West Coast Vibes

Wishing all of you a relaxing and safe fourth of July! We’ll be taking it easy today, as Jordan and I recover from a busy long weekend in L.A. and Ventura, California. We were out there so that Jordan could officiate the wedding of two friends, and on Sunday he preached at the church of some other friends.

Here are a few photos from the trip, if you’re interested in taking a look. Jordan arrived in L.A. a day before I did so that he could attend the rehearsal dinner for the couple getting married — two incredibly special people, Kira and Godfrey.

I arrived on Friday, and hit the ground running. It’s worth noting that I was a bit sad about leaving Jameson at home in NY, but a cross-country flight without him was kind of amazing. Airplane rides are pretty much the only time I watch movies, and I managed to watch three of them (Collateral Beauty, La La Land and Bienvenue à Marly-Gomont). And I am the person sitting next to strangers on the plane who unapologetically cries at every.single.movie. Legit wiping tears.

Before getting to the hotel, we stopped at a hole-in-the-wall spot for tacos, which I feel the west coast just does right. Every Cali trip I make must include two things: tacos and donuts. Period.

The wedding was in a beautiful location. The bride and groom made really meaningful vows (yes, there were more tears). And the DJ was on point!

On Saturday, we took the long way up Highway 1 along the coast to Ventura, having our minds blown by a recent episode of This American Life and stopping for some of the softest donuts I’ve ever had.

In Ventura, we had a fantastic lunch at the Brazilian restaurant, Moqueca, and I will be making a point of working more moqueca and feijoada into my diet in the near future.

In the evening, we picked up some simple groceries for a picnic on the beach, which was wonderfully peaceful. Even just looking at these photos makes me breathe deep. While we sat and talked and watched a black Labrador run in and out of the waves (he was living his very best life), a woman walking on the beach struck up a conversation with us. She shared how she and her family were renting a home on the beach, along with the family of a friend of hers. They’d been friends for 50 years–talk about #lifegoals. We said goodbye to her, and she later returned with her friend to deliver us some dessert! Not sure if that’s California kindness or what, but I’ll absolutely take it. Jordan did a great job preaching at Mission Church in Ventura on Sunday, and we headed back to L.A. on Sunday evening.

We were scheduled to fly out of L.A. at 6:00 a.m. on Monday, so we kept our plans to a minimum — we made a quick stop to see the Urban Light installation at LACMA before heading to the hotel. It was packed with people, but still great to see in person.

And just like that, we were on our way back east, scrolling through our phones looking at photos of Jameson and eager to get back to him.

Really grateful for time in a different place. To have witnessed two becoming one. For homemade tortillas. For west coast sunsets. For kindness from strangers. For time to reconnect with Jordan. For life’s collateral beauty. For family that loves on Jameson like we do.