West Coast Wedding

Back in August, Eric and Jess (who you may remember from our Chicago blog a few years ago) got married in LA!  David was honored to be chosen as one of Eric’s groomsman, and we were both excited to spend a long weekend on the West Coast. 

As we began planning our trip, we decided to head to California early to celebrate our seven-year wedding anniversary in Santa Barbara.  We flew out on Wednesday after work, and got into LAX late that night.  We set off for Santa Barbara after a brief mishap at the rental car office …

We have been traveling so much lately that I just assumed I had booked a rental car for LA.  I had it on my to-do list along with booking a car for our trip in October to Jackson Hole.  I even remembered getting a confirmation email from Alamo with the great price of $13/day plus taxes and fees.  Well … turns out I must have dreamed up that entire scenario in my head because we showed up to Alamo around midnight and they had no reservation in their system for us.  Nor did I have the confirmation email I could have sworn I’d read a few days earlier.  Apparently I’d lost my marbles and hadn’t booked any car for LA!  David was shocked, as that is so unlike me.  

That was an expensive mistake.  

After paying full price for a last-minute vehicle (thank goodness they still had cars available!), David decided he would be the one driving to Santa Barbara that night while I ‘rested’ in the passenger seat.

Santa Barbara was beautiful!  The weather was gorgeous, the food delicious, and the scenery of the mountains against the ocean stunning.  It lived up to its nickname of the American Riviera.  David and I stayed at Hotel Milo across the street from the beach.

 
We woke up early Thursday to have breakfast at D’Angelo’s a few blocks away, behind the historic train station.  David enjoyed his eggs ‘Rose’ with Kalamata olive toast and Mediterranean artichoke spread while I devoured a ham and cheese croissant and fresh-squeezed orange juice.  From there, we walked back to the marina.  (This was my first week in the boot after I broke my foot, but I was determined to not be an invalid and walk everywhere.)  

At the marina, we boarded a whale-watching cruise in the hopes of finding a humpback.  The humpbacks migrate down the coast in the late summer, but the captain warned us that it was still early in the season so we may not get too much action.  

 
So imagine our surprise when we found a whale just a mile or so from shore!  We had only been on the boat for about an hour before we found that first humpback, and from there, we saw four more!  It was amazing how the whales, dolphins, birds, and sea lions all worked together to corral the huge schools of fish beneath the surface for lunch.

I have never seen so many dolphins before in my life!  They absolutely loved playing in the waves made by our boat and would quickly swim over any time we revved the engine and gained speed.   

 

The baby dolphins were so tiny and cute!

The sea lions were curious, and would come up to the boat to observe us.  

Usually humpbacks are a bit shy, but we were incredibly lucky to find a couple that stayed with us the entire morning and swam back and forth under the boat to entertain us.

 

They got so close to the boat throughout the morning that it almost looks as if the girls up front could high-five the tail!  And when they breathed, the water pushed through their blow holes sprayed everyone on deck!   

One of the whales had stark white pectoral fins, which made them look like they were glowing underwater.  He was easy to spot, and one of the more playful whales.

We didn’t see a full breach, although we did see plenty of the humpbacks as they ate and played.  It was a really remarkable, once-in-a-lifetime experience and a perfect anniversary gift to ourselves considering how much we love the ocean and marine life!

 

We had lunch at Brophy Brothers in the marina.  It was a great recommendation given to us by the Watsons, who got married in Santa Barbara.  I had the scampi and chips with creamy coleslaw and a local rose wine, while David had a local wine with his shark burger.

That evening, we went to Bouchon for our anniversary dinner.  This small French restaurant is just off of State Street, the main tree-lined avenue in Santa Barbara.  We split a bottle of wine and toasted to seven years while indulging in an organic mixed greens salad with goat cheese, fresh blackberries, almonds, and blackberry vinaigrette and venison medallions with white bean puree, braised black kale, and pancetta.

Before heading back to LA on Friday for Jess’s and Eric’s rehearsal dinner, we ate breakfast at Jeannine’s in the Arcadia on the recommendation of Jill and Noah, who loved the place the last time they were in Santa Barbara.  

Then we drove to the Santa Barbara Mission for a history lesson.

