More fairy doors of San Francisco

A Halloween costume catalogue arrived in the mail the other day, and so far we’ve browsed through it upwards of four million times. Emmeline is obsessed with all the choices and changes her mind every five minutes.

Buttercup Fairy. Lavender Fairy. Candy Corn Fairy. Candy Cane Fairy.

I kid you not. If they could put gossamer wings on it, they dubbed it a fairy and slapped on a price code.

“What’s that?” Emme asked, stopping to lower her nose toward the catalog and inspect a costume.

“Well, it’s a … it looks like a … is that a Werewolf Fairy? But Sookie and Alcide haven’t even done it yet!”

Emme looked up. “What’s an Alcide?”

I flipped back to the page about flower fairies, thinking she’d have to wait to see True Blood until she’s at least five.

With fairies at the forefront of our thoughts day in and day out, I was thrilled to see that the Noe Valley Fairy Doors have returned.

This time, they look even better.

Spread out along the 24th Street shopping corridor in the heart of the neighborhood, the doors come in all shapes and sizes, with a few seemingly modeled after San Francisco Victorian-era doors.

One is hidden in a bookshelf in front of an awesome independent book store, and another is located underfoot near a popular coffee shop bench. I stopped for a moment and noticed that passing children spotted the tiny red door right away, while passing adults didn’t even notice. Children really do see everything, while adults are usually too busy text-walking.

After seeing the new doors while running errands the other day, I returned home and let Emme dress up like a fairy so we could amble down the sidewalk and try to find them all. So far, we’ve discovered five and hope there are more to come.

This red and white one is near a coffee shop by the new Whole Foods.

Located in a mini-plaza where the Saturday farmers market is held. I like how the ones located near buildings have an urban feel, while this one coordinates with its sylvan surroundings. I just hope dogs don’t pee on it, or that at least the fairies have insurance.

I was reading and having a coffee when I looked down and … fairy time. Can you spot it?

I like the details of this one. It has an actual doorknob attached to it. This one is located in another mini-plaza near Noe Valley Bakery.

This one also has a doorknob and is perfectly located in the outside children’s book shelf at Phoenix Books — one of my favorite places in the city.