travels || the south

This is a big year for a lot of my nearest and dearest women.  This is the year most of us, myself very included, will say hello to a new decade, the next little chapter, the big 3-0.
My friend Jessica (best to get to know her via twitter) was the first of us to greet thirty.  We met back in 2008 and just thinking about her and her accomplishments over these short 5 years is quite admirable.  Sometimes I think that we can all start to reflect a little bit when our birthdays come around, of where we thought we would be, or what we thought we would be doing.  Jessica is one of those ladies who is comfortable with where she is at and where she is heading.  And that is damn refreshing.

All of that to say, sometimes life takes you far away, all the way to New Orleans. That is where Jessica lives now and when we were all discussing birthday celebrations, she wanted a few of her nearest to spend a little beach vacation away from all the hustle.  We heard a lot of good things about a few beaches in Florida and booked our flights.  We met up with our all-time favorite, Amy (http://whyhello.tumblr.com) in NOLA and the vacation began...  The photos will do a better job than my words.  Here's to you Jessica, and your exciting new chapter.

Florida

New Orleans

travels || southern california

On our way down to a wedding in San Diego, we made a pit stop in Laguna Niguel and stayed at a friends house.  They have amazing white sandy beaches- and thats where our interests lied, we wanted to live in our swimsuits and this was the place for it.  We pool-hopped, we beach-hopped, we tested the water with our toes and got sand in everything we owned. (my clothes still smell like sun-screen and I think I'll keep it that way for a while).

San Diego was quite striking as well. We ran around in the Encinitas area, which I preferred- mostly inhabited by locals/surfers, it felt like the real deal.  La Jolla's beaches are unlike anything I've ever seen and it made me want to sell all my things and pitch a tent on the beach (you can do that, right?)

Here's to you, Southern California, and all of your glorious, sunny perfection-

travels || carmel-by-the-sea

I suppose I'm having to squeeze a bit of effort into this post.  I didn't love Carmel, or the Carmel that most will read about or will vacation at... it's pretty kitschy and there are lots of little shops and places to winey and diney, blah blah. it's all a bit much for me.  This is all completely beside the point.  What I really want to talk is about what I noticed about Carmel when I was post-processing these photos.  By the time we had reached this gilded little european-esque beach town it had been engulfed by late afternoon fog and was almost completely devoid of color.  I loved these photos almost more than the shots I gathered from Big Sur because of this discovery.  The contrast between foggy skies, white sandy beaches or stark stuccoed houses silhouetted by wind-blown trees and their shadows, black wrought iron fences or dark figures on the beach.... well, it was really something.  I like quiet, peaceful, stark Carmel. That's the Carmel I could spend some time with.