absence makes the heart grow fonder

Aahhh.  I love the ocean. These past couple of weeks have been madness for me. I've been super busy and trying to juggle my schedule. Every weekend has been filled with events--birthdays, girl scouts, etc. During the week, I've been trying to fit in runs in between school, this cake decorating class (only 1 class left to attend), grocery shopping, making dinner, cleaning up, and raising a daughter. John has been out of town working so I have been handling everything. I'm fortunate and happy I have a husband who takes things off my plate so I don't feel so overwhelmed...so it goes without saying that his absence has really made an impact in my everyday life.  When I had a meltdown the other week, I knew I had to do something.  Taking a mental health day was not going to cure this.  I needed some R&R.  And I needed it to be quiet.

The timing couldn't have worked out better. Our anniversary was coming up so I decided to plan an impromptu trip to Mendocino, which happens to be our halfway point--the Black Eyed Peas song Meet me Halfway playing in my head now--haha. I booked a two night stay at Glendeven Inn. I left Tuesday afternoon hoping to be there before the sun went down. Getting there was no easy feat. It was a drive of a little over three hours. Lombard had nothing on these windy roads! The windy roads coupled with driving on the edges of cliffs, had me hyperventilating, going through hot flashes and my hands firmly gripped on 10 and 2 at every turn. The upside of it was driving through vineyards, a canopy of redwoods and seeing the ocean as I was nearing my destination. When I got to the inn, I was welcomed with a glass of wine and bruschetta...that alone was worth the tortuous drive.

Our room had a huge bay window with a view of the ocean, a fireplace and no TV-- but don't be alarmed, the inn had wi-fi which we totally took advantage of.  We didn't make much of a list of must do's in the area but since the forecast had called for rain, John and I weren't sure if we would be able to enjoy the beach but as luck would have it...it didn't rain the entire time! We got up the next morning and ran on a trail (which by the way, kicked my butt) along the coast.   And the sun was gracious enough to make its presence.


At the suggestion of our innkeeper, we went to Piaci Pub and Pizzeria in Ft. Bragg for lunch. For a pub...the pizza was actually pretty tasty and the locals at the pub were very friendly...this was the kind of place where everyone knows your name...and by the time we left...they did. We were given passes to the Botanical Gardens and it was nice to take a long walk among the blooms hand in hand.  The gardens happened to lead us to the beach...nice bonus! For dinner, we ate at a small restaurant that faced the ocean in Little River coincidently named La Petit Rive (The Little River in french) and stuffed ourselves into a food coma.

One of the best parts of our whirlwind trip and something we continue to rave about is the breakfast that was served to our room in a basket every morning. Check it out...isn't that too cute?

{If only we could eat breakfast like this everyday!}

{Glendeven Inn}

{Feeding the llamas on the grounds...that's Llama Mama}

{the fireplace that kept us nice and warm}

Mendocino fit the bill.  Quaint, romantic and quiet.  Like with all trips, I wish we had one more day.  One more day to just do nothing. nap. walk on the beach. sit by the fire. You get the idea.    We are going to try to make another trip out there so hopefully we'll get a day to do just that.  On our last day, we tried to stretch it out a little by having a long lunch and coffee afterwards but alas...we had to part ways.  On the long way home I got to thinking...maybe it wasn't just a dose of R&R that I needed...what I needed was my husband.