These are a few of my Favorite Things

Yesterday I had an opportunity to go to San Francisco. It was a great trip, lots of food and craft adventures (those are the best kind, after all :).

Highlight of the day:

A fabulous “Sweet Wedding Almond” macaron at Paulette Macaron in Hayes Valley (http://www.paulettemacaronsf.com/). I have previously been to Pamplemousse in Redwood City (which is also quite good), but a girl can never have too many macarons! C’est parfait!

Some old favorites:

Lupicia Tea (www.lupiciausa.com). I have been going to Lupicia since random curiosity brought me into their Valley Fair location in July 2007. Their service is impeccable and their selection fantastic. At least one of the many cups of tea I have a day seems to be from Lupicia. Try their Sakurambo, Japanese cherry.

Kinokuniya Bookstore (and Stationery Store). My recent fascination with the San-X character Kutusita Nyanko led me immediately into the stationery store. I ended up with some really cute bunny stickers and a Kutusita Nyanko mini notepad. It was difficult not to leave with more.

While in the bookstore, I spent at least half an hour perusing the craft section. This is THE PLACE to go for inspiration. Not only do they have a large selection of Japanese language craft books, but they have a well-picked selection of English language craft books. It’s getting more and more difficult to find bookstores where you can tell the buyer knows their audience (I do miss Stacey’s). I really wanted to get a Japanese book of adorable knitted tunics, but settled for a volume of amigurumi patterns. My next goal is to try to figure out how to read knitting patterns in Japanese!

While you’re there, try a crepe from “Sophie’s Crepes”.

One disappointment:

Puripan, a cute little Korean tea shop that I visited twice in the last year, has closed their San Francisco location. I love their “Tea in a Jar” and am disappointed that they may be yet another casualty of the economic downturn.