March in Instagrams

The name of the month this time appears to be knitting, shows, and friend hangs. And that one time I made a pretty dinner. This seems fairly predictable. So much so that I almost stopped myself from posting a roundup this month. In the end, though, I realized I'm fine with being predictable and also cant' resist recording these little snapshots of nostalgia to look back on later. 

As always, clockwise from top left....

1. Socks on a plane! I finished this pair of self-patterning socks while on the plane back from Wisconsin at the beginning of the month. I'm not planning on doing an FO post for these, so here's a little more detail: Yarn is Arne and Carlos for Schachenmayr Regia in the Moon Night colorway. The idea is that it's all one skein of yarn, dyed in such a way as to make a Norwegian-ish colorwork design. They were a easy, portable project to take on the trip, but I'm only so-so about the results. The pattern is a bit less striking that I was hoping it would be...and also I'm just not that into wearing socks. If your super into socks and okay with colorwork that's a bit blurry (still not sure if I should have done something differently to make it more pronounced...it could have been me) then I would definitely recommend this yarn.

2.  A typical Friday night and the very start of my Ursula Cardigan!!! I'm making it with Loft and Spincycle Dyed in the Wool. It'll be my first steeked project. It's also probably the most selfish sweater I've ever made, having thrown budgetary concerns to the wind on a sweater for myself for the first time! That and the fact that it's knit on size 4 needles means that lots of time and money are going to go into this sweater. Good thing I'm already in love with it. 

3. Records + pasta making party! Hopefully this will be the first of many record-listening get-togethers that also involve tasty food. If only I could remember and document all the albums we listening to...

4. Another Friday night, another shot of my Ursula! This was just after I had finished the grueling 4.5 inches of ribbing on size 1 needles. Hurray! (I hat ribbing). 

 1. A pretty and easy dish from Plenty. I got this cookbook for Christmas from my Mom and have been slowly trying to work my way through some of its recipes. I love new cookbooks, but I really have to force myself to cook from them in order to get the recipes into my head and into weekly rotation. Otherwise, I tend to forget to try new recipes and instead just pick things out of my memory when making the grocery list.

2. I love it when he wears all the wool. And that jean jacket (swooooooon). On this particular knit he selected a me-made hat and sweater to wear to the Georgetown Artwalk. This was after we felt we had looked at a sufficient amount of art to justify planting at a bar instead.

3. A super, duper old hat for Kevin that was recently unearthed. I think I made this back when we were still in college (10 years ago?). It's out of a 100% acrylic yarn that I probably bought at Joanne Fabrics. How the times have changed. It has not held up well after all these years, but as I remember it was well loved in its day.

4. The Ursula grows!! I took this picture while doing my favorite lunchtime activity of skipping out on the gym and just knitting and listening to a podcast instead. Arn't those color changes so lovely? That's the magic of Spincyle.

1. Oh it's so fun to go to shows. Especially when its Wimps at the Black Lodge (or anywhere, really....these Wimps are so. good.). If you like good old fashion fun music then definitely check them out. That is quite possibly not a great description of their music, but it's all I'm going to attempt.

2. A particularly wonderful strip of my friend and Erin and I in which our outfits just happened to match the photo booth curtain. This was during 90's Dance Party at the Lo-Fi (gawd this post is too long and I'm getting link fatigue). Does anyone else do that thing where you plan out your photo booth poses before you put your money in? So that you're ready for the camera flashes ahead of time? I think my friend Sarah was the first one to introduce me to this concept and it's so helpful. I think our plan for this one was: regular-happy-smiles, badass peace signs, super-serious faces, and CRAZY!! The crazy one is my favorite.

