[Oh, Snap] Cruising the PCH

September 4, 2013September 26, 2013Leave a comment

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

On the way back from San Francisco, we had two options for our drive: take the 5 and suffer through the dusty drabness that defines the middle of our state, or cruise down the Pacific Coast Highway and enjoy ourselves. Well, after doing the later I can firmly say that as in all of life – it should be about the journey and not the destination; and journey we did! Not even exaggerating, we stopped at every third turnout to catch a view of the stunning California Coast! Now, I grew up in the Bay Area, came down for college in the Central Coast and cruised on down to LA when I was done but never have I ever taken the 1 down the coast. Well, after yesterday I can check that off the proverbial bucket list and I have the pictures to prove it! We roamed the beach, found beautiful foliage and gorgeous coastal views; it really was like a dream come true…

Mailboxes in Big Sur

Quotable: Travel Lust

July 9, 2013July 9, 2013Leave a comment

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

– Steve Jobs –

[Roadtrippin’] It’s a California State of Mind

October 19, 2012January 13, 2014Leave a comment

For the past few weeks I’ve had little angel on my shoulder, coercing me to get the fuck out of my overheated Los Angeles bubble and venture up north for an extended weekend of good food, great meals and family time. But, whenever I was close to jumping in my car and cruising back home, the devil on the other side would start with the litany of excuses: I hate driving on the 5 – That’s too long to leave my cats alone for– gas prices are cray cray – etc, etc. The fact of the matter is those are all very valid reasons for not wanting to hit the road – but at the end of the

day, they all start to sound like the same excuse, ‘I don’t want to.‘ It’s been a long past few months and there was a lot of apprehension about being isolated, and in the middle of nowhere, for an extended amount of time – but I’ve also come to terms with the fact that I over-saturate my life with connections. My phone may as well be tethered to my side as a Siamese twin because I swear I’m always on it – Tweeting, texting, Instagram-ing and Facebooking; may as well just call me a walking, talking social media slut – I’ll take it.

I also, finally, took some my own advice: get out of my head and into my heart.

Being a creature of logic and reason is fine and dandy; but, emotions can’t be quantified, feelings can’t be measured and you can’t organize anxieties.

With this freshly pressed game plan in mind, I turned to packing up my troubles, both literally and physically. Piling clothes, jewelry, hair products and my work laptop in an over-sized duffel bag, I synced my iPod and kissed my cats goodbye. The drive can last anywhere from 6 and 9 hours, so I had a lot of music to load in to get me through it. For the first time, I wasn’t planning outfits or huge escapades – I was going to be comfortable and at home with the people I love. Yes, the 5 is awful and gas prices aren’t going down – but the idea that the people I love are only a tank of gas away is so comforting.

When I hit the road, I double checked my route and turned my phone off for a while; I was on auto-pilot, my car was on cruise control and it was just the two of us and the highway. I’ve had my new car since April and the furthest we’ve gone together is Ojai – this was our first big adventure and I had way too much fun. There’s a feeling that I get from being in the open road, windows down and music up; my mind opens up, my stream of consciousness is deep and introspective and I almost get this runners high. Maybe it’s a drivers high. Either way, that drive cleared out my mental cobwebs and reset my system. Around 10 pm I cruised into the city and it was bustling with lights and noise, roaring with personality as it always does.

