Sister Time in Berkeley

This past weekend I took Friday off work and flew up to Berkeley to visit my sister, Hillary! We always have the best time together. I feel so lucky to have a sister who is a real sweetheart...one of the kindest, smartest, most thoughtful people I know. It was hard to say goodbye to her yesterday and come back to work today in snooty West L.A.

I’ll be unloading a bunch of photos below. These are all from Friday, which we spent in Berkeley, and tomorrow or the next day I’ll post photos from San Francisco, where we spent Saturday. Some of these were taken by me, and some were taken by Hillary with her super fancy camera, so hers are credited.

Hillary lives in a huge old house with 30 other students. Her bedroom is supposed to be a double, but the owners of the house haven’t found a tenant for the other bed in her room yet, so they were kind enough to let me stay there for free! Aside from the slightly ick bathroom requiring flip-flops in the shower, it was an awesome setup.

Hillary made up the "guest" bed for me with her pretty comforter and a bunch of pillows, awww!

This is Hillary’s desk with a photo of her and her boyfriend, Martin, a photo of our grandma and an orchid from our Aunt Judy.

The house Hillary lives in has this crazy kitchen with a cubbyhole for each tenant.

Berkeley is full of incredibly gorgeous houses like this one. I could have just taken a bunch of photos of houses, there were so many pretty ones. (This isn’t Hillary’s house, by the way.)

Photo credit: Hillary Law

Our first stop in Berkeley was the vintage store Mars. This place is so freakin’ sweet. I dream of owning a shop like it one day.

Photo credit: Hillary Law

I actually wasn’t wearing any vintage or thrift store clothing this day, but instead a DKNY sweater, bebe jeans, my Tignanello bag and red Soda flats.

Photo credit: Hillary Law

Photo credit: Hillary Law

Photo credit: Hillary Law

Photo credit: Hillary Law

I ended up buying a sweater with hearts and this swingy ’60s shift! Don't I have a crazed look in my eyes? When you buy things when you’re on vacation, it doesn’t count toward your budget, right?

Photo credit: Hillary Law

Hillary took this hilarious photo on the street near Mars. It makes me think of the movie Now and Then for some reason...these young girls with backpacks consulting a psychic.

Photo credit: Hillary Law 

Next up was Moe’s books, one of my all-time favorite bookstores. I think there are four stories, or maybe five or six, of mostly used books. They have a linguistics section, guys. Geek moment: How many bookstores have three shelves dedicated to linguistics? Isn’t that rad??

Photo credit: Hillary Law 

Hillary had to take a photo of this for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn’s sake.

Photo credit: Hillary Law

Photo credit: Hillary Law

We finally ended up at Ici, the most delicious ice-cream parlor I’ve ever visited. Every time I stay in Berkeley I have to go to Ici, preferably at least twice.

Hillary ordered the Star Anise Ice Milk flavor, and I ordered Banana Curry. So delicious, but every flavor I’ve ever had there has been bomb.

I liked how the ice cream looked with my outfit.

Also, this adorable dog was tied up outside Ici. What a cutie!

Photo credit: Hillary Law 

Speaking of pets, Hillary snapped this shot of a guy carrying parrots on the street. Doesn’t it look a photo from Glamour’s Dos and Don’ts?

We ended our Friday with a box of Tagalongs bought from Girl Scouts outside UC Berkeley and a few episodes of 30 Rock.