Santa Cruz Itinerary.

Brunch at Cafe Brazil | 1410 Mission Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Order the Avocado a Cavalo and share their famous Acai Bowl for dessert.

Hike at Wilder Ranch State Park | 1401 Coast Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

If it's not crowded, park on the main road outside the entrance to the park and save yourself $10. It's just a short walk to the start of the trail. Mostly level trails make for an easy hike and gorgeous ocean views.

Shopping in Downtown Santa Cruz | Pacific Avenue

Hat tip to Sunset Magazine for recommending Penny Ice Creamery. Grab a cone and walk around Pacific Avenue. There are stores like Urban Outfitters and Forever 21, but take the time to look at some of the smaller shops. If you're hungry, grab a slice of pizza at Pizza My Heart. So. Good.

Drinks at Soif Wine Bar and Merchants | 105 Walnut Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

We stopped by Soif around 5 PM to enjoy some wine before our dinner reservation at 7:30 PM. They have a nice communal table and airy space for you to enjoy your wine in. Next door you can even do $5 wine wastings during their happy hour.

Dinner at Lilian's Italian Kitchen | 1116 Soquel Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA 95062

We weren't terribly hungry by the time dinner rolled around. But if you want great italian food, Lilian's is your sure bet. Make a reservation ahead of time otherwise you might be looking at a two hour wait. Reservations can only be made day of starting at 11 AM so call in early. We shared the Caprese to start and shared the Sunday Gravy with meatballs as our main entree. These were all delicious. The meal was finished with tiramisu for dessert and two coffees. I think the bill came out to be something like $60 for the two of us, so it was a great value too. 

I definitely want to come back another time for a day trip. There are lots of state parks near downtown Santa Cruz that I want to check out. I'm always down for coastal hiking on a gorgeous day.

Santa Cruz.

My brother came up to visit this weekend for his Spring Break, so we decided to spend Friday in Santa Cruz. Fortunately, the forecast was inaccurate once again and we were greeted with a sunshine filled day.

Seriously, who knew Santa Cruz could be this gorgeous? Just a few minutes outside of town lies Wilder Ranch State Park. While the name and the entrance can be slightly misleading, it is a several mile stretch of completely beautiful and primarily level coastal hiking along the ocean. We saw seals, one otter, and several pelicans during our hike. But most of it was spent in awe of how a beautiful hike was just a 5 minute drive away from Brasil Cafe, where we had brunch moments earlier.

This made for a really great opportunity for me to test out my new lens as well! Since purchasing my Canon Rebel T3I in December, I've been using the lens that the camera came with. After some light research, I decided to get the Canon F/ 1.8 lens that retails for about $100 on Amazon. I know a few other bloggers who use this lens and get phenomenal results. And much to my delight, the author of READ THIS IF YOU WANT TO TAKE GREAT PHOTOGRAPHS recommended the same lens to me without knowing I had just purchased it! The lower F stop gets gorgeous images like the one above. It made all of the photographs I took during this trip seem totally ethereal from all the sun-drenched backgrounds.

Graced with Light

Sometimes the city really does outdo itself. Like this past Sunday, which was amazing after a gloomy day of rain. Day two of my brother's visit was spent brunching in Nob Hill and exploring the rest of the city until the evening. We ventured over to the Grace Cathedral afterwards to see the ongoing art installation "Graced By Light."

I still can't believe it took me this long to see it in person. Containing about 20 miles of ribbon, the installation mirrors the colors of the stained glass windows inside the cathedral. It is really gorgeous and a must-see because I think the installation is going to be taken down this month!

Beautiful isn't it? I wish I could make it out in time to catch the 6 PM yoga classes that they hold under the installation.

I'm as jaded as San Franciscans get, so I really appreciated the chance to see things I ordinarily wouldn't have bothered with had I no guests in town. Hurry up and go visit the cathedral before the installation is taken down and make a day of it! Go to Top of the Mark afterwards for a fantastic view of the city, or go to the Tonga Room around the corner. Classic San Francisco, that neighborhood.

Grace Cathedral

1100 California Street

San Francisco, CA 94108

b/t Taylor St & Jones St in Nob Hill

Healdsburg | Sonoma County

Healdsburg is a darling little town. I find comfort in the similarities between Wine Country and where I'm originally from, Orange County. There's something very familiar in the atmosphere of Sonoma and home.

I had visitors this weekend, so we ventured up north to go wine tasting. But first, we started the day with lunch at Bravas for tapas.

And holy crap, the food was amazing. We all had sangria and shared several small plates like this grilled octopus. So gorgeous, I couldn't resist sharing the food porn.

Our waiter was really friendly too. He lead us on to the two wineries that we visited afterwards.

Needless to say, I would most certainly come back. Until then, I'll be daydreaming about my next visit.

Bravas

420 Center St

Healdsburg, CA 95448