Napa

Just another afternoon spent wandering around Napa; drinking delicious wine, having a picnic lunch at V. Sattui Winery, admiring the vast vineyards, finding the best iced coffee, getting mesmerized by a giant T. rex, getting creeped on by locals, and figuring out how we can live on a vineyard one day. Typical.

Point Reyes

Out of all of the small towns I have explored over the past few months I think Point Reyes is easily my favorite. The quaint strip of restaurants, coffee shops, and speciality stores in Point Reyes Station, the dramatic contrast between the tree covered hills and white sand beaches, and the rejuvenating feeling I get from being by the ocean makes it an ideal spot. 

Our exploring started in Point Reyes Station, and I instantly fell in love with Toby's. It is a feed store/coffee shop/art gallery/specialty food store/gift shop complete with a community garden and an open barn that is decorated with prayer flags and lanterns. The "downtown" was one road, but it was full of Anthro-esque stores, pretty restaurants, and a ton of friendly people. My favorite store was Zuma, which reminded me so much of The Pannikin because it sold gifts from all over the world. I scored an Afghani beadwork piece for $20 that I am going to pin on a piece of driftwood and hang above my bed. The town was full of old brick buildings and interesting art pieces. We got picnic food Tomales Bay Foods, home of the Cowgirl Creamery, and took our grilled chicken with spicy slaw sandwiches to the beach.

Before adventuring I had looked up the different beaches along the Point Reyes Seashore, and we headed to Limantour Beach since it was supposed to have the shortest hike. The drive from the town to the beach was beyond gorgeous. The windy roads were surrounded by huge trees, and every so often we could see a sneak peak of amazing homes that we tucked in the forest. Once we got to the beach we made a short trek to the shoreline, and it was obvious we were not dressed for the occasion, typical. The beach had the whitest sand, huge sand dunes covered in sea grass and wild flowers, and an abundance of driftwood. We plopped our Mexican blanket down between some dunes to get some relief from the wind, and lasted a little over an hour before the cold front came in. And as usual, I managed to get sunburned in no time.

After our picnic we decided to drive to the lighthouse in the hopes of seeing elephant seals. The drive down Sir Francis Drake Blvd. was longer than expected, but it took us through petite towns with houses over the water, and endless grassy hills with lots of cows. It was beautiful, minus the frequent bumps in the road. 

As soon as we got to the lighthouse and got out of the car we were ambushed by the coldest wind. It did not help when we saw the sign that said it was a 1/2 mile walk to the lighthouse. It was a freezing trek of constant bitching about the wind, but the views were amazing. Once we reached the lookout point it was another long trek down 308 stairs to the lighthouse. We opted out of that because we were already human popsicles. From the lookout point we saw a beautiful grey whale, possibly the closest I will ever come to one. The views were spectacular; the contrast between the aqua ocean and vanilla shoreline was perfect. 

Today I read, that Point Reyes is the "windiest place on the Pacific Coast and the second foggiest place on the North American continent." I can definitely vouch for the wind, it is no fun.

Our drive back pleasant, but I think I set a personal record for the number of u-turns I did throughout the day. I do not have a navigation system or an iPhone to talk me, so I loosely depend of printed directions, an old map, and landmarks. It is actually rather entertaining to step back and listen to Nikole and I navigate...

Me: "This road is too smooth, where are the potholes I was bitching about on the way here?"

Nikole: "You said it so many times I zoned out."

[insert u-turn]

Nikole: "I don't remember seeing a G Ranch."

[insert u-turn]

Me: "This is the right way, there are the beige cows I said look like Nala."

Nikole: "There's the sketchy sign for the fresh eggs."

Me: "We know where we're going."

We stopped at a really good coffee shop before heading to the 37; it was the best iced soy latte I have had in awhile. Point Reyes is the kind of place where if I needed to check out from reality and write a book for a year, I would go there. It was lovely.

Whole Earth Festival

If there is one event that is quintessential Davis it would be Whole Earth Festival. It is a three day Earth Day celebration full of art, music, vegetarian food, hippies, and the best people watching. It is possibly my favorite weekend in Davis. I especially love all of the art booths that feature a lot of local artists and their amazing work. Aside from the art, I love the people. Everyone is so friendly, free spirited, and you are guaranteed to have some entertaining stories by the end of the day.

Take me back to the weekend of hippies, body paint, Frida tattoos, fairy wings, friendly cats, beautiful people and pure entertainment. 

Patti Smith told us we were beautiful

There are a handful of musicians and writers that I constantly consider heroes. The ones that continuously inspire me through their music and writing, and have the ability to form connections through their words alone. Patti Smith is one of them. 

Last night I saw her at the Mondavi Center, and it was one of the most inspiring, moving nights of my life. She read excerpts from her latest book Just Kids, sang a few songs in between, talked about her life, did a Q and A session with the audience, and did a signing at the end. 

