California

Sure, our cost of living is among the highest in the country. And yes, I am essentially as far away from my family in Georgia as I could be (while still living in the U.S.). But damn, it's pretty here . . . ladies and gentlemen, this is where I exercised today:

Lafayette Reservoir

It's only 10 minutes from my house (and 2 from my friend Missy's house, so she often joins me!), and I hike there regularly on the weekends. It's a short jaunt (only about 3 miles) but is hilly enough to get my heart rate up and pump me with endorphins. Or is that the gorgeous view??

The weather was essentially perfect this weekend. Sunny, breezy, splendid! This is what I did all weekend:

Girlshop:
Friday night my grad school girlies and I got together for some dinner/wine/poetry (btw: only 3 more weeks till my wine-fast is up!). Geri made a delicious southern meal (soup with greens, potatoes, veggie sausage, and cornbread croutons; macaroni & cheese), and it was great to laugh and talk and read with the girls.

Babies:
Saturday I got up bright and early and went to visit the sweet Freitags and their two adorable baby sons. Here's Milo holding his 10 day old baby brother Jude:

when Milo was over holding Jude he said, "bye bye baby!"


baby Jude at 10 days old

Shopping:
I left the Freitags' at noon, but it was too gorgeous to go home, so I drove up to Sonoma County and sauntered around the Petaluma Outlets. I ordered the prettiest BCBG Runway dress for prom!!! (I am so incredibly excited about prom, btw. I LOVE high school!). While the dress is very predictably Claire, the next thing I purchased was not . . .

I bought some flats, y'all.

Figuring it was time to acknowledge my chronic back pain, I purchased some cute little black moccasins. But don't expect to see them often! They're my "my-back-is-killing-me" shoes . . . don't for a second think I'm saying goodbye to my heels. But at least I have some comfy flats now! I'll spare you a picture of them (since they really are just black moccasins, which you can easily picture), and instead post a pic of the GORGEOUS gold Kate Spade flats I encountered at Off Saks 5th Avenue. Despite their discount, they were still way outta my price range:

but aren't they pretty?

Outdoorsing:
Sunday being equally beautiful, I met Anna and Stephen for an outdoor brunch (I was a little jealous of Anna's grapefruit-and-sparkling-wine concoction, but everything else was delicious nonetheless) and then did the aforementioned pretty hike.

How was everyone else's weekend??