California Dreamin' Part II- La Jolla (Day 1)

After a couple of wonderful days at the Inn I headed about 20 minutes south to La Jolla to visit the Z family, who I was a nanny for right after I graduated from college. They just recently moved to the west coast and were more than willing to offer me their guest room for the weekend. I have heard about La Jolla and how great of a place it is, and my visit there only confirmed this and exceeded all of my expectations. 

Did I mention that the Z's are renting an amazing spanish mediterranean house with spectacular views of the coast/Pacific ocean?!?! Talk about breathtaking...

My entertainment and little sweetie while I was there. :) She would come in when I was getting dressed and ask me if I was wearing flips or flats that day. Quite the fashionista...

First thing Saturday morning we headed down to walk along the water. It's no secret that anything near water makes me a happy girl. It was a beautiful, sunny morning...

We walked out on the narrow pier below to get a good look at all of the seals in the cove...

You have to look closely to see the seals that blend in with the rocks. There were so many!

I think they enjoy sunbathing!

 Me with A, A, & A while we waited for an outside table at a great restaurant on the water for lunch.

In this particular place, the area down below us was full of pelicans. The wildlife was amazing all along the coast.

Delish fish tacos...

After lunch we decided to explore The Cave Store where there is access to a manmade tunnel that takes you down a TON of stairs to a sea cave.  This is the only land access to a cave of this type on the California coastline.  It was definitely a very "tourist-y" thing to see but neat nonetheless.  

The tunnel was so long, dark, and damp that it was a little creepy, but the view at the bottom was worth the workout.

 The cliffs you see in the distance (pictured right) are probably the same as the ones in the background of the photo of me with the 3 girls above. The opening of the cave now looks like the silhouette of an old man/indian chief!

By the time we finished our sea cave tour, it was early afternoon and the temps had really warmed up.  We headed home briefly to take a quite break and change before heading to the beach.  What an unexpected treat! Of course, I was excited to tote my camera with me and take shots of the girls while they played.

It was certainly warm enough for bathing suits but certainly NOT to be in that water. I dipped in my toes and they went numb instantly.  Clearly that was not an issue for these girls or the many others (who I avoided photographing) who were frolicking in the water.

West coast life agrees with these girls. They would have played here all day! This beach is only a few blocks from their house.

This is a picture heavy post (and I'm leaving out tons!), but I must include a few I snapped around their place. There was so much to take in that I would just stand and stare for long moments.

 I went and picked a bowl of oranges from the tree right outside the master bedroom so that we could have fresh juice in the morning.  How wonderful...

This room below was an add on to the backside of the house up above the roof.  Can you imagine this being your office with a view of the coast/ocean? Breathtaking...

The below pictures show one of the many intricate details that the owners poured time and energy into to make this a spectacular home. The wife cut down each of these books and then attached to the face of this door that leads to an elevator. It reminded me of something you'd see in a mystery movie.

California Dreamin' Part 1 - San Diego

I spent a wonderful 5 days in California at the end of January.  A calm down and a warm up was just what I needed (especially after spending a week on the couch sick).  As has often been the case recently when it comes to trips, my adventure to the west coast was part work and part play.  Some might argue that the "work" part wasn't exactly work, though. 

In preparation for an upcoming work conference that I am planning, I stayed at the Rancho Bernardo Inn in San Diego (where the meeting will be held) for a couple nights to do a "site visit" (yes, a tough job, but someone's gotta do it...) and to look at options for an off-site dinner.  Thanks to having to check out these options, I was able to tour around and see some sights off the beaten path.  My tour guide even treated me to a delicious lunch right on the water in downtown San Diego. 

The fruit trees out there are amazing! I was quite jealous to hear how common it is to have orange, grapefruit, avocado, lemon, or lime trees in your own yard.

Some of the perks of being the "meeting planner" that I discovered in my room...

Peaceful area at the resort to hang out after a spa treatment :)

Believe it or not...my first rental!

I was totally prepared for cooler temps but was thrilled when it hit almost 80 each day. 

What a treat!

Christmas

We had a very nice Christmas this year celebrating the birth of our Savior and spending time with family and friends.  One of the highlights for me was the 11:00 pm Christmas Eve service at church.  We always have a hard time staying awake and motivating to head to church at bedtime, but we've been going for years (for me, it's been since high school) and it's a beautiful service.  And there's just something about spending the first few minutes of Christmas Day (in the wee hours of the morning) singing Silent Night in a darkened worship room glowing with hundreds of lit candles.  In addition, the music was amazing and a wonderful Christmas gift in and of it itself.

We always have lunch with Mom's side of the family on Christmas Eve.  Grandma is more comfortable at home in her pajamas these days, but she was able to muster the energy to make it to our lunch after encouragement from us and expressing that we didn't want to celebrate Christmas without her.             

 

I am thankful and blessed to enjoy the same Christmas traditions still today that I have for most of the Christmases that I can remember.  Even though Hayley does not spend the night on Christmas Eve, the rest of our usual morning traditions have continued to remain the same over the years. 

Hayley and Jerry arrived bright and early on Christmas morn in their pajamas.  The present-opening took most of the morning because of each of us opening one gift at a time (and the guys carefully examining each and every toy or tool) and also having a breakfast intermission.     

Pre & Post with my sis

After our leisurely morning of opening presents at home, we went to Mawmaw's to spend time with Dad's side. 

Cousins

After a wonderful Christmas together, it was so nice to wake up the next day and know that we all had more than a week off to rest up and enjoy some down time.