{adventures}: california

Awwww...California.  I miss you so much already.  We've decided that this is absolutely, 100% an annual trip we will be taking for the rest of our lives.  Seriously.  It was wonderful.  We covered a lot of ground this year too-yet still managed to relax and sleep quite a bit.  We missed our sweet Paisley...but ohhhhh it was so nice for the break!!  I didn't actually get out my camera until the last day, so a good portion of these are cell phone pics, but I think it still covers most of the trip!

Oh, the beach.  My favorite.  I love the ocean-the smell, the taste, the feel, the sound...all of it!!

 We spend our entire first day at the beach.  They had a farmers market and I bought some yummy homemade soap, soy candles and blood oranges!!  Delicious!  That night we went to Orochan Ramen (featured on Man V. Food) and had some of the best noodle soup ever.  It was sooo good.  And for the crazies in our group, super spicy. (Jon and I stuck with mild)

The next day we went out for breakfast at this awesome diner and stuffed ourselves with food.  After that, we slept.  Lame, I know but it was so nice to nap during the day!!
That night we ventured out for some shopping and met Jack Skellington at a sweet comic book shop!

 And somehow we ended up on Hollywood Blvd....after an amazing dinner at Phillipe's.  Most amazing French dip, coleslaw, potato salad and cherry pie EVER.  And yes, this trip was about food.

 Sunday we got up and headed to the Crystal Cathedral.  It's undergoing some changes and there were news crews and such there..I guess it's being bought by the catholic church?  We met Moses too...

The inside...it was massive!

 Then we headed to Chinatown-nothing to see at night but crazy busy during the day!  I love that this pic captures some of the confusion...we were all over the place trying to find each other and see everything...

 I met buddha.  He was cool.

 We stopped and looked at this Chinese Temple...I wish we would have had a guide or someone to explain what everything was for-it was really cool to see everyone lighting the incense and presenting offerings...we just didn't really know what things were for or why...

 The ball in his mouth totally moves...

And lastly, the best fish tacos you will ever have...ever.  Their Campachana is to die for as well and my personal favorite when we go to Via Mar.  It is this tiny little stand we found last year and I'm so glad we found it again so we could go back!  Their food is some of the best mexican I've ever had!  We also made the traditional stop at Galco's and stocked up on vintage soda-we're just now finishing off what we got!
Overall the trip was a wonderful getaway and I'm so glad we got to go!  So many adventures...so many jokes-it was such good times ;)