Beauty.

Today we drove to Half Moon Bay to check out the coast for a bit.

Though a bit breezy, it was actually quite warm once we sat down and let the sun do its job.

Hanna Lu didn't like the sand at first {she cried} but it could've been that she's just been whipped around the country and done much more in the past week than ever in such a short span that she's just a bit done with it all.

 

The baby warmed up to it all pretty quickly and especially enjoyed peeking around at everyone when we went out to eat afterwards; oysters and clam chowder for grown-ups and buttered bread for baby.

What a beautiful state that we up and left; hopefully we'll call it our home again one day soon.

Cape May.

Today was a lovely day on the southern shore of New Jersey.
We explored the little Victorian town of Cape May, lunched, enjoyed some beach time, learned about the flora and fauna a bit {so many crabs and turtles!}, ran, got frozen custard {yuuuuuuuum!}, and are gearing up for dinner. It's been wonderful.

Happy weekend!
xoxo, natty ♥

Pebbles.

In February Mikey and I made a quick jaunt to the coast on a Sunday. I think we did this twice, now that I mention it, and I chronicled one visit HERE but somehow didn't say much about the other. We're lucky {for many reasons, actually} that we can do this. I made him stop at a beach I hadn't been to for over ten years {which isn't saying much if I was only 18 in 2002 but still...} that I had been thinking about.

How could you not love the name "Bean Hollow"?

This beach has teeny tiny pebbles instead of sand; how extraordinary! 

These are examples of large stones, not pebbles.

I did not do justice to this phenomena unfortunately, though, since I failed to take any up-close images of the pebbles themselves.

Imagine millions of itty bitty stones.

Much like that other visit mentioned up in the second sentence of this post, the lighting was loverly and it was just as nice to get over to the Pacific on what would normally have been Just Another Sunday. 

The lighting was glorious. 

Since this was three months ago it might seem a bit odd to be bringing it up but a} I'm always behind at sharing things and b} I was browsing through the pictures I've taken this year and became re-enamored of the ones I captured that day.

For your my enjoyment.

Good Saturday to you!
xoxo, natty ♥

Beautiful Beach.

Fact : California hasn't had a very harsh winter this season. 
Fact : I have benefited from this.
Last weekend Mikey and I, for once, acted our age and got spontaneous. I went to watch his soccer game on Sunday {yes, he plays in a men's league and I sometimes go to be his cheerleader...or read a book in the sun with the dog.} It was lovely even if his team didn't do so well. 
Here's where the spontaneity really gets going {don't be put off by our crazy lifestyle here...keep reading}!. We drove to Half Moon Bay after his game. We left Palo Alto at 3:30 ish and got to the coast in less than an hour. Folks, it was just beautiful. It was the kind of day that makes me acutely grateful for this Golden State that I'm lucky enough to call home. I called ahead and made us a dinner reservation at Sam's Chowder House which is where the mobile comes from but there was enough time to pull off at a random beach. We had initially thought it would be neat to see some of the big waves since Mavericks is supposedly going on but the ocean was super calm...not something that happens too often & especially not so in the middle of January.

An off-kilter angle but two happy people!

The hound ran around in the sand and did an epic {for his four inch long legs} amount of digging to nowhere. 

Guinness was frosted in sand after it all...& he looked a bit bewildered.

The Mister and I didn't literally dig but we sure did dig {HA!} the amazing fresh air and ethereal light!

My phone camera {I'm still not using a real one...just deal with it...[that's mostly for myself y'all]} sometimes puts a weird spin on the lighting...it wasn't super yellowy though it appears to be so. 

It was just dang pretty.

Dinner was also delicious - the lobster roll stole the show. We got home by 8:30 none the worse for the wear and totally able to get ready for work the next Monday morning...what in the world keeps us from doing something this fun every Sunday rather than just running errands, laying around and thinking that we must rest as much as possible in preparation for the next five days?Do you have a Sunday ritual that helps to combat the End-of-Weekend-Doldrums? I feel like I've tried many a solution but I can say, without a doubt, that a trip to the beach is one of my top five!
xoxo, natty ♥