Monthly Archives: September 2011

day 3 magic. dave + i decided to skip san francisco and drive further south so we could take lucy to the monterey bay aquarium; best decision ever! as i am writing this i am getting a bit nostalgic and teary eyed; i can see the wonder, the fascination, the happiness in lucy’s face on this day. her day. she started it off with chocolate croissant + things just got better from there. we played. we confused fish by changing their current. we watched documentaries. we let waves crash above our heads. we learned.  we touch sea stars + other things i can’t remember. we were in awe. this aquarium kicks all other aquariums asses, for the reals. the jelly fish exhibit leaves you speechless and never wanting to leave. and the central coast of california is what fairytales and dreams are made of, it is literally the edge of the world -vast + remarkable. this is a memory that i will forever cherish + remember, our lives were perfect this day.

today is the boy’s birthday, his last year in this decade. seriously there are no ways to describe how crazy, smart + funny this boy is. only a few special people in the world know the magic of this man + i am lucky to be one of them. he is gold. happiest of birthday to a the boy who found his way into the hearts of 2 girls who love him so. xoxo

what an experience day two was! dave’s one request is that we stop at the redwood national forest and omgoodness it was one of the best things we did! first off no words or photos could ever describe the magnitude of this place, it was so overwhelmingly beautiful + astounding that i actually cried. it was a very spiritual experience to be surround by such wisdom + knowledge + strength + beauty. luckily for us we were able to take a little day hike + explore a bit + search for the elusive four leaf clover (no luck here). i can only hope that one day we can return to camp there and really take in the amazingness of it all. this was by far the most magical part of the trip for me + i think all of us. lucy was so smitten that on our way out she actually kissed a tree and said that that would be the only tree she would ever kiss. YES, its that magical!

it was our goal to hit 500 miles a day + stopping at our hearts desire. we made it all the way down to the oregon coast about an hour outside of california. all we knew we wanted to see was the sunset everyday + also keep our family camp out tradition of lights and nite photography (sans tripod, whoops!). so those are some pretty easy goals to acheive and lucy had a great time staying up super late, watching falling stars and making her own kinda light graffiti. we took in the sunset around the oregon dunes, which i highly recommend visiting, they were beautiful and the tree canopy was equally stellar. i absolutely loved this whole trip, lucy was an amazing trooper + this vacation made us thankful for each other and closer as a family. and did you happen to notice the falling star in the last photo?

(taken in the redwood forest)

today i turn 35. yesterday was my brother’s birthday and a week from today we celebrate dave’s birthday. september is full. full of change. today i will be celebrating in solitude at one of my favorite places, the korean spa. where i will steam and soak and read and drink tea and eat bi bim bop and rest and scrub and sweat and get my favorite green tea shake for the ride home. our dinner plans are for the walrus + the carpenter, a place i have been itching to try for a while, no reservations allowed so i am keeping my fingers crossed we get in? go ahead + send a getting seating wish my way!

i must be honest that 35 has brought some surprises, my biological clock is in overdrive, so we are either a) getting a dog this year or b) having a baby and c) dave has asked me to let lucy be in school for atleast two months before i make a decision about my newfound 6 hours of me time. so we’ll see, we have always been set on one child but holy cow hormones and babies can make a lady bonkers! i am looking forward to having some time to reflect and appreciate what life has given me in these 35 years + to breath thankfulness for the year to come….and to think about baby names when there is nothing better to do.

*and i promise after this week i will be back to regular posts, starting with our fabulous road trip down the west coast!