A Love/Haight Relationship

Being a poor graduate student and living in one of the most expensive cities in the world has taught me to improvise a great deal when I am take a reprieve from my research to go have fun. Fortunately, I study in one of the most beautiful and interesting cities in the whole world : San Francisco. Therefore, every so often, I take a Friday or Saturday to play tourist. In this way, I have been fortunate to see a great deal of the city ( The Golden Gate Bridge, Bay Bride, Embarcadero, Chinatown, Japantown, Baker Beach, Golden Gate Park (Okay, I lied. I haven't been there yet but I pass by it on the Muni all the time)... However, it seems my new favorite area of the City is the Haight-Ashbury Neighborhood. I love "Derpin in the Haight" because when I walk around, I can pretend I am Alice in Hippie/Hipsterland. There is never a dull moment with all of the people watching and endless window shopping. I love to check out the vintage shops (here you can find the hipsters in their natural habitat) the sock shop (It's probably my favorite shop in the Haight because it sells nothing but crazy adorable funky socks in every style, color, and length), and Loyal Army (Of course, I love any store that prides itself on being completely dedicated to all things cute. But sadly, their sweet graphic tees are usually out of my price range). Thank goodness, I have never visited a store that charges you  just to try stuff on >:] There are also hookah shops, drag queen shops, ice cream shops (note to self check out the Ben & Jerry's on my next visit) and old school music shops (You can actually find vinyl records and CDs here!). Nevertheless, I think my favorite part about the Haight is that it looks like a trippy technicolor Beatles cartoon. COLOR is everywhere, on people's clothes, on the fanny packs of tourists, on shop signs, and even murals on the sides of the buildings. After I have had my fill of the super cute and bizzare, I hop on the 71 back to the 9th and Irving where I'll stop by Kiki's for some super cheap and delicious sushi. Bonus, the restaurant is Miyazaki themed. Who says childhood has to end? Oh right, my graduate advisor who expects my powerpoint slides for my upcoming brownbag emailed to her by the end of the day today. T_T Well, duty calls.