Weekly Recap: Cali Week One!

Hello everyone!

So, for the last week, I’ve kept a little bit of a journal of what I’ve done while in California! I thought that it would be nice for me to look back on in the future, and that you guys might appreciate it too 🙂 I’ve only recorded Tuesday though Sunday, since Monday was a part of my Memorial day weekend post.

//TUESDAY//

Today I went with my Aunt to help volunteer at my little cousin’s kindergarten class! I helped some of the kids do reading and spelling worksheets, crafts, and I even got to read to his class! It brought back so many memories of my own from kindergarten… It’s so cool to see how my little cousins are moving through life and grade school, just like I did not that long ago (in the grand scheme of things, anyway… It feels like forever for me!). After that, we went home and had lunch, and after letting my food settle, I went for another run around the development. After picking up my other little cousin from school, I watched both of the boys while my aunt and uncle were both out. Before bed, I had a nice long chat with my uncle, just catching up.

//WEDNESDAY//

I woke up to an empty house, and had my coffee and yogurt for breakfast. Then I went to Target to pick up some things that I had forgotten at home (finally, a hairbrush that isn’t carry-on size!). The shopping center with the Target is super nice, and has a Ross and an Ulta right next door. I had never gone to Ulta before, so of course I had to go check it out! I drooled over some palettes I can’t even think about buying right now! Then I looked after both of the boys until dinner time.

//THURSDAY//

Today was especially eventful! I went to a nearby town called Paso Robles with my aunt, and I explored the downtown area while she got her hair cut. First, I went to a coffee shop called Kruezburg Coffee Company, got a large americano and a veggie omelette. The omelette was good, but the americano was AH-MAZING. So, so good! Then I walked around town, and explored some of the shops right around the town square. Paso has a quaint little town square, and most of the boutiques are local businesses. A lot of the boutiques had funny sayings written on blackboards and set out on the sidewalk. I took pictures of some of my favorites and put them on my Insta Story.

I went into some of the cute little boutiques there, and most of them were SUPER expensive (like $360 dollars for a pair of pink mules that I could easily find at H&M expensive). But, there was one store that I went into that has super cute clothes at a fairly reasonable price, called Firefly! I got this off-the-shoulder patterned blouse on sale and I’m so excited about wearing it, or possibly styling it for a future blog post 🙂 That, and I got a cute, dainty pearl choker, too! I think the two pieces will go nicely together.

Then, after my aunt picked me up, we went to go pick up my little cousin from school, and we drove in the opposite direction, to San Luis Obispo. There, we went to lunch at a place called Luna Red. This restaurant was really cool because it had windows looking right out over a creek. That, and their tomato and tofu tacos were super delicious.

My aunt had another appointment to go to, so my cousin and I finished lunch, and went to an ice cream place called Cowboy Cookies & Ice Cream. I had oatmeal and chocolate chip ice cream. Little known fact about me, I LOVE oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, but they’re always super hard to fnd. So, this really hit the spot. My little cousin enjoyed it, too.

Then, we visited the Mission there in San Luis, which was beautiful. I didn’t get to see the santuary because we were short on time and my little cousin wasn’t too interested (he was more focused on his intent on going to a store with geodes and rocks), but I enjoyed what I got to see! We walked through some of the grounds and the museum section.

After visiting the rock store where Jackson drooled over colorful geodes, my aunt picked us up and we headed home. My aunt had to go to work after that, so I spent the rest of the day watching the kiddos.

//FRIDAY//

This morning, I went with my little cousin’s kindergarten class on a field trip to Cayucus Beach. My aunt drove me and one of her friends to the beach, and before going on our way we stopped at Starbucks, her treat, which was so thoughtful of her. I ended up getting an iced green tea, which was nice and refreshing to sip on while we winded our way through the mountains towards the beach. The drive was beautiful and very scenic, with rolling hills and mountains, with little peeks of ocean and lakes. Once we got to the beach, it was a little bananas since it was all of the kindergarten classes from that school, but it was so much fun to watch the kiddos run around and play in the sand (since they weren’t allowed to play in the water (not even “one toe,” lol). It was pretty chilly there at the beach, but the ocean was still beautiful as always. It was my first time in five years, seeing the pacific ocean, and I forgot how rocky the beaches were. It was a little foggy, but I got to see some of Morro Rock in the distance.