3. More baby gifts! This is the Mae Cardigan by Quince and Co and a free pattern called Lilacs for Lilah (available on Ravelry). I'm particularly happy with how the sweater turned out and am definitely going to make more of these. I even think it could be gender neutral in a different color choice, and maybe even a different pattern edge. This stack was made for a sweet little girl named Agatha :)

4. And finally!! On the very last day of March: a TacocaT show (aka that Taco Cat-Band). This was at their album release show at Chop Suey and it was a good, good time. Also, Mommy Long Legs opened and they are just. so. good. Really, sooooo gooooood. Other highlights of the evening included talking Erin and Andi into wearing temporary sparkle tattoos, repeatedly squishing three people in the photobooth at the back, Kevin being his wonderful mosh-fairy self, and of course following it up with late night breakfast to cure all of our hangover blues. Oh and I got to wear a super sparkly shirt.

Why I Go to Wisconsin with a Half-Empty Suitcase

...because of the thrifts. And also because of the need to bring back cheese. But this post is about clothes not cheese.

It's no secret by now that going to thrift stores is one of my most favorite activities. It's a fact that has been well documented on this blog. I just love the hunt. And the uniqueness of what you can find. And the deals. And the timelessness of it. With the way that "fashion" swings through the decades these days, it's just so cool to me that you can find great vintage stuff that is totally back in style. It's also that I just really love clothes. I think I always have. I like putting fun outfits together, thinking of looks I want to add to my wardrobe and then hunting them down. But I also hate a ton of things about what has come to be known as fast fashion. I'm not going to go into a huge rant here. This is just supposed to be a fun "look what I found!" post. Go ahead and google "what is fast fashion" if you're not sure what I mean. To put in plainly: thrifting is simply my favorite way to get new clothes, for a myriad of reasons.

Okay. Back to the good stuff.

We were able to hit quite a good handful of thrifts on our most recent trip to Wisconsin. It's really a must. What makes the Wisconsin thrifts so great? Honestly I don't really know. And they're certainly not the best for everything. Mostly, I think they're the best for vintage / retro clothes. Think fancy grandma. Is that a fashion term? If so, I think I'd like to co-opt it as my personal style statement. Or how about this: what your mom wore in the 70s and 80s. Well, at least what my mom wore? I have the photographic proof. She was a total babe.

OMG I cannot stay on topic today! How about I just put the pictures in now.

I am totally in love with this entire outfit. I found both the shirt and pants at a little church-run thrift store in my hubs's hometown. They had the shirt on one of those half-bust hanger things. You know. The kind they use for the stuff they think is really good, and then they hang it up on the wall. Yeah. One of those. Clearly the retiree volunteers really knew what they had with this one because, lemme tell ya, it is fantastic. 100% silk (minus the sequins obvs) with a beautiful shape. And I'm sure it was still under $5. THANK YOU WISCONSIN! The pants are pretty killer too. Super high waisted, as you can tell, with a nice little semi-cropped leg. I think they're Route66 brand from K-Mart, which I kind of love.

Now here's what I'm talkin' bout with the 70's mom jeans! These are so fabulous. I've been wearing them almost constantly since we got home. This high waisted, wide leg, slightly flared style is so totally back. I had been hunting for a pair here in Seattle for several months with no luck. Well, no luck that went over a size 4. Which I am definitely not in vintage jean sizes (side note: Do you love or hate vanity sizing? I'm undecided. Mostly I just wish it was consistent). Normally I wouldn't want to be broadcasting my bum on the internet, but those back pockets are just too good! 

Also, please excuse my need to place my hand on the window frame for some reason. I have no idea where that came from. It must be something they teach in model school. If there's a window frame use it. 

Mom jean look number two! Although now we've drifted decidedly out of the 70s and landed in....what? Late 80s? Totally morphed into the 90s? It's possible my ideas of the decades are not entirely accurate. Either way, I'm super smitten with these. Goodbye skinny jeans. These have become my other constant wear jeans (sorry to anyone who sees me on a weekly basis for just showing you a bunch of pictures of what you have been experiencing in real life). 

