Vacation Recap

I've been back from California for almost a week now and I think that I am still in denial. I woke up last Tuesday morning in a place where it was warm enough for flip flops and t-shirts and I went to bed in a place where I needed boots and a winter coat.
I had a great time all over Southern California catching up with friends and eating Mexican food as often as possible.
I got in late Friday night and crashed at a friend's house in San Diego. Saturday morning I headed up to Ventura for the weekend. On my way up north I was fortunate enough to have lunch with two friends from college. I spent the weekend with my old roommate and her husband at their place in Ventura, just a block away from the beach. Unfortunately, we didn't get to the beach that weekend because it was so windy that it would have been more like total body exfoliation if we had ventured out onto the sand.
Monday found me back in San Diego for a work event hosted at the church I grew up in. The event went well and there was plenty of sunshine for everyone!
Saturday my dear friend Jen and I headed up with Wilson Creek Winery in Temecula for a taste of their Almond Champagne and a delightful lunch at their new restaurant.
We headed a bit further north for time at the outlet malls and thankfully overhead someone's conversation about some road closures. We checked online before we left and sure enough, the route that we were planning to take to Pasadena was closed because of fires. This is the big smoke plume that we could see from miles away.
After a longer than usual drive, I made it safely to Pasadena and enjoyed a nice evening at home with my friend Amy. We enjoyed a nice dinner followed by brownies and almond champagne.
Jen and another friend of ours were supposed to run the Pasadena half marathon on Sunday morning but it was canceled due to poor air quality so we opted for breakfast at Corner Bakery instead. The rest of Sunday was spent with fabulous friends from college where we enjoyed a lot of laughs and a bottle of chocolate port.
Monday morning I said farewell to my friends and the smoky skies of Pasadena and headed for the beaches of San Diego!



Don't worry, I'm sure it won't take me long to figure out another excuse to go back...