beth + jason's wedding

chris and i were just in seattle for chris's sister's wedding. since we didn't know what my job situation would be at the time we booked our plane tickets, we decided that we'd have to play it safe and plan a quick three day trip-- fly into seattle on friday, go to beth and jason's wedding on saturday, and make our way back home on sunday.

day 1:
on an episode of anthony bourdain's no reservations, anthony bourdain ate at salumi and, given that we know seattle pretty well and have never heard of salumi, we were immediately intrigued and decided to make it our first stop. from the show, we knew that there would be a line, so we had braced ourselves and were ready for a wait. what we weren't ready for was how voracious our appetites would be.

side note: i may or may not have (or just may have) misread our departure time to be thirty minutes later than it actually was, which would have been fine since i had planned to get us to the airport an hour early, which ended up not being fine though since we (or just i) were running half an hour late. what followed was one couple frantically racing (within the speed limit) to the airport, running to our gate, and just barely making it. we must've burned off everything we had for breakfast, explaining the starved state of mind we were both in.

after about an hour and fifteen minutes of waiting, we finally made it in. we ordered a sandwich and platter to share. the hectic pace of salumi was exciting at first and added to the anticipation, but once we had ordered and were seated with our food, it was hard to detach from the buzzing that was happening all around us. the restaurant is tiny and the food and the atmosphere didn't seem to match up, it felt like the food was just trying to keep pace with the line of customers out the door and around the building. i wondered whether the owner had wished for this when he opened.

oh, the food! it was delicious, but chris and i were parched for the rest of the day and night. we will be eating sparingly the next time we go to eat (and wait in line) at salumi.

after salumi, chris took me to the guitar shop he used to go to when he lived in washington. a lot of chris's stories growing up are connected to this guitar shop. i was told that the shop has changed a lot over the years. seeing chris in the shop though, within the same walls in the same space, made me think that, when it came to chris and guitars, not much has probably changed at all.

day 2:

beth and jason had their wedding in the backyard of the house chris and his sister grew up in. chris's mom did an amazing job of transforming their backyard into an intimate wedding space.

day 3:

on our last day in seattle, chris and i enjoyed breakfast at the ace hotel (the waffles are amazing!), oysters and geoduck at taylor shellfish farms (AMAZING!!!), coffee at vivace and vita (pretty amazing), a porchetta sandwich at oddfellows (so, so amazing!), and a bit of shopping. the last day was basically a mad rush to enjoy seattle before we had to leave. up until oddfellows, we felt like we weren't leaving prematurely. that, although our trip was short, it was fulfilling. it wasn't until the end of the day, as we were nearing that time when we'd have to head to the airport, that we felt like we could really use a few more days.

until next time.

high desert + joshua tree

While my classmates were preparing to take their graduation walk, Chris and I were heading towards the windmills of Palm Springs.

As a graduation gift, Chris surprised me with a one night stay at the Joshua Tree Inn in Joshua Tree and tickets to see Kurt Vile play at Pappy & Harriet's in Pioneertown. Our getaway plans included devouring BBQ at Pappy & Harriet's, seeing a great show, exploring Joshua Tree National Forest the next morning, and enjoying some quiet time away from our noisy lives back in L.A.

 

Being out of town on my graduation day to see a show outdoors, beneath a star-filled night sky, with Chris next to me was the most perfect way to end three years of graduate school. I wasn't tired, or stressed, or feeling overwhelmed, I was just happy and thankful to be there.

oh yes x 5

may: staycation in silver lake (chris's parents, aka my future in-laws, will be in town!)
july: cabo for my dearest christine's bachelorette party
august: seattle for beth & jason's wedding
september: huntington beach for christine & travis's wedding
december: to be determined...

