This visit included some great camping + hiking with redwoods and water falls and ocean views. One major highlight was a middle-of-the-night trip to the Esalen Institute, hot spring perched on a coastal cliff with the ocean roaring at 1am. We cooked at our campsite a few times – and then loved a rustic dinner Big Sur Bakery + Restaurant and ate the best-ever eggs benedict at Deetjen’s.

Now it’s back to work – but already stirring up plans for a return trip sometime soon…

listening to: Anna by The Happiness Project (listen)

it’s not easy to coordinate the lives of six friends in five cities across the country and to agree on one location and one time for them to all to converge. but thanks to some marathon email chains and several “just do it!” phone calls, we managed to reserve four days, several plane tickets, and an excellent campsite for one laugh-love-food-filled weekend.

our main destination was jalama beach, three hours north of los angeles and a solid half hour from general civilization. there in good company, we got our fix of campfires, enormous egg scrambles, late night dominoes, banana s’mores, cowboy coffee, and sunshine.



a special thanks to in-n-out for being conveniently located by the airport. to gmail for making our email marathons possible. and to skype for allowing dave in prague to join in on the fun. it was all very well worth the effort.

see more photos of our camping at lillieinthecity / flickr.

listening to: total eclipse of the heart by bonnie tyler (listen)

our little family reunion in san francisco was a perfectly balanced weekend of catching up and relaxing, eating and drinking, sitting in coffee shops and exploring the city. we have a good time for ourselves.

a few lasting memories: the many hours spent at the bean bag coffee house on divisadero. pesto pasta at caffe sport in north beach. makeshift sleeping arrangements in my little brother’s apartment. visits to the flower conservatory and the craft & folk art museum. an amazing dinner at chez panisse (more on that soon). one night at a little cottage on the russian river. wine tasting via bicycle in sonoma valley. plus, a great roadtrip from LA to SF and back with half a pie, garlic ice cream, and an unexpected detour to the outskirts of yosemite.

it was a very good weekend.

see more photos of our family adventures at flickr / lillieinthecity.

listening to: thunder road by bruce springsteen (listen)

i’m in love with every aspect of this city: historic buildings, art and music, neighborhoods with big personalities, car-free living, so many city parks, delicious fresh food, and lots of coffee shops. although a dose of southern california sunshine wouldn’t hurt. it’s a near perfect city just as it is.






see more of the weekend’s photos at flickr / lillieinthecity.

listening to: her morning elegance by oren lavie (listen)

::images from lillieinthecity

this new year has had a slowwww start–or maybe it’s just me. i am still trying to get a handle on all of the projects and adventures and plans and resolutions for the next 12 months–while cleaning and organizing and making sense of the clutter left in the wake of 2008.

but i’m feeling optimistic.

i will get to writing more soon.
for now, a few favorite photos from my time at home…

see more photos of my holidays at home at lillieinthecity / flickr.