After we eventually left the beach, we drove back home for lunch. I had this fantastic salad from Trader Joe’s with roasted butternut squash, red quinoa, goat cheese (goat cheese is my fave!!), and some veggie burger that I added. It. Was. Amazing. Lancaster needs to step up their game and get a Trader Joe’s because I don’t think I can go through this life without that salad in it XD

//SATURDAY//

In the morning, I went to the farmers’ market in town with the family, which was so much fun! They have it all year round, and the produce is always so beautiful. I’ve gone before when I visited them last, but I forgot how big it was and how inexpensive produce was! I’m so jealous of Californians and their produce, honestly! I got the best cold brew coffee there too… which is surprising since I usually don’t like iced coffee!

I went to lunch with my aunt at a place called Fig in town, right across the street from the market. When I met her there, my aunt surprised me with a bouquet of flowers, to celebrate the fact that I found out that I had made the Dean’s List earlier that morning! I thought that was so sweet and thoughtful of her and my uncle 🙂 Fig is the cutest little place! I tried a breakfast wrap with lentils, eggs, and Moroccan spice, which was so good! It was fun to chat and catch up with her, while eating on the front porch of this beautiful wrap-around porch on the Victorian house that they made into the restaurant.

I went hiking with my uncle and my little cousins at Reservoir Canyon, which was strenuous and more challenging than I was expecting, but all in all an exciting and rewarding hike! It took about four hours in total to complete the entire hike, but that was also because my little cousins wanted to stop and explore some creeks and a waterfall on multiple occasions. At the top, there is a swing and a big, shady tree that we sat under, while we took in the incredible view of the rolling hills and mountains. The mountain scene was gorgeous, and I thought that it was so cool that someone put a swing at the top of the hike! My cousins had done the hike before and knew about it, so I think that it was good that we had something to look forward to at the end of a challenging hike.

I was so exhausted afterwards, that when we stopped on the way back home at a grocery store, I stayed behind in the truck to rest and close my eyes for five minutes. Then, we had In N’ Out, which I was super excited about because I had never been before! I looked them up online beforehand to see if they had any vegetarian options and found that they had a veggie burger. When we it it, I thought that it was funny because they didn’t use an actual veggie burger patty, just tomatoes, lettuce, onions, cheese, and their special dressing. I still enjoyed it and the fries, but that is definitely not what I was expecting, lol!

We swam in the pool after dinner, which was so refreshing after a long hiking day. At the end of the night, I was so exhausted that it felt so good to crawl into bed.

//SUNDAY//

I went to church with my aunt and my little cousins, and I enjoyed the service very much. We looked at the first Psalm, which I liked because I love the Psalms. I always find them so comforting. Then, my aunt left for work and I watched by little cousins for the remainder of the afternoon until my uncle came home from work for dinner. My cousin Matthew came up with the idea to put up a lemonade stand, so we cut up some lemons, threw them in sugar water, and set up camp. We were on a main road near their house and sold lemonade to about ten people, which was pretty successful for the boys, at 50 cents a cup. Some of the people were super generous as well, and gave them double or triple what they were asking, which I thought was so sweet.

Afterward, they went swimming and I watched them to make sure no one got hurt, and even though I didn’t swim, I still got pretty wet thanks to the super-soakers XD

////

I really enjoyed chronicling everything that I was doing this past week, so I think that I’m going to keep doing this instead of Weekend Recaps while I’m on vacation this summer! I love that I can share all that I’m doing, and I’m so grateful that I get to be out in Cali with my family!

I hope that you all had a great week, too! If you want, comment down below and share about your weeks, too! I would love to read it 🙂

XOXO