around to it. Except this might be the last time that I ever eat In-N-Out Burger, I’m traumatized. It could have been all the flights and layovers that I had or the drastic altitude changes or the time change, but I had super bad motion sickness on my travels back to Michigan and (sorry for the details) threw up the In-N-Out that I ate. Literally it was In N Out of me, it was pretty bad. With that, I’ll be taking a break for a while.
Visiting San Francisco has always been on my list since watching Full House and Charmed growing up. I didn’t think that San Francisco would also transport me to all these other places too. I’m grateful for it! It was like multiple mini trips within my trip. Everyone should plan a San Francisco trip and do all the tourist things. I actually loved all the typical tourist spots that we were able to fit in our itinerary and will be coming back to do the ones we couldn’t get too.
Thank you for making it to the end of this blog post! This one was a long one and we did a lot. I probably should have split it in two blogs, one for food and the other for places visited, but now you have this mini guide all in your hands. Below is just a little video I put together of both Colorado and San Francisco, Welcome to the roadtrip to my 30’s and cheers to this new decade that I made it too. Time to make more memories, see you all in the next SALLY THINGS ♡
I’m back with the traveling and food blogs! I know, it’s been taking me forever and the only thing I can say is that I’m sorry. Life becomes life and it really takes me away from writing, BUT I’m entering a new decade and I want to take what matters to me most with me. This is a two part blog about the food I ate and the places I visited for my birthday trip. Welcome to the first half of my roadtrip to 30’s – Colorado.
Colorado Springs, Colorado
The start of my trip was to Colorado Springs to meet up with my siblings, dad and their families. They all drove to Colorado Springs and arrived a few days before me, but I got to join them for two days before flying over to San Francisco. The Colorado part was actually a trip planned by my little sister for her son, my nephew, Mateo. He had his last chemotherapy treatment for his leukemia in April/May and was cleared to do everything and anything. So this trip was to celebrate that and him beating leukemia.
First stop, Snooze A.M. Eatery in Colorado Springs. Snooze A.M. Eatery serves breakfast/brunch items and their own specialty cocktails. I wasn’t too hungry so I shared a Benny Duo with my niece. With the Benny Duo, You can choose two different benedicts instead of two benedicts of the same and we got the Smashed Avocado Benny and the Ham Benedict III. The benny’s weren’t bad, but they weren’t anything special either. I definitely had better at other places. An entree that was really good and worth mentioning would be their Habanero Pork Belly Breakfast Fried Rice. It was full of flavor and had the right amount of hotness!
Ham Benedict III:English muffin topped with shaved ham, perfectly poached cage-free eggs and our house-made smoked cheddar hollandaise
Habanero Pork Belly Breakfast Fried Rice:Jasmine-garlic fried rice with seared cider-braised habanero pork belly, sautéed red bell peppers, onions, poblanos, carrots and pineapple. Topped with a drizzle of our house-made Sriracha maple aioli, two crispy sunny-side up eggs, scallions and kimchi spice.
Garden of the Gods was the first non-food place we went too. With all the younger kids, we didn’t walk or hike the other paths, but we did walk around the main path and still had a good time! For me it was surreal to be in a mountainous area with most of my family. It’s already hard to get all of us at the same function, let alone on a trip in a state on the other side of the country. We were still one person down, my mom, but she called everyday of the trip to check in with all of us. I would love to come back to Garden of the Gods to do some of their other hiking trails/paths. It was absolutely beautiful, so I could only imagine how it looks like from a higher view.
Denver, Colorado
My two days with the family was pretty chill, they had gone on the more intense hikes earlier in the week and by the time I arrived the kids were all sick of hikes. I can’t blame them though, they did some pretty tough ones! Go them though, they all made it to the top, even if it was hard with the elevation or with the heights. Second day, We made our way to places closer towards Denver, Colorado. Our first visit was to Red Rocks Parks and Amphitheater. I’ve always wanted to make a stop here and watch a show. Iykyk. This is suppose to be one of the best venues and specifically for EDM. I was happy that we were able to check it out. It has a lot of potential still and I can’t wait to see all the new additions they are working on! No show, but they were playing music and that sounded great already. Red Rocks, I’m coming for you!
