My kind of summer weekend

The past 4 weeks have been full of fun adventure and plenty of hustling and bustling. From my roadtrip with Jessica from Seattle to Avila Beach, a 4th of July weekend on the coast, a concert in Berkeley, a day in Monterey, a weekend with our amiga Amber in Long Beach and a mini road trip down to a San Diego horse ranch, Jess, Dan and I have been BUSY and we decided that last weekend was going to be a slow one... well sort of. 

We decided to stay close to home for some R&R. Who wouldn't want to kick off the weekend with Friday night karaoke at a local dive??? My mom, Jess, Daniel and I loved the people watching and even sang a few tunes ourselves :)

Saturday morning, I perused the local farmers market and munched on figs, the sweetest corn on the cob and a plum tart with my sweety all morning long. The afternoon was reserved for my favorite pastime - sunbathing with homemade white sangria! Around 6 pm we fired up the grill for our Chipotle burgers with pepper jack, roasted corn and homemade peach crisp. It was old fashioned family time in the pool til well after the sun went to sleep.

What's a summer Sunday without baseball? My dad took Daniel, Jess and I to a Dodger game for a swelteringly wonderful day game. Dodger dogs, garlic fries, frozen lemonade and a soft pretzel were all part of the day as well as our sweet Manny hat. 

The 3 amigos. My favorite people on earth. Yes, she's eating his hair

Thanks Dad!

beat the heat with a jellyfish!

Back in April, I bought 3 tickets (knowing that Jessica would be here visiting) to see Death Cab for Cutie at the Greek in Berkeley. Saturday, it was finally time to rock out - and get out of the valley heat!  Despite a fierce cold that plagued Jessica and me, we were determined to have a fabulous time. On Saturday, Jess, Daniel and I (we're becoming quite the fun filled triple threat:) drove to Berkeley for the concert. We took advantage of our early arrival and our general admission tickets and sneaked our way into the pit and staked a killer spot. Ra Ra Riot and Andrew Bird were the openers (both very pleasant surprises). There were no cameras allowed so I have no pictures of the show, which exceeded all of our expectations!

We crashed in Half Moon Bay at my friend Amy's house, though she was gone for the weekend :( The next day, we had a lot of couching, sneezing and runny noses, but we refused to let that hinder a good time. We took the long way home... via Monterey. 

None of us had been to the aquarium in the recent past and we figured it was time for a visit. Just in time for the "Secret Life of Sea Horses" Exhibit in fact! 

The Splash Zone

Sea Anemones

I'm kind of obsessed with jellyfish, though I know - first hand- how painful their sting is

Touch Tank

I love these little guys!!

This is a Sea Horse!! Look at that camouflage!

Everyone's favorite Monterey attraction

Minus the stuffy nose, the day was perfect :)

It's the sweetest thing...

... when he sends flowers "just because"

Monster Mini Golf

On Friday night, Daniel, Jess and I pondered our options for entertainment. We were headed for Berkeley for a concert the next day but still wanted to have fun that evening. We'd been talking about checking out the miniature golf place near Daniel's apartment. It's all indoors and it's played up with cheesy black lights - so fun! We were also craving some quality time with his sister so what better way to welcome the weekend than with the coolest 17 year old girl around,  some pizza  and flashy neon lights? 

Daniel kept score... Convenient that he and Nikki beat me and Jessica...

What's Mini Golf without a giant Saturday Night Fever Gorilla?

I'm such a freak for a DDR dance off!

Daniel and Jessica won tickets from a trivia game and we cashed out for these awesome shades

ready, set, SUMMER!

For six months, I've been anticipating my business trip to Seattle. Not only do I absolutely love that city, but my best friend Jessica was to meet me there and we'd begin the drive south on the coast to start our summer. The big summer kickoff couldn't have been more amazing - beautiful scenery, thoughtful conversation, painfully intense laughter, and even some fireworks...

Before leaving Seattle, we had a great dinner on the Sound (I promise I haven't gained 70 lbs, it's just the sweater...)

And what's a trip to Seattle without a Space Needle visit and the Experience Music Project?

View from the Space Needle

Entrance at the Experience Music Project

Tribute to MJ

I'm such a lover of Mr. Frank Gehry!

After the sightseeing, we headed for Portland!

Mt. Rainier, only visible 90 days of the year - we got lucky!

In Portland, we stayed with one of Jessica's best friends from high school, the lovely Carrie. We tore it up at Karaoke in downtown Portland!

Heading west to the Oregon Coast was so green!

After 2 hours of winding road, we hit this...

We stopped at a Fred Meyer in Dunes City, OR to get gas and pick up some more road trippin' tunes

Just behind the Fred Meyer, I saw this

We made it through the entire state that day, and were able to watch the sunset over the breathtaking coast.

We made it to Eureka that night and crashed at a Super 8 along the highway next to this

The next day, we passed through the Redwood forest

Then we followed the highway back to this

It was wonderful to stop and take pictures whenever we were inclined

Jess has a bit of a fear of heights and with the road often inches from a cliff, leading to the sea below, I drove most of the way

But all was well because Jess' car is a trooper :)

After the redwoods and craggy rocks we came upon a familiar sight

And after 21 hours of being on the open road, 2 delirious ladies pulled up to the good ol' Ocean Canyon Resort in Avila Beach at 11:00 at night. We spent the weekend basking in the sun, laughing and dancing at Harry's, eating roasted corn and petting baby calves at Avila Valley Barn and dodging bird poop on the seashore

The road trip was one of the best trips of my life and something that I have always wanted to do. We took our time and didn't allow ourselves to be stressed about a schedule or "should be doings" and  we reaped the incredible benefits of relaxed patience.  But after the 3 days of scenic travel, it was so wonderful to arrive home to him :) 

He likes to wear my clothes sometimes