A Getaway

Early Saturday morning, we packed up the car and headed onto the freeway to explore San Luis Obispo, an incredibly charming college a couple hours north of us. There are lots of quaint beach towns on the way up there, so we carved out lots of time in our very short trip to explore them. The drive itself felt like a vacation. We've finally been getting some rain around here, so the rolling hills were blanketed with smooth, freshly sprouted, green grass and cluttered with appreciative livestock. I couldn't put my camera down! About half the drove outlined the coast and since it was pretty early, the fog was still pulling off the shore, giving us some pretty epic-looking scenery. 

 We stopped in Avila Beach around lunch time. It turned out to be pretty touristy, but we enjoyed stretching our legs a bit and strolling down the pier. 

After our drive, we had a few hours before checking into our room, but of course my Type A husband had already thought of that and mapped out a hike for us! It was incredibly breathtaking to wind through a green forest; a very rare event in our beach town habitat. After about a mile, we arrived at a huge clearing that overlooked the ocean and decided to sit and enjoy it. It was exactly what we needed. Get out of the house, get out of Ventura and sort through our thoughts. I could have stayed there all day!

 

As if we weren't feeling relaxed enough after sitting in the shade of a tree for an hour, we soaked in hot springs nearby and then got deep tissue massages! I really can't remember the last time I felt that relaxed, physically or mentally. Our hotel was in a small town right by SLO called Pismo Beach. It was so adorable! We had an amazing dinner (I may or may not have ordered the macaroni and cheese pizza...) at an appropriately named restaurant called Rooster Creek. I'm not sure if it was the absurdly heavy dinner I ate or the results of a great massage, but I am incredibly proud to admit that I fell asleep at 8pm that night and enjoyed ten hours of much-needed sleep. I'll work six days a week for the rest of my life if it means a weekend like that every once in a while!

 

 

 I (tried to) let Matt sleep in on Sunday before we headed out to explore SLO. We've been there once before, where I found my beloved wooden breakfast tray, so we were looking forward to finding some more treasures. Such a charming area! We weren't prepared for the myriad of inebriated college students dressed head to toe in green, but what did we think was going to happen when we explored the most popular area of downtown on St. Patrick's Day?

Thrifting was an absolute success. I found a copper kettle, which I can't wait to place on top of an old stove in a big southern house someday, and bulked up my handkerchief collection quite a bit. While browsing through a record store, I found a Loretta Lynn vinyl for $1! I'm not super into her music, but after watching Coal Miner's Daughter a couple weeks ago, I had to snag it. (If you haven't seen that movie, do yourself a favor and watch it! It has hunky & young Tommy Lee Jones in it.) Matt found a few books on his list, we picked up a couple other records and my ultimate find of the day: a Bob Dylan teeshirt! An avid fan, I have been on the hunt for a Dylan shirt for years. 

I'm always hunting for vintage kitchen appliances, mostly because I like the way they look but partly because the quality is unmatchable. Some people probably think it's weird to buy used kitchen tools, but we have quite the sanitizing system and it's totally worth it. Our vintage cheese grader cuts through parmesan like nothing else! I'm pretty excited to add this old fashioned ricer to my kitchen. A sweet woman shopping nearby had to explain to me what it was, but once she did I had to have it!

You use it to make smooth, creamy mashed potatoes! Once you've peeled and boiled (or baked) a potato, you place it in inside and close it. Good-bye lumpy mashed potatoes. (Unless you prefer it that way, which I sometimes do...) 

This weekend was a much-needed escape and sabbath. I want to rewind and do it all over it! Spending three days straight with Matt made it that much more difficult to kiss him good-bye and face another work week in the face this morning, but I feel so rested!

Thanks again for planning such a wonderful weekend together for us, love!