use real butter

No, it’s not a rerun… it’s just my weekend.

sunrise on the way to the airport

Less than a week after I had returned from California, I was headed right back to the Golden State. It wasn’t a business trip, it was purely for fun and I had Jeremy as my traveling companion. The priorities were: wine country, San Francisco, great food, seeing good friends (we’d have to stay a year to see everyone!), some rest and relaxation for Jeremy, and something important I needed to do.

mexican taqueria in bezerkeley with my buddy figs (cindy)

caffeine and cupcakes in healdsburg

suuuuuuushi

cannelés at the healdsburg downtown bakery

Having visited both the Napa and Sonoma Valleys, I like the Sonoma side. It is less foofie and the landscape is less manicured, which I prefer. I also loathe the traffic in Napa Valley. This is definitely my favorite time to visit wine country, because the leaves are turning and the weather is cool enough for me to feel comfortable instead of overheated (and angry). My friends always get a chuckle when I say hot weather makes me cranky, but for anyone who loves cool weather – you totally know where I’m coming from. It was delightfully cool and sunny – perfect weather for wine tasting and raiding all of the bakeries we could find.

maples were turning red

i can’t resist the red leaves…

a red-tailed hawk at the farmer’s market (sonoma wildlife rescue center)

i try to stretch fall out as much as possible

fiery reds

and some plump grapes on the vines that had yet to be harvested

**Jump for more butter**

I was away last week in California. I thought I might get a chance to post from Yosemite Valley, but the internets were unavailable and well… there were better things to do anyway! I took Kat with me because she had never been to Yosemite. We had to fix that and toss in an afternoon in San Francisco to boot. Here are my snaps (iphone and otherwise) from the trip!

We woke up at puke-thirty in the morning to catch our flight out of Denver and were rewarded with a glorious sunrise. We have pretty awesome sunrises in Colorado. You really have to experience a Colorado sunrise before you die.

from the long-term parking lot looking west

and the view east toward sunrise

the walkway in denver international airport

En route to Yosemite National Park, we passed through California’s Central Valley and stopped at my favorite taqueria (Taqueria La Estrella in Manteca). Say what you will about the Central Valley (one gentleman in the drugstore informed us that this was “the hood”), but that Mexican food will make you cry. In fact, that’s exactly what we did when we took our first bites.

how to choose what to order

salsa bar!!!!

crispy tacos with carnitas (omg!!) and pastor

Then it was onward to Yosemite, a special place any time of year, but wonderfully empty in autumn compared to summer standards. We toured the valley, saw the giant sequoias, and had a delightful dinner at the Mountain Lodge (with a view of Yosemite Falls, except it was pitch dark) with my mentor Michael and his charming wife. Surprisingly good quality food and cocktails!

a handful of remaining azaleas in the valley meadows

the grizzly giant sequoia

big leaf maples

layers of gold and green

this fat squirrel kept trying to sneak into the general store

a (stuffed animal) bear peering out the window

french onion soup at the mountain room in yosemite

**Jump for more butter**

I’ve gone through phases when it comes to birthdays. It used to be that I couldn’t wait because it was such a big deal to be another year older! Wow, EIGHT!!

By the time I turned 16 it didn’t matter so much anymore and I learned that not having expectations for birthdays meant you wouldn’t be let down.

On my 21st birthday I went out drinking with my girlfriend and co-captain late into the night. The next day, during a grueling and hungover early morning pre-season volleyball practice, I decided to stop drinking alcohol altogether.

I don’t remember my 30th birthday because I was in graduate school and I’ve been told that the human mind tries to forget traumatic events as a protection mechanism.

Today I turned 40. My parents texted me a happy birthday message at 5 am.

When my dad turned 40, my sister and I ran around the house yelling “The BIG 4-0!!” and we thought it was so funny. 40… Who the hell turns 40? That’s so old! Well, I’m 40 now and I don’t feel any different from 39 any different from 32 any different from 25. It’s still me. I’m just me.

People have asked if I’m doing anything special for my birthday, but I think the people who know me best know that every day is special. And I guess that’s my point – I’m really grateful to have made it this far. I’m grateful every morning that I wake up because there was a time when I wasn’t sure I’d be here. So I’ll take any birthday, any day that comes and I’ll make the most of it and love it because I can’t imagine living any other way.

We’re on travel in southwestern Colorado on recon for the fall shoot. It’s the intersection of work and play. That’s how it always is on my birthday because that’s when the leaves start turning. They wait for no one.

glowing red like a beacon

they look like candy to me

The fall shoot is without a doubt, my favorite shoot of the year. Right now, it’s early in the season, but we’re already seeing more reds than usual and plenty of beautiful and healthy golds. I wonder if that has to do with the late and wet spring we had? It’s glorious.

warm colors

mix and match

My only request for my birthday was that I spend it with Jeremy. It didn’t matter if the leaves were green, gold, or purple (that would have been neat) – I just wanted to be together. The colors, the good weather, the mountains we love so much… all icing on the cake.

how’s that for icing?

sunset: just us, cattle, and two dudes revving their atvs in the background

Jeremy keeps saying, “Happy birthday!” and I instinctively reply, “Happy birthday!” He corrects me and says that it isn’t his birthday. I’ve always felt that birthdays are meant to be shared. So yes, it’s his birthday, and yours, and mine. Happy birthday, everyone! xo