travel – Page 5 – East Bay Mama

Bainbridge Blues

^ Bainbridges oldest coffee shop.

^^ I came home with a few sets of these soaps, they smell incredible!!

Bainbridge is an adorable island off the Puget Sound that can be reached by a quick 30 minute ferry ride. The town itself is home to about 20,000 people, many whom commute to the city on the ferry each day. A ferry ride will cost you about $12 per adult & there’s no return fee! If you’re feeling adventurous you can even drive your car onto the ferry. The little town is scattered with shops, restaurants and a beautiful waterfront trail that goes along the docks. Each little store is like walking into Anthropologie, filled with home goods, candles, and warm weather wear. We at Public House which not only had delicious food but phenomenal views of the harbor. It also happens to be a 21 and over spot, which we didn’t realize until we were already inside. The seafood is absolutely delicious in Seattle. I’m planning to do a post on our must eats from this trip to Seattle. But Public House certainly makes the cut!

Bainbridge was the perfect day trip outside of the city. It was so much fun walking around and exploring the little town, stepping inside little shops & finding delicious bakeries along the way. You can see more of our trip Here !

Girls Getaway – Seattle Edition

^^our adorable airbnb!! Each year my best friend & I make a trip to a place neither of us have been to. Last year we had a blast in kauai. (See it here.) This year, after much deliberation we eventually settled on Seattle. I’ve been to the Seattle area previously but mostly to visit extended family. I had never really spent much time in Seattle proper so I was more than excited to have 5 days to explore this Pacific Northwest treasure. Normally I see my BFF either in the bay area or when I visit her in San Diego. It’s such a nice escape just to be in a new city for a few days exploring . If you have the opportunity to travel with your bestie I highly recommend it, it’s just good for your soul.

We rented an Airbnb in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, which has plenty of bars & restaurants. I posted a few photos of the Airbnb, it was so cute. I felt like I was staying at an Airbnb decorated by Joanna Gaines; hello reclaimed wood & neutral tones! We toyed with the idea of renting a car, but we decided against it. So we ending up walking, a lot. Honestly, walking was so nice, we averaged about 7 miles a day exploring different neighborhoods on our way to whatever we had planned that day. Having both walked through much of San Francisco, the infrequent hills of Seattle were nothing! And then we never felt guilty for treating ourselves to an uber when we didn’t feel like walking to dinner.

I’ll be doing at least two more posts on Seattle because that’s how much of a great time we had there. I’ve never really travelled to a city where I could actually realistically see myself moving, until visiting Seattle. The city itself just feels so much quieter than San Francisco, people are polite and courteous and as our first uber driver told us “it’s a culture built on open mindedness & acceptance” ummm yes please! In a world so chaotic Seattle just feels like a little reprieve.

I could keep rambling on, but I’ll save it for another post! We are off to Maui tomorrow with my family & I am SO excited. If you have any MauiMusts I’d love to hear them!

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.

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!

String art tutorial

Four years ago I made this Texas string art for Chris’ birthday; It was a surprisingly easy project that turned out great & now I’ve inally gotten around to make the California counterpart. Whether you’re gifting this for the holidays or hanging it in your own home it’s sure to get plenty of compliments.

Materials

Wood board – I used this one here from Michaels
1″ nails (2 packs recommended)
Paint
Foam brush
Hammer
String
Outline of map or design you plan to use

Directions

Paint wood board – allow to dry completely – I used two coats of paint. Once the paint has dried completely tape the outline of the state in the desired place.

2. Begin hammering nails following your outline – I found it easier to start with a nail at each corner and then adding nails spaced apart, rather than trying to hammer them all close together in the beginning. Also I recommend hammering the heart in first otherwise it’ll be much more difficult & awkward if the state is already outlined to try and squeeze the heart in. 3. Take the string and start at a corner, make a small knot to secure the string to an outer nail, and begin looping the string around the nails of the heart. I found out the Texas state outline was somewhat easier than california just based on the shape of the state. It may take a few tries to figure out the best number of times to wrap the string around the inner nails. *Note – not all the nails will have string wrapped around – in the picture below you can see how some of the nails on the curve inward on the southern end have been skipped.

4. Once you have completed the final loop make another small knot to secure the string, and you’re done & ready to display!

This project will run you about $20 -$25 and makes a perfect gift! Have you made your own string art? if so I’d love to hear about it!

Carmel-By-The-Sea – To Celebrate 30.

This past weekend we celebrated Chirs’ 30th birthday with a short trip a little ways south on the California coast, to Carmel By The Sea. We left Friday morning & took our town driving down the Pacific Coast Highway, stopping along the way in Pescadero to check out Pigeon Point Lighthouse, which in case you can’t tell by the photos, was awesome! Next we stopped & had lunch at The Bench at Pebble Beach. This famous spot overlooks the 18th hole at Pebble & is open to the public! After refueling, we continued on & enjoyed the rest of the 17 mile drive & stopped to watch the sunset, it was so beautiful. I’ve lived in California all my life, but I’m constantly taken aback by just how breathtaking the coastline can be.