Next up we have this crazy little two piece number. Two piece outfits are my new favorite thing to hunt for, ever since I found this fantastic pant and short-sleeve button up combo in a teeny black and white polka dot print that looks like a jumpsuit when you tuck the top in. Who can resist a jumpsuit? People with long torsos (points to self). I always have this constant-wedgie problem with pretty much every jumpsuit I've tried on. So a two piece number that looks like a jumpsuit is super fantastic for freaks like me! Anyway, I found this skirt and shirt combo and was (and still am) a little hesitant about it. The skirt is kind of long and I kind of wish the top was a button up. But ultimately I couldn't resist the huge floral print and the fact that it has pockets. I've worn both as separates, and I actually really like them that way. My other thought is that I could possibly turn the skirt into pants. Like, really billowy palazzo style. The only problem is that they'd be ankle length, which is sort of trend right now? But also a little weird and maybe not super flattering. I could also just shorten the skirt a bit, but I can't do both. I think I'd prefer it as pants, but it may be a bit beyond my sewing level and I don't want to ruin it altogether. AH! Decisions!




Jewelry! I got some good bobbly bobbles, which is my favorite kind of jewelry. Statement pieces, amiright?!? The one on the left is made out of actual stone beads, rather than my usual plastic. That probably means it's higher quality or sumthing. Its also got this really pretty little brass closure thing. Totally classy. The red one on the right is a style that I've been keeping my eye out for recently. It's the same shade of red, but a different length as one that I already have. That one belonged to my grandma. It's a little bit longer than this one, so I wanted to find one in the same shade that I could wear with it. Because of course one bright red plastic bobble necklace is not enough. My favorite is the one in the middle, though. BECAUSE IT'S ACTUALLY A MIRROR! It's like a functional sun medallion. Which I am all about. Sure, it's a tiny mirror. But it's perfect for touching up one's lipstick, which apparently I wear a lot of these days. I blame Andi. 

And last but not least we have Kevin! With his bestest thrift find of the trip: this fantastic coat. (Why do I suddenly sound like I'm MCing at a beauty pageant?) He found it at the Dime and Dollar in Wausau, which is definitely one of our favorite places. It's fantastic that it actually fits him, slim dude that he is. That fake fur cape thing zips up into a hood, too. So rad. Also: DIDN'T I MARRY THE STUDLIEST MAN EVER! I think so.

All the Wisconsin Things

We recently took a week-long trip home to visit some of our family in the central Wisconsin area, and realized it was basically a mashup of super Wisconsiny things. Which makes sense. It is Wisconsin after all. Mostly for my own amusement, I present to you a selection of some of the week's activities in pictures. Staring off with a snowy road on the way to Kevin's Mom's house in the country.

On our way from the airport, we stopped at an old favorite restaurant from our college days: The Thorpedo! We took a red eye flight, so this was very early in the morning. And on a weekday no less. So it was basically us and a bunch of retiree regulars, which was a pretty great way to start the trip. Like, yep, we are definitely not in the city anymore. 

Later that day, we had to stop for some other favorite hometown food: Taco Johns. Gotta love those potato ole's! I actually didn't know this until we moved away, but Taco Johns is not a thing that is everywhere. Sure, it's just fast food. But c'mon. POTATO OLES!!

Now this next thing is not strictly Wisconsin. I'm sure people smoke pipes pretty much everywhere. But it is an activity that Kevin and his dad both enjoy doing together. Especially while sitting in recliners under handmade blankets. What were we watching on TV that night you ask? Some kind of hunting show? Maybe some sort of show on how to distill your own whiskey? Nope. It was The Bachelor.

No trip to Wisconsin would be complete without a trip to the thrifts! We made several stops in a couple different cities, including the good 'ole Dime & Dollar. There were many pairs of mom jeans purchased by me (more on that later), an astonishingly large collection of clip-on ties at a church-run thrift, and this amazing vintage Eddie Bauer three piece snowsuit that I almost couldn't pass up. Unfortunately, the flare leg pants were a bit too teeny for my posterior.

