Mini-Vacays

This summer, since we were expecting our newest grandbaby, we opted not to do a week long vacation with the family.  Instead we did a few small 1 night/2 day getaways and we decided that we liked that very much.   If you don't have much time or money to spend you can squeeze a lot of vacation into 2 days!  We did three little getaways in July, August, and September.  

There is minimal planning or packing needed for a mini vacay.  In fact, for our August one we made plans spur of the moment and our hotel reservations the day before!  There are many options for mini vacays here in southern California, so for those of you locals, I thought I'd share some of the fun places we went. We chose Marriott hotels for all the nights, since they are nice but still reasonable, and since we are Marriott Rewards members, we can earn/redeem free nights when we stay.

In July, we celebrated the 30th anniversary of our 1st date, which was the Pageant of the Masters in Laguna.  We have gone a few times since that fateful day on July 24th, 1986  - but this year as our 30th was extra special so we decided to make it a mini vacay and spend the night in Dana Point.   If you have never done the Pageant of the Masters, I highly recommend it!  Prior to the event, we dined at our favorite restaurant in Laguna, 230 Forest.   They have the BEST cioppinno on earth (and it's huge, so share). Rich and I dream about that cioppinno.... seriously.   The rest of the menu is amazing too.

We stayed at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott and it was outstanding! We always request early check in and try to arrive right around lunch.
We spent the first afternoon relaxing at the pool before heading to Laguna.  The next day, after check out, we continued to enjoy the pool.   Marriott hotels always allow you to enjoy the property as long as you want on check out day.  We just stow our bags in the car and pack a change of clothes into our pool bag.

 

Beautiful cliff top property!

View from our room.

View of Dana Point Harbor from dinner the second night.  We decided to go old school and ate dinner
at the Chart House.  Great views, gracious service, and that awesome salad bar... just as remembered.


 

Our night at the Pageant ... thankful he asked me on that first date and all it lead to!

 In August, we planned a fun spur of the moment getaway with Nick, Emma, and Darsy.  Our family loves Newport Beach and likes to squeeze in at least one day trip each summer.   Drew and Stephanie were busy settling in with baby Duke, so I asked Emma if they wanted to come along.  Rich took a Friday off, and we headed down early, and the Steadmans joined us after Nick got off from work (after a very trafficky drive ... not a good time to drive in L.A.!).   Newport hotels are expensive and crowded, so we opted to stay inland 15 minutes in Costa Mesa.

Again, a splendid view from our hotel.  We shared a suite.

We found a Bagel Shack for breakfast!

My favorite... lox on toasted Everything bagel.

Darsy mostly just enjoys the cream cheese part.



Back at the hotel, we enjoyed our little cutie at the pool.



Grammie's glasses are always a fave...



"Relax"



Later on, we played on the beach in Newport and had an early dinner at our family's favorite seafood restaurant, the Crab Cooker.  It was Darsy's first time and she enjoyed trying the new foods.



And no Newport trip is complete without a trip on the ferry to Balboa Island.
Darsy also enjoyed her first taste of a Balboa Bar.

At the end of September, we celebrated another anniversary ... the 30th anniversary of our engagement!  (Can you tell we like to milk any anniversary we can?)  Rich proposed to me at George's at the Cove restaurant in La Jolla on September 28, 1986... so there we returned!  We decided it would be fun to stay on nearby Coronado Island.  We loved the Marriott there!

 
Again, the hotel room view wasn't too shabby.  Starbucks in the hotel means morning tea and paper.

Our room was one of the prettiest hotel rooms I've ever stayed in.  Newly remodeled and  the huge bathroom with sunken tub was to die for!




The island has a long, winding, scenic path. 

 

Free bike rental was included with the hotel.  They also have tennis courts but we didn't have time.
We took advantage of the bike rental and the beautiful weather and biked to the elegant and historic Hotel del Coronado.




Visiting the "Hotel Del" is like stepping back in time.

Though we couldn't rationalize staying at this grand hotel, we enjoyed a (virgin) drink and the million dollar view at their beachside bar.

 

Dinner at George's didn't disappoint.  We went to the California Modern downstairs. It's pretty swank.

 

I had the venison with spaetzle, beets and nectarines. It was my first time having venison and it was delicious - tender like a filet mignon.