After Red Rocks, we took a drive over to Lookout Mountain / Buffalo Bill’s Grave. It was an easy drive and for the kids no major hiking was involved. There was a nice lookout of the city and mountains. I think sunrise or sunset watching there would be a beautiful spot. We were all getting pretty hungry, so we didn’t go into the Buffalo Bill museum that they had there.
Now for the yummy location! My family and I went to Tatsu Izakaya for lunch. Now this spot was so good, especially their ramen. I work at a ramen and sushi restaurant which I think our ramen is really good, but I will have to say Tatsu Izakaya did it better. I got the Spicy Tonkatsu Ramen, Hamachi Kama appetizer, White Tuna Sashimi and a Grape Ramune. Everything was super delicious and the portion size of the ramen bowl was huge. I had leftovers and it was my dinner as well.
Spicy Tonkatsu Ramen:Creamy pork bone broth topped with chashu, half egg, mushrooms, sprouts, naruto, bok choy, green onion, scallions & ginger
Hamachi Kama:Grilled yellowtail collar/cheek
Everyone ate so much, we needed to walk it off. We went to Denver’s 16th Street Mall. Sadly malls are dying everywhere, so it nothing much to show off. There are a lot of restaurants on the street and a lot of them looked very aesthetically pleasing and had a good menu. I have been to 16th Street Mall before towards the end of covid and back then it was more lively than what it was this time around. We walked around down 16th Street and visited the train station as well. There where cute stores in there and a grand dining area. It was a nice walk around. When we were all done, we left and drove back to Colorado Springs.
I’m super happy that I was able to have that time with my family and next time I hope my mom will be able to come with us too. The one place that I would love to go with my whole entire family is Disney World. I have been many times, but it would fill my heart x1 million if I went with my parents! Growing up my mom and dad would always talk about taking all of us and I just know when it happens, it’s going to heal a big part of my inner child. Going places and doing new things with my family now as an adult, brings me back to when I was a child doing things with my family, my aunts and uncles. So I get to be the fun aunt and make memories with my nieces & nephew like how I had with my aunts. It’s one of the best full circle moments ♡
P.S – Don’t forget part two of Roadtrip to 30’s: San Francisco – Food & Place Alert is coming soon! There’s a lot more foodie adventures there ♡
I’m a big lover of Valentine’s Day, so it’s no different for Galentine’s Day. If you didn’t know, Galentine’s Day is a day to celebrate women’s friendships and lands on February 13 every year. I have been so lucky to have been able to celebrate Galentine’s with friends for the last few years now. It’s the one event that I look forward to every year! I think it’s so fun to decorate the house, get cute, and spend quality time with your girls.
Every year, my friends and I plan a girls only party. We have food, drinks, themed outfits, photoshoots, crafts, gift exchange, etc. We’re always going all out and it’s always a great time. I just had my Wisconsin’s Galentine’s 2025 last weekend! I love love, I love being a girl and I love my friends ♡
Now let me take you through the years of Galentine’s events. You know, just SALLYTHINGS♡
2020
The very first Galentine’s party and outing was in 2020 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I remember I had to rush after work to the party and even though most of the girls left, I was still able to get some photos and food in. It was the first time I’ve taken any lingerie photos and those came out so good. There’s something empowering about having little polaroids of yourself looking hot! Lingerie polaroids are now a must every year. They are my favorite photos and everyone else’s too. ♡
The outing was with two other friends and that’s a story of it’s own. We went to a rooftop bar in Grand Rapids called IDC Bar. Yes, a rooftop bar in the middle of February and we weren’t freezing! It’s still one of my favorite rooftop bars to go to in Grand Rapids. The IDC Bar is so cute on the inside and the vibes are so fun. The IDC Bar had just opened in 2019/2020 and they served hotdogs and chili bowls. My friends and I will never forget how we were eating chili dog with our drinks that were 3x more expensive. We loved it though! There was a big insurance convention that happened in the same hotel right before, so we met a lot of new friends during our outing. We went all out with our new friends and got the huge IDC disco ball punch. Someone also ended up paying for our whole tabs as well. Definitely a night to remember ♡
2021
