Girl's Weekend

Every year since high school graduation, a group of us girls get together for a girl's weekend at the Oregon coast. Some of us have been friends since kindergarten and others since high school, but the number of years doesn't seem to matter when it comes to the strength of our friendships. We've been together through the loss of loved ones, the excitement of our weddings and the joy of starting families, not to mention the memories of growing up together.

This year's girl's weekend fell in the first week of August and I was so ready to spend 3 days with my girls. We had a small baby with us at the beach because one of the girls had just had her first baby 6 weeks prior to girl's weekend. It was such a joy to spend so much time with my good friend's baby girl since I don't live in the area and won't see her again until she is about 6 months old!

Every girl's weekend seems to always be filled with eating, shopping and lots and lots of talking. We always end up in the kitchen, eating and talking and we continue talking into the early hours of the morning. Even when we get into bed, with the intentions of sleeping, we continue to talk for another hour at least.

I don't know what I would do without these weekends or without these wonderful girls. I am so thankful to have these amazing women in my life!

Kristin, Me, Kimmy and Alycia enjoying the local coffee shop.

Kimmy, I am so thankful you sat next to me in freshman math. I can't imagine it any other way!

We've been friends so long I can't remember life without Kristin.

I don't have a pic of all 8 of us, but here are 5 out of 8. Megan, Kristin, Me, Erin (& Lilli) and Kim.

Thanks, Erin, for the pictures!

Big Sur, Carmel & Monterey

The last week in July, Patrick's mom flew down from Oregon to visit us. We had been looking forward to the visit for a while. Not only was Patrick's mom in town, but it was also a great vacation for all 3 of us.

For five days we traveled up the coast to see the sights. We stayed 2 nights in Big Sur and 3 in Monterey, stopping to see Carmel-by-the-Sea on the way. In Big Sur, we did some short hikes, enjoyed the scenery, went to open mic night at the Henry Miller Library (the only time in my life I think I will see a sitar player and a violinist jam together) and relaxed on the beaches. We stayed at Deetjen's in Big Sur, which was built by a Danish man in the early 2oth century. It was rough around the edges, but all 3 of us loved it. It had charachter, and adding to that charachter was the shower arrangement. Check out the picture below!

On the way up to Monterey, we stopped in Carmel. We walked the town, had lunch and relaxed on the beach. That afternoon, we had some great wine on the patio of the Mission Ranch, which is owned by Clint Eastwood. This was one of my favorite places on our whole trip. The grounds were absolutely beautiful. Sitting on the patio, with wine glass in hand, you could see the ocean in the distance, while the fluffy grass before you was being cropped by a herd of sheep. Who knew there was something so relaxing about sheep. Wait, maybe that's why you are supposed to count them when you can't sleep?

During the 3 days we had in Monterey, we walked Cannery Row, went to some wine tasting rooms, saw the Monterey Bay Aquarium, ate our way down Fisherman's Wharf, and drove into Carmel-in-the-Valley for a day of wine tasting. On the drive back to Pasadena, we made a pit stop at the Madonna Inn, a place Patrick and I had seen online. It was just as over the top in person as it appeared online. There were buses full of tourists taking pictures of the craziness; so we joined right in...

Overall, on the trip we saw seals, sea lions, pelicans, elephant seals, jelly fish and otters. We did some short hikes and lots of walking around town. We enjoyed the sights and drank some great wine. The concensus between the three of us was that Big Sur was our favorite area and that wine tasting and open mic at the Henry Miller Library were our favorite activities.

Elephant Seals battling it out

Our first great view of the Big Sur coastline

Mom and son

Gorgeous Big Sur coastline

McWay Falls

Deetjen's

Window at crotch height and a shower that only washes your chest. Who thought this was a great idea for a shower???

Playing at the beach

Carmel Mission

Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey

View from Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey

Madonna Inn