"West Coast swing" while on the Gulf coast

Ian, Julian and I are at the Port Aransas Brewing Company on the Gulf Coast, having just spent a wonderful night with our food friends at Loncito's lamb ranch. We're hitting the coast for a night, just for one last family outing this summer.

I'm posting to share the story I wrote about Ian and I's trip to California, "West Coast Swing". It ran in the travel section of the newspaper today. I haven't even seen it in print, but here's the story and here is the photo gallery of 30 or so pictures I took on the trip.

A few random snapshots from the summer

Cranes, red squirrels and membership drives

Who needs cable when you have a good PBS station?

Ours, KLRU, is in the middle of another fund drive, but this one there seems to be more at stake. They had to cut “Docubloggers,” one of my favorite shows, but they still support creative documentary shows like POV, which aired an episode called “Shorts” tonight.

What better programming for a Tuesday night at home with a machine- and animal-obsessed toddler. Ian and I were enthralled, the cute little red British squirrels, just trying to make it with the onslaught of those gray American squirrels. And the South China Mall, twice the size of the Mall of America, but nary a soul in sight. Empty storefronts and gaping hallways. Capitalism on steroids gone awry. And, oh, Mommy, look at all the cranes!

A little something for everybody and incredibly entertaining television.



So much talk of “Mad Men” and even a show I love, “Lost,” on the major networks, but so few people really pay attention to what PBS does.

I know I sound like I’m 60, but as a social media and new media geek, they are doing some really interesting and engaging things.

Sorry, KLRU. I wish I could give you more money. I hope this encouragement helps.

Sunday brunch

When I was in college, my friends and I would get together for Sunday brunch. The best was always at my graduate school fried Emily's house (she's the one who went to Chez Panisse with us). She had the most light-filled apartment, with comfy couches and chairs and hardwood floors. The gas stove was perfect for her percolator, in which we brewed cup after cup of the thickest coffee we could stand. She always splurged on a New York Times ($5 on Sundays, which, combined with the most recent New Yorker on the couchside stack, provided more information than you could digest in a week). We kept the morning vibe going as long as we could, until homework or work or other obligation crept up on us.

We're just finishing Sunday brunch with our friends Tasha and Camille, the perfect kind of Sunday brunch friends. They are gracious hosts, especially when it comes to Julian. They don't care that he eats all their blackberries and wants to paint on their floor. They are happy to spend the time together, not out eating a fancy buffet or at a park or babysitting while Ian and I do something.

Just hanging out.

Virtual birthday wishes

Ian is so sweet. He's become the master of surprises, including several during my birthday week last month. The biggest was my parents coming two days early so we could spend some time together before he and I left for the coast.

He also connected with some of the most important people in my life and asked them to make me a virtual birthday wish.

Each video made me realize how lucky I am to have such awesome — and in several cases, tone deaf (love you, Chels!*) — people in my life.












(*for the record: my sister has a lovely singing voice and an even better sense of humor.)

And on through the sunny side of California...

We're back from the land of blue dolphins and blue sky, except that both are decided more gray than blue. The fog and cool air carried us through the Bay Area, which is where I left you.

After Chez Panisse, we were happy to get back on the road, where nature made us feel more comfortable than a busy city. The redwoods spoiled us.

We stayed in Rio del Mar, between Santa Cruz and Monterey. On Sunday, we hit a very crowded Montery Bay Aquarium. The animals were great (I even spotted a sea otter in the bay!), but the photography opportunities were even better, especially with the jellyfish. I have a feeling they designed those tanks to look so gorgeous.




After the aquarium, we drove through the Big Sur area I fell in love with through Jack Kerouac's stories. Cambria was our destination, where we stayed at the Bridge Street Inn, an adorable old home that's now a hostel. We had our own cute little room, and I wish we could have spent a few days there exploring the nearby Paso Robles wine region. After the night at the hostel, we made a pit stop at Trader Joe's (please come to Austin!) before enjoying a wine tasting at Pomar Junction winery. We chatted with brothers who run it and sipped deep, glorious wines that reminded me what's the big deal with California winemaking.

That afternoon, in countryside and weather that reminded us of Texas, we meandered down the road to Santa Barbara, where we stayed at my cousin Nick's cabin tucked in the mountains above the city. It's wildfire country up there, but we had only gorgeous weather and fine company (Nick was out of town, but his friends Peter and Collin made us feel welcome).




36 hours of wine tasting, sunning on the beach, eating fresh mussels, shrimp and scallops, relaxing in a redwood hot tub, doing yoga with the birds, watching the sunset from a rock at the highest point on the property. It was one of our favorite stops on the trip.

Next up was L.A., where we hooked back up with Emily. I got the super special Ian tour of L.A., the highlight, of course, his old apartment off Hollywood Blvd., just around the corner from the Michael Jackson sidewalk star that was horded with people on Wednesday.

