Ocean – East Bay Mama

Marshall Beach & 10 Things

Sunday morning we woke up early & did a the Batteries to Bluffs trail in the Presidio & went down to Marshall Beach. It was pretty much empty. We maybe saw 15 people the whole time.
We bought a car this weekend!!! We’d been talking about getting a new car, both of us drive sedans & we needed something bigger since baby is coming & we finally did it. It still doesn’t feel real!
In case you can’t tell by these photos, the beach is 100% Juno’s happy place. Whenever she’s home & dreaming I have to imagine she’s dreaming of sprinting down the beach after her orange ball & running through the waves.
I hit the 25 week mark on Sunday, time just feels like it’s flying by now.
This weekend instead of just being hermits & lounging we actually went to two different social events, pretty big deal for this pregnant homebody. We went to a going away dinner for one of my coworkers who is moving to Thailand! & We went to one of my good friends from college, birthday party.
Our baby nursery is finally starting to come together, We assembled the glider chair this weekend & it’s funny how just one more piece of furniture makes the room look like it’s transforming.
It’s supposed to rain a couple days this week & I’m really looking forward to having an excuse to stay inside. When I have days off & the weather is beautiful it’s hard to make myself be productive around the house, but when it’s rainy & gross out I’m motivated to knock some projects off my to-do list.
We started watching Comedians In Cars tonight & I think we may have just found a new show to binge! We restarted Big Little Lies, but it’s so dark that I need something funny to counterbalance.
We are going up to Tahoe in two weeks & are staying in a little cabin that’s dog friendly. We decided to do cold & warm mini baby-moons. So this kicks off the cold one. I’m happy it’s finally storming so hopefully there’ll be fresh snow when we’re up there.
I signed up for a six week prenatal yoga class. Tomorrow night is the first class, I’m excited to have classes on the calendar. Throughout the second trimester pregnancy my exercise routine has mostly consisted of going on long / brisk walks with Juno. So I’m happy to have something else added into the mix. I know I need to be stretching way more than I am, so I think this will be the push I need as I enter the last trimester.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Growing up I spent a handful of New Year’s in Rio de Janiero on Copacabana beach, where my mom is originally from. Brazilian tradition involves wearing all white on New Year’s Eve to symbolize peace and renewal. It also includes putting flowers into the ocean as a gift to the goddess of the sea & to bring good luck into the new year. These traditions date back to the 1500’s. Ever since I’ve lived in San Francisco I’ve made it a point to take advantage of my close proximity to the ocean & walk out into the water on new years. There’s something so peaceful about going to the beach & thinking about the whole year to come.

I’ve spent the past five new years working in the ER. I always choose to work NYE for a few reasons: 1. it’s endlessly entertaining in the ER 2. I love my coworkers & we bring a ton of food & decorations & have lots of fun 3. I want to have Christmas off so I always volunteer to work on NYE.

Turning the page on 2017 & going into 2018 is so exciting. 2017 was filled with so many wonderful memories. We spent an incredible two weeks exploring Spain & Portugal, we enjoyed SF Giants spring training in Scottsdale for my birthday, we saw friends get married, camped in Timber Cove, found out in late summer we’d be having a baby & so much more! I’m excited & anxious for the year to come, I know it will be our biggest one yet! With everything on the horizon, it feels good to lean on old traditions. Even though this past weekend I’ve been combating a terrible head cold while working 11 hour nights I’m so glad we made a point to get to the beach & throw our flowers in the water. I can’t wait to do it next year with our baby in tow.

Happy New Year! I’d love to hear what some of your New Year traditions are, leave them in the comments below.

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

^French 75’s by fire light!

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.

Hana Highway Highlights

^^ Opening scene from Jurrasic Park.

