Science and Sea Lions

I really don't feel like writing anything, but I know if I don't I'll regret it later. It was a great day, it's just super late and I want to go to sleep...except that I got a second (or perhaps third) wind and now I'm not really that tired.

Well today we finally went to the California Academy of Sciences. Dad's wanted to go to a science museum in Cali every time he's on a business trip here, but he never made it. And I wasn't too keen on wasting a day there when there are science museums back home :/ But, much to my dad's chagrin, it ended up being a natural sciences museum. I, on the other hand, love natural sciences! There was a rainforest exhibit, an amazing IMAX planetarium presentation, an aquarium, and a bunch of other cool stuff. So really, it was great because it was a science museum, which dad liked, but it was also a natural science museum, which I liked! Another cool thing was the roof was totally covered in vegetation. And, there was an interesting earthquake exhibit as well--with an earthquake simulator!

Then we headed back to Fisherman's Wharf via Lombard street which was only a little out of our way. This time to actually check out the stores! Haha, we went to Fisherman's Wharf 3 times and never actually made it on the pier until today! We then walked down to Pier 39 and did a bunch of shopping there. We stopped at The Shell Cellar and Treasure Ireland--two stores I remembered from last time. They were both just as cute as I remember! I didn't buy any shells, but I did buy an air plant 'cause it was inexpensive and looked really interesting! I didn't buy anything from Treasure Ireland, but I seriously want a Celtic birth charm! I'm so glad Laura got to see Treasure Ireland though--it's a great store

Oh, on the way to Pier 39 I saw this awesome guy doing spray paint paintings in a booth on the sidewalk! He painted so fast and had some awesome techno music in the background as he worked. Now, I've seen a video of this, but I've never seen it in person. This guy was really creative and painted in a color scheme that I love and did lots of fantasy paintings of landscapes with planets in the background close to the horizon. I thought this was so cool and I really wanted to support him, but I assumed he would sell his paintings for around $40. I was right...but he lowered the price to $10 for a special sale. Well, really he just lowered the price to sell more paintings so people would think they were saving money and be more willing to buy. Anyways, I was so excited that it was only $10 so I could buy one! I'll take a picture of it for y'all to see probably when I get home. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm gonna get it home without bending it...

For dinner we ate at what used to be Sea Lion Cafe (probably because all of the Sea Lions that like to lounge right outside...), but was bought out by Neptune's Palace and now just called Neptune's Waterfront Grill and Bar. I ate at Neptune's Palace last trip to California and it was great! But, a little expensive. Anyways, I've decided to try to be really adventurous and random when I order off the menu. I mean, I know what I like and what I want to eat. So...I usually end up with just mac n cheese or something like that. This time I got Dungeness Crab on noodles. It was pretty great tasting! Oh, and our waiter was from England and had a very cool accent :) So, you know I'm a dorky person anyway, but it was just ridiculous in that restaurant! Normally there's a good amount of space between my dorkfish moments, but not this time. Somehow in a short period of time I ended up basically throwing silverware...twice, dropping hand sanitizer in my dad's water (don't ask...), and eating noodles (which, you know, is pretty messy).  Yeah, I'm ridiculous. Well, we made it out of the restaurant alive (no thanks to me) and headed down to Ghirardelli for dessert. We all got free chocolate samples and awesome ice cream!

The living roof of the science museum

Lombard Street

The sea lions!

Signed by Hugh Jackman! So cool! But the price was...not cool.

Bowties are cool. And so are Matt Smith's and Karen Gillan's signatures.

This made me think of Cougar Town! Sorry you can't see the small print :/

We didn't actually eat here, but this is the diner that I almost went to on my first California trip. It's a really cute 50s style diner! Too bad we didn't eat at it this time, but hey at least I got a picture of it. 

Shirt - Thrifted // Skirt - Thrifted // Belt - Catos // Shoes - Faded Glory // Tights - George // Cardigan - Thrifted // Jacket - Forever21

Well, thanks for stopping by my blog! You can check out my first trip here. Here's the link to my sister's blog. And here's the link (finally!) to the conference my dad spoke at. And his bio. Well, thanks for reading and I hope y'all have a wonderful day!

Daisies and Spiderwebs

I've been looking forward to this since the last time I was in California....Winchester House! I went the last time I was in California, and I loved it so much that I couldn't wait to go back!!! Having been on the tour before I actually remembered some of the things on the tour (weird, I know! I usually remember next to nothing!). But, it was still so amazing. No photography was allowed in the house, but I got some outside pictures. If you're ever in the San Jose area or just California at all, for the love of Pete you MUST go see Winchester House. (Plus, Winchester...Supernatural...yes.)

When Sarah Winchester's husband died, she inherited tons of money which she eventually used to finance the building of the house. Apparently a psychic in Boston told her to build a house continuously to confuse/appease the spirits of those who were killed with the Winchester rifle. So she bought an 8 room farmhouse and just remodeled and added on to it 24/7 until the day she died. She spend over 5 million dollars on the house. It really is a beautiful house and it's really bizarre. There are doors to nowhere, doors that open to several story drops, windows on the inside, stairs that go nowhere, and lots of other weird things. She loved daisies, spiders, and the number 13--these appear throughout the house. The design of the house is so weird and apparently she met with spirits everday and got the design plans from them for the next day. Ahh! There's so much more, but you'll have to go and see for your self. Or...watch this clip perhaps (...with the wacko psychic at the end)? This clip might be better...yeah, this one's definitely better. Way better.