After a delicious sidecar cocktail at a place on Melrose called 8 oz., we drove up Melrose to the Against the Stream meditation center, where author Noah Levine leads weekly group meditation on Wednesdays. Ian is a fan of Levine's book, Dharma Punx, and had heard about these sessions that opened my mind about people who live in L.A. Like New York, you must follow an attitude and dress code. The codes are many, but they are what makes Los Angeles unique, which in turn makes me never want to live there. But after this session, where we were meditating on treating each other, including our enemies and ourselves, with loving kindness, I saw through the tattoo sleeves, faux hawks and Zooey Deschanel-lookalikes and found eccentric, delightful and -- most importantly -- kind folks. The same qualities I find in people in Austin. Still don't think I'd want to live in L.A., but I have a different perspective on the city because of Mr. Levine's community.

Directly after post-meditation ice cream, we headed to San Diego. An In-and-Out burger fueled us to Clairmont, where Uncle Chris was waiting, bottles of wine already chilled. We stayed up until 3 a.m. catching up on all that's happened in the five years since I was out there last. It was like we hadn't missed a day.

Chris and Betsy lead us on a tour of the city on Thursday, we cooked a lovely meal that night, and hit the zoo in the morning. Another wonderful 36 hours in a city we both adore.

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After discovering a copy of The Artist's Way at Nick's, I've been reinspired to write morning pages. They went by the wayside (as did journaling in general) after Julian was born, but I'm going to try to integrate it into our routine. I'll leave the post-vacation reflection there, but suffice it to say that it was a definitive trip for Ian and me. We needed that time together, and the Pacific Ocean was the perfect setting to rejuvenate our creative souls and power us through the intense -- and therefore enriching -- life we lead.

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Pictures, pictures everywhere! I only took my Canon Rebel XT digital SLR on this trip. Ian shot with an iFlip and he'll be putting together a video soon. Here are some of the pictures from the last half of the trip, but the Flickr set contains all the rest.










And one more thing: I'm fascinated with translation. This sign says in Spanish "Don't write names in the nopal [cactus]," a very different message, laden with cultural insights, than the English instruction.

Addie and Ian take on the West Coast

We're in the middle of a trip down the Pacific coast, from Portland to San Diego in 10 days. We're finishing Day 3 in Fort Bragg, right smack on Highway 1. We started the day in Bandon, Ore., with Erin's family, who live in the wind on a cliff overlooking the wide beaches and seals that hang out on the giant rocks sticking out of the ocean.

Through the Redwood National Forest we meandered, hiking on a trail and stopping every little while to stretch our legs, take some photos, smell the cold air. It's chilly here, only topping 80 degrees every once in a while when we're inland. But when water is near, the wind is brisk and steady. I'm hoping I'll get to wear shorts tomorrow.

I've taken lots of pictures, but here are just a few until I edit them and upload them to Flickr later.












If you haven't wandered over to Relish Austin, here are two posts from the trip: A food bike tour of a Portland neighborhood and Rachel and Russell's refrigerator.

Tomorrow, we meet up with friends Emily and Kyle for lunch at Chez Panisse in Berkeley.

Cocktails, anyone?

Julian's upgraded to cocktails -- non-alcoholic, of course -- these days. He puts anything, from chocolates and nuts to dirt, twigs and mulch, in two cups (one inverted) and shakes them. He then pours the contents into a cup and pretends to drink his "cocktail."

Not sure where in the world could he have gotten this from. :)

Neighbor Ruby

We're so thrilled that Aaron, Sarah and Ruby have moved to a home just a few houses from ours! No more driving to see Ruby. Nope, we can walk right over there and see her just about anytime. She's been hanging out here more, too. Today, like yesterday, they played and played in the little backyard pool we set up. They are so sweet to each other. We're so lucky to have her and her family so close!

Family bonding (on a boat, with some bats)

My mom, sister and grandmother all drove to Austin last week to spend a few days with us. It had been a long five or six months since we'd seen them, a very long time in toddler years.



By the time we were taking this boat ride on Lady Bird Lake on Friday night, I knew their trip was going to be one of the most special times we could have together. Last time they were all down together was for the wedding, and things were just too crazy to really be present and enjoy their company.



But this time was different. They stayed with us (Ian is the most patient husband in the world. Happy Father's Day, amor.), and we spent most of our time shopping for and consuming food, be it at the farmers' market or po'boys we ate on this boat we rented to get an up-close view of the bats flying out from under the Congress Avenue bridge. (Click here to see the rest of the pictures on Flickr. Remember, you have to add me as a contact -- and be logged in -- to see family photos there.)



When we weren't seeking or eating food (and even moreso when we were), we were just enjoying eat other. Reading the newspaper, checking out the garden, playing silly games with Julian.





I'm so glad they made the trek, and it makes me wish we didn't live so far apart (or that teletransportation were invented so it didn't take an exhausting 12 hours to drive). I can't wait to see them again.


Maybe we'll have to rent another boat, this time with my dad. (Happy Father's Day, Dad! We missed you this weekend, but you probably would have gone crazy with all us girls.)