When I was a little girl, I loved the book Island of the Blue Dolphins.  It was an adventurous read, and helped cultivate my love of dolphins.  In the graveyard at the Santa Barbara Mission, there is a headstone for a woman named Juana Maria.  I flipped open my guidebook to discover that Maria was the Native American woman who inspired one of my favorite childhood books!  Her tribe abandoned the island of San Nicolas, in the Channel Islands off the coast of Santa Barbara, in 1835.  For some unknown reason, Maria was accidentally left behind.  Eighteen years later, a fur trapper discovered the island’s sole inhabitant and brought her to the Mission.  She lived on the mainland for only seven weeks before passing away from illness.

After soaking in a bit of culture and a lot of fun out on the ocean, we headed back down the coast to Los Angeles.  We took the Pacific Coast Highway back, as it was a beautiful, sunny day and we had time to enjoy the scenery with a more leisurely drive.

We checked into our hotel, the Sheraton Universal, and immediately headed down the road to the LA Equestrian Center so David could take part in the wedding rehearsal.  

The Sheraton was hosting The Young and the Restless convention that same weekend.  All of the stars from the hit soap opera were there, including 'Stitch,' who we met at the bar after the wedding on Saturday night.   

After ensuring the bridal party was ready to go for the big day, we had a great dinner at Pickwick Gardens across the street.  It was so nice seeing Eric’s family again.  It’d be years, since our last trip to Maine, that we’d seen them.  And it was lovely meeting Jess’s family.  Jess is so fun, and now we know she gets her great attitude from her parents and the rest of her extended family.

Jeff and Jacque flew into California on Friday night, but they stayed in Brentwood so we planned to meet up with them the next morning before David started his wedding party responsibilities (which for guys is really just getting dressed and taking pictures … nothing compared to the ladies’ schedule).  So on Saturday morning, we met for brunch at Square One Dining.  

Thrillist had recommended the restaurant as one of the great breakfast spots of LA.  It was very, very good and also kind of strange, considering that Square One is positioned directly across the street from the Scientology headquarters.  The massive, ridiculously blue building loomed over us as we ate.

The food was really yummy.  David ordered a healthy fresh fruit bowl, while I went for the pancakes with bacon caramel sauce.  The reviews raved about this signature dish, so I had to try it!  It was incredibly indulgent, but I didn’t eat it all myself – I made sure to share with the rest of the family.  To balance out the sweetness of my meal, we also ordered a side of the cheesy bacon grits.  

Once we finished eating, we dropped David and Chris (another high school friend whose wedding we attended in Chicago a few years ago) off at Eric’s rental home in the Hollywood Hills to start primping for the wedding.

Jeff, Jacque, and I decided to spend the afternoon at the La Brea Tar Pits and LA Natural History Museum.  I think I may have visited the tar pits when I was a kid staying with my grandparents in California, but that was so long ago, that I couldn’t remember.  

We walked through the park, viewing the various pits before coming to the huge lake filled with hot, bubbling tar.  It’s amazing how many animals the scientists have found beneath the sticky surface.  Did you know that LA was once home to thousands of woolly mammoths, saber-toothed tigers, and American lions?  American lions look almost identical to the African lions we see today, according to the museum’s replicas.

 

The Urban Light Fixture outside the LA Museum of Art 

After walking through the museum and back through the park, we all needed a cold treat, so we stopped for ice cream at Sweet Rose Creamery.  The creamery specializes in all-natural cream and ingredients sourced from the nearby Santa Monica Farmer’s Market. Full of ice cream, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding!  

The ceremony was so nice, and a true testament to the couple’s style.  The reception was held on the equestrian grounds as well, and featured a great band, lots of dancing, eating, drinking, and being merry!

About halfway through dinner, David went to the bar to grab a drink.  A couple minutes later, he came running back to the table asking, ‘Guess who I found at the bar?!’  I had no idea what he was talking about, so I spun around in my seat to find Ross standing there!

Ross and Amy had been invited to the wedding also, of course, as they were neighbors of Eric’s in Boston and the Houses and Robinsons have been family friends for years.  But they sadly declined, as they weren’t able to make it … or so we thought!  As luck would have it, Ross just happened to have a last-minute work trip to LA come up so he crashed the wedding!  (Although technically, he was invited, so I guess he didn’t really ‘crash’ the event.)

Jess and Eric had some really fun touches at their wedding, like a donut machine and a photo booth.  We ended up camping out next to the donut machine for most of the night, and when Ross realized that I still had my boot on (even though I was trying to be sneaky by hiding it under my long dress), he declared, ‘Das Boot in Das Booth!’ and we made our way to the photo booth to take some goofy family photos.