Back at Kevin's Mom's house we did lots of lounging about (me especially, because GUESS WHAT: I got strep throat on basically the first day of our trip). The doggies were wonderful cuddle buddies. Although, I must say that I missed old mister Kit Kat, last surviving brother of a pair of perennial house cats that populated Kevin's childhood. He passed away last year at the ripe old age of.....I'm not exactly sure. Kevin says maybe 21? That's hella old. 

Another can't miss stop is, of course, The Cheese Factory. This one is in Kevin's hometown. They've got basically every kind of cheese and then some. Also ice cream. Which a surprising amount of people were enjoying despite the fact that it was about 20 degrees outside. For our part, we loaded up on cheese curds, cheese strings, extra sharp cheddar, and about six other varieties to take back to Seattle for ourselves and friends. If you look behind the rows of cheese in this picture you can see the big glass windows that look into the actual cheese factory part. It's pretty rad. 

Next we have another not-really-Wisconsin-only thing. Kevin's younger brother Scott taught us how how to play Boss Monster. Super fun! We spent many hours sitting around the big kitchen island, both playing this game and just chatting. Drinking coffee and sitting around the kitchen island is one of our main activities. 

Here's Kevin enjoying a Spotted Cow! It's a beer brewed by New Glarus Brewing in New Glarus, WI. They only sell and distribute in Wisconsin (not even Minnesota!), so it's a given that we're going to buy one or two (or fifty) when we come back. 

Here's another delicious thing: a hot steaming bowl of rabbit stew. Kevin and Scott did a fair amount of rabbit hunting in the field behind the house, and (eventually) came in with two rabbits. Did you know that the gestation period for a rabbit is only 31 days, and that typically they're mature at about six months old? Whoa. Seems like a pretty sustainable meat source. Not to mention tasty. The boys cooked up this delicious stew for lunch, and Kevin's mom finished if off with dumplings. Mmm hmmm. 

And finally we have a terrible picture of a delicious meal. Friday night fish fry. I had already polished off my potato salad, coleslaw, and Spotted Cow by the time I remembered to take a (blurry) photo. It was so fun to go out for fish fry! Of course we have a ton of fish and chips in Seattle, but there's just something about a Friday night fish fry.

FO: Kevin's Christmas Hat

This year, Kevin got a hat for Christmas! The funniest part of me making this hat for him is that I did the majority of the knitting while sitting next to him on the couch. And he didn't notice a thing. I mean, I'm sure he noticed that I was knitting. But I'm basically always knitting while sitting on the couch, so he's used to it and doesn't really pay attention to the particulars. Ha! No need for secret gift knitting over here!

The pattern is the Anstruther Hat by Erica Knits. I've had my eye on it for awhile as one of several allover colorwork hats that I was considering for Kevin. At this point he's got quite the little collection of hats going, but everything is quite plain and neutral-colored. They're also all worked at a fairly large gauge.  For this hat, I wanted to make something really bold and kind of crazy. I'm always trying to get him to dress more like me, in lots of colors and patterns ;)

Plus, after making the Charlie hat for myself, I knew how great it is to have a hat knit in fingering / sport weight at this gauge. And just like the Charlie hat, I decided to use Brooklyn Tweed's Loft has the main color. I just knew he'd love the fabric it creates - warm, lightweight, and soft yet structural. As you can tell, I'm pretty stuck on Loft hats at the moment. I'm pretty sure there will be more in my future! (er, probably the futures of next year's Christmas gift recipients - this family is good on hats for awhile. ha!)

I had quite luckily picked up this little almost-complete cake of Loft at Scrap in Portland (OMG I LOVE SCRAP SO MUCH!!!!!) over the summer, and knew it'd be the perfect color. The rust-red color (technically called Embers) is just the perfect mix of bold yet muted color. And I knew it would go well with Kevin's coats, which are all either navy blue or green. For the contrasting colors, I went to my stash and pulled out my leftover balls of Local Color Rambouillet 2-Ply Fingering from my Arionette Socks and chose the indigo and onion skin colorways. I also had enough of a skein of Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift leftover for the white from who knows how long ago. Hurray for stash busting! All of these yarns played very nicely together, and I'm so happy with the result. And judging by the amount of wear it's gotten since being gifted, Kevin's pretty happy with it too!

