Terranea

Last weekend, we went on our first staycation at Terranea in Palos Verdes for our 3rd anniversary.  I was totally blown away by the resort -- it feels like Hawaii, but it's only a 30 min drive from our apartment!

Terranea is a big hotel, but it feels intimate somehow, like you're staying in a really nice house.  A villa perhaps.  There are a bunch of restaurants to choose from, all with different vibes (we had a brunch at Nelson's, happy hour at Bashi, and a fancy dinner at mar'sel), the adult pool has a dj and fruity cocktails, and the views are unbelievable.  We even saw a pod of dolphins swim by from our pool lounge chairs!

I took some film photos of our trip, but while those are getting developed, here are some iPhone photos of our weekend.

{view from our balcony}

{our room!  and they give you champagne when you check in!}

{the adult pool}

{view from our lounge chairs, just before the fog lifted}

{nice shades bro}

{bloodies at Nelson's, again, just before the fog lifted!}

On the Lake

Funny story.

Just after these were taken,

we realized that we couldn't see our houseboat anymore,

and were essentially lost on the lake,

with no phones,

no money,

hardly any gas,

and only one beer with which to barter.

And it was getting dark.

After a couple of laps around the lake,

a few rounds of spirited debate over just how fast a houseboat could possibly go,

and a half-hour stop-over at a random houseboat

wherein Brian consumed numerous fireball shots with our new-found friends

while the rest of us frantically dialed any phone number we could remember
on a borrowed cellphone

("taking one for the team," he claims),

we found our way home.

And promptly consumed approx. 20 lbs of ribs smothered in BBQ sauce

as consolation for the hour we spent thinking we might have to
sleep on a motor boat with no dinner,

and god forbid,

no beer.

Real Life:  Lake Shasta.

One for Wednesday

Well hello there.

Life got a little away from me.

But I'm back, 

and I have some photos to share 

from a weekend houseboating on Lake Shasta!

Here's just one

that makes me wish I were still there,

floating in the sunshine...

Santa Barbara: The Urban Wine Trail

For Christmas last year, I gave Brian a sea cave kayaking adventure in the Channel Islands, 

off the coast of Santa Barbara.  

We decided to make a whole weekend out of it, 

and planned a Saturday in Santa Barbara and set the tour for Sunday.  

Luckily, Sunset had just run a whole feature on Santa Barbara 

and the so-called "Funk Zone."

(Do you read Sunset Magazine?  I'm a big fan.)

The name was so awful that I just had to read the article,

and they had me at "Urban Wine Trail."

So I threw my bike in the car, packed my funky pants, 

and we set off to find this magic "zone"

where streets were supposedly lined in wineries and hipsters.

And I'm happy to say,

Sunset totally delivered.

Some deets.

The Urban Wine Trail starts near East Beach and 

takes you past tasting rooms for lots of California wineries,

especially from the Paso Robles area.

Some of the wineries have live music on weekends,

and there are food trucks.

And it's easily bike-able, or walkable!

*Heaven*

We started our tasting at Whitcraft,

which was a tiny little tasting room with the most delicious red wines

and the man who led our tasting was super knowledgeable and helpful --

he even marked all the places we should go on a wine tasting map for us!

This place had the best wines of our trip.

Our second stop was Carr.

This place was hoppin.

They make their wine on site, so there were barrels in the back,

and they had cheese plates (clutch).

From Carr, we rode our bikes into the heart of the Funk Zone

(just sounds wrong)

and parked them on Anacapa Street,

where there's a string of tasting rooms all in a row.

We hit up Kunin first, which had a great zin,
and conveniently,
the Burger Bus was parked right outside.
YUM.

 Our last stop was Municipal Winemakers,
which was the most hipster stop of the bunch,
and of course, the one I loved the most.
It felt like home to this San Franciscan.
And I wanted to hug everyone who worked there
(maybe from all the wine?).

Also, this table.

We left in a happy daze, wishing the day could last longer.

 I kind of want to do this every weekend.

Wine-And-Park Kind of Saturday

A perfect Saturday afternoon in Palo Alto...