It was a TASIS high school reunion with Eric, his sister, and their good friends.

After partying the night away, we spent Sunday before our flight at the Liu’s open house for brunch, and then soaking up the sun at Manhattan Beach.

It was a weekend of celebrations – from our anniversary in Santa Barbara to the Robinson/Liu wedding in LA.  Congrats to the happy couple!  We can’t wait to see you again soon!

The Last Sail Before The Veil

Terri is getting married!  To celebrate, her friends and I threw her a bachelorette party in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico!

During our senior year of college, Terri, Anna, Meike, Katie, Carla, and I spent Spring Break in Cozumel on the other side of Mexico.  We have always talked about repeating our SB’07 trip, but strangely, have never gotten around to it.  We’ve traveled elsewhere together in smaller groups to NYC and London and other places, but life gets in the way and all of us never found the time to go on another relaxing beach vacation … until now!

The bachelorette party invitations were flip flop luggage tags.  Such a cute, unique idea!

I drove down to Houston on Wednesday evening to be able to fly out to Cabo with everyone the next morning.  After landing, we took a shuttle to our home-away-from-home for the long weekend – Las Mananitas!

The condo we rented at Las Mananitas was gorgeous!  It had more than enough room for all nine women, an over-sized balcony that overlooked the multiple pools and the ocean, and a fully-stocked kitchen.  With a grocery store conveniently located across the street, we were able to cook at home most days, and had plenty of snacks for our late-night game nights in the living room!

We spent Thursday afternoon lounging in the pool.  Even though it was August and temperatures soared into the triple digits, the pools were heated!  Katie and I loved swimming around in the warm waters, while it was too hot for most of the other girls.  So we decided to check out the ocean and see if it would be cooler down on the beach. Unfortunately the sea in this part of Mexico is incredibly rough, and we weren’t able to swim at all without risking our lives in the strong riptide and large waves. 

That’s okay – we still had fun walking along the beach.  Even me, still in that dang boot!  This was my last weekend in the boot as I had had x-rays earlier in the week that confirmed my broken foot was healing very fast and very well.  I felt more and more comfortable taking it off throughout the weekend, especially to swim, and practice walking.  Although, the girls may say that I looked like a baby deer learning to walk, or a zombie dragging my dead foot behind me…

On Friday, we took a taxi to Chileno Beach between San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas.  Here, swimming conditions were much better as the beach is located inside Chileno Bay.  The visibility of the water was also great … we could see fish swimming around us as we walked into the water.  A couple of us had snorkels, so we took turns swimming out to the small reef to observe the tropical fish. 

From there, we drove down the Corridor to the other Cabo and had lunch on Medano Beach. 

Last time we were all in Mexico together, we spent the week drinking Miami Vices at our all-inclusive resort.  The mixture of pina colada and strawberry daiquiri is so sweet and refreshing.  At lunch, it was buy-one-get-one-free, so of course, I had to order one (two) for old-time’s sake.

After lunch, we paid for a couple of umbrellas and made ourselves comfortable on the beach.  We had hours to kill before our sunset cruise to El Arco, so we spent them swimming off Medano Beach.  Medano is the longest swimmable beach in the region, so it was very crowded!  But the water was warm and inviting, and we had fun people-watching, reading trashy celebrity gossip magazines, and chatting.

We weren’t sure how formal our sunset cruise would be, so before we headed to the marina, we stopped at a shopping center to use the bathroom and change out of our swimsuits and into some clothes. 

A pelican hanging out in the marina

When we saw ourselves in the restroom’s mirrors, we were horribly shocked and immediately turned into a group of vagrants desperate to get clean.  We stripped down and began bathing in the bathroom sinks to get all of the sand and salt off of ourselves.  Granted, this was not some random, gross bathroom.   This was a very clean, respectable bathroom inside a luxury mall.  When we walked into the mall, we were sweaty and stinky and half-dressed.  (Terri literally walked in wearing only her bikini while the rest of us were at least in cover-ups … although some of our cover-ups were sheer and/or short and didn’t hide much.)  When we walked out of the mall, we were fully clothed, wearing makeup, and smelling shower-fresh.  (Thanks to Katie for coming prepared and letting us borrow EVERYTHING, including her hair brush, deodorant, and makeup!)