January in Instagrams

I want to try to do a better job this year of documenting our months in Instagrams. I really really like looking back on these little snippets! So even though it's a little late (aka almost the end of February) I'm going to go back to January for a "month in review". Here we go, clockwise from top left...

1. I'm kind of obsessed with the Bachelor / Bachelorette. I know, I know. It's not the best quality TV ever. But I swear it's the only reality TV I watch! There's just something about it. I find it ridiculously entertaining. Especially when watched with friends, commentary, and booze. I went to my friend Lauren's for the premier this season, and she made these fancy schmancy mocktails! Don't worry there were also cans of Rainier.

2. I picked up these perfect little cobalt blue pumps at the thrift store, brought them home, and then had the realization that I have amassed an alarming amount of vintage Liz Claiborne stuff. Of the 80's variety. No problems here.

3. Tapes are back folks! I had been looking for a Walkman to listen to some mixtapes that our friend Scott made, and Kevin found this one from his youth and brought it back for me from Wisconsin. And then a sweet work friend brought me a bunch of mixtapes that her dad had made years ago. They're full of Roy Orbison, Patsy Kline, Elvis....and the Eagles.

4. This has been one of my favorite breakfasts for awhile now. Scrambled eggs on rice with Sriracha and toasted sesame seeds. So good.

1. I like to amuse myself at work by pulling out the pretty paperclips I find during the day and photographing them. Look at this pretty rose gold spirally one!

2. Late night breakfast!!! So good after a show. On this night it was Randy's after seeing The Wimps and Mommy Long Legs. 24 hour diners forever!!!!!!!!!!!

3. This is a typical once-a-week occurrence. Watching TV at Scott's house while knitting with a Shooby on my lap. From this picture you might conclude that he likes me. He probably thinks I'm alright. I mean, sometimes I feed him. But really I'm just sitting in his chair.

4. The days are getting longer and sunnier! It's a bit too early to think about *summer*, but regardless, I was pretty excited to see the sun out and beautiful after work one day. I snapped this quick just as I got out and am looking forward to more evening sunshine!

1. Here's a little progress shot on my Pine Bough cowl. It's a big 'ole tube scarf...so kind of a ton of knitting. But it went surprisingly fast! It was three quarters of the way done when this picture was taken, and now it's 100% finished and is being happily worn.

2. Game night! This is another weekly occurrence with some of our Seattle friends and we love it! On this particular night I was dominating as the killer Mantis in Kings of New York. I don't usually "dominate", so of course I had to capture it.

3. A pile of baby knitwear right before being packed up and shipped off to a friend. It's that stage of life right now were lots of folks are having kiddos, so my needles have been busy with lots of wee little projects. All of these are favorite patterns by now that I'll probably be making many more times.

FO: Charlie Hat

A new hat just for meeeeeeeee! And it just may be the best hat I've ever made for myself. Sure, the small gauge and folded brim detail meant it wasn't super super quick to knit, but sometimes putting in the extra time and effort really pays off. In this case it definitely did. I love love love it so so so much. Plus that pom pom. Oh my goodness, so good.

Let's jump right into details: 

Pattern: Charlie by Andi Satterlund

Yarn: Spincycle Dyed in the Wool + Brooklyn Tweed Loft

Needles: Size US 3

I bought this yarn in December 2014 at Urban Craft Uprising from the rad ladies at Spincycle Yarns. The colorway is called Tangled Up in Blue and it is just so fantastic. Very vibrant and - in my opinion - perfect for colorwork. I love how the subtle color variegation looks when paired with a lighter neutral. So good! In terms of yarn pairing, I think these two played very nicely together. Although Loft is a fingering compared to Dyed in the Wool's sport weight, it's so eh-hem lofty that they actually match up quite well. In fact, I'm so in love with this pairing that I'm planning on using it again to make myself a super special Ursula cardigan.

