Tag: dslr

City Rambling

San Francisco in the springtime is so beautiful. I love wandering around the city & taking in all the views. Even though I’ve lived here for nine years San Francisco ceases to amaze me, I feel like I’m still finding new sweet spots in the city. Some of these pictures are from earlier this week when a few friends & I did a little urban hiking around nob hill / pac heights. The rest of the pictures are from this past Saturday when Chris & I took Juno out to Crissy Beach to meet up with some friends for a little dog date! Don’t let the sunshine fool you, it was freezing by the water, barely breaking 50 degrees! Despite the cool weather it was a great weekend hanging out at home & just enjoying this wonderful city. Saturday night we snuck away for dinner at favorite spot of ours in the mission. Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! We’re just a couple weeks away from trip to Spain & Portugal! Can’t wait!

Ocean Beach Adventures

^^ no one can throw driftwood for the dog like Chris can 🙂

This weekend we changed up our normal beach routine, instead of heading over to Baker Beach, we decided to venture a little further & hit up Ocean Beach.  Baker is super close to our apartment & has sweeping views of the Golden Gate so it’s our usual go-to. The weather this weekend was SO beautiful that we knew Baker Beach would be saturated with tourists and locals alike so we decided to try & find a spot with a little more room for Juno to run around. We went to the south end of beach & it ended up being perfect! I think spring may have finally sprung in San Francisco & hopefully we’re past all the non stop rain. All this warm weather & sunshine makes me so happy & excited for summer! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

January Beach Days 


^The best winter beach foot wear – rainboots!
^Running for dear life haha 
^ these two make my heart explode ❤

Lately the weather in San Francisco has been sooo rainy! Which doesn’t seem like it would make for good beach weather, but when you have an 80 pound puppy you gotta find some way to tire them out. For us it’s so much easier to wipe sand off of her than it is to try and get mud off, so the beach it is! I actually love going when the weather is questionable, because it’s almost always just dog people there; aside from a handful of tourists who get out of their cars walk to the beach, touch the water, take a few photos of the Golden Gate, and call it a day. We’ve spent most of January taking Juno to Baker Beach which as you can see from the photos has incredible views of the Golden Gate Bridge. She’s finally trustworthy enough to let her roam off leash & she seriously has the best time. No amount of time is long enough in her opinion. We have some fun trips planned this year so stay tuned for more blog posts! Hope everyone had a great weekend & stayed dry!

Carmel By The Sea

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^French 75’s by fire light!img_9362



This past weekend we celebrated Chris’ 31st birthday in Carmel, if this sounds familiar it is, last year for Chris’ 30th we splurged and stayed at Carmel Valley Ranch, which was wonderful but this year we decided we wanted to spend more time in Carmel proper. This seaside town is so quaint, filled with little cobblestone alley ways, italian eateries & wine pours as far as the eye can see. There are no street numbers in Carmel, so all the places just say what street they’re on and which streets they’re in between. We stayed at The Hideaway which is located right in the heart of Carmel. Everything, including the beach was walking distance. One of the best parts about Carmel is how dog friendly it is! We brought Juno along on this trip & it was a blast. She has so much fun roaming around new places & on Saturday she swam in the ocean for almost two hours. So many restaurants let you bring your dog and have them lay on the ground next to you & you can find dog friendly shops, and even wine tasting rooms. We got to Carmel on Friday afternoon & just enjoyed walking around and exploring. Our hotel offered a complimentary happy hour with wine & light snacks. So we sat in the courtyard and just enjoyed the fire pit & some free wine (score!). Saturday morning we got up early and headed to the beach. Carmel Beach is one of the few truly dog friendly beaches that allows you to have your dog off leash. So needless to say Juno was in HEAVEN, as I’m sure you can tell by the photos. After the beach we made it our mission to end up back in the same serene courtyard we found the first time we visited. Sure enough we were able to locate it & we sat outside enjoying the awesome weather. Next up we took a quick nap & then headed back to the complimentary happy hour. Finally we ended our evening with a super romantic dinner at Casanova. We ate at this place last year, but unfortunately I was ill at dinner & really couldn’t enjoy my food, however I am pleased to report that it completely lived up to the hype and might be my favorite restaurant in carmel!! Anyways hope everyone had an awesome weekend, I know I’m already dreaming of being back at this little seaside escape.

