I’ve been to Haight-Ashbury once before. In my experience, it’s a cool place to visit to do some thrift shopping since that’s like 80% of what lines the streets. I’ve stuck to the side closest to Golden Gate Park each time I’ve visited. My sis and I took public transit to get there so we wouldn’t have to worry about parking and it went smoothly, despite us getting off at the wrong MUNI stop.

A short list of coffee in Sacramento.

Since San Diego is such a big city (and county, really), consider this a tiny, mini-guide, I'm only covering the North Park, Liberty Station and Point Loma neighborhoods so it goes without saying that this by no means comprehensive. But all of these places are new to me and I wanted to share them with you in case you decide to check out all the coffee San Diego has to offer.

There are so many that I could probably spend an entire long weekend sitting in coffee shops and still not cover everything. If I missed out on a great spot, let me know! I plan to make it down to San Diego more than once every two years and I’d love recommendations!

Despite having worked in Napa for two years I've never managed to venture out into the valley to do some wine tasting. But! I finally got the chance to plan one for my best friend Barbara. She wanted a laid back birthday outing this year and it gave me the perfect excuse to arrange a fun, easy day of drinking wine in the sunshine.

I've always had a thing for San Francisco. It was my all time favorite city as a kid and teenager. Brandon and I used to drive out to Ocean Beach for our dating anniversary every year before we started our newest Redwoods tradition. I ditched school with a friend my senior year of high school to go prom dress shopping with my mom in the city. I have so many really great memories of playing tourist in San Francisco but recently all of my trips into the city had lasted for only a few hours. I guess it's no surprise that I was excited get to explore the city for a little while longer this time!