This was my first time doing a folded brim, and it was pretty magical. Plus SOOOOPER warm. Definitely worth the little bit of extra knitting work and semi-laborious joining row. As always, I loved knitting the colorwork and despite the small gauge it seemed like it worked up pretty quickly. I was originally planning on making a pom pom with the Spincycle, but then had the idea to make a HUGE bright flame orange one instead. I tell ya, I just can't get away from using this orange yarn! It's just so vibrant and fresh! I used the larger of my Clover pom pom makers, which I absolutely LOVE. I spent way too many years stubbornly making pom poms using a piece of cardboard. Seriously, they come out so much nice with the pom pom maker. I like to think this pom pom makes people smile on the dreary streets in the winter every time they see it. How could you see it and not smile?!?

It's a Road Trip!

Kevin and I were long overdue for an extended, just-the-two-of-us vacation. The last one we took was in August 2014. It was this trip to Glacier National Park. So this year we decided to take advantage of the fortunate timing of Christmas and New Year's and take a long road trip. Since both fell on a Friday, taking four days off magically turned into ten blissful, work-free days! Our road trip of course meant driving south to California. One word: sunshine.



We started off on Christmas Day by driving south until we couldn't stand driving anymore. That turned out to be Weed, California in the Mt Shasta area. The most memorable thing about the drive down was the beautiful full moon we had in the mountain area. The sun was already long gone, but it was a completely clear night with a brilliant full moon. Everything was snow covered, and the snow reflected the moonlight so well that it was almost like daylight. Traffic was light enough that the headlights didn't ruin the scene, so we got a beautiful moonlight view of the mountains. So unique and pretty. We did run into a bit of unexpected-to-us snowfall at the highest point of the pass, which left me driving white-knuckled for awhile. Being from Wisconsin, I'm very comfortable driving in less-than-ideal conditions. But out here, it's the unknown and the elevation that's scary. You don't know how well they salt/sand the roads or if everyone is driving so slowly because they need to or because they're being overcautious. You don't know how steep the climbs or descents will be or how long it will last. I just never know if I should be freaking out or not! In the end, the car handled really well and  I don't think there was much or any actual ice on the roads.


On Saturday we drove the rest of the way to our first destination: Palm Springs! Neither of us had been before, but I'd read a lot of things about it being a kind of quirky, design-centric town with lots of good restaurants and plenty of sunshine. We stayed at The Saguaro, which is famous for it's rainbow color scheme. Here's the obligatory picture of said rainbowyness:

We ate our first breakfast at Elmer's, which came up as one of the most popular diner-type places. Once we sat down, we had to laugh because it turned out to be a Pacific Northwest chain, with most locations in Washington and Oregon. So essentially we drove over a thousand miles to eat at the exact same kind of place we could eat at in Seattle. Well, at least we know what we like. Next we took a long walk from our hotel to the downtown area and drooled over all of the gorgeous mid-century modern ranch homes. Swoooooon. We ended up at a thrift store (not an accident) and I found this fantastic vintage Dooney and Burke bag in my favorite shade of leather, plus these perfect little vintage t-straps. Hurray for thrifting in a style-minded community of old people!!!

We also went to the Moorten Botanical Garden, which was super cool! I took lots of cactus and succulent pictures, especially the weird ones inside of the greenhouse area. My favorite plant was the haworthia attenuata and I ended up taking a little mini one home with us. Don't worry! I didn't just pluck it from the ground...I bought it in the gift shop.

After it got dark we drove to see Robolights. How do I describe this? It's a bunch of sculptures of all sizes made from found objects and mostly painted in a single color. It has been constructed over the years by one guy. For the holidays he also adds a TON of lights and Christmas-y stuff. It's super quirky and cool that this guy just DID it. A tiny bit creepy as well? Yeah kinda. Here's Kevin looking awestruck.

