san diego dinner dates.

as soon as we drove into california, we scooped up our nephew jacob (yes! that's jake), my little brother steven and headed straight to Sublime Ale House to decompress and catch up. i love these boys SO much. it's nice to be home. 

he's no longer a boy. he's a little man now, and he's a good kid. and we love him so much. 

(just not the ear stretchers so much - stop it!)

another night, we checked out San Diego's South Park & North Park neighborhoods and met up with a longtime friend of mine, Rico (or Rico & Rachel Castillero, photographer extraordinares). ting is obsessed with South Park.

and even after spending the entire fourth of july together, we didn't quite have our fix of the quinns yet. so we met up for one more night together (and pizza & beer). 

brunch has gone to the babies... not the bubbles.

that may not be entirely true - blair never made a peep during brunch - perfect angel. 

but perhaps it was ironic for me to kick off tiff's thirties at a champagne brunch and pass on the mimosas. 

a sign of what's to come for me in just a couple of months?

naaaahh... just the decision based on a wicked hangover. 

tiff's lovely parents diane & mike treated us to a delicious brunch at Sparks in Huntington Beach. 

it was a toast to two birthdays - tiff and sabrina, her younger sister. 

the brunchin' bentleys!

 a man who's not afraid of a baby. 

a beautiful new mama on her birthday.

cheers, tiff! 

what felt like the longest drive EVER back from california.

leaving friends post-brunch on the most beautiful california day and waving goodbye to the beach to drive back into the blow dryer (what the air feels like on your face in arizona right now) when all we really wanted to do was go park ourselves on the beach to relax, was not cool. then the holiday traffic on the 10-E. the insanely crowded gas stations. the freeway accidents. the stopping six times. the heat coming through the windows. the i'm-sick-of-all-my-music-right-now. despite it all, we were home in six hours, but it felt like we drove across the country. terrible. 

i'm quite certain it was this 40-minute detour in palm springs that got us through it without complete meltdowns.

food makes everything better.

california beach bums.

each time we arrive in california, it goes something like this. 

roll down car window, breathe in fresh air... 

"ahhhh... it's so nice." 

"remind me again why we don't live here?"

don't get me wrong, we love our life in arizona, but there's something special about the california air. 

it's cool & crisp. the energy is buzzing. the coast is littered with awesome little towns.

we're surrounded by so many family and friends that there never seems to be enough time.

i long for the summer weekends where i can park myself in sand from sunup to sundown. i love it. 

we had a fantastic long weekend in california. 

it was the perfect pace. a sprinkling of family, friends & couple time.
all i wanted was to park the car and be on the beach, so we stayed at the ocean park inn in pacific beach.
nothing swanky, but it was right on the beach, walking distance to everything & had a hot tub.

{the view from our room}


{couldn't be any closer to the water}

the morning after the 4th, we woke up without an agenda and just started walking. 

we landed at Tower 23 where we stayed for a long brunch while waiting for the morning fog to burn off.

{our table view at brunch. succulents for days.}

{danny supposedly loves this photo b/c he said this is his typical view of me. not sure if that's endearing or rude.}

just as the marine layer burned off (totally so cal speak, right?), we walked to the local grocery to buy a  cooler, chips, cocktails and headed to the beach where we stayed until the sun went down.

we napped, read magazines, took a long walk along the water & played a game of smash ball (you know, the paddles & little ball). 

... that is until danny got a serious sports injury when his toe got stuck in the sand. 

bah! 

{i spy a bag of cool ranch Doritos (vacation, obvi) and ting's awesome new beach cooler}

good thing we had a cooler full of ice for his toe's "smash ball injury"

i didn't stop laughing, even hours after he limped off the sand. 

tiff turns thirty... and we were in ca to celebrate!

in addition to getting to meet miss blair tatum while we were in california, 

we got to join the festivities to celebrate tiffany's 30th birthday! 

i was more than a little excited. so when we hit gridlock traffic on the I-5 North (at 11am on a saturday!), i was not a happy co-pilot. i went into mute-mode and just pouted until the traffic gods finally smiled down on us & we finally arrived at tiff & troy's adorable new bungalow. 

the party was past miss blair's bedtime, but she was there for the pre-party and photos. 

a big group gathered for wine and apps -- sorry d, no entrees -- at The Wine Gallery in Corona Del Mar

never. enough. time. together.

tiffany's lady loves. 

miss colby

such a great wine bar.

lauren .. colby .. tiff .. katie .. julie + baby bump

some of the group that continued on to spot #2. 

bff's & sour gummies

hot summer nights.

lalalaaaaa... a little birthday diddy.