(p.s. 25 more days until graduation!)

a very, very short trip to napa

what i loved the most about living on the east coast was the changing of the seasons... there's a movement through time that touches all of your senses, you're reminded that the seasons are the fleeting chapters of your life and so you linger just a bit longer before turning the pages. i tend to favor the transitions to fall & winter, it's almost as if the sharp colors and crisp air force me to wake up from the hibernation that summer always lulls me into.

so now that i'm living in los angeles, i'm often found bemoaning, quite publicly, the "nice weather." i complain in october when leaves should be falling and i'm especially whiny in december when snowflakes should be hitting the ground. it was beginning to look like another monotonous holiday season for me until a trip to napa with am, sophia & chris finally gave me the fog, clouds & rain i've been longing for.

THANK YOU to am, soph & chris for planning such a wonderful trip. having been tied up wth school, i wasn't much help in working out the logistics of the trip. soph did a great job of booking a charming little house just outside of downtown napa for us, and because it was a rental & not a hotel, we were able to bring ato along with us (which, to be honest, was more a condition than an option). we also missed not having joe on the trip, but hopefully he'll make it to the next one!

day 1:

the plan of getting to napa consisted of am & soph flying from long beach to san francisco; chris, ato & i roadtripping it; us picking up am & soph at the airport; and then heading into napa together.

we arrived around 7pm, took a few minutes to settle in, and then headed out for dinner. chris had researched a great BBQ place, bounty hunter-- a local favorite. there was a wait so we decided to order to go & have dinner at home. we ordered their BBQ platter (pulled pork, brisket, ribs, & cole slaw) and beer-can chicken-- everything was DELICIOUS. we'll definitely be back.

after dinner, we played a game of life on chris's ipad... i won! :)

day 2:

below are pictures we snapped just outside of where we were staying... this is what autumn is supposed to look & feel like. i miss it already and i'm sure ato misses all of the leaves on the ground to bounce around in.

after our photo session, we headed to oxbow public market for breakfast. again, based on chris's awesome research, we decided to try out the english muffins at model bakery. undeniably the best english muffin sandwiches we've ever had. i'm pretty sure chris is now obsessed with these muffins!

another reason oxbow public market is great... ritual coffee...

with our english muffin sandwiches & coffee in hand, it was time to eat!

next up: WINE. known for winning the 1976 paris tasting and credited with being one of the two wineries to put napa on the map, we decided to visit the chateau montelena winery and have our obligatory wine tasting there. of course the wine was wonderful to experience, but i'd have to say the landscape of the vineyards left an even greater impression on me.

then, mostly as tourists snapping pictures, we visited the castello di amorosa.

after completing our own mini-version of a wine tour, we picked up chocolates from dean & deluca and headed home. chris & i took ato out for a walk and came across an elementary school with an open, grassy field. not really a big deal, except ato rarely gets to run around, unleashed, on grass. los angeles just doesn't offer that. so we played fetch & ato got muddy-happy.

when dinner rolled around, we made our way back to oxbow public market where gott's roadside awaited us. all i have to say is-- seriously, why can't there be a gott's in los angeles??!

with bellies full, we headed home for a game of monopoly (soph won) and a game of charades (am & soph unquestionably won-- although, for being introverts & newbies to the game, chris & i get some credit!).

day 3:

on our last day, after model bakery & ritual (again), we decided to make the early drive to san francisco and have lunch there. upon arriving in san francisco, before commencing our search for a lunch spot, we made a pit stop at sightglass coffee for a fancy cup of joe. this space has it all...

after sightglass, with only a couple of hours until we had to head to the airport to drop off am & soph, we squeezed in lunch at tartine bakery where, despite the line out the door & the 20 minute wait for our hot-pressed prosciutto & mozzarella sandwich, we made it back to the car with 4 minutes left on the meter.

so, that was our trip. chris & i dropped off am & soph at 2pm and got home at 10pm. exhausted, we fed ato, took showers, and crawled into bed. when i closed my eyes, the clock read 11:30pm. at midnight, we were awakened by the sound of fireworks ringing in the new year.