"I can't believe it's January!"

I can't decide if a mid winter trip to paradise was a good idea or a terrible one.

In November, Southwest Airlines had a wonderful sale that landed Mr. Wonderful and me round trip tickets to LA for $120 in January. Hard to turn that down! So after a perfect little birthday celebration on Thursday night (complete with dinner ready for me after work, a new watch and his own rendition of "ice cream carrot cake".... ) we flew down to sunny So.Cal on Friday morning and had the best four day getaway ever. We didn't stay in LA at all. We rented a car and put 600 miles on it between Friday and Monday! He has family scattered in the great state of CA, and we visited all of them, and even had some extra time to explore what we think is the perfect city-- Santa Barbara!

Friday we flew into LA and immediately drove to Long Beach where we stayed the night with his grandfather.

Saturday morning we drove to Redlands (close to San Bernardino... I think) to visit his sister who is absolutely delightful.

That evening we drove to Oxnard (just south of Santa Barbara) and hotel'd it for the night. We ordered takeout (because we were kinda exhausted!) and Matt got something off the "exotic menu"-- kabobs with kangaroo, antelope, gator, and turtle!


Early Sunday, we drove up to Santa Barbara and explored the city and imagined how wonderful it would be to live there. We walked around downtown and enjoyed a local coffee shop, walked from downtown to the beach, then down the pier. Finally, we drove to Hendrie Beach, recommended by a fellow Seattle-ite that we met at the coffee shop! It was BEAUTIFUL.

The pier

LOVING THE BEACH

Sunday late afternoon drove along the Pacific Coast Highway down to Malibu (for a surf check-- of course!), then over to Santa Clarita to visit with another sister, and her husband and two kids (one is 7 weeks, the other is 14 months).

I don't think Baby Tim was loving me too much... he's got some great facial expressions!

Sunday evening drove back down to Long Beach. Monday, we spent quality time at the BEACH. Matt surfed and I sunned, it was perfect in every way.

Monday afternoon we had lunch with his Grandfather and went on a short walk, then it was back to LA to fly back to Seattle. Phew! It was such a fun trip. So beautiful, so refreshing. EXACTLY what I needed. The weather couldn't have been better, it was 75 perfect degrees all four days we were there! It got chilly at night, but during the day it was the the perfect shorts-n-t-shirts-drive-with-the windows-down-break-out-your-sunglasses-get-a-sunburn-and-love-it time of our lives. We kept saying "I can't believe it's January!"

I won't lie, I got pretty crabby on Monday when we left the beach. I knew we had to go back to Seattle, but truthfully, I didn't want to! I was finally warm! Regardless of whether or not I wanted to, we came back without major event (although Mr. Wonderful lost his phone in LAX, but found it right before our flight... grateful shoutout to whoever turned it in!).
So here I sit, in my apartment while it rains like crazy outside and the sky is a deep shade of grey. My goal this week is to find some divine beauty in the grey... it's Friday and I'm empty handed. God did handiwork in Seattle, too... right?
What can I say? I just like to be outside when it's warm. And I won't deny the benefits of the sun on my attitude. While the stereotypical culture of southern California (bleach blonde hair, super materialistic, etc etc) is a huge turn off for me, I can't help but long for the sunny weather and the real ocean at my fingertips. (If you tell me the Puget Sound is technically the ocean, I will tell you I don't care... no waves, no ocean.)
I mean seriously... once you see this and feel its warmth... mid-winter... it's hard to turn away from it!