Day Trip to NorCal

Yesterday, Garrett and I decided to make a day trip up North, to get a little R&R.
Currently our schedules don't mesh very well, when I have my days off garrett is working, and when he isn't working I have hours up at the store. I initially had plans for Sunday, but since they fell threw, and we both have been wanting to get out of town, we decided to take advantage of the day.

We headed out to Santa Cruz, it started out as a overcast and misty day, but after a wonderful breakfast at the Seabreeze Cafe, there was quite a wait (we waited 40 minutes!), but it was SO worth it, saying that my breakfast was delicious is an understatement!

my amazing Castro Valley Omlette

I got the Castro Valley omelet! Ahhh! I am a sucker for artichoke hearts! The omlete plates where priced at about $11.00, but clearly, based off of my photo they give you plenty of food, so it is totally worth it!
Served with potatoes and toast, this baby held me over ALL day! I am hoping to try some of their homemade muffins or cinnamon rolls the next time that we are in Santa Cruz!

After we ate, we made our way back towards the beach, with the sun finally making its appearance, we headed towards the water. The idea of just laying out on our towels and an occasional dip in the water is what we had been dreaming of!
There were quite a few people out on the boardwalk, and on the beach, so after a few hours we decided to make our way to a sweet get away, up the highway called Panther Beach.




 I don't think that Panther Beach is a secret, but is most definitely a hidden gem. To get there you pull off to a dirt parking area off of highway one, and make your way down a path that has been created to get to the beach. I was so disappointed walking up to the entrance, there was so much trash. I just do not understand the thought process of some people; if they want to continue to enjoy and love a place, they need to help maintain it. By simply picking up and disposing of their trash (in an actual trash can, not at the top of the hill) they are doing their part in not only maintaing the area, but making the world a cleaner place. Well there is my little rant for the day haha.

After climbing around on some rocks, clearly you can see with my hair,
the wind was EPIC.

 There weren't many people at Panther Beach, but there is enough space that even if there were I don't think you could really tell. I found the beach on Pinterest, and the link did say that it is a pretty sweet surf spot, and I totally believe it! The waves that were just crashing onto the shore were HUGE!
We did some hiking around on the rocks around the coast, then decided to put our things down to attempt to jump into the water.

Garrett jumping into the crazy waves hitting the shore

Long story short, IT WAS CRAZY! I don't think that we got more than waist deep, I was taken out (legitimately, knocked off my feet) multiple times. It was fun, but we definitely would have fought to get further out into the water before we could enjoy it. Garrett and I had a great time, the views, the salt, sand and sun on our skin was all we needed.

Hey, look! I can do that too!

So the picture to the left is of me doing a pistol squat. in 2012, I made an amazing group of friends! Tyler (Garrett's older bother), Hidi, Crystal, Garrett and I all worked for a weight loss company called Wellspring. We basically liked to talk about how we would change the world with our ideas on fitness and health. We called our group SmackWorkXF. We decided that anytime we went somewhere cool, we would take an awesome picture doing a pistol squat. It was pretty awesome because during the summer of 2012 Garrett and I drove across the country and well garrett got good shots, because I suck and couldn't, still can't really do them haha. But here we are 2 ish years later, we are still keeping our tradition alive. From CA, to PA, to NC, we are all doing our own thing, but I can never forget the friends that I have made, and the pistol squat pictures that keep us together :)

I was so excited for this

We spent a couple hours at PB then decided to head into the city (San Francisco) for dinner! I love the city, it is my favorite place to be.
My mom and I have raved to Garrett about a place called Grubstake, that serves real Portuguese food, and being that we like our Portuguese background, obviously this place is one of our favs! not to mention that the food is bomb(dot) com. So that is where we decided to head for dinner! We started with the linguica and french bread appetizer- seriously, like Garrett said, " I wish linguini were healthier for you." Because serially I would eat it ALLLLLL the time!

Pork Chop Dinner at Grustake

For our meals, I got the sautéed shrimp and garlic plate, and garrett got their famous pork chop dinner. Our plates where clean at the end of our meals, so safe to say we enjoyed them! You can not leave this place without trying their Piri Piri sauce, or their chili verde sauce, as it is now called. It is jam packed with flavor and a great punch! SO GOOD!








For dessert, we made our way to Ghiradelli Square to get a sunday and some hot chocolate, there isn't much to say, because our pictures say it all. we were excited for what was about to happen! haha

Clearly Garrett was excited

whatttttt up!

All in all, we had an AMAZING day! Nothing makes me happier, than some sun, sand, the ocean, and my man. 

Just an FYI- to help my skin and hair recover from all that fun I love to use:ENJOY Hair Mask, and LUSH Ro's Argan Body Conditioner. Both are life savers to help moisturize and replenish the skin and hair after a brutal day in the sun, and ocean. 

Thanks!

xoxo

Tori