san juan capistrano

Jesse and I enjoyed a mini staycation this weekend. It involved all the good stuff: yoga in the park (that was new), dog park visits, brunch, walks on the beach, shopping on Main Street, and some mini day trips. We avoided all the bad stuff: laundry, cleaning, and grocery-shopping (this week will be fun...).

On Saturday, we took a little trip to Mission San Juan Capistrano, a place I have been wanting to visit for a while. It took us about an hour and a half to get there, and much of the drive had great scenery. The mission was founded in 1776 and includes a pretty little chapel, which is the only church remaining where Junipero Serra (founder of the California missions) officiated. The ruins of the "great stone church," which was mostly destroyed in the earthquake of 1812, are also very pretty. There were lots and lots of beautiful flowers, and some nice fountains and bells too.

On our way home, we drove up the Pacific Coast Highway through Laguna Beach and Newport Beach, stopping at Huntington Beach just in time for sunset. We'd never been there before and were surprised to see so many fire pits, so we'll definitely have to go back and have a campfire someday.

travel plans: the decision

Jesse and I had been hoarding airline miles ever since we made several trips back and forth to Japan while living there. Although we've flown many times since, I was really committed to using the miles for a "big" trip, and we'd been thinking for several years for how to best take advantage of them. The prospect of "the trip" grew bigger and bigger in my head. The longer we went without travelling internationally, after travelling so much for several years, the more the trip started to feel like a major, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I wanted to make sure we used the miles for just the right thing. But the longer we held on to the miles, the more I worried that they would disappear and the more I feared that this long hoped-for trip wouldn't actually happen.

With both of our jobs, we had a hard time finding time that we could both be gone for more than a week at a time. My first year at Pepperdine (2009-2010), I never took more than a few days off at a time. My second year, Jesse had started working as a consultant for Disney, and didn't feel like he could get away while he was on a limited-term contract. The third year seemed to be the right time for us. We initially planned to go in the fall, but several other events came up, and we decided to put the trip off (again). Then, American Airlines declared bankruptcy in late 2011, and my irrational fears that we'd lose the miles re-appeared. It turned out to be the kick we needed.

We started looking into dates for the travel. We knew we wanted to travel internationally, and we wanted to take two weeks off. Although we had started discussing "where" we would go, we were really more concerned with the "when" at first. By the time we got the vacation time approved for the middle of April, we still didn't know where we wanted to go. There were so many places we both wanted to see and it was starting to feel impossible to choose. Making decisions has never come easy for me, but this one seemed particularly difficult. I love to travel so much. But with limited vacation time and the cost of travel, I started to feel like we wouldn't be doing it as often as I'd like. These miles were our chance at a low-cost trip, and we were only going to get the one. Neither Jesse nor I could figure out how to prioritize the places we wanted to see, so we started to think about the kinds of international experiences that interested us.

Classic: France, Italy
Adventurous: Machu Picchu (this one is mostly me - I'm sort of fixated on it)
Exotic: Turkey, Morocco
Familiar: Japan
Little-Bit-Unique: Finland, Russia, Iceland, Eastern Europe
Leisurely: A resort anywhere in the tropics

We pretty seriously considered every one of those areas. Finland was one of our top choices. Since Jesse's ancestors originally immigrated to Wisconsin from Finland, and our last name is Finnish, we had a special interest in seeing the country. It also looks gorgeous and has an interesting design scene. However, once we knew we were going in April, it didn't seem like the weather would be ideal. Having spent most of our lives in the Midwest, the chance for a cold and slushy vacation wasn't all that appealing; give me snow or sun, but not in-between. The same went for Russia. We talked a lot about going back to Japan. It's been five years since we left, and we would love the opportunity to visit friends and see familiar places. But ultimately, we decided we wanted to do something new. Japan felt like a trip we could take anytime, and we know we'll definitely go back at some point.