It was obvious that Nikole and I were some of the few twenty-somethings in attendance. When we arrived an usher jokingly said, "Oh the originals are here." When an audience spans the generations, it is a definite sign that the musician is doing something right.

During the talk it was impossible to not instantly gravitate to her; she was funny and had a playful quality that was so refreshing. She performed three songs during the talk, including one of my favorite Dylan songs, "Boots of Spanish Leather," which was a special treat. The performance was even better than expected because Lenny Kaye was there to play the guitar! The talk could have gone longer, but after an hour of "alloted time" she had to move onto the Q and A session. How can you have an alloted time for such a legend?

The Q and A session was as entertaining as it was insightful. However, I think the entire audience would agree that Patti could have done without the moderator. Despite being the head of the music department at school, one of the first things he said was that he had never seen her live. As soon as he said that, it was apparent that he had no chance of gaining rapport with anyone, Patti and the audience alike. I'm not saying it is essential that an interviewer needs to have seen the musician before, but it does help. The way he was speaking just made it sound like he was not familiar with her, and that he just Wikipedia-ed her. The first audience member to ask a question called out the moderator about this by saying, "Hi Patti, unlike the moderator I've seen you many times before..." It was equally awesome as it was awkward, but everyone was thinking the same thing.

At the end of the performance, Patti and Lenny Kaye closed the night with "Because the Night." It gave me chills. It was beyond beautiful.

After the performance we got in line for autographs. We gave her love letters and she signed our books and ticket stubs. We asked if we could take a picture with her, but she said, "I'm sorry I'm not doing pictures tonight, but you two are beautiful." Our night was made.

Recipe: carrot cake whoopie pies

After going to Magpie and having these delicious carrot cake whoopie pies, I instantly made them myself. They were more time consuming than I thought, but the general consensus was that they were better than Magpie. The cookies are perfectly chewy and by keeping them in the refrigerator the cream cheese frosting and the cookies become the perfect pair. I found this Martha Stewart recipe and changed it a little.

Carrot cake cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups grated carrots

Cream cheese frosting

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

In a large bowl combine brown sugar, granulated sugar, and butter. Beat until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla, and stir until well combined.

In another large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and stir together. 

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, gently stir together. Mix in oats and carrots.

Chill dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Using a coffee scoop or a small ice cream scoop, scoop dough onto the cookie sheets leaving 2 inches between cookies (*they spread a lot, I could only fit 6 cookies on a tray).

Place cookies in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.

While the cookies cool, make the cream cheese frosting by mixing the ingredients together until smooth and fluffy.

Take 2 cooled cookies and spread a scoop of cream cheese frosting between them, making a sandwich.

Keep the cookies in the refrigerator. 

*They taste even better the next day since they have been kept nice and cold.

The art of picnicking

Clearly, picnics are taken seriously around here. Instead of having boring sandwiches, feasts are made. Hours are spent in the most beautiful spot of the city (the cemetery), delicious food is shared, and relaxation is the only thing on the to-do list. 

Picnic Menu:

•  pasta salad with pesto, bell peppers, olives, asparagus, salami, artichoke hearts
•  carrot cake whoopie pies with cream cheese frosting
•  honey sesame covered almonds
•  fresh blackberries and strawberries
•  dark chocolate covered pretzels
•  sparkling water

[feast, uninvited guests, sunlight]

Santa Cruz

As soon as we arrived in Santa Cruz I knew I already wanted to come back. The mix of gorgeous beaches, high cliffs, redwoods, and quaint shops had me instantly. We got delicious sandwiches (chicken pesto and eggplant parm), pasta salad, and tiramisu at an adorable Italian deli then went to the beach for a picnic. The weather was beyond pleasant, but we still managed to get sunburned in less than an hour. Pale skin fail.

After our picnic we explored downtown. I had fallen in love with a store called Idle Hands when I found it online a few weeks ago, and it was even better in person. You know when you walk into a store and it instanlty feels like it was made for you? It was perfect. The store had a Southwest theme and feel, and it was full of vintage clothing, unique silkscreen tops, gorgeous jewelry, and a ton of original items. The dressing room doors were Mexican blankets, too. Obsessed! I left with an awesome tank top with a skull design on it, and I already want to buy more online.

We ended up at an adorable restaurant, 515 Kitchen and Cocktails, for drinks and sweet potato fries. This place was amazing! All of the drinks were named after random people or things, like The Frida, Detective Stabler, and Salinger. Since we have an obsession with Frida Kahlo, it was fitting to get The Frida, which had strawberry infused tequila and lime. We lounged on the patio as Johnny Cash played whispered over the speakers.


Before we headed home, we drove along the coast to take pictures and I am so glad we did. We saw seals, sea otters, and whales! The coast was absolutely stunning, and it was so refreshing to be near the water again because it is something I really miss about San Diego.