'Cause Today I Swear I'm Not Doing Anything

This trip to California's itinerary goal was to, for once, enjoy time actually IN Santa Cruz and with family, transition to my mother-in-law's new house, and enjoy our new twenty-one day old niece. Normally when we go to Santa Cruz, our hometown, we stay a few days, drop the kids off with the grandparents, take off on a romantic venture, come back for a whirlwind 48 hours and then fly back home.

This time, with my mother-in-law's new house and our new baby niece, I just wanted to ENJOY time there for once. Create new memories at Brando's Mom's new home. Spend time with those we love. And appreciate all that we had growing up as kids. And, boy, did we. Our itinerary reads like a Restaurant Guide to Santa Cruz with all the fabulous dinners at all of our favorite restaurants we had with our parents.

And since the majority of my photos are on Brando's computer, I'll leave you with the few photos I do have of some of my favorite memories.

Friday-

*Breakfast at Aldo's with Brando's Mom

*Saw our new baby niece, along with her Mommy & Daddy

*Shadowbrook with my parents

Saturday-

*Sailing with my parents

*these photos were actually taken during our second sailing trip, mentioned later on*

*Brando's childhood friend's wedding at a vineyard estate in the Aptos mountains

*Windjammer after wedding party

Sunday-

*Brunch at a family member's house with the newly married couple

*Riva's on the wharf with Brando's Mom

Monday-

*The Farm for breakfast
*Photo Shoot with Brando

*Seascape Resort for lunch with Brando's Mom

*Golf cart ride down to Seascape Beach and beach with Brando's Mom

*Stockton Bridge Grill with Brando's Mom and my Mom (not one of our favorite restaurants, but a good place to go for a quiet evening)

Tuesday-

*Rio Del Mar Beach with Brando's Mom and the boys

*Pedicures with my Mom and niece

*Kianti's with my Mom, my niece, and her boyfriend

*Marini's Candies with my Mom, my niece, and her boyfriend

Wednesday-

*Boardwalk with Brando's Mom, the boys, my niece and her boyfriend

*Shadowbrook with my parents and Brando's Mom

Thursday-

*Justinbustin went to work with my Dad

*Seascape Resort with Brando's Mom, our new baby niece and her mom and dad, and Jen

*Rio Del Mar Beach with Brando and I

*this photo was actually taken at Sunny Cove Beach, mentioned later on*

*Dinner at Star Bene with Brando where we had our first date almost twelve years ago (not one of our favorite places as far as food goes, but favorite for sentimental reasons)

*Stayed the night with Brando at Bella Notte, where they have heated bathroom floors and a fireplace, for an impromptu anniversary celebration

Friday-

*Monterey Bay Aquarium with the boys, my sister and her five children, my niece, and my Mom

*Bubba Gump Shrimp Company in Monterey with all of the same

*Smurfs with the boys and my Mom and Dad

Saturday-

*Sailing with my Mom and Dad

*Sunny Cove beach with the boys and my sister and her five kids - that's Brando in the orange shorts on the cliff, and Justinbustin in the wetsuit on the rocks just to his right

*Crow's Nest with my Mom and Dad

Sunday-

*Walnut Avenue Cafe lunch with my Mom and Dad, and Brando's Mom

*Rio Del Mar Beach and boogey boarding (the waves were too small to surf) with the boys

*Dinner at Bittersweet Bistro with Brando's Mom, our new baby niece, B, and her mom, K, and dad, M - equation in the heart he drew courtesy of Shawners (delicious food, slow service, gorgeous restaurant)

Monday-

*Shopping at Rip Curl (I always do my last minute run before the airport)

*Lunch at In n Out with Brando's Mom

I may be missing a few things in there, but that was the gist of it. See what I mean about being a guide to restaurants in Santa Cruz? I asked my Mom if she felt like this trip was any different with us not going anywhere, and she said, yes, we gotto eat with you every night. Worth. every. moment.

