Carmel Trip | Pt. 1

So, back in March (I know, I thought I was getting better with this timeliness too, but these pictures are too good not to post!) a bunch of us ladiez went away to Carmel for the weekend before Lily's birthday. The weekend involved good friends, good food, a good hike, a couple of u-turns on Hwy 1, and a gorgeous view of the ocean up close.

I love coming to Carmel with my friends (a few of us from high school have a yearly tradition of visiting in the winter) because it's just far enough away to feel like an entirely different place than the Bay Area. The fresh air, the birds squawking, the fuzzy plants and lavender and oak trees. The horse poop in unexpected places, because it's horse country! I love that. This weekend excursion was no different, and in fact it involved more friends and a small pooch (dog, that is) - who doesn't love that?

These photos are only a tiny preview of our first day there, so click through to see the rest!

First, we drove down to C-town (yep, I went there) Saturday morning in a couple of cars. We met up at the house, organized ourselves, and had a midday snack (not pictured. Ha.) Then we decided to take advantage of the gorgeous day and go for a beachside hike!

That's where the fun really began...

Rachel and I took some selfies, as per usual.

We saw beautiful tide pools and small anemones and hermit crabs!

Meredith the Investigator.

Leslie & Izzy were an adorable pair, and I can't get over Rachel's mischievous grin...

There was some kind of workout demonstration that Izzy supervised on the hilltop...

And then we went back to exploring. I just love the red tones in the sea grass!

Lily was having a Little Mermaid moment (squint to see her) - but it's her birthday! That's allowed. In fact, encouraged. I'm pretty sure we were all egging her on, right up until the tide started coming in and then she almost had a real Little Mermaid moment. Luckily, we all made it back up the hill safely!

We finally got done poking around the seaside and went home for dinner.

Which was... homemade pizzas! Yeah! Just choosing these photos for this post last night made me salivate for hand "thrown" (smushed) dough and bubbling mozzarella.

Birthday Girl only needs one hand.

Rachel diligently supervised the cooking...

Et voila!

One last surprise for the evening: birthday cookies!

Lily blew out her candles and the night really got started. Think: 8 ladies in a cabin, about as many bottles of wine, and synchronized dance moves with the pup running between our feet. I have a video of that somewhere but I won't reveal my secrets, don't worry friends!

Tune back in tomorrow for pics from our second day in Carmel...