three day weekend!

Thanks the heavens for Memorial Day. I love three-day weekends, especially after a particularly stressful week. Something about that extra day to recharge one's batteries is just amazing.

We headed north on Friday to see a friends art show in Seal Beach, here. It was a huge success for the artist - almost completely sold out, and it was an opportunity for us to chat with friends and family whilst sipping PBR. After a great brunch and beach stroll with friends Saturday morning, Francis joined my Dad for a flying lesson. My mom and I watched safely from the ground as they took off from a private air strip in Burbank. Francis snapped some great photos of their flight from Burbank to Oxnard for a touch-down then back down the coast; meanwhile I nervously flipped through a design magazine trying to dispel thoughts of mechanical unreliability statistics of small planes. Since we'd made the pilgrimage to the LA area for the flight, we spent the evening wandering downtown Pasadena.

Sunday and Monday were gloriously low key with reading, sunbathing, more brunch with friends, and the dissection of several card tricks at the behest of some nerds that shall remain nameless.

{sunset on the drive north}

{little art}

{one of my favorites from the show}

{looking serious in a very Madeline - esque hat}

{the flight lesson begins!}

{ten points to Francis for getting a shot of my dad having a genuinely good time}

{fancy shmancy controls}

{flying like a pro}

{somewhere over LA county I s'pose}

{flying a little too close to the sun}

{banking left...}

{into the mountains...}

{..through the mountains...}

{this plane is yours for a mere $500K. Considering one myself...}

{using oreos to test a less-than-100% -successful-but-still-cool card trick}

Weekend.

Yet another surprising lack of photos leaves me without evidence of our fun weekend. And the photos that I did take don't seem to be of anything you all would find interesting - just a few simples pleasures. You'll just have to take my word for it.

We watched movies, roamed downtown late at night, had a very official wedding meeting over some very decadent, pre-dinner dessert (cause you can do that when you're an adult), had friends over for take-out Mediterranean* and some power house baby-name-brainstorming (for them, not for us), rode bikes, played tennis, and scooted over to the neighbors' Sunday evening party.

{starting to get down to bidness on wedding stuff - obviously this requires a giant mug of strong coffee}

{sparking italian pink lemonade from TJs. tastes like summer}

{I discovered this weekend that my hubs-to-be has never read To Kill a Mockingbird. And well that just won't do. Suffice to say we have remedied this}

{On Saturday I started this book to see what all the fuss is about. Now I can't put it down...}

*Said Mediterranean take-out provided by said friends was from a hole-in-the-wall joint near SDSU, and it was delish. Our feast included a very mysterious dessert of which the only ingredient we could identify (and the only ingredient disclosed) was rosewater. Very mysterious indeed.   

Uneventful.

No weekend post this week, guys. I didn't take a single photo last weekend. Save for a few hours with the fam (that included seeing my dear sister off to prom), nothing of note happened. I'm hoping that this even less eventful week will be followed by an industrious slash adventurous weekend. Stay tuned....

{Velvet Moon cabernet sauvignon aka the culprit behind my Thursday headache.}

thanks, blogger

Welp, I had a weekend post up yesterday (I have witnesses) complete with many photos that I edited during a late night, wine-fueled creativity surge. This morning, Francis went to check said post whilst I stood behind him (foot tapping and arms crossed) only to find that someone (aka blogger) deleted my post. Not okay. Only Hyberbole and a Half can help show my reaction....

I'll post the photos up again, hopefully to stay, but I can't promise photo captions. Blogger is lucky that post didn't mark my most eloquent weekend post description.Hmph.

Photos via this amazing blog.

Weekend.

Friday: rooftop happy hour + Burger Lounge + Thursday night line up.

Saturday: sleep in + farmers market + dinner/bonfire with friends

Sunday: cloudy weather + baking + a viewing of 127 Hours sans nausea/fainting

{a slightly successful attempt at a photo of ourselves, one of several attempts if we're being honest}

{F enjoying the sunset from the Porto Vista hotel rooftop bar}

{probably contemplating the drink menu}

{marg, my usual - rocks, extra salt}

{view of Little Italy/the harbor}

{messing with the camera whilst waiting for our food at Burger Lounge. typical. (both waiting for food and d*cking around.}

{same}

{I'm never sure if it comes across on this blog how.much.I.love.food.}

{farmers market sunflowers}

{historic (?) mural Francis made me stand by with my FM bounty}

{blueberry muffin batter}

{blueberry muffins enjoyed alone with a book and a generous mug of coffee. perfection}

The Black Keys

I'm a bit obsessed with these guys right now, namely these two jams. If you like them too, we should be friends.

Summer, is that you?

Because it was a bajillion degrees in San Diego on Monday any kind of post-work cardio was completely out the question (I love me some excuses). Instead, we welcomed the summer weather with open arms and a plate full of caprese/rosemary toast for an early evening snack. This, to me, is a quintessential summer snack and as such we enjoyed it outside with bounteous amounts of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

{best snack ever}

{aftermath}