We ended up going on the behind the scenes tour as well, which was super fun! Then we drove out to Muir Woods for a few minutes. Well, we wanted to stay longer, but due to a ...wrong turn...we ended up getting there right before they closed the park. But, it was so beautiful! That was another place I went to last trip, and I even tried to get a similar picture to one I got last time. Kind of like I did with the gorilla in RFC. I'm surprised we made it to Muir Woods though because I saw a sign that said Muir Woods --> but the GPS said to go the other way. But, it turns out I was right all along! We almost ran out of gas...and the wrong turn put us a wee bit behind schedule. Just so y'all know, I am absolutely horrible with directions. I have no sense of direction whatsoever. So, the fact that I was right when the GPS was wrong is just ...amazing. I will never forget this. Ever.

Day's not over yet :p We were tired after that, but we decided to head back out to Fisherman's Wharf to eat 'cause it's close-ish to our hotel. We ended up eating at Boudin Sourdough. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl? Yes! 

Well...get ready for a ton of pictures. Hey, we went to Winchester House and Muir Woods in the same day.

Awesome hardhats for the behind the scenes tour!

Don't Blink

Blink and you're dead

Dress - INC (Thrifted) // Cardigan - New York & Company (Thrifted) // Jacket - Forever21 // Tights - George // Shoes - Faded Glory

Thanks for reading! You can check out my first trip here. Here's the link to my sister's blog. And here's the link (finally!) to the conference my dad spoke at. And his bio. Well, I hope y'all have a wonderful day!

Favorite Daughter of the Speaker

So...today was the day my dad spoke at the conference. I'm so proud of him just for being accepted to speak, but the fact that it went so well was just amazing! Several people told him that he was the best speaker there. I went with him to the conference for moral support. I think he did a marvelous job! I can't tell you what he spoke about because...well I don't know what it was. Well it was something about multicore. But that's the extent of my knowledge. I know that makes me sounds kind of dumb...but ya know, it's just not my area of expertise. Yes, I was there. And yes, I did listen to the entire thing because I love my dad. But, I still I don't know...even after sitting through 5 more hours of similar topics from other speakers. Yes. 5 hours. I am seriously the best daughter ever for sitting through that. Anyways, to get into the conference I had to have a badge. And since I don't really work for those companies my title was "Favorite Daughter of the Speaker." Yeah, that was officially printed on my badge. The guy who organized the conference even took a picture of it!

Well, after that it was really late, but we still went to Fisherman's wharf. Well, we stood in front of it at least...it was so late we really only had time to eat then leave. We're supposed to go back later in the week 'cause the wharf is pretty awesome! Anways, we ate at Rainforest Cafe!!! Woo!!! I love RFC so much. And it's the same one I went to my last California trip. I also ate the exact same thing. I could have tried something different, but mushroom ravioli in lobster sauce is pretty hard to beat! We were all pretty tired after that, especially dad, so we walked around a few minutes before we left. I felt bad that I was really not comfortable driving in California 'cause dad really was super tired. To help keep him awake we ended up singing every Weird Al song we knew. Yeah, we're a weird (awesome) family. We started singing 'cause my dad made some comment about The Who and I just burst into song "I haven't been in a crowd like this since I went to see the Who!" You know you have those moments where everything reminds you of a song!

And one last note. I am finally wearing a dress as a skirt. I actually haven't worn this dress on the blog before, but I was dying to wear this outfit to the pier. And I've always wanted to do the dress as a skirt thing...I think it turned out pretty great! And I am so loving weird crazy mixed prints and patterns rights now! I'll probably look back at these pictures one day and just wonder what I was thinking...but ya know, I was happy today with this outfit so it's cool.

No wait...one more last note! So...FanimeCon is this weekend! How did I not know this? I mean I guess I live in Ohio so I don't really pay attention to out of state and like west coast cons...but seriously it's like a few miles from my hotel! And this weekend!!! It makes me so sad that I have neither a costume with me or a ticket to go :( Or money to buy either. I only found out 'cause my dad and sister saw a bunch of signs while they were jogging. And then dad drove me through the city so I could see the signs too. One day...one day I will come back and go to FanimeCon!!!!

 Soo...there's no zoom on my camera. But, that's my dad speaking slightly to the left and slightly above center. Really far in the distance.

Yup, my conference badge! It's official. Favorite Daughter of the Speaker!

A FanimeCon sign!

Trolley!!

Fisherman's Wharf!

Two years ago at the exact same place!

Wow...her expression is just a bit disturbing

A three story tall RFC! Yes!

Sourdough bread animals

A giant bread crocodile

These masks are kind of cool...but look how they hung them? Through the eye holes? Kind of creepy!

Best hat ever!

Shirt - Thrifted // Dress - Monteu // Belt - Thrifted // Tights - George // Cardigan - New York and Company (Thrifted) // Sunglasses - Charlotte Russe // Jacket - Forever21 // Shoes - Faded Glory 

Even though I guess you can't even really see what I'm wearing...

Whoooa overload of crappy pictures! But hey, it's vacation. And I'm probably gonna have to retake outfit pictures later anyway because I'm not really getting any good ones. Anyways, read about my first trip here. Here's the link to my sister's blog. And here's the link (finally!) to the conference my dad spoke at. And his bio. Well, thanks for reading and I hope y'all have a wonderful day!