That night we went out to what was our favorite dinner of the trip. We walked to a place called Mr. Lyons and opted for the lounge side (we're lounge people). Yes, it is a steakhouse. And yes, one of my New Year's resolutions is recommitting to be a better vegetarian again. So it was an odd choice. However, like a lot of Palm Springs, it has this retro, mid-century, old-Hollywood vibe that I just love. Especially the lounge section was just so perfectly "fancy supper club" and I loved it. Plus! It turns out they also make really good vegetables. Kevin was laughing at me because I ordered so much stuff! They brought over his steak frites (which was delicious), and then they just kept bringing more and more of the side dishes I ordered for me. It was a smorgasbord of plates. I especially loved the fancy deviled eggs. OMG deviled eggs are THE BEST thing. These were duck eggs and I think the filling had some kind of goat cheese plus something horseradish-y. I also got the charred brussel sprouts, wedge salad (sans bacon), onion rings, and french onion soup (not vegetarian, I know, but still not a steak). They also made the most wonderful Vodka gimlet. My favorite drink thanks to my friend Kari, but which, for some reason, seems to mystify some bartenders. It's kind of my thing to order one and just see what happens. I've gotten them in a variety of glasses, with simple syrup, a sugared rim, and even once a maraschino cherry (ew)! This one was just perfect though with vodka, lime juice, ice, and a lime wedge (I like to order them on the rocks). Here's a bad picture of me enjoying it.

Afterwards we walked to the bar in the Ace Hotel for more booze. At that point I was over fancy-shmancy and just asked the bartender for "shitty beer in a can". Sometimes that's all you want. We also took what is probably one of the best photo-booth strips of our relationship, involving me swooping in for a kiss and Kevin looking awestruck. It's awesome.

On Monday we said goodbye to Palm Springs and took the scenic route to San Diego. The drive was super pretty, and also kind of strange, since we ran into a bit more mountainy snow. Who knew.

Strangely, we arrived in San Diego to rain for our first night. But whatever, we didn't let that stop us from heading out of course. Plus who can really be angry at California for getting some much-needed rain. We got a really delicious dinner at a Mexican place, dried off a bit, and then walked to the Stone Brewing Tap Room. The vibe on a Monday night at the Tap Room wasn't too lively, which was a bit of a bummer. But they did have board games! We battled each other at Connect 4 and checkers and I'll admit that Kevin came out the ultimate winner.

For breakfast the next day, Kevin found this fantastic diner (we LOVE diners) in Ocean Beach called the Old Townhouse Restaurant. It was basically perfect. After breakfast we walked the pier and beach area. There were a couple of Pelicans perched on the pier, some people fishing, and a surprising number of surfers. Well, maybe not surprising? I don't know. Surprising to me being that it was a Tuesday morning around 10am and actually a bit chilly out despite the sunshine.

After breakfast we drove to Point Loma and the Cabrillo National Monument. We had gone there on our last visit to San Diego, but it has been overcast so we couldn't really see any of the views and didn't stay long. This time, it was completely clear and sunny. Hurray! We walked around for quite a bit and looked at a couple of the exhibits. I really liked the lighthouse exhibit, which had two of these really amazing lenses. They're so gorgeous! From the lighthouse we drove down to the tide pool area. The tide was in at the time, so we couldn't actually do any walking around the tide pools, but it was still really cool to see the rocky coastline.

Then it was tacos for lunch (so many tacos), a happy stop at a thrift store per my request, then some more outdoor wandering in Balboa Park with coffee in hand. We visited the Palm Grove canyon and walked around the museum buildings mostly. There were a TON of people taking wedding or engagement photos, which I always get a ridiculous kick out of seeing. For dinner we decided to go up to the North Park neighborhood and picked a sushi restaurant. I think we both needed a break from heavy food! The funniest part of dinner was that Kevin ordered drinks while I was in the bathroom and told me it "was a surprise". Oh my goodness. When she started brining them I was at first confused, and then - to be honest - a bit overwhelmed! The drink special turned out to be a large bottle of Japanese beer plus a large carafe of hot sake. Each. So much booze.