Galentine’s 2021 had a black and white theme. Celebrated in Grand Rapids, Michigan. ♡ Sometimes you have to be wild in this life and we made sure of that. Not only was it Galentine’s, but we were celebrating a 21st birthday! This outing started out with a nice dinner that quickly turned to a drink fest. I remember taking the whole margarita pitcher in a to-go soup bowl container and us drinking from that bowl. Next, we stopped by The Woods for some more drinks. It was completely empty there, but we had such a fun time. That’s where most of our photos and videos came from. If you have the best people with you, you’ll never be bored! We also made friends with whoever came in randomly. Free shots after shots. We couldn’t end the night there, the night was still young. We went to the Gun Lake Casino since they would be open. Lost a little money, but at least we had our drinks and more girl time. I specifically remember sitting at the cafe at 2 am or 3 am and drunk eating before our rides came. I’m pretty sure we all went to work hungover the next day. Nothing like a Galentine’s! ♡
2022
2022 was the first year and start of Wisconsin Galentine’s♡ I was living in Madison, Wisconsin this year. Wisconsin Galentine’s has been happening ever since and the event I always look forward to every year. It’s always a girls only party and we tend to throw our secret santa exchange with it. This year was also a birthday celebration as well. Like all the other Galentine’s we plan all the decor, snacks, drinks, photo backdrop, outfits, etc. It’s always a good time! Of course we need the spicy polaroids. These are probably still my favorite ones. ♡
2023
2023 Wisconsin Galentine’s was a two day event. First day was the all girls party with another birthday celebration. The second day was our friend group including the guys and we all went out to a club/bar. For photos this year, we had our dress up ones, then the topless flower photos. We tried our best to recreate it and they turned out super cute. The second day, after the bar outing we stayed up until 6-8 am still hanging out. I have the funniest videos of us all at 7 am still partying, some sleeping and some just so tired but staying alive. Like I said before when you have a good group, you’ll never be bored or in the case sleep! ♡
My second Galentine’s outing was back home in Grand Rapids, Michigan. My best friend and I were on a mission to take some good photos for her Valentine’s and after that was completed, we had a nice lunch at Tupelo Honey. I wish I could post the photos we took because they turned out so good, but those are for certain eyes only! Being a girl and having girl best friends means no limits to what we do for each other and those friendships are so emotionally mature, deep and meaningful. It’s great to be girl ♡
2024
2024 was another Grand Rapids and Wisconsin Galentine’s celebration. For Grand Rapids, Michigan it was a little get together with my besties after work. Nothing like a comfy girls night in with some wine and pizza. Also, one of my friend’s mom made us these cute paint dripped wine glasses. It was super cute and so sweet! ♡
Wisconsin Galentine’s this year had a bigger group, but also was a potluck! We had really good food. We all dressed up for photos and then had our spicy polaroids. We had time to play card games and did gift exchanges. The floating flower backdrop this year is my favorite back drop of all! It’s so beautiful and simple. ♡
2025
I don’t know what happened this year, but Wisconsin Galentine’s 2025 stepped it up. The aesthetics were in the room with us. We did not come to play this year! Our outfit theme was cute pajamas and of course spicy outfits if you wanted those photos. We also had a cajun seafood boil. It was *chefs kiss* Although it took us longer to start and we didn’t to do any activities that we had planned, it was still a fun Galentine’s. Look I’m looking forward too and I’ll be back next year for Wisconsin Galentine’s 2026 ♡
A Grand Rapids Galentine’s is still in the works, but coming soon. We’re just waiting on the snow to stop doing what it does best, snow. So hopefully that will be very soon. A girls day is always needed! ♡
UPDATE (added 02.19.2025)
Grand Rapids Galentine’s! This Galentine’s was a packed one. My best friend Maddie made us some spicy vodka pasta and pickle pasta salad. We had a snack bar with fruits, charcuterie board, cookies, etc. A galentine’s is nothing without cute cocktails, so of course we had those. I’m not sure how we did it, but we were able to record a hot ones challenge with 5 different hot sauces, decorate the room and took our spicy polaroid photoshoot, shopped for charm bracelets, iron-on sweat outfits and our food, cooked, made custom matching charm bracelets and opened up our Galentine’s goodie bags. We finished our bestie iron-on sweat outfits another day. They came out so cute and perfect and it was a lot easier than we thought! It was an amazing Galentine’s filled with laughter. It’s always the best time with Maddie ♡
I am super lucky to have the girl friends that I have and I am very lucky to be able to travel to see them. I am very lucky to have all these women in my life. They are all strong, sweet, kind, beautiful, confident, funny, loving and so much more. They are the reason why Galentine’s was created. I hope every girl finds their girls, their gals! ♡
Usually I write a summary of the months here, but for this one I’ll just say this: you were wrong, but you had the right to be wrong. Ended 2024 strong. Literal definition of trying to live your best life.
