July in Review: Instagram

Hello friends!

Well we're back from an amazing trip to Tuolumne Meadows with my family. I can't believe it's already come and gone, but I suppose that's a sign of a great vacation. 

I took a ton of pictures last weekend (over 600!), so it's going to take me some time to get through them all. I'll post a recap of our trip with photos next week.  Plus, ya'll are probably sick of hearing about Tuolumne Meadows by now anyways! 

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Somehow, July has come and gone and it's already August 5th! I'm not quite sure how that happened. But looking back, we were busy having so much fun, it's no wonder that the weeks flew by.  

July was one of our most fun-filled months yet! It started off with Tahoe for the 4th of July holiday, and ended with our trip to Yosemite. Our weekends were full of adventures with friends, and we took advantage of living in this awesome city. 

Here is a round up of our month through Instagram...

// the view on my early morning run //

// wine and strawberries with the girls on Bachelorette night //

// festive nails for Independence Day //

// Andrew sporting his awesome USA hat on Lake Tahoe //

// heading to a 4th of July BBQ with great friends in our patriotic best //

// beautiful Lake Tahoe //

// waiting for the firework show //

// Breastfest 2013 - "I heard they added more hops" //

// great friends and good beer //

// Andrew and I at Breastfest //

// celebrating my friend Courtney's birthday //

// couldn't resist this new H&M bikini for $7 //

// cutest little beer sample at Jasper's in SF //

// a fun afternoon on the Santa Cruz Boardwalk //

// watching the surfers in Santa Cruz //

// enjoying a Tasty Beverage //

Clearly, we know how to have a good time! July was jammed packed with weekend activities, and August is off to a great start already. We have a lot of fun things planned in the next few weeks, as well as a few free weekends at home that I hope will be relaxing and carefree! 

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I added an Instagram feed to my sidebar. Should I continue doing these monthly Instagram recaps, or is that a little redundant? Thoughts? 



xoxo,


Theresa

4th of July in South Lake Tahoe - Part II

After our action packed day on the 4th, there wasn't much of a plan for the rest of the weekend. But it ended up being the perfect blend of relaxation and fun activities.

Friday morning after making breakfast, we decided to head up to Kirkwood to play a round of disc golf. I had never been to Kirkwood before, during the winter or summer months so I was excited to see it. I was impressed with all of the summer activities the resort has to offer. There is hiking, down-hill mountain bike trails, zip lining, and the disc golf course as well. It seems like the resort really stays alive during the summer months, I'm ready to go back for some hiking and zip lining!

Since we didn't have too many discs to throw, a few of us decided just to hike along with them. I am terrible when it comes to throwing a frisbee, so I was happy to just hike the course and watch them play. Plus, I was in charge of Louis, who needs to stay on the leash or he'll make a mad dash back to the car. 

The boys had a great time playing disc golf, it was a surprisingly difficult course. And with all the hills, we got a decent work out in too! I found out later, Chantal was up in Kirkwood hiking on Friday as well! Too bad we didn't run into each other! 

We had a birthday dinner planed that evening, so we had to hurry back to the house to get ready. We went to a small French restaurant called Mirabelle French Cuisine. They had arranged an Epicurean menu for our larger group, and it was so delicious. I started with French onion soup, and for dinner I ordered the duck which came with a barley and mushroom side. The barley was so amazing, I could have eaten five bowls! For dessert I had the poached pear that was served on a meringue cookie with ice cream and raspberry sauce. It was arguably the best dessert I have ever had. Seriously, if you need a place for dinner in South Lake that is off the beaten bath, I highly recommend this place.

After dinner, we all headed back to the house to continue the celebration. We ended up having an impromptu ladder ball and corn hole toss tournament. Of course, this ended up being the most fun part of the day, and I have zero pictures to show for it. It was very official, one friend created a bracket, and we drew names to ensure fair teams. My friend Bobby and I were paired up, and dubbed ourselves "Team O'Bobby!" When Andrew and Corrie were paired up, we were worried they'd surely win. But Team O'Bobby wasn't going to let that happen! We ended up coming back from 0-10 in ladder ball to win. And only lost one game throughout the tournament. When it came down to the final two teams, we realized we had both lost only one game. It was determined a game of flip cup would be the official tie breaker. Best two out of three. Team O'Bobby lost the first round, but came back to win the next two! CHAMPIONS! 