Around the time we got the vacation approved, we had more or less settled on France. We even used our miles to put some tickets on hold. We figured we'd spend a little time in Paris and then make our way south to enjoy villages and hopefully lots of wineries. It sounded relaxing, leisurely, and romantic. A perfect trip, right? For whatever reason, I really couldn't get excited about it. I think when it came down to it, I wanted something completely new and out of the ordinary. I would love to see the south of France one day, and I think it will happen. But a bigger adventure was more appealing to me. I'd also been to Paris, and although I had loved it, it wouldn't be new.

Although our frequent flier miles wouldn't get us all the way there, we ultimately chose Morocco. By booking tickets first to Madrid, and then buying separate tickets from Madrid to Marrakesh, we were able to work it out. I had originally seen Morocco on a list of great places to travel in 2009, or sometime around then. The brief note had mentioned the food, and that Morocco was a culinary destination. That piqued my interest, and it has always stuck in the back of my head as a place to see. The more research that I have done, the more I feel that this trip will encompass so many of the kinds of experiences we had hoped to have. There will definitely be some adventure, it will be exotic, there will be good food and leisure, and it will be unique. So far, our planned activities involve a cooking class, a spa, an afternoon at a resort, art galleries, old medinas in several Moroccan cities, historic markets and sites, a ferry across the Strait of Gibralter, train travel, and Roman ruins. Sadly, we had to rule out a camel trip in the desert due to time (who knew two weeks isn't even close to enough time for Morocco?). We're making time for a few days in Spain, and we will get to see the French influence in Morocco, so we'll get to have a taste of the classic as well.

I am really pleased with our choice. Ultimately, I feel really, really lucky that we have a choice at all. The chance to take two weeks off to travel to another country, and not to have to pay for the airline tickets...that's something special.

vegas

I'd never been to Las Vegas, although Jesse had been several times. We'd been talking for a while about going there, since it's so close to Los Angeles, and our anniversary was at the end of January. So when we both realized that we had MLK Day off a couple of weeks ago, we made last-minute plans to drive up for the weekend. It turned out to be a great trip. We mostly spent our time wandering from one hotel/casino to another, checking out all of the over-the-top decor. It truly felt like adult Disneyland. Everything is so fake, but still so nice. Like the Venice canals, for example. Fake sky, fake cobblestone streets. Silly, right? But...still fun! And actually kind of pretty. Here are a few things I found amusing:

1. The drive through the California desert.
2. The different smells at all of the casinos. The Tropicana smelled like tanning oil.
3. People-watching. Especially at night when the cocktail dresses and stilettos came out.
4. The Cirque du Soleil show "O." I've seen a few Cirque shows and wasn't sure one more was necessary, but this one was different and a lot of fun.
5. Dinner at Bouchon, one of Thomas Keller's restaurants. I had scallops with roasted winter squash, glazed parsnips, and confit chestnuts. It was really, really good.
6. Our gorgeous, spacious, and comfortable hotel room at the Palazzo.
7. The lobby at the Wynn, with its colorful tile mosaics and the wall of water.
8. The conservatory at the Bellagio, which looked amazing decorated for the Chinese New Year.
9. The crazy amounts of crystal at the Cosmopolitan.
10. And - my favorite - the fountain at the Bellagio. So entertaining!!

Even after 2.5 years of living in the West, I still get excited at all of the places that are now within driving distance from our home. There are so many more to explore!

so i went to europe...

In some ways, it's hard to believe this trip happened. Being in Europe with my mom and my grandma was so far removed from my ordinary life, it almost felt like a dream. And it was, in many ways. This is a trip I had long dreamed of - but I am not sure I really thought it would happen. Imagine my (very pleasant) surprise when I proposed the idea to my mom, who proposed it to my grandma, who started her packing list the next day! I am SO glad we went for it. The trip was pretty much perfect. We saw so many familiar, new, and fun places, we made a lot of memories, we spent some laid back down time with relatives, and I got to see the place where my great-grandpa grew up alongside my grandma and mother. It was so meaningful. I will always treasure the time we spent together there. (If you're Facebook friends with me, you may have already seen these - and many more - photos of this trip, but here are a few highlights.)

