Sonoma Wine Country

At the end of my sojourn in San Francisco I could feel the changes around me in friends and attitudes despite my ability to pinpoint them. I was overcome with excitement for the coming summer at home in the O.C. followed by a life abroad. With this huge change came changes in relationships and friendships, as we all knew distance would effect us in various ways.

A week or two before my move to So Cal, my good friend Jennifer surprised me with an overnight stay in wine country. It could not have come at a better time as it gave me a chance to escape any weirdness in the City. Our other best friend, Alexa, as well as a few other girls joined. We didn't do any winery tours but we most definitely tasted a lot of wine. Margaritas may have also happened. Our trip was complete with a room at the Ritz in Sonoma, some wine tasting at Evolve (Ben from the television show The Bachelor's wine room) and a night in with mexican food and Django.

U.S. Open of Surfing

Ah, summer in Southern California, such a blessed thing. Ah, beaches during the summer in Southern California, such a congested scene. For the better part of summer there are plenty of beaches to go to from Long Beach to San Clemente that won't have you searching for parking for 40 minutes. But during that special week in July when the U.S. Open of Surfing is in town, Surf City U.S.A. is a mad house. Parking is obscene. Beaches are full. 7-11 slurpee lines are just. so. long. That last part is a joke, but seriously hundreds of thousands of extra people pour into Huntington during this competition.

Most years, I try to avoid the chaos. I would much rather prefer my own beaches in South County with fewer people and smaller coves. But this year Phoebe and her friend wanted to go, and I was up for some fangirling over professional surfers whilst watching the longboarding semi-finals. These guys and gals are good. The grace and skill with which they navigate the pier pilings, other competitors and the camera jet-skis was just pure fun to watch. It made me reminiscent over high school and competing and just surfing better in general. 

Lenbachhaus

A few weeks back I spent a Sunday exploring the Lenbachhaus museum with another au pair friend. Sundays are 1 euro museum days, and I love a good museum. My host mom had expressed that Lenbachhaus was her favorite in the city and had just reopened earlier last year after four or so years of renovation. She loves Modernist work (as made clear by our home's every detail) and Lenbach has a large exhibition of Der Blau Reiter.

Let me just say, Lenbachhaus was well worth a visit. We only spent three or four hours there but even as I was leaving I was eager for my next trip. I barely covered half of the museum in that amount of time. The works vary from German landscape and portrait artists to international modernist artists. 

Museum Sundays are my favorite ritual here. I have only been twice but I need to step up my cultural game and spend that 1 euro entrance fee a little more often.