Girls Trip 2012

We began in San Francisco 

      

We saw so many murals around The Mission District. There are over seventy alone in this neighborhood. Above, for our seven year old who loves comics.

                                        

Our family has an ongoing joke about buying fans. (not all that funny but it has become funny) We saw this one and sent it to our Dad. Yes, this is me at the Goodwill in San Francisco, I couldn't help myself. 

Naturally being in the Denim Capital of America and my love for denim we went downtown to the home of Gap. How fitting-pun intended. 

 

We found a local store with delicious Blackberry honey and fresh eggs for the week. The store manager was busy so we hung out with his chickens. Isn't this one beautiful? We loved his feet, ha. 

Having delicious meals wherever we were was the vibe of our trip. We had amazing food, amazing company all at foreign cinema . I was thrilled to meet up with our friend John who I haven't seen in almost 2 years. We were in town at the same time, and we took full advantage of the few hours we had. When we arrived the place was full, almost four hours later we were one of the last tables to leave. 

                                

                               

Crossing over the Golden Gate Bridge and coming up to hills and trees ahead was comforting. After three days of nothing but pavement (though we spent time with the chickens) I am realizing where my comfort is in a simpler place of dwelling. I like things open and easy to focus on, where my mind isn't spinning to focus on the walkers, the traffic lights located in different places than where I'm used to. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older or over stimulation just isn't what it used to be.

Visited a new friend's gallery Ea Eckerman Studios while in Santa Cruz. This town is great, it's tucked away which I loved. His artwork and family were wonderful company for the afternoon. After that we drove to meet our friend Taylors parents in Santa Ynez. They were so gracious and gave us a beautiful guest home to stay in on there property. After a fun night out at a Ben Harper concert, this is the view what we woke up to. 

We then packed up and spent our morning in Santa Barbara. We ate, walked through an art festival along the beach, notified the owners of a restaurant about a drunk couple at 10 am, and antique shopped-you know the usual. I was ready to head down to get to Andrew's in Redondo Beach. Before he got home from work we walked across to the beach. It was literally a 3 minute walk, I can see this view from his house, stunning. 

Pretty girl

We had dinner with friends and got to meet Andrew's girlfriend of almost a year. I love meeting my friends other halves. She was adorable of course and we ate another delicious dinner. The next day we had a spa day planned for us. I remember driving around L.A. needing to find somewhere to eat lunch and everywhere being crowded I finally drove all the way back near the hotel when I u-turned and saw a brick building covered in vines with umbrellas out front. We parked and I kept joking I knew it was there with Alyssa, " This is where I eat every time I'm over here." It turned out to be a french restaurant and we enjoyed our little spot before a relaxing afternoon. I got my Trader Joes fix and brought home a pie and a bottle of red for Andrew. I loved spending time with our old friend, we were only missing Richard to make it perfect. We took this picture driving home to Andrew's and he said he heard them talking about it on the radio...Yikes Chevron. 

It was a great trip where I had some much needed time of reflection. I'm very thankful I have a husband who not only took care of our three children with ease and as you can see they hardly missed me. This might mean Girls Trip 2013 can happen, we shall see.