*Post Title from the lyrics of Bruno Mars' The Lazy Song*

Double Dose: Guest post by IntoxicatedChameleon

 I was very fortunate to be one of Rose's guest bloggers this week! This is such an honor! Thanks for letting me be a part of your wonderful blog! I hope I make some of your readers entertained! It took me a while debating on what to post so you can just imagine the nerves involved in doing this!!! I decided to post about 2 of my most favorite topics...fashion and travel. I sure hope I won't bore you guys with this... ;)

First off, I wanted to share my outfit yesterday...The sun finally came out and I was feeling all happy again! Got most of the clothes from Forever 21...seems like they've got it all! =)

The wind was happily playing with me during the whole shoot..Making it harder to to get shots without worrying about wardrobe malfunctions...I'm sure you wouldn't want to have a peek on that! ;)

House of Harlow Black Resin necklace...my current love!

 Most of you might be saying ENOUGH WITH THE OUTFIT POST ALREADY!!! Haha! Let me move on to a glimpse of paradise...Presenting, Coron, Palawan, Philippines! Eat your hearts out!

The resort

getting baked!

Clockwise from top: Kayangan Lake, Bulog Dos Island, Malcapuya Island

happy campers!

Calauit Wild Life Safari

trek to Mt. Tapyas just after sunrise!

Coron is at the southern tip of the Philippines. It's mostly sunny and the waters surrounded by mountains are calm throughout the year so it truly is paradise here! The skies are blue, the waters are clear, the breeze is cool...what more can you ask for? Hope to catch some of you bloggers here soon...we'd love for you to visit! ;)

Visit me sometimes, won't you? You might just decide to stay...
 http://intoxicatedchameleon.blogspot.com

meme's travel tips-guest post by meme-and-he

well hello! my name is emily and I blog over at meme-and-he.

I am just tickled to be guest posting for Rose today!

just for reference, here is the hubs and I:

and no, we don't always dress so shmancy.

it's all for show.

anyways, I thought I would share a few travel tips

from my semester in Europe a few years ago.

with a few never-before-seen pictures!

luck of all luck!

1. roll with the punches.

even when you find out your "must get back asap" ferry is delayed a day.

2. understand that you will pay twice as much for half as much.

its all part of the experience.

 3. while in Italy, eat pasta.

then pizza.

then rotate the two every other night.

 4. engage in cultural traditions.

make sure you don't throw 4 euros in the fountain.

 5. while in Russia, look russian?

not sure how that happened.

 6. no matter where you are, find a beach. find it!

7. do whatever it takes for a good picture.

but don't get stuck.

I know I know, so insightful!

you are so welcome.

exploring and living in Europe was a huge blessing,

and showed me how much fun adventure can be!

it is something I always want to make time for in my life.

what has been your favorite traveling adventure?

A Trip To D.C. -- Guest Post by A Texan Odyssey

Sunrise over the clouds on my first plane ride ever. I was mesmerized!

Delicious lunch during our layover at the Chicago Midway Airport.

Our view of the Arlington National Cemetery.

Lincoln Memorial - So amazing to see in person.

Sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial with my mom. We were gazing at the reflecting pool with the Washington Monument in the distance. 

A pretty little spot we stumbled upon while walking.

Jefferson Memorial over the Tidal Basin

White House and front lawn photographed through the gates

Tulips in Lafayette Park in front of the White House. I fell in love with them.

Andrew Jackson statue in Lafayette Park

General Thaddeus Kosciuszko statue in Lafayette Park

Smithsonian Institution - Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Wishing On a Tree - planted by Yoko Ono as interactive art in memory of her husband. 

R2-D2 and C-3PO in the National Museum of American History

Jewelry and artifacts in the National Museum of Natural History

National Gallery of Art. 

I still cannot believe that my sister willingly held a roach!

National Zoo - those fish crack me up every time I see their lips!

National Cathedral - it was so lovely in the light of the setting sun.

Hello everyone! I'm Val from A Texan Odyssey.

I love visiting Austin Sun Drops and seeing beautiful pictures of travels and family life. When the opportunity came up to guest post for this blog, I was so excited to share pictures from one of my favorite family trips! They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and if that is true, then this post adds up to quite a hefty tome. I took 600 pictures on a trip to Washington D.C. four years ago and going through them for this post took me back as if it were just yesterday. I hope you all can feel like you were there too by looking at the ones I've put together for you! I know I went a little crazy with the picture taking, but there are so many beautiful things to photograph in D.C. that I couldn't resist! Enjoy and God bless!

-Val