Vacation, part 1

After the beer bus, Mechen and I started vacation! We were hung-overish on Sunday morning, then headed up to San Luis Obispo and stayed in a Rock Room (Swiss Belle). That evening, we went to the steakhouse on site which had pretty ridiculous portions (we split a main) and was pretty good.

The next day, we went to the SLO mission, had breakfast at the Big Sky Café, field trip to Morro Bay and ate creekside at Novo. Morro Bay was awesome and I also bought my first piece of art there- yipes! It’s awesome, but man, I don’t know if I’ll make it a habit. Maybe I’ll try my hand at painting?

The next day, we went on a hike to see the 7 Sisters, walked around Solvang and ate at Root 246.
Finally, we had a great breakfast at our B&B, Mirabella Inn. We ate lunch at Twin Oaks (steak #1) and went to several wine tasting rooms (Consilience, Carharrt, Epiphany and our hotel lobby (beer). We also went to Foxen Winery, which was pretty awesome. We went to the original wine tasting room and their newer, sleeker one. Any winery that has two tasting rooms has to be good, right?

Then, we had the meal of the vacation at the Brothers Restaurant at Mattei's Tavern. I had a delicious grilled prime filet. The preceding bread basket was so awesome and we completely gorged. Then we rolled ourselves back to the hotel.

The next day, we ate brekkie and headed home in order to pack and make preparations to leave for Coachella the next day

Birthday, part 2

On April 3^rd, I went out to brunch at the Pearl with some of my friends and one little baby who was definitely star of the show. She is the cutest. It was great brunch with delicious mimosas and Bloody Marys.

The big celebration though, was the San Diego Brew Tour we went on the 9^th. Cat and I both have April birthdays so we decided to host a pre-party and then go on the tour. I had been on one before about 2 years ago and had a blast, so I really wanted to do it with all of my San Diego friends.

The pre-party was at Cat’s house and I was in charge of the quarter keg, which was filled with Airdale Amber- delish! Our bus driver was great, the tunes were awesome and we went to Lost Abbey, Ballast Point and Pizza Port. I was pretty hammered- in part because I made the rookie mistake of not eating enough but mostly because I just drank like a fish.

Note to self: remember to get Ballast’s Bloody Mary mix. Awesome!

It was a great evening and I actually just relived it looking at pictures on Brooke’s phone yesterday at the post-Bridge Run brunch. They were so funny. Only casualty- my point-and-shoot, which I totally squished.

Turning 30, for "real" this time!

My birthday was, in a word, amazing. I had been sort of smarting all year long at what a dud my 30^th birthday had been. Not to dwell, but it wasn’t exactly the celebration that I think “aught” birthdays should have. Certainly there were extenuating circumstances (like Mechen’s deployment) but either way, I told Mechen that this year, I was turning 30 again. And oh man, did he ever come through!

The morning was pretty relaxed. He headed out and when he came back, he gave me a card. I opened it and voila! A spa gift certificate. He said I had an appointment in about 40 minutes that I could either keep or cancel. I decided I was in the mood and also, he said he needed the time to work on things.

I went and had a great massage at Sante in Solana Beach. I sat in the steam room until I physically had to leave. Then, I sat in the waterfall room until my massage, which was really, really good. Then I had a quick sauna, shower and went home.

The house smelled amazing. At first, I thought it was a puff pastry baked Brie, but then I figured out that maybe it was a cake (more later)? Mechen said we were going out to dinner so I got ready and off we went to San Diego for a dinner at Starlite, my favorite restaurant.

When we walked in, the host asked if we had a reservation and I said, “I think he does,” and Mechen gave his name. The host said, “Oh, MECHEN,” and led us to a corner table where there was the most amazing, gorgeous, huge bouquet of flowers I’ve ever seen. It was perfect and awesome and I was totally blown away. I couldn’t stop smiling and the guys near us on their own dates probably couldn’t stop thinking, “You SOB” to Mechen.

After dinner, which was delicious (at this point, it’s slightly hazy but I had a really delicious fish prepared in a Moroccan fashion, Mechen had a great steak and we split a lamb bruschetta), we went back home where Mechen had made my favorite cake- yellow with chocolate frosting. Yum-o!
I felt so amazing and special on my birthday. It was perfect. Most of all, I felt so, so lucky to have Mechen in my life. It was incredible.

Last weekend in March, 2011

The last weekend in March, we hiked/camped in Red Rock Canyon, which is a beautiful slash of rock that is absolutely gorgeous with all the reds and veins of different composition alternately layered in and slashing through.

We also went to the Antelope Valley Flower fields and we were way too early. Fortunately, we found a patch on the side of the road that helped us imagine what it was supposed to look like.  I can't wait until I can see fields and fields of flowers!

Present update!

Oh, so my Valentine’s Day surprise?  A poem, a handmade flower, fortune cookies and some really amazing tea- totally low-key and really sweet.  But wait until you read what I got for my birthday!!!!