Tag Archives: tomales bay

inspiration photos / spring road trip

11 Nov

After our mini road trip to Ojai this past weekend planning our spring road trip from Los Angeles to Seattle is front and center on my mind. I love being on the open road with Brian. We are both at our happiest when exploring- Brian equipped with his camera and me my journal. There is also nothing I love more than planning road trips! I get such a high researching every little detail. Although, I imagine planning this road trip will be far less time consuming than when I drove across the country with One Part Gypsy.

At the moment the itinerary is…Los Angeles, Big Sur, Carmel, San Francisco, Tomales Bay, Ashland, Eugene, Portland, Olympia & Seattle. Thoughts? Has anyone ever done this route? Are there other places you think that we should make a point to stop?

Brian and I have only ever made it as far as Tomales Bay so any tips (hotels, restaurants, things to do/see) are welcome in any of the cities.

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gold coast

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oregon

portland food

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san fran 2

tomales bay menu

tomales bay

wine

windy road

***

“Once the travel bug bites you there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected for the rest of my life.”

Michael Palin

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well, hello 32!

14 Jul

I turned 32 last week- I am officially a woman in my 30’s! The celebration was pretty mellow this year…I went to a sweaty morning yoga class, spent the afternoon at the beach with my momma, got a mani/pedi and then Brian and I went out for sushi. It was a day filled with all my favorite things. As I am sure it goes with many people, my birthday always causes me reflect on the past year. The last year has been a wild ride. The highs include marrying Brian (I still pinch myself!), building a home, getting off the antidepressants I was taking for my anxiety (more on that in a later post), taking a month off to travel through Vietnam and Bali on our honeymoon, as well as a few epic weekend trips to Sedona and our mini moon in San Francisco and Tomales Bay, Frank (in general) and lastly watching so many of my dear friends get married, get pregnant and have babies.

The lows have included work stress (which invariably caused money stress), disappointing friendships, the separation of a couple that shocked me and the whole gallbladder saga. I feel like that silly surgery stole a few weeks from me, not to mention my digestion has been screwy ever since.

All in all 31 was pretty damn good to me. I have so much to be grateful for. When I look at my life I can’t believe how many things have fallen into place exactly the way I wanted. Is everything perfect? No. But is it ever? The last year has taught me that I am always going to be ok. No matter what. I am much more resilient then I give myself credit for.

I am still working on my goal list for this next year but until then here are a few of my favorite moments from 31.

look at that little puppy face. I die

look at that little puppy face. I die

bachelorette weekend in Sedona

bachelorette weekend in Sedona

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dancing with my maid of honor after much too much wine

dancing with my maid of honor after much too much wine

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with my momma at my wedding shower

with my step mama at my second wedding shower

with my step mama at my second wedding shower

walking down the aisle with my pops. I'll never forget that moment.

walking down the aisle with my pops. I’ll never forget that moment.

first kiss

first kiss

the pure joy I felt at that moment

the pure joy I felt at that moment

a lot of my favorite girls in one silly photo

a lot of my favorite girls in one silly photo

I will never forget this moment. It's hard to pee in a huge gown!

I will never forget this moment. It’s hard to pee in a huge gown!

eating oysters in Tomales Bay on our mini moon

eating oysters in Tomales Bay on our mini moon

the time Brian herded a bunch of cows

the time Brian herded a bunch of cows

the moment it really hit me that I had a husband

the moment it really hit me that I had a husband

our first Christmas in our new home as a married couple

our first Christmas in our new home as a married couple

these two

these two

our first New Years as a family!

our first New Years as a family!

dinner club with baby Margot

dinner club with baby Margot

when my sweet husband crawled into the hospital bed with me to cuddle

when my sweet husband crawled into the hospital bed with me to cuddle

meeting my little sister Briana for the first time

meeting my little sister Briana for the first time

celebrating Frank's 1st bday!

celebrating Frank’s 1st bday!

leaving for Vietnam!

leaving for Vietnam!

morning sunrise in Halong Bay

morning sunrise in Halong Bay

ho chi minh

ho chi minh

temples in Bali

temples in Bali

feet in the sand in Bali

feet in the sand in Bali

celebrating Rachel and PJ saying "I do"

celebrating Rachel and PJ saying “I do”

my best friend is having a BABY

my best friend is having a BABY

me and my little boy

me and my little boy

Thanks for the joy 31! I can’t wait to see what 32 brings!!

13

27 Oct

Sweet baby Jesus. We’re getting married in 13 days. That’s less than two weeks in case you didn’t know. That’s just crazy. I’m sorry I haven’t been posting much (well, at all really) the last week or so. I think I’ve been a bit paralyzed by everything. Man I thought turning thirty was overwhelming but a wedding is a whole different animal. There’s been so much to do and finalize these last two weeks that every time I would sit down to write I wasn’t quite sure what to share. My head felt like a jumbled mess. On top of all the stress I’m filled with silly excitement now. Just can’t wait to be married to that man.

This weekend we slowed everything down and spent a lot of one on one time with each other. We spent Saturday morning at Brian’s office using their laser cutter for a wedding project. Well, let’s be honest…Brian was using the laser cuter while I spent hours perusing the internet for a dress to wear to our rehearsal dinner. Who knew that finding a rehearsal dress would be harder than a wedding dress? I have a vision people! Anyways, after four hours of work I still had no dress but the project was done so we decided to take ourselves to The Lazy Ox for lunch before heading home. We pretty much had the place to ourselves and we took advantage of it and had a long, lazy and delicious lunch. It was exactly what we needed. Saturday night we headed to the movies to see “Bad Grandpa” which seriously cracked me up. I haven’t laughed that hard a while. I’m a sucker for that kind of humor.

Oh and we also put the finishing touches on our mini moon this weekend. Brian and I decided to postpone our big honeymoon until spring. One because we were finding it hard to plan both the wedding and a month-long trip to Asia and two because I really want to go to Bali and it’s their rainy season now. And who wants to go to Bali when it’s raining most of the day, you know? So with our big trip postponed until the spring Brian and I decided to plan a little trip after the wedding because it would have been much to depressing to go back to work on Monday. So we are hitting the road the day after the wedding. First stop…Big Sur…which is one of our favorite spots. I love that you rarely get cell service there. I love that you’re surrounded by majestic redwoods. I love the windy road up the coast with the vast ocean views. I love the quiet. Brian found us the perfect little cabin to cozy up in for a night. All I want to do is play cards, drink red wine and cuddle by the fireplace for the whole evening.

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Then we are heading up the coast to Tomales Bay in Northern California for a few nights. Neither of us have ever been up there so we are both excited to explore. It’s known for its fresh oysters which makes both Brian and I very excited. I’m quite sure we will spend a lot of time eating oysters and sipping cold beers in the sun while staring at the pacific. We will probably throw in a hike or two as well. Then we are off to San Francisco for a night in the city. Not quite sure what we will do yet but I’m sure we will find something fun to get into to. Lastly, we will be finishing up our mini moon in Berkley because Brian has a work conference to attend. I’m just along for the ride at that point. I’m sure I’ll just get lost on foot around Berkley exploring.

I know these next few weeks are going to fly by and I’m trying to enjoy every single little moment.

So grateful.

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