California 2011

A week with my best friend and my heart is full to the brim.
This trip was nothing short of celebratory as Ryan finished his degree from Moody at the end of December and we find ourselves dreaming about all this new year will hold, like becoming parents to this ever growing bundle:


We had such a great time exploring the cities and coastlines, laughing and talking, eating amazing meals and seeing new sites. Ryan really made it special for me by planning lots of little surprises along the way and for the first time, this type A girl completely reveled in the unknown. Here are a few of my favorite adventures from the week as they unfolded.

Driving along the coastline of Highway 1:







Spending three three days in a place where we could start and end the days with walks on the beach; filling the moments in between with lazy cups of tea and conversation:



And the city. We have both always loved the city and neither of us had been to San Francisco before so we rode every mode of transportation possible (except maybe a segway). We walked up and down the historic streets, visited the modern parts of town, saw a show at Berkeley, jumped on and off the trolley & had the best bowl of clam chowder ever at Fisherman's Wharf:





We also learned that Alcatraz wasn't as completely desolate and dark as we thought. There is some inspiring conservation and sustainability work going on there that made our tour so much fuller:





It felt like the new year was on hold for a week being away and now the next little bit of life is starting to unfold with decisions to be made, a nursery to dream about and days to enjoy but I have a feeling that we will always be thankful for California!