 

Half Moon Bay Monday!

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img_8986^^Pumpkin Patches overlooking the Pacific Ocean?? Pinch me!
img_8988-1img_8991^ A little obsessed with this candle display! 
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^Entrance to the Ritz Carlton – Half Moon Bay! ^^ Had to end our day with a little Rosé

On Monday my girls & I drove down the coast to Half Moon Bay to go pumpkin picking & get in the fall spirit! Half Moon Bay is known for their annual Pumpkin Festival, this year was the 46th year!! So needless to say the whole little town is decked out in fall decor. Our first stop was Pastorino Farms Pumpkin Patch. Along with all the pumpkins they also have the cutest nursery you can walk around in. Right next door is a florist that sells bouquets for SO cheap, I got a bouquet of dahlias for literally $3!!! After we left Pastorino we walked around the downtown of HMB just going into little shops, that’s where we saw the adorable little baby chicks. Our next stop was Bob’s Pumpkin Patch. This one was by far my favorite! You pick the pumpkins exactly where they grow! The patch itself overlooks the Pacific Ocean, it’s unreal. The pumpkins are also wayyyy cheaper than some of the other patches. After wandering around & picking out our pumpkins we determined a happy hour drink was in order. We decided to stop by the Ritz Carlton – Half Moon Bay.  You can sit outside on their lawn overlooking the golf course & the pacific. Even if you aren’t interested in the cocktail portion, I’d recommended going just for the view, it’s phenomenal. I must say I haven’t had a Monday this wonderful or this fancy in a while. Gotta love nursing / shift work where you’re off random days of the week & can enjoy little day trips like this one. This weekend Chris & I are headed back down the coast to Carmel By The Sea to celebrate his Birthday & I can’t wait!

East Texas Nuptials 

^^ Early morning flights = sunrises from window seat!img_8609^^ Jumping for Joy we made it to Blum, Texas…img_8646-1

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img_8670^^Rooftop bars with live music & all these fine friends ❤img_8603-1img_8631^^ Weddings with this man will always be my favorite.

^What do you do when you’re locked out of your hotel room at 1am waiting for maintenance to drill the door open? Take random photos in the hallway, duh.img_8584

This past weekend we went to a wedding in Blum Texas, which is outside of Cleburne Tx. Never heard of it? Yeah, neither had I! Chris is from Austin originally & so over the past four years we traveled quite a bit to Texas, visiting family & friends. I’ve also spent small amounts of time in both Houston & Dallas. But this was my first time really going deep into Texas. Albeit a stark comparison to our day to day life in San Francisco, there’s something so nice about being out on country roads, windows down, country music playing. I grew up in a small town in northern California so I can appreciate large parcels of land in towns that maybe have one stop light. And I can certainly appreciate big sky country, especially for the beautiful photos it helps produce. Chris has a large group of friends from college & it was so nice to see everyone all in one place again & just spend the weekend together! Not to mention that going to weddings now having already been married for over a year makes us nostalgic about our day. Weddings are just the best & this one was no exception! The first night there we went to the beautiful rehearsal dinner held at Lost Oak Winery. After the rehearsal we headed to downtown Burleson to continue the night & meet up with all our friends. We went Old Texas Brewing Co which had an awesome rooftop bar with live music. The next morning I was lucky enough to randomly wake up around 7am & catch this absolutely breathtaking sunrise from our hotel room. None of the sunrise photos have been edited whatsoever. It was so beautiful!! The wedding itself took place on this gorgeous estate surrounded with trees. Chris always talks about how special Texas is & how there’s no where quite like it. I don’t know if this born & raised Cali girl will ever truly understand what he means but I can attest that there’s definitely something spectacular about it & it’s home to some of the best people we know & miss! We got back late Sunday night & woke up to San Francisco rain, so I guess it’s time to wash the jean shorts, pull out the rainboots & get ready for fall in the Bay Area!

PS. One of the best perks of having a husband is convincing him to take cheesy jump on the bed photos so we can test out the new remote for the camera! yay!