San Francisco at Night

5 Roadtrip Essentials:

Map I know I’m captain obvious but you should probably know where you’re going – just in case your phone dies, your partner in crime slash navigator passes out or you’re just horrible with directions.
Music Make sure your playlist is twice as long as your total drive – if you’re like me, you probably have musical ADD and change a song halfway through…which means your playlist doesn’t last as long as you think it does. Plan ahead and your head will thank you later; besides, how many times can you really listen to Levels*?
Good Vibes If you’re no fun, your drive isn’t going to be fun! Besides, if you can’t have fun by yourself rocking out with an air guitar and singing lead vocals at the tippity top of your lungs – why would anyone else want to?
Comfort Grub There’s nothing worse than hitting the road, getting super hungry and not being able to find a damn thing you want to eat or drink – well, save yourself the problem and do a little store run before you head out or save some money and make sandwiches at home. Make sure you have something delish to wash it all down, and a few extra bottles of water – and you’ll have a happy heart, and stomach, the entire drive.
Car Charger Phone navigation applications, especially Verizon’s – and I speak from experience, do a pretty good job of draining your phones battery. Being lost in the middle of nowhere with no phone is kind of horrible, so do yourself a favor and make sure you have a working phone charger.

Doing it Right: Stay Classy, San Diego

October 1, 2012August 14, 20132 Comments

Once again, I’ve fallen head over heals for the city of San Diego. At this point, I don’t even know if I can help it – the air is fresh and breathable, the restaurants are equally affordable and delicious, and everyone is super friendly! For the past week and a half this little kitten has been going through some things and it getting out of town felt like one of the healthier options to remedy my emotional state. So, a few friends and I said sayonara to the city of angels and hellllllo weekend of sun, fun and relaxation!

Sunset in San Diego

I was excited about taking off a little early from work and beating the rush, but apparently I hadn’t thought this out very well because unfortunately for me, and everyone else trying to leave the city, Carmageddon pt 2 had begun. The combination of rush hour traffic coupled with the impending doom of closing the 405 Freeway between the 101 and the 10 was enough to dissuade the average bear from heading on the road, so it’s a splendid thing for me that I am anything but average! I rolled down my windows, plugged in my iPod shuffle, turned up the sound and drowned out the world. In a flash I was brought back to high school; my friends and I would pile into my GTI (RIP) with our electronic music blaring and call ourselves the the techno gnomes. The drive down was cathartic, but mostly because I had been having a one girl car rave. I didn’t make it to San Diego until after the sun had set, but I was greeted by a ridiculously scrumptious home cooked meal a la one of my best friends; whoever said you can get to someones heart through their stomach has an excellent point.

Saturday morning started off with just the right amount of laziness; we idled around the apartment all morning, preparing ourselves for an afternoon adventure at sea. Around 1, we trucked bags upon bags of beer, wine and snackables into our cars and headed off to Harbor Island and get our yacht on. Little ol’me was under the impression that there was a person cap on the ‘boat’ we were taking out. Uhm, no. Instead there were seven silly sailors and one very impressive aquadog, accompanied by an amazing captain that was immediately dubbed ‘Captain Ron‘. I have to throw in a disclaimer that I am so blessed with amazing opportunities through amazing people; what an experience!

We gallivanted around the water, taking our time to really breathe it all in; though we’re only ballers on a budget, I think when given the opportunity it’s only right to act like the real thing. So, first things first, and very naturally to us – we popped a bottle of bubbly as we got out into the deep blue water. We blasted 80’s music and sang along like it was our job, dancing between the rooms and floors – we all had this up-to-no-good, shit-eating-grin plastered to our face the entire time.

We had intentions of going out on the town and dancing the night away, but sunshine and day drinking are a ridiculously exhausting combination. It didn’t take much convincing to don some relaxing duds and stick it out in the apartment for the rest of the night.

In the morning we took to Yelp to see what sorts of foods we could get ourselves into – my friends who I was staying with recommended an adorable gastropub in Little Italy called Craft & Commerce. From the second we walked in, I fell in lust with the place – there are quotes everywhere: from the neon sign at the front, chalked up walls and engraved benches that say cute quotes and silly things like “PS I’m touching your ass.” Even the menu is worth a hoot or two, check out what they say about books. We somehow managed to go at that strange inbetween hour where it’s definitely not brunch or lunch anymore but it’s too early to be dinner; so we did the predictable thing and made our own happy hour. It was the perfect way to round out an already amazing weekend.