We stayed at the amazing Carmel Valley Ranch. The ranch is on 400 acres overlooking the Carmel Valley. Not only do they have phenomenal suites with their own privates baths on the balcony (swoooon) but the ranch offers activities for anyone and everyone (golf, archery, yoga, swimming, bee keeping, etc). With our limited time we took advantage of the complimentary smores & hiking trails. Saturday morning after a quick mimosa filled breakfast we hiked to the top of the ridge that overlooks the valley! It was gorgeous! Then we headed out to Carmel proper to spend a day wine tasting and get lost in the seaside town. The cobble stone streets are filled with galleries, boutiques & wine shops. We even found a store dedicated to everything Alice In Wonderland related! The downtown is also lined with Italian restaurants, we stopped in and had homemade pasta at Casanova, which is listed as the romantic restaurant in Carmel, verified by our friendly uber driver, haha.

Sunday morning we packed up early & headed back. I dropped Chris straight at the airport as he’s traveling for work this week, but Carmel felt like a world away & such a wonderful escape from our busy hectic lives!

Do you have a favorite California Seaside town? If so I’d love to hear all about it! 🙂

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.

Weekend Recap

This weekend was our 3rd Annual Family Golf Open; each year we pick a bay area golf course, my dad & brother travel from the Sacramento area and Chris & I triple bogey our way through 18 holes… It’s always a great time. This year we played Lincoln Park Golf Course in San Francisco, which is located along side the Land’s End Trail. The course is filled with glimpses of the Golden Gate, fairways that open out to the city skyline. The 17th hole has a picture perfect view of the Golden Gate right at the tee off. I’ll also add the the course has incredible customer service. I managed to drop my phone along the way & it was returned to the club house & then delivered to me via golf cart 3 holes later!! Amazing! We enjoyed a delicious dinner in Laurel Heights before my family headed home. That night Chris & I decided to break out the fancy bar set we received as a wedding present & make fancy cocktails. We served them in beautiful TIffany&Co tumbler glasses, another wedding present. As for Sunday scones, football & italian panini were on the agenda. The recipe for these sandwiches is here!

A Drive To Jenner CA – Nuptials Await

How cool are these spider webs?! They hold on to the drops of morning dew – I couldn’t get enough!

Talk about a view!

Excuse our incredibly squinty eyes…

Our last wedding of the year had us driving from San Francisco up the Pacific Coast Highway 1 to Jenner / Timber Cove for a spectacular wedding along the coast side. We woke up Saturday morning to a thick blanket of California fog that completely engulfed the coastline. We spent the morning before the ceremony hiking along the fog filled trails and getting some awesome photos. The two or so hours before the start of the ceremony the fog started burning off and made for an incredible backdrop to witness two incredible people becoming husband and wife! Sunday morning we drove back the same way taking our time, enjoying the California coast, stopping for BBQ oysters & fish n chips along the way. The last photo pictured is a view of Stinson Beach. If you ever get the opportunity to drive along the Pacific Coast Highway, take it! There’s nothing quite like it.

36 Hours in Charlottesville

A recap of the fun but whirlwind trip to Charlottesville Virginia this past August. We drove from Washington DC to Charlottesville late Friday evening & spent the night attending a rehearsal dinner & BBQ at a gorgeous country estate. The next day we got up early and did a walking tour of UVA. Below are some of the photos from that morning… The UVA campus was breathtaking, and not to mention fairly empty, there were a handful of students moving into “the lawn” and some groups holding new student orientation activities, but aside from that the campus was pretty quiet.

The gorgeous outdoor ampitheater, & Chris taking advantage of all the stairs, I take pictures & he tries to work out…

It’s columns & archways for as far as the eye can see.

We toured the on campus chapel, it was the only air conditioned spot we found on campus!

A lone leaf lines the brick pathway, a sign fall is coming ?

We stumbled across multiple little “secret garden” areas.

I have a good sport for a husband, he indulges me when I say “give me your best model behavior”…

After our 3 mile self guided walking tour around UVA we got ready for the wedding that brought us to Virginia in the first place.

A pretty phenomenal backdrop to say “I do”.

For the wedding, given how hot & humid it was, I wanted to have a hairstyle that was out of my face and would stay all night. Lately I’ve been really into braids & have use Bare Foot Blonde tutorials for new hairstyles, this was probably my best BFB success yet! I used this tutorial for the pull through braid pictured here & I couldn’t have been happier with how it turned out. It stayed literally all night, even through 4 hours of dancing & 90% humidity. I will mention I did practice twice before the wedding because it’s a definitely one of the trickier hair styles.

We had a great time in Charlottesville & were welcomed home with a spectacular west coast sunset…

	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