Wine and sun and girlfriends -- the perfect weekend trifecta!

Shout out to Vino Locale, the cutest wine bar in PA, and the place that sold us this lovely bottle of prosecco (and the next bottle, and the next...)

Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic

This weekend we didn't do anything we were supposed to do.  We shirked all responsibility, ate and drank willy-nilly, and thought about nothing of importance.  We didn't cook; we didn't clean; and I didn't pick up that last roll of film I took in Croatia (sorry!).  Instead, we wore silly outfits and got drunk on expensive champagne while people on horses hit a ball around.  It was a grand ol' time.

{Brian breaking out the seersucker!}

 

There are about 65 pictures of the two of us on my camera...I feel sorry for the boys we made take all of them for us!  Haha!

We ran into a friend from Duke!  (And promptly made ourselves comfortable on her Veuve blanket.)

The only let-down was the lack of celebrity sightings.  (The VIP tent was on the other side of the field (behind us in this pic), so all the celebs were totally segregated from us commoners.)  Luckily, there were enough fabulous outfits everywhere to keep me entertained :)  It was a carefree day of glamour and luxury -- th best kind of day!

*Not pictured:  a repeat Lobsta Truck appearance.  YUM.

Summer's Last Hurrah

Yesterday, I checked the time at work, thinking it had to be super late because it was so dark out, and it was only 7pm.  

It wasn't exactly cold when I went on a run this morning, but it was a little prickly.  

I think this may be the last weekend of summer here in L.A.

I'll be spending it at the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic -- I know, who am I?  It looks like one of those things that only happens in movies about rich teenagers where someone is a secret prince or something.  Or movies about lovable prostitutes...either way.  I'm  at a total loss for what to wear.  My Southern side says polo = Lily, but just the thought of a Lily makes my Californian self want to barf (but yes, I own one...it's a struggle).  But really, it doesn't matter anyway because no one will be looking at me, they'll be looking at the celebrities horses, right?  Whatever I end up wearing, I'll make sure to bring a camera and report back!

I hope you all have a fun weekend -- and for those of you in S.F., have a wonderful fleet weekend!!! -- and I'll see you back here Monday, hopefully with some celeb sightings to share!

Summer

We got a watermelon in our Farm Fresh box last Thursday, dropped off right on our doorstep.  I saved the watermelon for the weekend, and we ate it on the beach in the white hot LA sun.  In that moment, it was summer.

Tuesday

It was 8am when I woke up yesterday morning, although to me it felt like noon.  The summer sun was bursting through the shutters above our bed and the water was already boiling for the French press.  It smelled like eggs.

...Eggs?

Ashleyyyyy, your egg sandwich is ready!!!!

And I was up.

I had an unexpected day off yesterday, which is really the best kind of day off, isn't it?

It started with that egg sandwich, done just the way I (and Joanna) like.  And it ended with citrus-poached salmon (my first time poaching anything!), asparagus with lemon and toasted almonds, and avocado toast.  That's right, I COOKED.  Count it people -- TWO home-cooked meals in one day (two more than I've had in months)!

In between those delicious meals, there was some Olympics watching, pinning, and general internet stalking.  And there was coffee (not in a to-go cup), sipped while lounging on my balcony in the too-early-to-be-this-hot sunshine with a view of the ocean.  Ohh the luxury!

There was also some tramping around town for a bit to do all those things -- the ones you know you should do but you never do because well, you've got better things to do.  I did them all.  And then screamed "I'M FREEEEE!!!" at the top of my lungs while balloons and confetti fell from the sky (in my head).

There was sushi and coconut water for lunch on my roof, with some Elle magazine on the side.  (You know it's been too long since you read a magazine when you start tearing out all the pages "to keep" because everything is "so pretty!")

And then there was book reading, and beach laying on perhaps the most perfect beach day we've had all summer.  I remembered what the ocean sounds like.

And then I had the most lovely glass of rosé with a friend at Shutters.  While it was still light outside!  Imagine that.

The world really did stand still.