Two of my favorite things...

...spending extended time with Rich and food, of course! The kids took off for summer camp on Sunday morning, so after church we came home, quickly grabbed our beach gear, and headed to Malibu in the Jeep! I just love the drive over Malibu Canyon, especially when the gorgeous lawn of Pepperdine comes into view - spectacular!

We read and relaxed a bit on the beach, then headed to Malibu Seafood for dinner around 6 o'clock. Emma had told us about this great casual fish place that Courtney and Jeremiah took her to after their engagement photo session in Malibu. Emma said they had the best fish and chips that she had ever tasted...and she did not steer us wrong! My only question was, why haven't I ever seen this place before?? It sits on PCH just south of Zuma, where we go often. Anyways, check out this great place AND the fish...

The view from our table - not bad for paying $16 for dinner for 2! (We split the 3 pc. fish & chips -and it was a ton of food.)

The sign on PCH - you can tell a place is a landmark when the sign looks like this.

Look at this fish! It was crispy, tasty, juicy, piping hot, and the fish was SO fresh...yum!

A little self portrait with the beautiful Pacific Ocean.

Rich also took today off of work so we could spend another day together! When we woke up we made our morning drinks (me - latte, him - TJ's cocoa) and sat on the porch while Rich read our daily devotional. Both of us were so excited for the chance to have a day all to ourselves - we were just beaming!

We got ready and hopped back into the Jeep for a fun ride up Angeles Crest to a little restaurant for breakfast. We enjoyed the ride with a little Fernando Ortega music - Rich says that is the PERFECT driving music and I agree (well, Fernando is pretty much my favorite all the time)! The food was OK, it was more the atmosphere and it was fun to try this restaurant we had always driven by and wondered about.

Newcomb's Ranch restaurant- Angeles Crest

After breakfast we headed to Whole Foods market in Glendale, where we acted like two kids in a candy shop. I would LOVE to shop at Whole Foods all the time...talk about 'eye candy' - however there are several reasons I don't (like it's astronomically expensive and not close by). But today was a special day so we went in to get some of our favorite food treats.

So, here's what we came home with:

fresh giant scallops and littleneck clams

Rembrandt aged Gouda cheese (our fave)

Pt. Reyes blue cheese (soft, spreadable, heavenly...)

a crusty baguette

a large box of mixed organic salad greens

a bottle of good organic olive oil

fresh cherries

a boutique melon (kind of like a little cantaloupe)

fresh fennel

fresh golden beets

white peaches & yellow nectarines

organic strawberries

assorted olives from the olive bar

marinated mushrooms

small sweet red peppers from the cheese counter(we fill these with the blue cheese)

fresh green beans

Kettle chips

Marcona almonds

2 portabello mushrooms

fresh ricotta cheese (to stuff into the mushrooms and grill)

I love shopping without any plan whatsoever, and just buying what looks great and then figuring it out later...and I love cooking with Rich! Anyways so we will have a great week of food while our kids are gone!

And, to top it all off, look what I picked from the garden when I came home - God's bounty!

P.S. No WDW this week...I'm taking a break to go off and play a bit.