A few weeks ago we went to Scottsdale to celebrate my 30th birthday. It was such a fun long weekend. My best friend & my parents joined us & it was so low key & relaxing. We stayed at the Scottsdale Mccormick Ranch which has an awesome pool, that you can walk into. Will LOVED it. He was so brave and would just walk right in, which had us realizing he needs swim lessons ASAP because he has no concept of what to do when he gets too deep (literally). We also went and saw a Giants preseason game, which is always fun. All in all it was a great weekend with great food & even better company & it definitely felt like a special way to ring in 30. (which I still can’t believe I am!)
Tag: getaway
Carmel By The Sea
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.
Valentine’s Getaway – Tahoe City
^^^This sunrise woke me up – talk about forgetting you went to bed at 3am!
^^This photo reminds me so much of a Bob Ross Landscape…
I swear this dog and look so majestic one minute ^ and then so goofy then next …
^^My two Valentine’s this year – I’m one lucky girl.
^^Juno actually does really well on car rides – she usually just snoozes the whole way, like below…
^^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.
East Bay Mama 