Grandma and Mom in front of the Bodleian Library in Oxford - we spent the first few days here and it was so great for me to be back, and to be able to show my mom and grandma some of my favorite spots.

The three of us in Bath - I'd never been there before, and loved exploring this city, despite the rainy weather.

The three of us at the Tower of London - I'd been there before, but mom and grandma had not. It's full of history and got us talking and reading about England's royals. Bonus: my friend Stacey flew from Dublin to spend the day with us.

And finally, the three of us in Fijnaart, at the site of my great-grandpa's childhood home.

(And no, I did not wear the same clothes every day - just the same jacket. Too bad that's all you can see in any of the pictures.)

poppy festival and vasquez rocks

Jesse and I went to the California Poppy Festival last weekend. We expected a nice little festival on the edge of a field that looked something like this:

Um, no. (And, by the way, I did NOT take that picture. It's from the official festival website.)

First of all, the festival itself was in the middle of the city of Lancaster, nowhere near any poppies, besides a very few that were at the entrance to the festival. You can just barely see them in the bottom left of the below picture.

It was a pretty typical festival for a mid-sized city, with mediocre craft stands and carnival rides. The highlight for us was our BBQ lunch. (We miss having a grill so much!) And, of course, festivals are just cheery places to be, so we were enjoyed ourselves despite the mediocrity.

Apparently the whole idea of the poppy festival is to introduce out-of-towners like us to the poppies in the surrounding area. So while we were at the festival, we got some suggestions for where to see poppies, with a warning that poppies don't like the wind too much.

We drove off to the area where we had been directed, and we saw this:

There were poppies growing in the field - you can see a hint of orange throughout the photo. But because of the wind, the poppies were all closed up and nearly invisible. :( It was quite disappointing. But we still enjoyed getting out of the city for the day, and we will just plan to go back next year on a day with good weather. We might skip the festival next time around, though!

On our way home (Lancaster is about 1 hour and 15 minutes away) we turned off at the Vasquez Rocks County Park, where we had seen beautiful rock formations on our way to the festival. The park was so beautiful in the setting sun. Again, it just felt nice to be out of the city and it was so fun to discover this amazing natural beauty so close to home. We walked around a little until the park closed. We found out later that (unsurprisingly) the park has been filmed for many movies and TV shows, including Star Trek in the 1960s. The rest of the pictures are from Vasquez Rocks.

palos verdes excursion

Jesse and I took a drive down the coast today with our new MINI. Our final destination was Palos Verdes Drive and the Wayfarers' Chapel (about 45 minutes to an hour south), but we enjoyed a lot of the other coastal towns and sites along the way.

This is Malaga Cove - a nice, quiet, secluded beach.

This is at Point Vicente Fishing Access (although I didn't see any fishing going on).

This is Abalone Cove, where we went tidepooling. Of the coastal spots we stopped at, this was definitely my favorite.

I was so excited to check out the tidepools. I've been wanting to do this for a long time - long before we moved to California.

Sea anemones!

More!

Jesse looking for sea creatures.

Waves crashing at Abalone Cove.

View of Portuguese Point from Wayfarers' Chapel.

This is Wayfarers' Chapel, which was designed by Lloyd Wright (son of Frank Lloyd Wright) and built in 1951.

The interior of Wayfarers' Chapel.

Wayfarers' Chapel tower.

philly

I'd never been to Philadelphia before this year, so I was pretty excited to head there in June for a conference, although I knew I wouldn't have a lot of time to sight-see. When I got off the plane and ended up at the hotel in Center City, Philly, I headed straight back out to see as much as I could before the conference started the next day. One of my favorite things is exploring a new city, so after a long day of travel, I felt pretty great to be wandering down a random street in the general direction of our nation's history. For about 20 minutes, I walked by little shops and alleys, wishing I had not changed into jeans (apparently Southern California is the only place where you need jeans and a jacket on a late June evening).