The next morning we hit up another diner in North Park called Rudford's. It was totally perfect with a retro vibe. I think we may also have started a new vacation-diner-breakfast tradition: ordering a banana split. I guess I was feeling extra-vacationy, because somehow I got it in my head that it would be THE BEST THING EVER to share a banana split after our breakfast mains. And I gotta say, it kinda was. It also resulted in my favorite picture of myself from the entire trip. Check it:

Then it was back on the road on our way to Los Angeles. We arrived just around lunch time and headed straight to Philippe's for some original french dip sandwiches. You order at the counter right from the sandwich makers, who make it right in front of you while you wait. You can order the sandwiches “single-dip”, double-dip” or “wet” and have a choice of classic sides. So. Delicious.

Next we continued to our hotel, which was actually in Santa Monica. We stayed at the Seaview again because we loved it some much the first time. By the time we got there the sun was setting, so we grabbed some coffee and took a little walk. Here are some more obligatory pictures of the palm trees and the rides at the Santa Monica Pier.

That night we decided to drive back into Los Angeles to go to the Griffith Observatory . This is when - for the first time - I started to sour a bit on LA. So much driving and so many people. There were a TON of cars on the road up to the Observatory, and for a while we weren't even sure if it was going to be possible to get there and park before it closed (even though we had originally planned to get there two hours before they closed). Happily we were able to park - albeit pretty far from the actual parking lot along side the road - and then walked up to the main building. We missed the last show of the night because of the congestion, although tickets may have been sold out anyway. Instead, we just wandered around the exhibits and looked in some of the smaller telescopes they had set up around the grounds. We didn't actually get to look in the big telescope because the line was literally too long. They would have closed before we would have gotten to the front. Did I mention there were SO MANY PEOPLE?!? Regardless, we were glad to have visited and the smaller telescopes were pretty cool to look through anyway. We saw a nebulon that I have forgotten the name of, and the astrologer guy that was guarding it was really fun to listen to. Also, I got this cool picture of a sign.

The next morning we stayed around the beach in Santa Monica for a bit, renting beach cruisers and getting breakfast by the beach at a place that was just okay. Then it was back on the road to our final road trip destination: Santa Barbara.

This was another place we hadn't been before, and really we just picked it off the map as a small-ish town that was further north but still on the coast. And we ended up really liking it!  We stayed at a cheap-ish motel that was actually pretty charming right on State Street, aka the main drag. Basically all the older buildings have been preserved, although many have also been converted into mainstream retail stores. We walked from our hotel down most all of State Street, stopping for ice cream and drinks. For ice cream we went to McConnell's, just because it looked cool. But it turned out to be - honestly - the best ice cream we've ever had. So. good. You can read all about their history and special ice cream making machine on their website. I had some kind of salted caramel cookie cream and Kevin had Turkish coffee. For dinner we kept it super casual and hit up a taqueria for burritos. They had one on the menu called the California burrito (not sure if this is a thing or not) that had french fries in it. Sure! Why not!

Even though it was New Year's Eve, we went back to our hotel pretty early. Honestly, I think at this point we were a bit eating-outed out. The next day we drove as far north as we could stand and stayed again in the Mt Shasta area. This time we were heading through the mountains in the daylight, and the drive was beautiful. Driving mostly in the daylight meant lots of knitting time for me!

We made two stops on the way. One for In-And-Out Burger and one to see the Monarch butterfly grove in Pismo Beach! It was hard to get a picture of the Monarch clusters, but take my word for it that it was super cool. The small forested area by a warm inlet of the coast is one of the places where Monarchs come to spend the winter. We stopped there shortly during the warmest part of the day, so we got to see lots of them both flying around and clustering together on the pine and eucalyptus branches. It was definitely worth the stop!

Well folks, if you've made it to the end of this epically long post, congratulations! I'm done!