Honeymoon Installment #2

The next day, our destination was Pigeon Point. A friend of mine used to work for Hostelling International, and recommended the hostel they had there-- they have a beach-front hot-tub! Our first stop was somewhere around Santa Cruz. I had been itching to get out on the beach.


If you watch movies, you know that nothing positive can happen around an amusement park that is closed for the season (OR, dunh dunh dunh... for life!) but this cute little boy chasing a seagull seemed a harbinger of beachly welcome. Shortly after I snapped this pic, a city worker picking up trash mentioned that the fecal something-or-others per million were high that day. Then I saw a homeless woman washing an open gash in the shower and we hopped back into the van and took the worker's advice to head north.


Ahh... much better. We found ourselves amongst the richers in this comely hamlet. We sat on the pock-marked, craggy cliffs above the surf (serf? haha) for awhile until we moved on to our next perch.


The cliffs are covered with some kind of succulent that looks like supersized grass. I broke one open and tasted it (why do I do these things?) and it was super astringent and made my teeth feel weirdly dry.


We drove on for awhile until we found this next beach, with nearly no-one on it except for a couple of surfers braving the frigid waves.



The beach proved a boon for my macro setting:

Hollow little pods scattered the beach.

Tides and rivulets etch into the sand.

Alternately craggy and soft-sanded.

The drive up Highway 1 was exhiliratingly scenic. I dashed from one side of the van to the other taking pictures as we rolled along. Below might be my favorite:

Finally, we reached the lighthouse. You might be able to tell in this picture (click it and blow it up??) that there are seals resting on the rocks below.


As we snapped pictures and toured the grounds, I struck up a conversation with another photographer who offered to shoot us.


Tim told us about how he was a former heart surgeon and professor, we told him we were honeymooning. He was visiting the light house as well, and had a hotel room he had paid for for the night, but he had decided he was going home that night instead. He gave us his hotel key card and the address and told us to have a nice time.


Goodbye, lighthouse! We took Tim up on his offer and had a restful evening in Petaluma. He even got us some refreshments to stock the mini-fridge! Thanks Tim, for the excellent hospitality, and also for not murdering or robbing us.


'Til the next installment... I have to weigh a conundrum. I am scheduled to fly out to Seattle tomorrow for a work-type thing, but I also have a competing offer for my time. The Seattle thing is for sure, but temporary. The other thing is still up in the air, but would be permanent, and permanent is a very good thing.

Ai chihuahua,

Yours,

Elissa.

Honeymoon Installment #1

We spent a big chunk of our day with American Airlines. SkyMiles proved to be an extraordinarily absorbing read. Yes, I want an electronic scalp stimulator and catbox that masquerades as an elegant house plant!


After we landed, the rental car company presented us with a vehicle upgrade, perfect because we had a whole bunch of camping gear to lug around. I'm happy to report that, even as a minivan-hater, the 2010 Chrysler Town and Country is a certifiably bomb ride, bomb enough to pose with.

Aw, yeah....

The first night and day we spent in San Jose. Neither my Sweets nor I are travel planners, we kind of play it by ear and lean on Yelp a lot. We were lead to Bill's Cafe, where the 5-star rating was well-deserved.


The chicken apple sausage and Chorizo omelet was frickin' insane, but this fried-banana topped Bread Pudding French Toast? Let's just say I owe it some flowers.

Speaking of owing, I owe a certain tree two lemons...




Later, I made lemonade with the sugar packets, stirrers and styrofoam cups in the hotel room. Ohmmmmm......

To be continued!

Yours,

Elissa.

Honeys, I'm home!!

As my Sweet noted to me on the plane home last night, today is our 2 week anniversary.


The wedding seems concurrently ages ago and disarmingly recent. We'll be getting our wedding pictures back soon, but in the interlude, I'll share with you our honeymoon travels in a few installments. To be continued, shortly!

Yours,

Elissa.

Almost time!!

Today was the rehearsal. My uncle came and bestowed on me a beautiful pearl and marcasite bracelet and brooch that was my grandmother's.

I got my nails done-- all pale pink, except for the ring fingers I had done in silver.

