Sit back, take a sip and smile :)

Kenny and I just returned from 4 wonderfully relaxing days in California. A few months ago some of our very favorite friends, Nate and Kathleen, moved to Southern California and this was our first trip to visit them. Our friends from Minneapolis, Tanner and Stephanie, also flew in for the weekend and the 6 of us really did have a blast.

I hadn't been out to Cali since 2010! This really is a long time for me because I love it out there. I love it so much that I moved there when I was 19 and I enjoyed every sweet second of that sunny, palm tree filled goodness. One thing was very apparent on this trip, a lot has changed since 2010! Instead of posh clubs and hip restaurants, our nights were full of beach sunsets and cocktails on the patio. I wouldn't have had it any other way. 

We spent our first night at Hunnington Beach which is one of my favorite SoCal beaches. The vibe in Hunnington is very relaxing, the hippies and surfers with their not a care in the world attitudes really tend to rub off on you.

We had lunch at Fred's which is one of my favorites. Great mexican food, killer margaritas (seriously, there is a 3/person limit!) and beach views, what is not to love? At one point during lunch I caught myself staring at one of the many vintage winnebagos parked along the beach and wondering what that would be like. How do you decide that you are just going to pack up your winnebago, live at the beach and surf all day? I'm really not sure and I always wonder about people like this and how they make it work. What do they do about money? I guess maybe they have trust funds, or blogs :) Anyway, here was my lunch at Fred's, surf and turf enchiladas, seriously DELISH!

Our second afternoon/evening was spent at Paradise Cove in Malibu. This was my first time actually hanging out in Malibu, I had driven through it before and drooled over the gorgeous beach homes but never actually stopped. Paradise Cove was prefect for a bunch of Malibu rookies like ourselves. It was nice, but not to fancy, such a comfortable place to hang out. They had this amazing frozen drink bar with dozens of drink options all of which contained, you guessed it, Malibu rum :) Here is Kathleen with her cute drink. 

After cocktails we enjoyed a nice sunset on the beach. Malibu really does have beautiful beaches, it's different from Hunnington, Newport, etc because the cliffs are so close to the water and you can see all of the beautiful homes. It is much more residential than the other beaches in the area. 

Dinner at the Paradise Cove Cafe was incredible. We had lots of yummy fresh seafood, I love eating seafood when I can see the sea, it just tastes better. I wish I had taken some pics of dinner! It really was fantastic. 

All in all we had a GREAT weekend! On the ride home from the beach one night I was feeling so blessed. Surrounded by lovely friends and my amazing husband, laughing and sipping cocktails on the way home from a stellar day at the beach, it was almost overwhelming how happy I felt. I consciously told myself to sit back, take a sip and smile :)

Life is amazing, go out and live it!

Much love!

Lauren