If October was about healing, clarity and truths, then November has to be about reflection, love and gratitude. October gave me clarity and many truths. It’s November now – on to the next.
New month, new intentions and new affirmations.
November Intentions
Intentions are like goals, but are more mindset focused whereas goals are focused on completing a task. Whatever October came to you about, make sure you continue to follow through with it and nourish yourself. Be kind, be gentle. ♡
୨୧ Practice Stillness: This month is for settling – for myself that is. November is for me to practice being still and enjoying the present moment without my daily stresses or worries. Practice being still in all moments whether it’s bad or good. Practice stillness in the silence even if it’s being loud. ୨୧ Stay Focused: I got a little derailed last month, so here’s to getting back on track and staying focused. Also making sure that I have my focus set on what is right. I am not the main focus, there’s others. Focus on what is right. I was offered more work that is along the lines of my business marketing degree, so I need to make sure that I stay on top of that. Be relentless in this, good things will come. ୨୧ No Anger, All Love: It’s always all love and always have been. I still have a little bit of these qualities and still working on it, but over time I’ve learned that it’s easier to live with the least amount of anger in your heart. I can be upset and disappointed all that I want, but it is not easy to keep anger inside and carry it around. It’s just not me. Let it go, do all in love and find your own peace. This is not a weakness, it’s actually a huge strength.
November Affirmations
Affirmations to manifest and to guide/shape your mindset. Say it out loud as often as you will like. Say it loud and proud, say it for you. ♡
୨୧ I accept my feelings as they are. ୨୧ I am willing to believe every thing will work out, even when it feels like it doesn’t. ୨୧ I lean on those who offer me support. ୨୧ I honor the changes that are happening within and around me this November. ୨୧ I gave this my all, that does not make me any less. ୨୧ I allow myself to take a break and do something I love. ୨୧ I find inspiration in peacefulness of November. ୨୧ I am confident and secure in myself and allow others to be exactly who they are. ୨୧ I give myself time to process feelings before I react or respond. ୨୧ I choose to have the strength to move on to healthier relationships. ୨୧ I will step out of my comfort zone today and do something new.
This section is a little more personal to me, but like always, it’s just as much for you if you need it. All I have to say is thank you♡
“You are deserving of all the beautiful things manifesting into your life. The trash took itself out, so you just do you. Be gentle to yourself and take all the time you need to heal that pretty little heart of yours.“
“But as a girl’s girl – You’re doing the right thing for yourself.“
“You’re a good person with a beautiful soul, so give yourself grace. You did nothing wrong and it’s not that you weren’t enough. Don’t forget that.“
“For what it’s worth don’t let it fuck you up. We are too young to be not living our life/being the best version of ourselves.“
“Don’t lose yourself in who you become especially when you’re on your healing journey.“
“i think in these times my favorite saying to hear is ‘let it go, you’re exactly where you need to be and something better will come along.’ i hope you bask in the times you feel great cause you deserve it.“
Wishing that November shows you all that you have so many things to be thankful for and that you are loved, enough, and deserve all the best. I’m wishing that you accept that you are loved, enough and deserve all the best. Do what is right and with love. It’ll come back to you 10x when the time is right. I hope everyone gets the day they deserve. There’s so much more to life, so go there.♡
Is it just me or does the October fall breeze has a calming and grounding feel to it? There’s something about October where I tend to slow down life and get really focused. I also noticed that a lot of different socials will talk about how October is about healing and grounding. I just went through a small rabbit hole on October’s birthstones, so now you have to as well.. There’s 2 birthstones for October: Opal and Tourmaline. Opal is known to symbolize hope, clarity and truths. It is known for their soothing, calming energies to alleviate stress and provide tranquility and peace. Tourmaline is known to inspire and promote happiness, encourages confidence and diminishes fear, energetic energy, best for healing the physical heart and can be used for grounding. Everything just ties together.
