Pieology!

It's Friday!*

I've now officially made it through my first two weeks at my new job.  So far, so good.  Last night, Brett and I were out running some errands and had no desire to cook dinner when we got home.  So instead, we checked out a pizza place close by: Pieology.  The line was out the door when we got there, so we figured this place must be good!  And oh my gosh, it was.  $7.50 create your own personal pizzas with as many toppings as you wanted!  If there is some kind of pizza heaven, this is it!  Brett and I each got our own and I'm pretty sure the only things we said the entire time we were eating them were "yum" and "mmm" and "ohmygosh this is so good".  We will definitely be back!

Happy weeeeeekend!  Time for Brett's birthday fun!

Barrel Aged Beer & a Sunset

Happy almost Friday!*

The other night Brett and I made our way down to San Clemente (our favorite place in California) after work to try out a special release barrel aged beer at Pizza Port.  Before beers, we grabbed a bite to eat at a local Italian restaurant and then raced down the hill to the pier to catch the sunset.  Talk about gorgeous.  I love a good sunset (as if that is not already apparent...).  And after the sun fully sank below the water line (and before Brett could cry about not being able to surf), we climbed back up the hill to Pizza Port for some beers.  Special release sour beers!  YUM.  And lots of Black Crowes songs playing on the speakers.  Chalk it up to a good night.

And now we are so close to the weekend!  Brett's birthday weekend!  Fun adventures ahead!*

Scenes from the Weekend

It's back!

 Per request from the husband :)

Using our awesome potholders we got in Santa Fe on our cross-country trip

Homemade pizza night!  A little burnt, but still delicious

Brewery hopping in San Diego -- First stop: Alesmith Brewing Company

Alesmith beer samplers (we didn't love their beer)

Second stop: White Labs Pure Yeast and Fermentation

Sampling beers with different yeasts to taste the differences (beer geekdom at its finest!)

A stop at the beach for some frisbee on the way home from brewery touring

Exploring the Cleveland National Forest on Sunday!

A short (and really hot!) hike

Awesome views for miles and miles

Cooling down with some In-N-Out milkshakes

And rounding out the weekend with some fresh sandwiches and bruschetta before calling it a night

My 'Scenes from the Weekend' series is back!  After a short hiatus due to moving across the country, I am finally getting back into my regular blogging routine.  And it feels great!  We had a fun time exploring different places this weekend and are slowly getting accustomed to the areas around us.  Lots more adventures to come!

Now, let's get on with the week!

Our 4th of July -- Cali Style

The 4th of July has been celebrated, now it's really summer!

We had a great 4th of July celebration yesterday!  Back home, we'd usually spend the day with family and friends, barbequing and watching fireworks.  But since we are across the country from most of our peeps this year, we had our own fun little 4th of July celebration!

We spent the whole day in our favorite town in California: San Clemente.  We wandered around the shops and ate Mexican for lunch (eating Mexican on America's day... oops!).  We face-timed with our family and relaxed on the beach.  Then, we spent the evening at a Pizza Port BBQ (which was a blast!) and finally made our way back down to the beach for fireworks. 

Perfect summer day.

'MERICA!

JULY THIRD!

July 3rd!*

One of my favorite days.

Because on this day, I got to answer the best question ever asked of me.

To be my best friend's wife!

I can't believe it's already been four years since Brett asked me to marry him.

I know we've got our wedding anniversary to celebrate nowadays,

but I can't help but acknowledge our engagement anniversary too.

What can I say, I like to celebrate! :)

Love you, Babe!

(More photos from our engagement weekend here!)

Last Day of Freedom

Yesterday, I started my new job in California.  Which means Sunday was my last day of freedom!  And I made sure to take full advantage...

We spent the day lounging by the pool at our complex, playing games while sipping on cold brews, eating refreshing watermelon, and grilling out with some fresh chicken sausages.  Ah, SUMMER.  It was the perfect lazy Sunday and the perfect way to end my little jaunt of freedom!  

Now, what's this whole "work" thing all about?!  ;)

PS -- You may notice in these pictures that Brett is wearing a sling... Yes, we spent Friday evening at the hospital.  He was surfing and took a bad fall, dislocating his shoulder.  He's okay now, but has to wear the arm sling for the next week or so.  I don't think he'll be surfing for a while... yikes!