Rich chose the aged New York steak with mushroom ragout and some insanely good sauce.
It came with a sunchoke/potato mash in a tiny, adorable lidded Le Creuset pot.



Dessert is always a work of art at George's.   So much going on, it's a flavor party!
That green stuff is a "matcha" crumble.




This spectacular view was waiting for us at the hotel when we returned from our dinner.

 

The next morning, we decided to take the ferry from the island to downtown San Diego.
It's not cheap at $9.50/person round trip, but it is fun and the view is gorgeous.

 

 The morning ride was so delightful and it was the start of another beautiful, sunny day.



 

After disembarking the ferry, we had a short walk through downtown to breakfast.
  Unfortunately the restaurant we had chosen had a really long wait, so we found a cute spot called Cafe 222. 
I had a delicious veggie frittata and Rich had his fave, Eggs Bennie.



The Gaslamp district is a foodie's dream.

 

Once again, after checkout we enjoyed the pool for the afternoon.
I was a big fan of how they oriented their lounge chairs :-)

 

Dinner that evening, El Pescador Fish Market, was found on Yelp and was awesome.



As the title denotes, it was both a restaurant/fish market.  Everything was so fresh and appealing.
We also found it very reasonable in price.
It was casual, with a great vibe, and you just order at the counter.



Poke... my favorite.



One of everything, please!



We settled on a bowl of cioppinno and a crab/shrimp cocktail to start.



Then we devoured this super tasty grilled swordfish sandwich.
The swordfish was local caught and so fresh.

 

After dinner, we drove over to La Jolla Cove, parked, and walked around.



We stuck around for the spectacular sunset.



The whole trip, I was plotting a time to go get some gelato at this place.  While not a huge gelato fan, I wanted to go because this place gets 5 STARS (unheard of) on Yelp.  So we walked over from the Cove to try it.  It was adorable.



Just LOOK at the flavors!

 

I went basic with an amazing chocolate sorbet and charcoal vanilla.
So incredible.  I don't usually get chocolate ice cream but this one was like ganache.
Rich got the chocolate as well, and a nutty flavor called Meditteraneo.
 This was the PERFECT conclusion to the perfect getaway.


So as you can see, we were only gone 3 nights all summer, but squeezed in a lot of fun!

Some tips for a successful little getaway:

Grab your favorite person (or persons).
Don't plan too far ahead.
Pack light.
Yelp your food spots.
(you're only there for a short time, 
so you definitely want to take advantage of the best local food finds. No chipotle, ok?)
Take pictures.
Savor every minute of your trip!

Summertime

Since I haven't posted much this summer (sorry Carol), 

here's a little recap so far! 

Summer is always a big produce time around our little homestead.  Because of the warm winters the past couple years, the stone fruits have been less abundant.   However, we did get a good crop on one plum tree, about 50 peaches, and over 100 lbs of apples!   I made applesauce, froze apple pie filling for later, and made plum sauce, a favorite.  Also, we give lots away to family and friends!

 

Our veggie garden has been great!  We planted about 20 tomato plants (mostly heirloom), yellow and green zucchini, cucumbers, lots of herbs, and our strawberry patch is going strong!  Here's a typical pick a few times a week. 

 

This spring, I "retired" from being the Program Coordinator of The Master's Kids, a wonderful mommy-and-me preschool program at our church.  For five years I have been blessed to run TMK, and have enjoyed so many wonderful friendships as a result.   At graduation this year, the moms gave me a generous gift -- time away with Rich at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa.  Ojai is a great little town to visit and the Inn is one of the most beautiful and deluxe places you could ever stay.  We enjoyed two days of R & R, wonderful scenery, and delicious food.  Here's our fab villa.

 

 

 

 


Below is the gorgeous view from our poolside lounges! 

 

Poolside selfie :-)

 Delicious and beautiful poolside food

For the second summer, we have hosted two pastor friends as they are doing their doctorates at the Master's Seminary.   Will is from New Jersey and Nicholas from Baton Rouge.  They come for two weeks and it is always so much fun!   After picking them up at LAX this year, we hit the newly opened Grimaldi's Pizza in El Segundo.  If you've ever been to New York you know what Grimaldi's is.  We are so happy to have one in Los Angeles now!  Best pizza!

I've been into making popsicles this summer.  I purchased this mold and it's fantastic! I wanted one I could make with popsicle sticks (vs. plastic base) so the mold wouldn't be tied up, and this one is perfect.

After making the popsicles, I pop them out, wrap in waxed paper, and store in freezer bags.  That way I can make different kinds and always have a good selection on hand.  The one below is my favorite -- key lime.   It is simply 2 cups organic greek yogurt, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup fresh lime juice, and 1/3 cup honey.  I mix it all up in the Vitamix and pour into the molds.  Sometimes I sprinkle graham cracker crumbs on top after I pour for the "pie crust."   Rich's favorite is a fudgesicle that I make with coconut milk, raw cacao powder, cinnamon & honey.  There are tons of great recipes on Pinterest.
A healthy and refreshing summer dessert!

We also remodeled the living room a little!  It had been over 12 years since we last painted, and it was time for a change.   We had a deep khaki green which is now updated to a deep gray.  It looks nice.  We sold our old furniture on Craig's List and purchased two slipcovered Ektorp sofas from IKEA.   I could write a whole post extolling the virtues of Ektorp sofas....  but my top three reasons to buy them are:  1) affordable  2) comfortable  3) machine washable covers!!  They are the simply the best.

We also painted our mantle white.  

It was a honey colored stain that wasn't too attractive.  :-)

Our fireplace is quite the funky attraction of the room.  We hope to someday remodel it to better fit our ranch home style, but for now a fresh coat of paint hopefully helped a little.

Mid July we had a great family vacation in San Clemente with the kids!  For the first time, we used VRBO and found a great beach house we could all stay in.  It was a great experience! We had a fabulous 5 days together, hanging at the beach, cooking simple meals at the house, playing corn hole, tennis & Sequence games, and just relaxing & reading. I seriously cried when it was over!

We had a gorgeous view from the backyard.  

A perfectly placed hot tub made watching the sunsets amazing.

 

My girls  :-)  We made the jacuzzi bath temperature for the baby and she loved  it!

The kids cooking dinner (Emma multitasking!)

And that little baby sure made the trip lots more fun!
Grammie and Pop sure love our little girlie.  My favorite was waking up to her little coos each morning and all the snuggles.

Naps on Grammie are the best (for me - and I think Darsy, too!)

Aunt Nay :-)



Uncle Drew

  

Too bad everyone can't look this cute in a bathing suit. 

Love our little family!

After we returned from our trip we (finally) sold our RV.  We've been campers for more than 28 years but now with the grandbaby, the beach house thing is working out much better for us :-)
Farewell... yard hogger!!



A culinary and fellowship highlight of the summer was lunch at my dear friend Alik's mom's house.   This had been a long time wish of mine to come into Araxy's kitchen and taste all the Armenian specialties that Alik had told me about for so many years.   Just look at this feast she made for us, all from scratch.  
She literally cooked for days!!  



This was puff pastry with a spinach filling - YUM!
  



Incredible homemade dolma, plus a lovely creamy tomato salad...

 

These veggie patties and meat-filled balls were to die for.

 

It was seriously hard to pick a favorite but if I had to I would say the homemade falafel.  Oh.my.word.  Best I've ever tasted. Alik's dad fried it right on the spot, it was so crispy and fresh.  And the tahini sauce ... I could take a bath in.



Araxy crowned the meal with special Armenian coffee and her homemade baklava (oh and also another un-pictured comforting pudding-like dish made with farina, and topped with pine nuts)  We were STUFFED but it didn't matter.  We ate dessert anyways, and a lot of it.  :-)



Alik and her mom, Araxy.  She is a woman who loves the Lord and loves others ... what a sweet & generous lady.  And she raised a pretty neat daughter, too.  :-)



The very privileged guests!!   
We even got care packages to take home.



Alik's 90 year old grandmother lives with Araxy and she was just the sweetest.  She doesn't speak English but she sure loved our visit and was especially happy to meet/hold baby Darsy.  She melted my heart!
 



And in case you were wondering, Buttercup's summer has been going well, too.  :-)
She has been in the pool more than us!
She has also enjoyed some outings in the Jeep with Mom & Dad.  
We just introduced her to a local dog park, too.
She's like the new awkward kid at school, but I think she likes it. 

 

And Darsy says "I love you" in ASL.  She's brilliant, you know.