vacation, part I - california

Sautrday: Mel and I waiting for our luggage at LAX. She flew in from Austin and I flew in from the Twin Cities, and we happened to have the same connecting flight from Denver to LAX.

In Dad's truck, after he and Gigie picked Melissa and me up at the airport (and took us to lunch at In-N-Out!), on Highway 33 headed to Ojai. 

The girls and I are staying at one of the cabins on Meditation Mount (where dad manages the gorgeous landscape), and this is one of the spectacular views from the deck of our cabin - heaven! 

Gigie and Melissa on the deck, overlooking the Ojai Valley. 

Another view from our deck on the Mount. 

Dad showing us around our home for the next three days. Dad's studio apartment is much too small to accomodate the four of us, so he set us up in the Sunset cabin at Meditation Mount. Amazing.

Walking the path at Mediation Mount.

Meditation Mount Scenery I - The Path

Meditation Mount Scenery II - Blooming Cactus

Meditation Mount Scenery III - Lily Pad 

Meditation Mount Scenery IV - Mountains

The view from our living room in the early evening. 

The beautiful wood ceiling in the living room.

Our handsome dad. 

It has been an amazing few days here in Ojai. I can't remember the last time the three of us girls got to spend some time just with dad. We've had a lot of fun with him, and I can tell from his constant beaming smile that he's very happy to have his girls home for a bit. Now it's off to Spain to spend two weeks celebrating our mom's fiftieth birthday - what lives of leisure we lead! 

Posts and pictures to come from Spain this week. 

california love

A week ago today, we were in California at one of my best friend's wedding. It was an amazing weekend, and Kevin and I both came home feeling relaxed and happy.

We arrived in San Francisco late on Wednesday night, picked up our rental car, and went straight to Martinez to spend the night at Kevin's parents' condo. Thursday was lovely, with a family lunch and a quick trip to Kevin's old place of work to see his friend, Mike. We were in Carmel by the evening, where we met up with Nicole at our quirky hotel, and then went over to the beautiful Quail Lodge to meet up with the happy couple and other friends. The men played a round of golf while the girls caught up, did a bit of last-minute wedding prep (tying ribbons on favors and wrapping wedding party gifts), and spent way too much time taking silly self-portraits. It was a fun and relaxing way to get the wedding weekend started, and I was delighted to be with my girls.

Friday was spent hanging out at the hotel, getting our nails done, having lunch at the beautiful Earthbound Organic Farm (my new dream is to own a place like this one day, by the way), and then participating in the wedding rehearsal at Berwick Park in Monterey. The rehearsal was followed by a lively group dinner, and then it was off to get a good night's sleep in preparation for the next day.

Saturday was, of course, an amazing day. It started with a power walk around town with Nicole, during which there was - as always - a lot of laughter. Sarah was a gorgeous, happy bride, and I managed to only blubber a little bit during my maid-of-honor speech. All in all, a restorative and joyful trip to our home state!

adios, amigos

Well, just until Sunday. We're off to California tomorrow night to celebrate the wedding of our dear friends, Sarah and German. We have SO been looking forward to this trip for months and we are super excited to see everyone!

it's good for the soul

Finally! An update on our trip to California a couple of weeks ago. Highlights include: surprising Bob (twice!), playing Scrabble in the sun with Bob and Ryan at a winery, a traditional St. Patrick's Day dinner with Kevin's awesome family, spending the day in SF with Josh, Jessie, and Brian, wine-tasting with the Shevlins at Silverado Winery in Napa, seeing the Seniors and the Putnams in Half Moon Bay, 2 games of Risk (one American version and one very complicated and exciting Argentinian version), strolling through the UCD campus and reminiscing about the good old days, sitting on a swing with Nicole and Sarah and thinking about how lucky I am to have so many good people in my life, having a seriously good day in Davis at Sarah and German's wedding shower, lunch at our all-time favorite restaurant, La Mediterranee, meeting beautiful new people, seeing beloved old friends, spending time with family, taking deep breaths of some lovely California air, and feeling totally, utterly, and completely refreshed.

mr. and mrs. putnam

Kevin and I spent the weekend of October 20th in beautiful Half Moon Bay, CA celebrating the wedding of our friends, Jon and Alyson. It was a beautiful weekend filled with good friends, good food, the ocean, a lovely wedding, family, and perfect California weather. 


We flew into San Francisco on Thursday, and we spent the whole weekend catching up with our friends who live in Sacramento, Seattle, SF, and Half Moon Bay, and whom Kevin has known since his college dorm days. Kevin was finally able meet our friends', Kyle and Sarah's, adorable daughter, Talia. 


It was a beautiful weekend, and we were all so happy to be there celebrating with the bride and groom. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Putnam!


On Sunday, we were scheduled to leave from SFO in the afternoon, so we said goodbye to our friends and headed off to meet Kevin's parents and his brother in San Mateo for breakfast. 


Here are some pictures from our amazing California weekend.