Hi friends! I hope that all of you had a great weekend. To all of my American readers, I hope that had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, and in the midst of your wonderful weekend, that you took the time to honor and remember all of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country. In honor of the holiday, I wanted to share a link for a memorial fund for a Marine Corps family. Captain Nannen died in a plane crash in March, and the fund is to raise money for his wife and four young children. Feel free to check it out here to find out more. (source) Weekend Recap I kicked off my weekend around lots of Marines, as my hubby and I went to a reunion for the first squadron my Marine was in. We all met up for a Padres game in downtown San Diego and hung out at a bar afterwards. It ... [Read More]
hiking
Hiking at Pinnacles National Park // Paicines, CA
A couple of weekends ago, my hubby and I wanted to go hiking at a new spot. At first we were looking to head towards San Fran, but once we saw what the traffic was looking like that morning, we decided against it. Instead, we went the opposite direction and journeyed south to Pinnacles National Park. The park is named after the sky-pointed spires you can find all over that are the eroded leftovers of an extinct volcano. After driving through windy countryside roads for about an hour and arriving at the park, we paid the entrance fee at the visitor center and planned out our route. We decided to hike the Condor Gulch Trail, about a 5 1/2 mile loop with 1,300+ feet in elevation change. The weather was pretty mild at home, and was definitely warmer in Paicines where the park is ... [Read More]
Weekend Recap: Easter Winery Picnicking
Hi everyone! I hope that your week is off to a great start. Today I'm sharing my favorite eats & activities from my three-day Easter weekend! I kicked off my weekend Thursday evening with a hiking workout with this little lady... ...followed by some at-home yoga. It was perfect weather that fortunately continued throughout the weekend. By the way, I'm sporting a t-shirt sent to me by My Social Canvas -- a really neat design company based in NYC that's dedicated to giving back to various causes in the community. I received the shirt as I was about to go hiking, promptly put it on, loved it and just kept it on. Got to love comfy and cute clothes! On Saturday morning, I was up and out early for a date with Gina in Los Gatos. We bought a Groupon a few months ago for a hiking ... [Read More]
Hiking Centers Me
Happy weekend!! I don't know about you guys, but this week seriously kicked my butt. I was super busy and there has been a lot going on (mostly good things), so I was very happy to wake up this morning and not jump out of bed to write a to-do list. Although I did finish school work first thing in the morning, the rest of my day so far has been nothing but relaxing. I went for a hike with my little family, and stopped by the farmers' market to pick up some local goodies - oh, and eat about 1/2 pound of fresh figs on the way home. So yummy! Helllloooo longest sweet potato I've ever seen - should be perfect for homemade fries! In light of feeling drained from the week, I just came up with a rule for myself: Nothing mentally taxing for the rest of the day. I'll think about ... [Read More]
Snapshots of Weekend Awesomeness
I thought of titling this post, "Hiking, massages, and wine tastings, these are a few of my favorite things!" but then thought better of such a lengthy title. But, my weekend had a lot of awesomeness in it, so I thought I'd share some of it with you all. My weekend started off with a hike with Gina and Harley at Mount Madonna Park. The weather was nice and mild, Harley acted like a maniac as usual, and with Gina and I just chatting away, our workout just flew by. I think that these hiking dates need to happen more often! Some of my at-home meals included this delicious breakfast creation.... [Whole wheat flaxseed PB & J waffles topped with strawberry sauce] Does that not just look and sound like a whole lot of yumminess? [A slightly burnt but still good ... [Read More]
Exploring Catalina Island for the First Time
Last weekend I got a chance to drive down to Southern Cali to spend time with my parents in the Anaheim area. Coincidentally, my hubby and I had flown out of New Jersey on the Sunday after Christmas, and my parents flew into L.A. that Tuesday for my dad's work. He's a football coach and was one of the coaches for a football game sponsored by the Marines Corps, called the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl. Since my dad was busy during the days with game preparations, my mom and I did some exploring of the area together. One day we went to Disneyland to walk around and check it out. I've been to Disney World a bunch of times, but this was my first time to Disneyland. They still had the park all decked out for the holidays, which naturally, I loved. We both love the It's a Small World ... [Read More]