| penny & sparrow +sf weekend away |

this weekend was perfect. 

i mean, if i could have ever imagined what a perfect weekend would look like..

it would have been this one. 

back in august, as an early birthday present, bobby bought me tickets to see penny &sparrow play in the city and as part of the present we decided to stay the night and make a little weekend getaway out of it. so on friday, bobby and i both took the day off and made our way out of town for our little vacation. concord was our first stop and after buying two bart tickets, we loaded our duffle bags and selves onto the train and took off towards san francisco. we shared headphones and listened to a playlist i made on his ipod and people watched as we zoomed through tunnel after tunnel. finally, our stop came and we hopped off and made our way from underground to the street. our hotel was right across the street and my goodness, was it gorgeous. we stayed at the hotel whitcomb, which is an old historical hotel in san francisco. there were chandeliers and bell boys in coats and top hats. i felt a little underdressed in my flats and scarf but i didn't think on it too hard because before i knew it we were hopping on our gold elevator and making our way up to our room. the room was really pretty. i loved the vaulted ceilings and big windows (that i of course opened immediately). after changing, checking out a map of the area, and snagging some drinks from starbucks we walked hand in hand towards union square for some shopping. we only had time to go to one store so we went to old navy (which had three floors!) and after talking myself out of buying everything i settled on a new dress while bobby bought a new button up. we walked back to our hotel, accompanied by all the crazies on the street, and i linked my arm into his to keep close. once we were back in our room i hurried to fix my curls, slid on a pair of tights, painted on some lipstick and eyeliner, and finished it off with my new dress. i surprisingly felt really pretty and bobby looked handsome as ever in his new button up.

 i slid our concert tickets into my purse and off we went to the venue. we opted to take bart again instead of a taxi, which ended up saving us a lot of time and money in the long run. we only had to walk a few blocks from the station until we arrived at our venue, the chapel, with a little over an hour to spare. so we decided to grab some drinks at the restaurant attached to it and share a plate of fries. bobby got a moscow mule and i got some crazy lavender and rosemary drink.

after we finished eating we walked next door to the venue and waited for it to start. i was anxious for it to start because i had been waiting months and months to finally see penny & sparrow. even though they were only opening for the other act, so their set wouldn't be terribly long, i figured anything was better than nothing! as the show was getting close to starting i let out an excited breath when i saw the singer, andy, walking around with everyone else. bobby instantly grabbed my hand to pull me towards him but i got nervous, worried i was going to get super awkward and say something dumb! but as soon as he was finished talking to a few other people and made his way towards us bobby let out an, "excuse me sir" to grab his attention. andy walked over and after bobby explained that i was so excited to see them and that i had gotten tickets for my birthday a few months back and was an insanely huge fan, andy introduced himself to me and said he was very happy i was there. he was one of my the sweetest and more genuinely down-to-earth people i've ever met. which of course, made me love the band even more. he told me to meet them at the merch table after the set for a cd to which i shyly replied that i already had both. he laughed and asked if there were any songs i'd like to hear them play. which i laughed and said, "all of them?" i decided on two songs, one from each of their albums, and he promised to see what he could do. he shook our hands and set off to head backstage. we were front row and i have to say, i was completely and utterly mesmerized. his voice is one of the most hauntingly beautiful things i've ever heard. it was just him, singing, and kyle playing guitar but they silenced the room as soon as he opened his mouth. i got teary eyed at a few parts and sang along to every single song. and he did play one of the songs i requested to hear, creature, which i've written about on here before. it was gorgeous to hear. but i have to say my favorite song they did was their last. they took one of my favorite songs from their first album, a woman caught, and added in a christmas/worship song as the chorus. it was absolutely breathtaking. i started crying it was so incredibly beautiful. as soon as they were done i felt content yet empty at the same time. i never wanted it to stop. charla actually told me she felt depressed after it was over when she had seen them and i totally understand exactly what she was talking about. we waited for a few minutes afterwards because i wanted to thank them for their music and for playing creature for me but they were still backstage. after a few minutes i heard my name and turned around and saw andy walking towards me with something in his hand. he gave me a hug and thanked me for being there and then gave me the set list as a belated birthday gift. i thanked him profusely, dumbfounded, and told him how incredible i thought they were. i walked away elated and couldn't stop smiling. even now typing this, i can't believe how incredible humble and wonderful the guys were. and i thanked bobby a million times for giving me the courage (and push) to talk to him. i now have a wonderful piece of that night to keep forever.

after they played we elected to leave early and head back to the hotel since we were both exhausted. i grabbed a snack box and ice water from the starbucks in our hotel and after rinsing the city off of my skin, i sunk into some pjs and snacked with my love before heading to bed. we woke up early-ish but spent a good portion of the morning sharing funny pictures from our facebook feeds with each other and dozing off and on. bobby ran downstairs while i stayed curled up in bed and got us breakfast and teas to eat in bed before we had to get ready for check out. i think that was my favorite part of the whole trip. getting to share a lazy saturday morning together, curled up in a fluffy bed, and sharing hot chocolates and vanilla chai's together between kisses. with only 45 minutes til check out, we put the pedal to the floor and got everything packed up and ready for the day. our hotel was gracious enough to let us leave our belongings with them after check our so we could wander the city without having to carry our bags with us. we went to a few stores, bobby snagged a beanie to wear, and i got a leopard scarf and an america beanie (that i'm beyond stoked to wear) and after weaving in and out of stores we decided to eat at cafe bistro in nordstom's. the really neat thing about the restaurant is that it's on the top floor of the entire mall so you can see a lot of the city and architecture while eating. we held hands across the table and shared compliments and in that moment i was completely content with everything in life. after eating, we walked around the mall a little longer before heading into the movies to see big hero 6 (which is absolutely adorable by the way!) by the time we got out of the movies it was already after 5, so we made our way back to the hotel, grabbed our stuff, and hopped on the next bart train towards concord.

once we made it back to sacramento we stopped by bobbys house to grab his guitar so we could drop it off for his brother to borrow. we ate a late dinner at his parents house, caught up with a few of his siblings, and then bobby dropped me off at home. by the time i sunk into my bed i was beyond exhausted but a little sad that our weekend getaway was over.

sunday, i had work in the morning but then spent the rest of the day watching the lego movie with bobby, playing games and eating dinner with his family, and continuing our ritual of watching walking dead every sunday night. there was a moment, when i was curled up on the couch between bobby and his mom, with his dog ozzy laying on my lap, and surrounded by his three brothers, sister, dad, (and a million cats), that i felt at home. i love his crazy, loud family and i love being able to be a part of it, even in a small way.

this weekend i felt more love, more beauty, and more happiness than i have in a very long time. i'm so thankful for the man i get to share these moments with and for the love i receive from him.

i hope you all had a wonderful weekend too.
i love you all.
xoxo