We arrived at the catamaran just as it was ready to depart, and got settled in for a relaxing sunset cruise around the southern-most point of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, El Arco.

The Arch is a massive rock formation flanking two famous beaches – Lover’s Beach and Divorce Beach. Lover’s Beach is a calm, beautiful place to take a stroll with your lover. Divorce Beach is known for the dangerous, huge waves that crash against the shore, and where couples could go to throw their significant other into the ocean.  I think ‘Murder Beach’ is a more appropriate name, but a little morbid, so I can see why officials went with ‘Divorce’ instead.

The rocks were full of sea lions basking in the remnants of the heat of the day.  As the sun began to set, we had dinner on the boat and enjoyed sailing and taking pictures.  Terri found herself a Mexican novio (boyfriend), the owner of the boat.  

When his daughter, the woman in charge of the cruise, found out that it was Terri’s bachelorette party, she peer-pressured all of us (except Meike, who is five months pregnant), into taking tequila shots.  Only in Mexico with these ladies do I find myself taking tequila shots.  Gross!

Saturday was our last full day in Cabo.  Anna and I had done some research and booked a spa day for the girls at The Grand Mayan resort down the road.  The Grand Mayan was spectacular!  When guests arrive, they are greeted by two huge Mayan statues leading downstairs to the pool and spa area.  I felt like I was back in Egypt with the stone carvings and grand pillars. 

We had lunch at the pool-side restaurant.  We started with the fried plantains, and then each ordered the fresh fish tacos.  Mine were shrimp with cheese and crunchy slaw and served on a colorful, fun fish platter.  Muy bueno!  

The spa was very cool.  The resort specializes in a tequila massage.  So instead of using bath salts and oil, they use sea salt as their scrub, and then tequila-infused essential oils for the massage treatment.  Although the tequila smell was a little overwhelming for me, it was a very tranquil experience, just like a massage should be.

We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the resort’s pools and happy hour specials.  That evening, we ventured into the city center to window shop and have dinner at a local restaurant.

After a fun-filled weekend in Mexico, we vowed not to wait another eight years before taking a girl’s trip to the beach again!

Family Ties

David and I recently celebrated our one-year anniversary of moving back to Austin.  And what a year it’s been!  The best part of our return to the states has definitely been spending time with family and friends.

Shortly after we moved away, Amy, Ross, Jeff, and Elizabeth decided to move to Austin to attend UT.  Great timing!  (Did you read the sarcasm there?)  But when we came back last summer, they were all still here.  Yay!

Over the past year, my parents have been back multiple times to move Elizabeth in and out of her apartment, then sorority house, and also for Parent's Weekend.  Now that we’re back, they have a place to stay and it’s a great excuse to come to Austin more frequently!

Parent’s Weekend last October was a ton of fun.  It was my parent’s first time at a UT football game.  A University of Texas football game is an experience.  First, we had to go shopping to purchase burnt orange gear.  You can’t get into the team spirit if you’re not wearing the team’s colors.  Then we tailgated at the Alpha Xi house and at the Watson’s tent set up on MLK across from the Texas State History Museum.  Finally, we made our way to the stadium and found our seats behind the goal posts. 

My mom is a good luck charm when it comes to Texas football.  Every game she watches, UT manages to come back and win it all.  This first started during the national championship game back when I was a student, and continues to this day.

The next day, we had brunch at the Alpha Xi house and Elizabeth signed her lease.  My parents were back a few weeks ago to move her into her new digs.  We’re excited to have Elizabeth back in town to hang out for another school year.

Before we had even moved back to Austin, David’s family decided that we were going to host the 2015 Family Reunion / Chili Cook-Off.  Every year, David’s maternal side of the family, including grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and siblings get together for an epic, trash-talking cook-off. 

This year, as we were hosting, David and I were also responsible for providing judges.  So Patrick, Molly, and Jeremy agreed to eat way too much chili and give their unbiased opinions and rankings.  We warned Molly to bring tons of Tums, as she was pregnant with Noelle at the time.

This was not even half of the entries ... so much chili!

Usually the judges give a quick recap of their experience before reading out the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners, but this year, our friends went all out and roasted every single one of the participants.  It was cringe-worthy, but hilarious!  Some of the best jabs were:

‘This chili tastes like it was topped with bits of plastic.’

