another sunny day in Californ-i-a

santa monica pier - unexpected surprise - lots of fun shopping, soooo dog friendly, mmmm ocean

crepes! our favorites! anson got banana and nutella

i devoured a brie crepe

original and oh so good. lemon coconut rocked my socks.

reason for the trip - go lydia! the roxy was such a cool/intimate venue - and so historic

there's always money in the banana stand!

marina del ray - sound familiar?

la temple - so pretty

this last weekend (yay for me doing a RECENT post) we went to CA for a lil getaway. Mostly we've been talking about going to CA for FOREVER, found some super cheap airline tickets, and anson's fave band was having a final reunion concert there. so naturally, we had to go. it was DELIGHTFUL. i forget how much i like CA until i go there. it is sooooo beautiful. in fact, we're already planning our next trip there.

faves (in no particular order):
- sitting at the most picturesque starbucks with a lifted ocean view (nothing to block it) drinking my seasonal favorite pumpkin spice steamer
- fresh little bistro we found our 1st night in Manhattan Beach - best strawberry bruschetta around
- eating a sprinkles cupcake while meandering down rodeo drive
- anson's realization that there are sprinkles cupcakes for bear
- the gorgeous houses in beverly hills
- walking on a beachfront walkway at night in Manhattan Beach - ohhhhh the ocean
- forcing anson to actually walk on the beach with me - and maybe give me a kiss :)
- all the organic grocery stores - i am so intrigued with traders joe's now
- intimate setting of the roxy venue where we saw lydia. even a short person could see the show!! that's a big deal folks!
- meeting Chris from this last year's season of So You Think You Can Dance. yes, i did pick him out of the crowd at In-N-Out and made his day by calling him famous!
- while we're on the subject, In-N-Out is definitely better in CA
- visiting the banana stand area in Marina del Ray - makes me want to watch Arrested Development even more now
- going back to Marina del Ray so anson could take a picture (i made him jealous)
- hands-down best pancakes EVER at the pantry. mmm delightful
- stuffing our faces at the Tin Roof bistro (indian spinach and artichoke dip is best)
- alllll the shopping
- how dog friendly CA is. wish we would have brought bear!
- crepes along santa monica pier
- saving $20 by finding a cheap parking lot in santa monica pier ($1.80 for every 15 mins? i think not)
- seeing the hollywood sign!!

dislikes:
- TRAFFIC - ugh. it took 25 minutes to go 3 miles
- PARKING - also capitalized to show how much i HATE it - we literally paid more for parking than for one of our plane tickets!! bleh.
- there is no banana stand at marina del ray. you think they would do it and make some $$!
- the delicious oceanfront bistro decided to close 30 mins early on our last day
- a shake from In-N-Out is 560 calories.....oh my.
- crowne plaza hotel (def not as nice as it sounds....but to their credit we could have upgraded to a renovated room if we wanted to pay more...who does that?)
- TRAFFIC - oh yeah, i said that
- my make-shift pumpkin spice steamer on the last day (milk plus syrup does NOT equal starbucks bliss. nice try crowne plaza!)
- rainy weather

looks like the good outweighed the bad!