New month, new affirmations and intentions! September just flew by. I can’t believe it’s already October. We all made through another month and we’ll make it through this one. Lets take advantage of the healing properties of October, here are some affirmations and intentions ♡
୨⎯ October is a time for reflection; I appreciate the journey that has bought me here. ୨⎯ October’s chill is a reminder to nurture myself with self-care and warmth. ୨⎯ I welcome the calming and cozy energy of October in my life. ୨⎯ I create space for relaxation, allowing my mind and body to recharge. ୨⎯ I trust each season of my life ୨⎯ Love more; The world and everyone around you needs it. ୨⎯ Let go of the past you have survived it. Time to move on. ୨⎯ Give yourself credit for how far you have come. ୨⎯ Do things that fill your cup to reconnect. ୨⎯ Reach for the truth of your life more and more each day.
For those who need more reminder or motivational-like sayings instead of affirmations, this section is for you. Here are a few that I found ♡
୨⎯ You’re close, that’s why it’s getting tough. ୨⎯ We can’t control all in life, but what we can do is look ahead and dictate where we go next. ୨⎯Transform to Heal: People-Pleasing → Authenticity | Difficulty Saying “No” → Setting Boundaries | Overthinking → Trusting Intuition | Comparing Oneself → Self-Appreciation ୨⎯ Allow yourself the time to just be this month. Love, laugh, play, create. Meet with a friend and talk. Indulge in the most beautiful bubble bath. We are at a transition of seasons and it’s time to find the space to be. To enjoy. To fill your cup and remind yourself that you are so truly worthy. ୨⎯ Choosing progress over perfection. Honoring what you’ve achieved while moving towards what you desire. Staying grounded in gratitude and feeling at peace. ୨⎯ Feel your feelings, even if it disrupts your day. Your inner child deserves kind self-talk. Love yourself harder on days you’re struggling. ୨⎯ Dear October, I won’t ask for perfection, as it’s all part of the ride. I won’t ask for abundance, as I have my own meaning of wealth, but I will ask for reminders to be present in the daily. I will ask for soft reminders when something isn’t for me. I will ask that I become what I need. ୨⎯ October will be filled with love, peace and healing. October will be filled with progress, blessings, and opportunities. October will be fill with happiness. ୨⎯ In October – Become the love you always wanted, but never received. Heal what hurts, so that it doesn’t use you as a channel to hurt others. Forgive yourself – for all the versions of yourself you did not become, for all of the versions of yourself you had to be in order to get here today. Slow down – live softly, and love softly, and above all else, never forget that while beautiful things may come and go – they still come. They still come. ୨⎯October ins: Slowing down, letting go of old beliefs, making room for the new. October Outs: Forcing, unaligned action, negatives self talk.
Happy October and I hope that it brings everyone all that you guys need. It can flow to you and find you, but you also have to allow and accept it in too. Take care of yourself. A happier us is the goal. ♡
These summer months were filled with travels for me. Remember how I said I was going to live it up this summer? I definitely did! Having a life outside of work has been a long time coming and well deserved. I’ve been able to romanticize my life again and mentally I’ve been so much better. I turned 29, I ate good food, I danced, I added to my plushie collections when I literally have no space in my room, I loved and was loved back, celebrated my friend getting married, saw old friends and made ones. It was the best. I would love to thank the summer sun for all it provided, you’ll be very missed soon. Hopefully the winter blues will be kind this year. Loving every little thing in the world ♡
I become a better person when the weather starts to heat up. I don’t know what to say, I just LOVE the sun. As you may have read or heard, I switched jobs and positions which has allowed me to have more time to have a personal life and more time to focus on my health and make improvements to it. I promised myself that I would live more this year in experiences and not live at work like how I have in the past. April to June has been a blessing and I have done just that ♡ I’ve done so many things in these few months, so I’m excited to see how this will continue for the rest of summer and after. I’m happy that I can feel like a normal person and be more with the people I love. Living my best life ♡
SALLY♡THINGS 