sweet san francisco

Our first weekend in August was spent on the road venturing up to San Francisco and Berkeley to see various family members, friends and a handful of SF-related errands.

Friday we had lunch with Jules (thanks for taking a long, leisurely break sister!) and dined with an array of Ray Banks afficianados to celebrate his acceptance to Penn State's MBA program and impending departure to Happy Valley. Clearly we were more focused on the food and wine at hand, as evidenced by the one and only shot from our four hour dinner below.

Saturday morning we met up with the Winders (Jonathan, Jaimie-Rose and Jenille) for a so-long breakfast at Rose's Cafe, a favorite of mine from my city days. Though I failed once again at photo-taking during and after our meal, I snapped this cute shot of the Mister beforehand.

After strolling up and down Union post-breakfast, we said our goodbyes to Jonathan (he departed for Romania that evening) and headed back over the bridge in preparation for a triple date dinner with Dean, Tony, Rochelle and Martin up on Skyline. The night ahead looked something like this...

on to the next one...

camping 2.0 - san onofre

To close out the month of July, camping expert and friendship outing coordinator, Alejandro Castillo, put together yet another fabulous weekend in the wilderness. Though a bit more "urban" than we prefer - highways and operational train tracks across the service street from our site - we had a lovely time with near perfect weather.

We ate. We drank. We got tan sunburnt. We ladder balled. We hiked to the beach. We heart-to-hearted.

on to the next one...

tailgate montage

on to the next one...

4th festivities

We were lucky enough to have my mom down for a few days over the Fourth of July. Though relatively uneventful (we ate, we shopped, we caught up on HGTV's Property Brothers), it was so great to have her down and experiencing "our world" here in Newport.

The Winders were kind enough to invite us over for their 2nd Annual Fourth of July BBQ. I continue to be amazed by the love and generosity of the Winder family (Jean and Mark included) - they are so willing to love us, spend time with us, help us and perhaps most importantly, feed Andy plate after plate of perfectly prepared food.

Per usual, the day started with drinks and a few not so friendly games (I kid) of that weird frisbee/PVC pipe game, bocce, ladder and whiffle ball. I was so proud to see my little Rochelle out there fielding and hitting her heart out.

Following the games, we headed back to the house for dinner and delicious, Pinterest-inspired treats.

We had such a fun time meeting new people, catching up with old friends, and celebrating the best darn country there ever was and ever will be. Thanks Winders!

on to the next one...