A walk on the beach

When we first arrived...

I have loved the beach ever since I was a little girl… My parents have told me the story of the first time I went to the beach and as soon as my feet were on the sand, I was darting to the ocean; my older sisters chasing after me and luckily catching me before I was picked up by a wave and taken out to sea. The salty breeze in my hair and the warm grains of sand between my toes are always comforting and soothing to me… as though the sea is whispering to me, “Welcome home.” Although only about an hour of our trip was spent at the beach capturing snapshots, climbing on rocks, and running across the sand, it was definitely my favorite part of the weekend.

2 out of 3

Don’t get me wrong… finding a dress in the window display that I loved and buying the last one in my size was very serendipitous, but enjoying the sun in my bare feet next to crashing waves was definitely the highlight for me.

We set out that afternoon in hopes of finding some shopping in Santa Barbara, the first outlet we went to had handmade slippers priced at about $195 and yacht apparel priced at about $500 per shirt which was just a bit too much on our pitiful salaries. However, we decided we should go to a mall instead and there were found a store having it’s grand opening, ANGL. All three ladies lucked out and found a vast array of tops, shorts, dresses, and accessories. Surprisingly, we each found and bought a dress!

The other ladies bought some tops and shorts as well, but later that night, I ended up ordering another dress online and taking advantage of the 15% off promotional code we received with our purchases. I will post pictures soon after it gets delivered and maybe a few more shots of this one when I get the hang of my new tripod.

Friend sporting her new top and shorts!

On the drive down, I had spotted a few beaches from the freeway and kept the names in mind on the drive back. Luckily we headed back in the late afternoon and around sunset we were at the exit for Refugio State Beach, which has a nice area for camping and direct access to the beach. Parking only cost us ten dollars, which was $2 per person and, in my opinion, well worth the amount of exploring, memories, and photographs obtained at the site.

My friends were out of the car in no time, but one friend remained and changed into some of her newly acquired clothing in the backseat of my car. We thought that the boys had already headed to the beach to take pictures, so we walked to the point and climbed along the rocks until we found a more secluded beach to take some pictures.

The steep climb down to the beach...

We heard voices from above and saw young little girls who were concerned that our purse and backpack might drift away as the waves came crashing in with the tide. We took a few pictures before we decided that the boys must have stopped at the bathroom to change into shorts and we returned to the public beach. We saw the young girls coming down a dirt path above us and asked if they had seen our friends. Indeed they had and we followed the path to the top of the cliffs and met up with our friends almost directly above where we had just been taking pictures. Enticed by the sight of a seagull fighting a crab on the beach below and being the adventurous sorts, we decided not to go all the way back around, but to save some time and climb down the rocks to our original site for photography.

Gorgeous sunset

We left shortly after sunset, but were able to take some beautiful photographs in the meantime.

Gift Giving

The holiday season is closely approaching, only about 33 more days, and I have been done with my Christmas shopping for weeks. This year, I tried to find a few deals in stores and special gifts by shopping online and going with any inspiration that came to me. A lot of the people that I shop for are rather difficult to find gifts for as they tend to buy anything they want of need. However, I believe I found some of the best presents I have in years! I don't really want to give away what I will be giving this year, but I would like to share some of my gift seeking secrets.

I think that the hunt for the perfect gift is part of the fun. Here are some gifts from the past year; no spoilers for this year:

RC Helicopter - I bought my dad an RC Helicopter last year for Christmas. We always have a lot of guests and visitors during the holiday season and everyone that came to our home was shown his new toy.

This is a great toy for youth or the young at heart. There are lots of toys that can be purchased for adults. Puzzles, vintage toys, board games, and even collectables. I also bought my dad some magnet toys, but once I found this remote controlled toy helicopter in a specialty store, I knew that it was going to be my father's favorite present under the tree.

Chop Sabers - If you have anyone on your Christmas list that is a fan of sushi, Chinese take-out, Star Wars, or any combination of these. This makes a great gift. They come in a variety of styles and you can even get them in gift packs depending on which website you order them from. I found these in a magazine on a flight around Christmas time. This ended up being a Valentine's gift for my the boy I was dating at that time. He is a fan of fried rice and Star Wars. One of his favorite colors was red, so I bought him a pair of Light Saber Chopsticks that are magnetized and connect to look like Darth Maul's saber.

I find that I am constantly keeping my open for gifts for my friends and family. When I get home, I look for the items online and bookmark the websites on my computer so that when the right opportunity comes up I am prepared with something that they will both love and cherish.

Specialty Gifts - For my mother's birthday this year, I remembered that in college a number of my friends were really into creating their own blends of tea and decided to create a blend of specialty tea. I was also able to customize the label and give it a name that has significant meaning to my mother. She has always had an interest in unique teapots and I was also able to find a really cute tea set. Now, when friends come to visit my mom unexpectedly, she can share her special blend and have an impromptu tea party with them. 

I think one of the best ways to find a great gift is to come up with something unexpected. Pay attention to little things that people say in passing. Such as, "I love Jasmine tea," or "Man, when I was little, I had so much fun playing with Lincoln Logs!" If your friend mentions that they have a favorite animal, you can even find them a hand printed t-shirt or other item such as an environmentally friendly canvas bag. My friend is a big fan of squids, octopi, and cuddlefish. He mentioned this to me during a trip to the aquarium earlier this year and I bought him this squid shirt for his birthday.

Also, Etsy.com is a great place to look for unique gifts or to just get some ideas to start your path to finding the perfect gift! I recently created a profile there and find the site very inspiring. I can find unique pieces of jewelry and clothing for my wardrobe and unique gifts for my loved ones. These can lead you in the right direction to finding that special someone a gift that they didn't even know they wanted.