a central cali getaway

to celebrate kevin's mom's birthday we traveled up to paso robles,  to spend the weekend with his brother matt and girlfriend tara.  they (as usual) were awesome hosts.  the first night we attended at chef dinner at Justin winery,where matt works as an assistant winemaker.  everyone (but me and baby) enjoyed the wine and we had a quite fancy array of courses from a visiting chef.  it was a great night to celebrate karen and be together as a family!

we soaked up the rural country vibe and really,  isn't it so beautiful?
i hadn't realized how much i was craving the wide open spaces.

 

We made a trip to the coast to San Simeon beach.  You would not believe the speed of the winds that day if I told you.  Burrr, but we enjoyed a few moments taking photographs and checking out the surf.

A stop to enjoy delicious tri-tip sandwiches at Main Street Grill in the adorable beach town of Cambria.  We had hoped to peruse a few adorable shops but everything closed so early.  Bummer!  We enjoyed the windows anyway.  We picked up a Olallieberry pie from Linn's (a must visit if you're in the area) for Karen's birthday.  Back at home we enjoyed our pie and played board games until bedtime.

And no trip to Paso is complete without brunch at our favorite, Artisan.  The mushroom, asparagus, feta omelette was so savory.  I wish I knew how to recreate some of their kitchen magic at home. 

A truly great weekend! 

(more pictures to come)