San Francisco

In my heart I dedicate areas to different things I'm in love with; family, friends, animals.

But I like to think that a giant part of my heart has the San Francisco skyline etched into it.

You may think it hard to have fallen for an entire city, but I have.

San Francisco is a name that whenever I hear it,  I feel a warm and bright sunshine 

opening up in my mind.

It's a place that I love SO much it actually physically hurts me not to be near it.

I love EVERYTHING.

I love the view of the city from Texas and 19th on Potrero Hill.
I love driving on Polk at 2am on a Friday laughing at all of the drunk girls and club guys.
I love some how always ending up in the Castro.
I love the "No sex" guy who sits beside market yelling at everyone.
I love that on of the best days of my life was when my  best friend and I walked from the wharf, along Columbus, past California and through North beach, China Town and finally to union square in the blue twilight hugging the orange streetlights.
I love walking into MOMA and always seeing a new Warhol, never failing to make me cry in joy.
I love SF State, a school I've been waiting to attend since I was 13.

I love feeling like I never have enough I <3 Sf shirts, but would never wear them in Sf.
I love walking into Bamboo restaurant and being instantly recognized by all the servers, who already know what we want to order.
I love running out towards Crissy field in the rain not caring if sand sticks to my heels.
I love the Mondrian house facing west in Sunset.
I love the bay air.
I love the roof tops, the alley ways, the brick, the stone, the doors, the concrete, the windows the stairs.
I love knowing that no matter how much I search the city and remember the streets, there are still so many things to see and do.
I love doing touristy things but always telling people we are locals.
I love competing for lane space with munis.
I love looking up and seeing a cat peek through a window. (This always seems to be the case around Filmore.)

I love sneaking into fancy hotels around Union and taking the elevator all the way to the top floor.
I love cab drivers getting yelled at by their wives in a different language.
I love the overly well groomed hedges of the Presidio.
I love feeling so small in the FD, towered over by a forest of buildings.
I love how Sf makes every holiday feel even better.
I love when I took Steph up to Twin Peaks for the first time at night, and watching her eyes tear up.

I love the rusty steal bars on windows in the Tenderloin.
HELL, I love the Tenderloin!
I love Wasteland, Held over, and La Rosa in Haight.
I love that I can park for free in Golden Gate Park and lay on a bench in the sun completely happy, just being there laying on a bench in Golden Gate Park, in the sun.
I love that I could write an extensive list even longer than this one.
I love that I'm on the verge of crying right now just thinking about that place.
I love knowing that one day soon, I get to wake up every morning there.
And most of all I love that view of the city, riding over the Bay Bridge from Oakland. That is a view I hold so dearly in my heart, it alone, gets me through any pain or sadness.

I have had some of the most stressful, angry times in that city, but I was still so happy.
The best part of being in love with a city is that this isn't a love that depends on anyone else.
It's purely between me and a bunch of tall buildings and a bay.
Just the same as having brown eyes and fair skin, I consider San Francisco part of my identity.
It's a place I know I belong.