Year 3: Leather

What do you do when your wife lives in San Francisco and you live in Orange County?

Solution: Meet halfway in Pismo Beach.

Pet Friendly Hotel: Seacrest Inn

 

Pismo Beach 

 The Seacrest Pool: Pismo Beach, California 

  Leather is the traditional gift to exchange on your third anniversary.  We both bought each other leather shoes.  

Husband scored extra points with this fabulous ETSY find. It's a wooden jewelry box with LEATHER trim.  I also heart the cupcake lip gloss {He knows me so well}!

  Miss Stella having a grand time at the beach

Sundate: Haunted Beach

Happy October Everyone! This is my favorite month of the year (seriously!).  Thought I'd post some random pictures I took of Sundate at the beach.  Nick surprised me with a trip to this darling  B &B.  If you're ever in Laguna I would totally check this place out. Insider tip: We had the most AMAZING  complimentary gourmet brunch.  Don't judge just yet.  This breakfast was anything but ordinary.  The chef supports the Slow Foods Movement and had a decadent menu including sweet potato waffles and a onion brie tart!

I never noticed this spooky castle before.

Two Love Sandals (um.. or birds)

Me and Nick

Me trying to be patient as Nick takes my picture.

Love the contrast of this black and white photo.

I Love To Picnik

Photograph has been a passion of mind for several years.  Although I understand the basics, I'm far from an expert.  That's why I love to Picnik!  This awesome website allows you to adjust the exposure, color and can even help you fix those unfortunate crooked lines in your pictures. Not to mention can also remove red eye and has a fantastic cropping tool.  Take a look at my before and after pictures of a bench I took in Nice, France.  They almost look like two different pictures! 

Before Picnik: Ugly  

After Picnik: Not so bad 

HOT = Palm Springs

Click here to view these pictures larger

Location: Palm Springs

Hotel: Villa Royale Inn (Bed & Breakfast)

Vibe: Think Peggy Guggenheim minus the Picasso and Salvador Dali paintings.

Hotel Room Decor:  Although the rooms were incredibly clean, the decor was outdated  (think TV show Family Ties circa 1986).

Unexpected Surprise: IllyCoffee (Need I say more).

Biggest Disappointment: Jenn’s attempt at a cannon ball. Nick said the splash was equivalent to a meatball!

Things To Do:  If you’re itching to gamble (or people watch) check out Spa Resort Casino

Would We Go Back: YES!!! It was fun staying at a B & B. The service was great.  We were able to bring drinks and snacks by the pool and since the place isn't mainstream, it was actually quiet and relaxing. Imagine that!!

Italy Top 150

Click here to view these pictures larger

It wasn't easy, but Nick and I managed to put together our top 150 favorite pictures from Italy.  This was no easy task as we took over 1,300!  

Hope you enjoy and let us know if you have a favorite. 

Next Stop: NYC

Kate Spade taxi gloves

It's been 48 hours of trains, planes and automobiles (not to mention boats and my walking shoes)!  In the last 12 days Nick and I have been to Washington DC, Madrid, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Tuscany, La Spezia, Santa Margarita, Cinque Terre, Portofino, and Chicago.  (Maybe I shouldn't count the DC and Chicago airport as a place, but you get the picture... we've covered a LOT of ground in a short period of time!) I can't wait to post some pictures and recap our adventures, but before I can start, I 'm jetting off again to fabulous NYC for work.  I think when all of this travel comes to a stop, I will finally understand what it means to be jet-lagged!

Until Next Time

Drive into the Tuscany Sun

photo credit

Would you trust me to drive in Italy? Probably not. I hate driving. In my dream world I would be chauffeured around town in a black Lincoln town car with tinted windows. You can probably guess Nick will be teaching our kids how to drive.  Definitely not me. I still have nightmares about Marge teaching me how to drive. Did I ever tell you about the time I drove into the garage and crashed the Dodge Caravan into Marge and our dryer?  Not a pretty picture! (Don’t worry, Marge and the dryer were able to walk away from the incident with little damage).

So when my good friend Emily suggested we rent a car and drive to Tuscany all I have to say is ...“Not it!"

To be continued ...

Summer is Almost Over (Part 2)

Here are some of my favorite pictures from Santorini. What a beautiful and romantic island. Nick and I spent most of our days relaxing and drinking. I came back with an amazing tan and Nick… well let’s just say Nick came back with some severely burned ankles! And I have to say for the men who read our blog… every guy should own a pair of Reef flip flops, which have a beer bottle opener on the bottom of each shoe! I know I laughed at first too, until we were at the beach with our Mythos beer, and discovered we had no bottle opener. Then Nick “always thinking” Carrillo, took off his shoe and saved the day!

Our first day in Oia.

A random picture of a gate has become one of my favorite pictures of Santorini. Go figure!

Church in Oia.

City of Oia

Nick in Thira

Famous Oia Sunset

Nick at Kamari beach with his bottle opener!

Summer is Almost Over

Where did the summer go? It’s hard to believe summer is almost over and I hardly have tan lines! Before you start feeling sorry for me, I though I would rewind the clock and think back to the beginning of summer when Nick and I embarked on an amazing adventure: London & Santorini. Here are a few of our favorite pictures from London.