And then...I looked up...and there was the liberty bell on one side and Independence Hall on the other.
It was pretty thrilling. Of course, nothing was open. But I still wandered around those sites and many others in the area for the next hour or more.

I really, really wanted to see Elfreth's Alley too, mostly because my friend, Bekah, had been there the week before (what are the chances?). She actually keeps up on posting photos online, so I had already seen her pics, and knew I would want to get there. After making it there just at dusk, I got dinner at a very fun martini bar (where I was the only person eating alone, taking pictures of my drink).

The conference started the next day, and there was less time for sight-seeing, but we still visited the American Chemical Society and the Union League of Philadelphia, where I got to read a first-hand written account of Abraham Lincoln's assassination. For lunch one day, some friends and I walked to the Reading Terminal Market.
And on the last day, I joined a tour to the Barnes Foundation, which was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The Barnes is an art gallery just on the outskirts of Philadelphia. The collection's focus is on Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and early Modern paintings (all favorites of mine). But probably the most fascinating thing is how the paintings are displayed - not by time period or style, but all integrated in a visually colorful, sometimes overly symmetrical, almost cluttered style, according to the vision of founder Albert Barnes. The Foundation was established as an educational institution, and the intimate layout of the gallery space was meant to facilitate the courses in visual perception. It was a very unique gallery experience. The museum is soon moving into central Philadelphia, so I was very grateful to have the opportunity (just in time!) to see it in its original, unusual setting. There is also an arboretum with a "teaching collection" of trees - also very interesting.

Photo from:
http://www.barnesfoundation.org

One of the most memorable Philly experiences was having dinner at Chifa, a restaurant featuring a blend of Peruvian and Cantonese cuisines led by Chef Jose Garces (one of the iron chefs). I don't even know what to say about it. The food was incredibly delicious. One of the best meals I have ever had.

Photo from:
http://www.mainlinemag.com/CMS/uncategorized/hail-to-the-chifa

The real reason (of course) for going to Philadelphia was for the Rare Book & Manuscript Section conference, and I can honestly say that as much as I loved experiencing a new city, the conference was the best part of the trip. Seeing old friends and colleagues, meeting a lot of new people, and getting so many new ideas and much sound advice was really, really wonderful.
Saddest thing about the trip to Philly: no chance to get a philly cheese steak. :( Now I must go back.

ojai

Jesse and I have gotten to do a lot of fun activities since we moved to California, but it's been a year now and we don't want to get complacent and start taking our residence here for granted. There are still so many new things for us to try. So, with that in mind, we decided to drive out to Ojai for the afternoon last Saturday.

Ojai is a little town in a valley surrounded by lovely mountains and hills, not too far from Santa Barbara. It was supposedly photographed to represent the legendary Shangri-La in the 1939 movie The Lost Horizon. Now it's home to a number of interesting festivals, and at other times is just a nice, historic town with good shops and restaurants. And spas too, I am told. (We'll check those out next time.)

We didn't arrive until mid-afternoon (after a really pretty two-hour drive up the coast). The first thing we did was stop in a winery for a wine tasting. I hadn't eaten much all day, so from then on, things were a little fuzzy (but pleasant!) until we made it to dinner. Probably the three highlights for me were: the drive up on the Pacific Coast Highway and back down on the 101, Bart's Books (great outdoor bookstore, see photos below), and dinner (no shocker there).

A couple of pretty views on the edge of town.

We ate an early dinner at Osteria Monte Grappa, and oh my goodness, it was amazing.

Still a little fuzzy...need food!

Jesse with the duck linguine and a fresh-from-the-garden salad. Also had some incredible bruschetta.

A lot of the little shops were along this stretch of the main downtown road.

The rest of the pictures are from Bart's Books: