wanderlust – East Bay Mama

Half Moon Bay Monday!

^^Pumpkin Patches overlooking the Pacific Ocean?? Pinch me!
^ A little obsessed with this candle display!

^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!

Nurses Gone Ranching

^ Just a casual helipad

What happens when you take five ER nurses out of the city & out on 500 acres? A lot of laughs. This weekend I got away with some of my dearest friends to a ranch outside of San Luis Obispo. We spent the weekend riding ATV’s around the property, shooting guns, lounging by the pool & just enjoying being outside of the city. I feel like I talk about this whenever we go away but there’s just something so refreshing about being pulled out of the SF tech bubble. I think it’s so healthy to go “off the grid” every once in a while. These days I think it’s so easy to get wrapped up with technology & our phones that I find it oddly calming to be somewhere where I’m not getting any notifications & can just be present. Weekends like this one remind us that life is so much bigger than our 7×7 city & all that really matters is who you surround yourself with & quite frankly I feel pretty damn lucky to be surrounded by these women.

Hog Island Oysters

^^ 8 miles & 100 Flights of stairs with my adventure girl.

^^ Gorgeous hiking through the redwoods.

Yesterday a group of us ventured to Marin & hiked Bass Lake & then stopped for lunch at Hog Island Oyster co. For years I’ve heard all about this iconic stop along highway 1. We purposefully went on a Monday to avoid the weekend crowds. We chose to shuck our own oysters, which is no easy feat! Hog Island provides the tools, & different garnishes for the oysters & you’re free to bring bbq gear, and outside food and drink. I hands down must recommend the BBQ oysters that they cook up and serve, SO delicious. Also, Hog Island is dog friendly, so that is just an added bonus. Reservations must be made ahead of time but it definitely lived up to all the hype.

Dahlia Dells

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!

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.

ER Nurses Take Tahoe

A few weeks ago my coworkers & I went on our annual trip to Lake Tahoe, it was such a fun getaway. I love everyone I work with & it’s so special when we’re all able to be in the same place at once, not working!! We stayed right near Fallen Leaf Lake & were about a 10 minute drive from Kiva Beach on Lake Tahoe. Kiva beach, is a fairly large, dog friendly beach. At the beach you have gorgeous panoramic views of the whole lake & behind the beach is a beautiful meadow with the sierra’s lining the background. It was mid July & the mountains still had snow caps on them!

Like I mentioned before, it’s so special when we can actually coordinate all of our busy schedules & find a time when we can all be together. Many of us work more than one job, so finding a 4 day stretch where we can be together is a miracle! My nursing family is amazing, I’ve learned so much from each one of them & am constantly inspired. It’s so rare to find such an amazing group of people you work with. Granted, many have moved on to other jobs but we’ve all remained close. Nursing is a tremendously hard job & if you can’t find balance in your life then you’re going to have a hard time coping. Weekend getaways like this one remind me what incredibly compassionate, generous, hilarious women I’m surrounded by, & push me to expect more of myself. I just had my 4 year anniversary as a nurse & a lot of the girls in these photos were there from the very beginning. We encouraged each other & helped one another become the amazing nurses we are today. One of my favorite quotes that embodies nursing is this: “The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others”. As true as this is, I think I’ve also found myself working side by side with these gals. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of others I work side by side with that I consider to be my Nurse role models / mentors, but these girls are gold.

Stay tuned for more photos with them because this weekend we’re headed to our first ever black tie event together… just keep in mind these are girls who wear glorified pajamas to work each day (scrubs).

Here Today, Gone To Maui

That time we realized we’d been married for 11 months exactly.

^ The only actual successful group photo via selfie stick.

Maui, in case you can’t tell, was absolutely breathtaking. This trip was extra special because it was my parents and brother’s first time visiting Hawaii. I knew my parents would love it, they spend most winters in Brazil soaking up the sun and sand so I knew Hawaii would be just there speed. We rented an awesome Airbnb in South Kihei, which is about 20 minutes from the airport. It was directly across from the beach and close to a lot of little shops and restaurants. I’ll be doing a post of all our Maui Musts, but for now I wanted to post some of the pictures from this awesome & memorable family vacation.

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 !

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!

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.

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