The wedding is in less than 24 hours, and we still have some last-minute crafting to do. I can't wait to see everyone! And because we're heading out to San Francisco right after, I'll be resuming blogging in about 2 weeks.

Wish me luck! And thanks everybody for your support!

Yours,

Elissa.

Tying up loose ends.

Today, I paid the caterer. I think there are traces of my tight-fisted tears on the check. Le sigh!!! It is a good feeling, though, to see things become solidified and know that The Guests Will Be Fed. I also got my dress back today from the alterations place and I am pleased as pie... this lady knows what she's doing and my dress looks 1,000 times better. After poisoning myself with countless episodes of Say Yes To The Dress, I had become convinced that I hadn't picked "the One" and having bought my dress without input from friends and family meant I didn't have the adoring eyes of a mother or sister to confirm my opinions on the dress. Whatever.

I put it on today and was re-sold on it. That's what great alterations can do!


Lately, I've been enjoying taking photos of the trees around town. Usually I find that fall colors look better on trees than on me (seeing as I'm rather religious about sticking to my "season", which is summer). Today, I've worked a little maple red and gold into my ensemble...

Just as I snapped this picture, UPS dropped off a couple of gifts mailed to us from our online registry with Amazon. I highly recommend it; you can pick from any store at all online. Peacoat: Macy's. Blouse: thrifted. Jeans: The Gap. Shoes: Pink Duchess. Socks: my dad?

I love wide-legged jeans with cropped jackets. And, pairing wide-legged jeans with a platform, sparkly shoe gives me that special feeling of starting up school... when your jeans are dark and your shoes are fancy, exciting things are afoot for sure.

I love these shoes... I stopped off at a Gabriel Brothers for the first time ever a couple of months ago and scored these beuts for $9.99.

I love this blouse's drapey neckline. It can be difficult to rock an unusual neckline when you're working with a larger chest, so this blouse of mine is a valuable find!

With everything pretty much ready to go, now I've gone into overanalyzation mode and feel the desperate urge to ransack every antique store for sapphire-blue rhinestone jewelry...

Three more days...!

Yours,

Elissa.

Irregular Bites.

Last night I caught "Reality Bites" on TV and, a) wondered why Janeane was always stuck playing the gawky, ugly one (maybe cuz she believed it? Sometimes I think "The Truth About Cats and Dogs" is actually semi biographical) and b) began to love her bad Nineties vintage wardrobe-- especially those chunky shoes.

That's our girl... third from the left. Are you telling me she wouldn't be perfectly in sync on Wardrobe Remix?

This spurred me on to a visit to the lay person's Giuseppe Zanotti (and then some), Irregular Choice. Lord, get me a job, so I can give these beautiful damn shoes a loving home.
I love unusual heels, and I think you'll begin to see a pattern here. These are unique enough to be different, but in a reserved enough hue to be versatile. I love the paper-bag top and the seemingly tiny toe.

In the perfect shade of bubble-gum pink, and patent, too. These seem like one of those wild-card "musts" that you're grateful you own when you pull them out to wear every six months--- for the next 20 years.

True fact: I spent a short stint working as a beer-maid at the Hofbrauhaus, smocked peasant top and knee-highs included. If only these were part of the uniform... all that's missing is a lonely goat-herd.

Lady Gaga came to mind when I saw these works of architecture. Like there isn't an occasion to wear these? How about every occasion??? Or howabout just a short trench coat and some mean-ass sunglasses?
Ok, Danny Sullivan, STFU. These are like sartorial magic. It's like if fire and a tranny went toe-to-toe in the ring. Tee-kay-oh.
Again, with the heels, I know. This one reminds me of a teetering stack of books, and I feel that librarian-esque garb --sweater, tortoiseshell glasses, tweed skirt-- would be absolutely apropos.
Why the hell did I pick these? Why can't I stop staring at them? They're so disturbingly stultifying, and yet... there are some things in life that I look at and think, "These are for Rumi, and Rumi only." Girl, get these. Wear them with denim shorts and a fur jacket. Can't fail.




As if these lovely cantilevers were made just for me. I'd put them under a bell jar and just stare at them all day, then get my Ginger Rogers on in 'em at night.

Irregularly yours,

Elissa.