Labor Day Love

img_7657^Juno can’t believe all these gorgeous lakes & waterfalls are in the city!
img_7675^^ How gorgeous  was this Labor Day Sunset?!
^^ True love is when your husband drafts your fantasy football team while you do your makeup. 
Labor Day kind of snuck up on us this year. We didn’t plan any getaways & it honestly turned out to be a great weekend in the city. Friday, Juno (our black lab) & I did an urban hike through Golden Gate Park. We walked about 6 miles in the park & it was awesome. We stumbled upon the amazing waterfall above Stow Lake. I had been to the waterfall before but somehow missed the part where you’re able to walk to the top!! Juno seriously was in heaven. Friday night we reunited with one of near & dear friends & just went out to a delicious dinner & enjoyed being out in SF. Saturday was a true test of our relationship, we had to go to Ikea – hung over, on both a holiday weekend & a college move in weekend!!! Luckily we survived & successfully built our furniture haha. We rounded out the weekend with a little bbq & I made some of deviled eggs & a watermelon caprese salad! Holidays are just the best excuse to make delicious treats! Happy unofficial end of summer all!

A weekend to remember

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There are just some weekends you never want to end, and this past weekend was one of them. San Francisco is finally welcoming the start of our Indian summer, it has been such a lonnnnnng Fogust, everyone’s dying for some sunshine.  This was the first weekend in a long while that Chris & I weren’t travelling / working or just having a jam packed weekend. It was so nice to just be in the city & enjoy SF. We spent Saturday in Golden Gate Park walking around with Juno, enjoying the sunshine. Sunday morning I took Juno to the Farmer’s Market a few blocks from our apartment, while Chris finished up some work at home. As soon as I saw the flower stand had  made to order bouquets of dahlias I couldn’t help myself, especially after last weekend at the Dahlia Dells!! Then we headed over to the ball park to watch the Giants play the Braves! It was such a good game, the giants scored 13 runs!! We rounded out the afternoon by enjoying some cocktails & appetizers at one of my favorite spots in SF. In the words of Walt Whitman – “we were together, I forget the rest” this weekend was just a perfect weekend enjoying one another’s company and all our beautiful city has to offer. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

xoxo Natasha

Dahlia Dells

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Golden Gate Park is amazing, I know I’ve talked about it before, but sometimes I seriously can’t get over it. Juno & I walk through the park almost every single day we’re home, and I swear each week I discover some new area of perfection. Last week’s new found obsession –  this Dahlia Dell. Mid-week Juno & I discovered the dahlias & we had to take Chris there over the weekend. Usually on the weekends we take the pup out for a walk / game of fetch in the park & I love showing Chris the new places we’ve discovered over the week.  These dahlia were too pretty not to share!

Valentine’s Getaway – Tahoe City

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^^^This sunrise woke me up – talk about forgetting you went to bed at 3am!

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^^This photo reminds me so much of a Bob Ross Landscape…

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I swear this dog and look so majestic one minute ^ and then so goofy then next …

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^^My two Valentine’s this year – I’m one lucky girl.

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^^Juno actually does really well on car rides – she usually just snoozes the whole way, like below…

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^^True Life: Being a Puppy Mom is Exhausting.

When it comes to Valentine’s Day low-key has always been Chris & my take on the holiday; especially since my birthday falls two weeks afterward! Usually a nice dinner out is the extent of our Valentine’s Day plans. This year however we had no plans up until the last minute when we decided to drive up to Tahoe once Chris got off work on Friday. We ended up leaving SF at 9pm which made for a lonnnng & sleepy car ride but thankfully we made it & woke up to the most beautiful sunrise over Lake Tahoe! I can’t remember the last impulsive decision we made that turned out this good, except maybe adopting Juno on Black Friday 😉 Tahoe was the perfect escape – we took Juno down to the lake for a few hours on Saturday & let her play in the snow & she even decided she wanted to go into the frigid lake – she would have kept fetching indefinitely – so we finally had to end the game. The rest of the weekend was spent with good food, great wine & bouncing between soaking in the hot tub & tiring the puppy out. All in all it was a Valentine’s to remember. Hope everyone had a great day celebrating love in all it’s forms, I was thankful to be with my little family in such a beautiful location.