‘Hmm … more like something we’d find at any Indian buffet.  Would be good with some naan!’

‘Canned dog food.’

‘Were we tricked into eating meconium?’  (For all you non-moms out there, like me, that have no idea what meconium is, it’s basically dark green baby poo.)

‘Way too smoky – we might need some nicotine patches after this taste-test!’

Unfortunately David did not place (his chili was compared to the filling of a chopped beef sandwich and while delicious, this was not a BBQ competition), but Jeff got runner-up again with this (kind of) glowing review, ‘We can’t place the flavor but we love the taste!’  And Josh Morrison took the top prize AGAIN.  The judges sang his praises (and Shannon's), 'Someone’s wife must have helped them with this chili because it is far and away the BEST!’

David and I also hosted Easter this year, with Karen flying in from London to spend the week with us.  Elizabeth stayed in town and joined in the festivities as well.  

Taking a walk on Saturday morning and climbing one of the majestic oaks in the greenbelt behind our house

David and I acted as the parents and provided everyone with Easter baskets, and hid plastic eggs stuffed with candy in the backyard early Sunday morning.  Then we woke up everyone (including Karen) for the traditional Easter egg hunt.  

From there, we went to church to celebrate.  Once back home, we had a delicious dinner of honey-baked ham, cheesy potatoes, fresh green bean salad, Karen’s famous homemade rolls, and a summery pound cake for dessert.  Even though our dining room wasn’t yet complete and we sat on a hodge-podge of chairs, including the desk chair and piano bench, it didn’t matter because we were all together. 

Karen was back just a few weeks later for Jeff’s and Ross’s graduations from UT.  

Ross’s family flew in from Maine, and as Jacque also graduated the same weekend, on Saturday we had all three families over to our house for a graduation celebration. 

Kirby with Uncle Jeff sporting their Texas gear

Cousin Kelly came with her new baby, David.  I think it's safe to say this baby liked me just as much as my David does!

Later in the summer, Laura crossed the Atlantic to visit us all the way from England! 

We decided our big adventure for her trip to Texas would be to float the Comal River in New Braunfels.  David had somehow, in all his years at UT and in Austin, never floated the river.  The Saturday we drove down was one of the hottest days of the year, so it was no surprise that the river was incredibly crowded.  The rains in June also meant that the water levels were higher than they’d been in a long time, and the river was flowing faster than usual.  We weren’t the only ones taking advantage of all of this!

We had so much fun going down the chutes and lazing the day away on the water.  We’ve had even more fun since watching the videos taken with our Go-Pro!  My favorite parts of the day were of course the bus ride back to the start of the river, and Ross getting stuck in the whirlpool … no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t get out!  At the same time, Laura thought she’d lost her Nalgene bottle and I thought I’d lost my hat as we went down the fast chute.   But if you look really closely in the video, you can see Laura’s water bottle float past Ross.  After our second time down the chute, Laura found it washed up on the bank!  And a Good Samaritan found my hat and stood in the middle of the river waving it back and forth until I swam over to claim it!

After our second time down the river, it was time to head home … and time for me to break my foot. 

Yep.  I broke my foot. :(

I stumbled over a sidewalk on the way back to the car and landed flat on my back.  Thank goodness the entire family was there to support me!  From literally carrying me over to a park ranger and loading me into her golf cart, to driving me to urgent care, and taking care of me for the rest of the weekend, I had so much help while I was immobile.  Because let me tell you, being in a splint and on crutches (even for just a few days before I got a boot from the orthopedic surgeon) is no fun at all.

I honestly could not believe that I had actually broken my foot because 1) it didn’t hurt and 2) I’ve never broken anything before in my life.  Surely tripping over a curb was not going to break me ... It wasn’t until I met with a specialist on Monday and he verified what the urgent care doc had told me, that I truly believed my foot was broken.  I would be rocking a snazzy boot for the next four weeks until it healed.

The before picture... 

and all of the afters!  From my not-right-looking foot at urgent care, to the splint, first swollen visit to the orthopedist, bruising a couple of weeks later, and finally, my fashionable, new boot. 

But good news!  Amy and Ross just purchased their first home nearby.  And even though Jeff has moved to Houston for his first grown-up job, he’s only a three hour drive away.  With Elizabeth back for another school year, we’re so excited for more family adventures (but no more broken bones)!