I felt like I was back in college, but it was such a fun night. After the tournament, there were more games, karaoke and a lot of laughs. We were having so much fun, a Bachelor Party that was staying in a house next door even came to join the party!

Clearly, after our late night on Friday, we all slept in on Saturday. After we made breakfast, we decided to walk down to the beach to get some sun and relax. It was so nice to be able to walk to the beach in the neighborhood, and not have drive and fight the crowds. It was a perfect setting to relax, and recover from the night before.

When we finally had enough sun, we decided to head into town for some lunch. We were all craving Mexican food so we found a place on Yelp and it was delish! After our late lunch, we headed back to the house to relax. It ended up being a really mellow night, watching movies and visiting. It was the perfect way to end our vacation.

We were up early Sunday to beat traffic driving back to the city. Thankfully our plan worked, and we made it back in no time. It was so nice to be able to get our Sunday chores like grocery shopping and laundry done, while still having time to relax.

All in all, it was an amazing weekend. Definitely one of the best 4th of July weekends I can remember. It was so great to spend our long weekend in such a beautiful place with my favorite people!

xoxo,

Theresa

4th of July in South Lake Tahoe

I've missed you!

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th! Mine was one of the best yet! Having a four day weekend really made it feel like a true vacation. The weather in Tahoe was absolutely perfect. I loved being up in the pine trees and mountain air.

We left Wednesday evening after dinner, hoping that the holiday traffic would have subsided by then. Thankfully, we were right, and hit hardly any traffic during our drive to Tahoe. We even saw a few firework shows along the way in Sacramento, Folsom and El Dorado Hills! Once we arrived in Tahoe everyone was relaxing and visiting. Since we planned to get up early and go out on the boat, we didn't stay up too late.

The forecast had predicted that there was a chance of thunder storms on the 4th, but we lucked out and it was a beautiful day. We headed out on the boat about 8am to beat the crowds. I have never been on the lake in Tahoe with such calm water, it was wonderful. There were two boats in our group and we found a cove to anchor and spend the day in the sun. Before I moved to San Francisco, I spent the majority of my summer out on the boat, so I was so happy to spend the day on Lake Tahoe with some of my closest friends.

Early in the afternoon we decided it was time to head in for a late lunch and to get ready for the BBQ and fireworks later that evening. On the way back we did a little tubing which was so fun! I was bummed I didn't bring my wakeboard, but I hadn't been tubing in years and it was just as fun as I remembered. Andrew and I made a pretty good run of it before getting thrown off!

We were lucky enough to be invited to join our friends family at the Edgewood Golf Course for a members BBQ and to watch the fireworks. We all dressed in our patriotic best and headed off to the golf course. There was a BBQ and full bar set up on the course. Everyone sat around eating, playing games, visiting, and listening to music while we waited for the sun to go down. It was such a beautiful setting, I felt so lucky to spend the 4th with my closest friends right on the water in Lake Tahoe.

  

We had set up blankets and chairs right on the beach for a front row seat to watch the fireworks. I had heard that Edgewood was the best place to see the fireworks in South Lake Tahoe, and boy was that the truth. I don't think I had ever seen a better display of fireworks! It felt like they were pointed directly at our portion of the beach. And the show was synchronized with a local radio station that played patriotic songs, which added to the festive feeling of the entire day. It was just one of those perfect nights. I sat there thinking how lucky I was to be there, and surrounded by such wonderful people.

After such an amazing day on the 4th, I felt so spoiled to have three more days in Tahoe before we had to head back to the city. I'll be back tomorrow with a recap of the rest of our weekend!

I hope you all had an amazing holiday as well! It seems like everyone I talk to had such a wonderful 4th, and I hope it was just as great for all of you!!

xoxo,

Theresa