Happy Holidays!

2014 was an amazing year! Our highlights include: 
  • Lots of traveling! A NYC trip with my BFF, a DC trip to visit Lucas's brother, Virginia Beach for my brother's wedding, a quick work trip to Singapore, and a glorious summer in Europe where we lived in Paris and traveled to London, Hamburg, Rome, Santorini, and Prague.  
  • Soaking up everything the Bay Area has to offer. We loved biking across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito, visiting the Ferry Building on Saturdays, soaking up the sun in Dolores Park, listening to folk music at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, driving up to wine country for the day, drinking Philz Coffee every Saturday, and eating our way through the city.
Wishing everyone a restful holiday and a Happy New Year! I can't wait to see what 2015 has in store for us. xo

Sonoma Coast Weekend Trip

We went on a quick trip last weekend to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. We drove up Hwy 1 from San Francisco to the Sea Ranch. A Hwy 1 road trip has been on our California bucket list for a while, and the trip certainly did not disappoint. 
We drove up the coast for around 1.5 hours before stopping for lunch in Tomales Bay, an area known for its amazing oysters. There are so many great lunch spots to choose from, but we chose The Marshall Store because of its great reputation and amazing views. 
We sat at a lunch counter right on the side of Hwy 1, ate BBQ oysters, and drank local beers. We couldn't stop talking about how fresh the food was. 
After lunch, we continued the scenic drive up the coast. The Northern California coastline is pretty underdeveloped, so you see breathtaking cliffs on one side of the highway and expansive farmland on the other. 
We stayed at the Sea Ranch Lodge in Sonoma County, which was about 2 hours from Tomales Bay. The room was really cozy with a fireplace and sweeping views of the ocean. We drank champagne and talked about how fun our wedding and honeymoon were. It's hard to believe that a year has gone by.
The property at the hotel was extraordinary. We were only a few hours from SF, but I was surprised by how far away it seemed.
We stopped in Tomales Bay again on the way home. The food there is just so good, we couldn't resist one more trip. This time, we stopped at the famed Hog Island Oyster Company and enjoyed more BBQ oysters and fresh bread.
As sad as we were to bid adieu to the weekend, we were happy to drive back into our favorite foggy city. Happy Anniversary, Lucas! xoxo

How Famous Artists Would Plate Thanksgiving Meals

 Mondrian
 Picasso
 Pollack

Warhol
Van Gogh
 Magritte
 Rothko

I love this so much. Happy Holidays!

Vacation Photos Part 2: Santorini

Next up are the photos from our trip to Santorini. Neither of us had been to Greece, so this was a major bucket list destination for us both. We decided to stay in the town of Fira versus the more touristy town of Oia, which ended up being a great choice. We were walking distance to Fira but still pretty secluded from the crowds.
We stayed at the Aigialos, the most beautiful hotel nestled on the cliffs of Santorini. We spent much of the week relaxing and enjoying the views from our balcony, so we were very happy that we decided to stay at the Aigialos. 
The hotel brought by a bottle of Sigalas white wine on our first night, and it was delicious and refreshing. We ended up bringing a few bottles home, but it's never warm enough in SF to enjoy it. :)
We couldn't get over the views and sunsets...they were breathtaking. All of these shots were snapped from our iPhones from our balcony, and they don't even begin to do the views justice.
Our hotel served us breakfast on our balcony every morning - coffee, fresh fruit, pastries, greek yogurt, omelets - the works! We would have been more than happy to never leave the hotel during our ~4 days on the island.
Alas, we decided to venture out. :) We put our PADI skills to use and went on a dive excursion one day. We went on a ship wreck dive and then on a shore dive. 
Our favorite day was the catamaran tour we took around the island. It was us plus five other couples on a full-day boat tour. We lounged in the sun, snorkeled in the chilly water, drank cool white wine, and ate a feast for lunch. It was one of the best meals from our entire time in Europe.
We took countless photos of the sunsets...

...And of course we took a lot of photos of each other too! :)
This was hands down the most beautiful, magical place either of us has ever been. We can't wait to go back!