Let's get right to it!

One of the things Brett and I were most excited about when moving to California was all the awesome breweries in the area.  We couldn't wait to visit some of these places and we didn't wait.  After only a week of living in California, we decided to take a mini road trip down to the San Diego area for some brewery tours and fun on the weekend.  

We headed out on a sunny Saturday morning and hit the road.  We stopped at the town of Oceanside on our way because we didn't want to start drinking beer at 10am... :)  After roaming the pier and checking out the area for a while, we deemed it officially beer o'clock and headed to our first brewery of the trip:

The Lost Abbey

(which shares a brewhouse with Port Brewing Co.)

We sampled some beers, went on a fun brewery tour, and hung out in the barrel room.  This place had an awesome vibe.  We hope to come back and visit again, for sure.  After a few hours hanging at the Lost Abbey, we continued on to the second brew stop of the trip:

Stone Brewing Company

We've been to Stone before on one of our previous California vacations (which after just looking at those links, I realized I wore the same dress both times, ha!), but we couldn't wait to come back and visit again.  We didn't go on a brewery tour this time.  Instead, we grabbed a couple pints and relaxed in the beer garden for a while before heading inside for dinner.  Just like the first time we visited, we had a blast spending time at Stone.  I'm sure we'll be back again soon!

After our fun brewery filled afternoon, we continued on down to San Diego!

We booked a hotel (with an awesome rooftop lounge that provided great views of San Diego!) in the Gaslamp Quarter and soon after checking in, the sun had set and we were ready for the night.  The Gaslamp Quarter was hopping and we had a ton of fun drinking and dancing the night away at various bars.  And at the end of the night, of course pizza was eaten. ;)

We woke up the next morning with an immense need for an awesome breakfast (read: we were really hungover).  So we packed up our things, checked out of our hotel, and hit the road back towards home.  We heard about an awesome breakfast place in La Jolla and decided we must stop.  And I am soo glad we did.

We ate at Kono's Surf Club Cafe and had to wait in a line wrapped around the entire building but it was so worth it.  The breakfast was gigantic and delicious.  Completely hit the spot.  Afterwards, we strolled the pier and checked out all the surfers before getting back in the car and heading home, where we then took a 2 hour nap... :)

Fun times!

So Far...

After being on the road for a month, we are now officially California living.

So far...

...we've found an apartment & aren't homeless anymore!

It's crazy expensive compared to the east coast,

but I guess that's the price you pay to live 10 minutes from the beach.

...Brett bought a surfboard.

And goes surfing almost every other day.

No complaints here, though.  I get to chill on the beach and watch him while working on my tan.

...we've discovered some fun bike trails.

This bike trail is right by our apartment

and if you work your ass off biking up all the mountainous hills

you're rewarded with views of the ocean.  Sweet.

...Brett's beard is getting unruly.

Perks of working from home.

Though, I think this is after he trimmed it up a bit.

It was much longer at the end of our cross-country trip.

...we've been hitting up a ton of breweries.

Here we are at Lost Abbey.

(Separate post coming for this fun weekend trip we did!)

...we've been going to the beach almost every day.

When you grow up on the east coast, at least 6 hours away from the ocean,

you really appreciate and take advantage of a 10 minute drive to the beach.

...I've been listening to Hanson's new album nonstop.

It came out last week and has literally been my "anthem"

for our new lives in California so far.

...we've been buying a ton of fresh produce.

And making delicious things like guacamole and salsa

every single day.

...we've enjoyed many, many, many beach sunsets.

Again, when you grow up 6 hours away from the ocean,

beach sunsets are the bees knees.

...we've gone to Pizza Port a million times already.

You just can't beat awesome beers and cheap delicious pizza.

...I've been reading a lot.

And am currently loving this book -- "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed.

...I've been running a lot.

There are tons of cool and challenging trails to run on near our apartment.

I am liking that I can change up my route every day.

...San Clemente still stands as my favorite beach town in California.

And I have a feeling that's not going to change.