The Road to Hana was certainly on our must see list for our trip to Maui. I’ll say that we definitely took a relaxed approach & didn’t hit all of the highlights available. There’s so much to see on the drive so you really have to pick & choose what’s going to make your list. For us seeing the black sand beaches was definitely at the top of the list, as well as touring the botanical gardens. The black sand beach was so beautiful, I had never seen anything like it. But the beach is definitely on the smaller side & there is a very strong current & lots of rocks so only strong swimmers should get in. I went in up to my waist but quickly got out as soon as I felt the current pulling, the ocean is NO joke! One of my favorite Hana highlights was the Hawaiian pork tacos along the side of the road. I have two recommendations for this. The first was a man who drives up & parks at a little turnout around mile marker 10 & cooks literally AMAZING food. There are only a few choices on the menu: Pork/chicken/fish & it’s served with rice & grilled pineapple. It’s served in a cross-section of giant bamboo & the chop sticks the guy makes out of the bamboo also. We also stopped at Twin Falls Farmstand which is a trailhead to waterfalls but there’s a great little stand that sells fresh fruit, desserts & other Hawaiian refreshments. I would say that the road to Hana is for those who are willing to spend a day in the car with their travel companions. Granted there’s plenty to see but a large portion of the day is spent winding through the highways switchbacks so if you’re at all prone to car sickness this activity probably is not at the top of your list. All in all it was great day spent with my family & a memory to last a lifetime.

Baker Beach Day

^^^ Happiness is a sandy snout – Juno spent a good portion of her time yesterday trying to dig gigantic holes in the sand! It feels like a lifetime but we’ve only had Juno, our black lab, for 2 months. It’s been so fun getting to explore San Francisco with our newest fur-baby. Yesterday we ventured out to Baker Beach. The weather was so strange but when we got to the beach the sun was actually out. The cloudcover made for some pretty amazing photos, especially with that little bridge in the back drop. Baker Beach is an awesome mile long beach tucked beneath the Presidio Cliffs with phenomenal views of the Golden Gate Bridge & Marin Headlands. It’s hard to believe that a beach this beautiful can be empty enough to let my puppy run around! Yesterdays beach trip was the perfect start to the weekend! We’re off to the foot hills this weekend to let Juno explore the 4 acres my parents live on. Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!

Tuesdays with Ocean Beach

My favorite time to visit Ocean Beach is mid week when you share the 3 miles of beach with just a handful of people. I swear there were more people in the water than on the actual beach itself on Tuesday. After living here for 7 years Ocean Beach just never loses it’s appeal, even when it’s foggy and cold I still think it’s one of the best / most beautiful places in the city. Tuesday was a perfect day to head to the beach in sweatshirt with a good book in tow. Above are some of the photos that were captured on this spur of moment beach trip. Hope you enjoy.

Monday Through Friday – Kauai Edition

This past March I was lucky enough to spend a week in Kauai with my best friend. We are both nurses and have flexible schedules that allow a Monday through Friday vacation to happen, unlike my husband who spends m-f in the office.

If you’ve never been to Hawaii, GO! I was certainly skeptical before my first trip, having traveled to Brazil multiple times as a young adult I thought I knew what a real “beach vacation” was. Hawaii however is spectacular in it’s own ways, not to mention the fact that it’s significantly easier and more affordable to travel to than most tropical locations. If you are traveling from the west coast you can typically find some great deals on airfare to the islands. For more details on how we managed to make our trip affordable see the Real Talk Section down below.

Some background on Kauai, it’s the most tropical of all the Hawaiian Islands and the northern most point is actually considered one of the rainiest points in the world. However don’t let that deter you, sun can be found easily by traveling south. With all the rain Kauai sees it’s incredibly lush and green, which made it the perfect setting for the filming of the original Jurrasic Park! In fact you can even take a helicopter tour to the Jurassic Park waterfall.

Nearly the entire eastern border of Kauai is unreachable by car. The eastern side is made of sheer cliffs and canyons, known as the Napali Coast. Just because you can’t drive along it doesn’t mean you can’t experience the breathtaking views. On our trip we explored both by foot and by land.

I have to say my number one Kauai recommendation is hiking along the Napali Coast. Not only are the views are incredible, but you are surrounded by lush tropical rainforest. I will mention that we only hiked about 4 miles in, although the trail continues on for many more miles for those who are eager enough to tackle more, and for those who are more prepared than we were! (oops for not bringing enough food / water – rookie mistake).

The Napali Coast Trailhead. The parking lot for the state park can fill up quickly, so getting there early is a good idea, although we were able to park in a dirt lot about 0.5 miles from the trailhead.

Much of the trail looks like this, it can be very muddy / slippery in spots. Old shoes are definitely recommended. We saw many people hiking in sandals, i would not recommend this, I’ll add those people looked fairly unhappy.

Another example of the slippery / wet terrain.

Aside from the trail being muddy & slick, much of the trail has breathtaking views of the sheer cliffs like this one, definitely worth the price of admission.

Some of the vivid botanicals seen along the hike!

Parts of this hike can be very steep & rocky. My partner in crime hiking down one of the steeper parts of the trail. When we researched the hike, there was little mention of the difficulty / trail conditions. Luckily for us we wore appropriate shoes & are generally in shape. But I definitely felt bad for those who were surprised by the tough conditions.

By the end of the hike our shoes were pretty much done for. Luckily there is a shower / faucet for you to rinse off. I’d strongly recommend a change of clothes and shoes though.

One of our days we spent on a guided boat tour, exploring the Napali Coast from the Southern end. It’s canyons and cliffs for miles. You can tell by the photos the day we went out wasn’t the sunniest. The water was actually quite rough and we weren’t able to explore the caves but it’s on my list for next time. We did manage to see packs of dolphins and whales so can’t complain!

Another Kauai highlight – the best snorkeling can be found easily off shore, no need for expensive boat tours. We found excellent snorkeling at Poipu Beach, located south. It’s a safe well populated beach location that does have on duty lifeguards as well for those who are nervous about ocean swimming.

Poipu Beach – where the snorkeling photos below took place!

Enough fish for ya?!

On our trip we rented an Airbnb near Lydgate Beach, which is located on the western side of the island about halfway between Poipu and Princeville. We were able to catch both a spectacular sunrise and sunset at Lydgate Beach.

Full moons & headstands.

Can you tell I was excited to be celebrating my belated birthday on the beach!?

The morning before our flight we forced our nightshift bodies to wake up early and catch the sunrise. A must if you’re in Hawaii.

One of the most gorgeous sunrises I’ve been lucky enough to capture.

My best friend makes for not only an excellent travel companion but she’s a great model 🙂

Real Talk

We made this trip economical by booking on off season and were able to find a good deal on our flights. We also found an airbnb that was minutes from Lydgate beach and only ran us about $50 / person / night! having an Airbnb makes meals significantly less expensive than staying at hotel or resort. We went to a nearby grocery store and bought simple things for breakfast as well as wine / beer. Food can be one of the most expensive additional costs to any vacation, so being able to store / prepare your own food can help save big bucks!

Hope you enjoyed this peak at our Hawaiian getaway 🙂

YOHO – You Only Honeymoon Once | Bora Bora Edition

My husband & I caught ourselves saying “Well, we’re only going on one honeymoon…” which inevitably inspired the abbreviation YOHO (You Only Honeymoon Once) – as huge Drake fans we obviously enjoyed the word play. Below is an account of how we YOHO’d – as well advice on making your YOHO honeymoon happen.

Most girls have a “dream wedding” in mind, I on the other hand was always set on my dream honeymoon, & it always included an overwater bungalow.

Our first official YOHO ruling as Husband & Wife – Upgrading our seats to Tahiti. As someone who has never flown business class, this was simply outrageous. Yes that is a delicate little glass bowl of Israeli cuscus with smoked duck on the bottom… (what in the world?!).

As you walk across the Bora Bora Tarmac it’s easy to see you’ve arrived in paradise. With one runway & one terminal, salt water & seclusion are here to greet you.

It’s just over water bungalows & crystal clear water.

We took advantage of the (free) water sports our hotel had to offer, we spent mornings kayaking, stand up paddle boarding & snorkeling.

We spent the evenings indulging in our resorts “happy hour” & watching the sun go down.

And even on the stormiest day – a rainbow appeared for us.

YOHO but How?

A huge question is How!? Let me preface with not all YOHO honeymoons look the same, nor should they. you can plan a YOHO honeymoon on any budget & there are easy ways to save money to help.

Saving Cash In Unexpected Places

My husband and I were not only finding ways to save money but also like most couples, were pushing ourselves to work out more. So for our 18 month engagement we paid ourselves to work out! It was as simple as one dollar per workout done individually. We would put in an extra dollar if we had worked out together & we gave ourselves credit for even small workouts like going for a walk. The 30 days before the wedding we upped the ante by doubling how much workouts were worth as a “final push” to the wedding. When I first proposed this idea, I got a funny look, but as the dollars started stacking up so did the motivation. By the time our wedding rolled around we had saved nearly $600 ($568 to be exact). This is a perfect example of an easy and motivating way to save money that can really add up.

We also agreed to closely look at our spending and see where we could save. Sidebar: I think before you combine finances with your spouse or soon to be spouse it’s important to see the whole picture. Websites like Mint.com or LearnVest.com help you see all your assets and debt in one place. You are able to categorize spending, create budgets and savings goals. It’s nice to see one another’s spending habits before combining forces. When we looked we found places to save. For instance we made an effort to decrease the number of Uber rides we were taking and use alternative methods. I cut back on manicures and pedicures & cancelled magazine subscriptions that I no longer read. These sound small but when put together they add up, just like the dollar per workout.

In preparing for our wedding I went through our apartment & really evaluated our possessions. Do I ever really wear this top? this jacket? these uncomfortable heels? We went through both our closets and found items that we could sell at Buy n Trade stores nearby. We also donated plenty of clothes to my hospital & our household items to Goodwill. All in all from selling the clothes we made about $80, not terrible. I will add that my donation pile was far greater than my sell pile. I also gained valuable shelf space in spare closets & kitchen, which for me was the biggest gain.

Real Talk

The down and dirty of how we managed? The biggest contribution is I took a second job, it sounds incredibly drastic, but i’ll assure it wasn’t that bad. As a full time ER nurse I work 3 days a week, so I took a position teaching nursing students while they’re in the clinical setting (hospital) for one day a week. AKA: making sure none of the incredibly novice nursing students kill anyone. This second job was a perfect way for me to add a significant amount to our wedding fund. This worked for me because it was short term, only 16 weeks, and only one day a week. A second job isn’t plausible for everyone, especially since most of our second jobs are planning our wedding! But evaluate and see if you’re qualified for some part time position like the teaching job I found.

Not only did we have the extra income from my second job but we managed to find an excellent deal on our dream honeymoon. I now will recommend booking any French Polynesia trip through, of all places, Costco! It sounded a little bizarre to us too, but once we compared hotel rates, flights and dining expenses it made the most sense. The package that we chose included Airfare (from LAX), Hotel Accommodations (yes the overwater bungalow was included) & our package included breakfast & dinner each day. This was by far the best deal we could find. I can’t speak highly enough about our experience using Costco, & I swear I’m not sponsored. We didn’t have any kind of hiccups with flights or transfers, there wasn’t any trouble regarding dining, & it was easy & for the most part paid for upfront. So for any brides out there looking to book their honeymoon I’d say definitely at least browse what Costco Travel has to offer and compare it to prices you’re seeing elsewhere.

See more photos of our YOHO Honeymoon below.

Infinity pool & swim up bar – definitely YOHO worthy.

A quick water taxi away was phenomenal snorkeling

Life below the water is equally as breathtaking!

Getting a little SUP Yoga in. Side note: Yes we both managed headstands!

The sun rising over the Pacific & below, the sun setting.

Did you plan your own YOHO honeymoon?! If yes I’d love to hear all about it.

	February Round up… on Legos in the Laundry
	February Round up… on Tahoe 25′
	January Round up… on 25 in 2025 List
	25 in 2025 List… on 20 in 2020
	25 in 2025 List… on 21 in 2021

Tag: Ocean