San Francisco in Snapshots.

I purposely planned my trip out west to be a lengthy one.  I got to see my friends in Los Angeles, road trip through one of my favorite places (bonus points for lack of cell service!) and it all ended with shooting a beautiful wedding of two really cool people.  Between the road trip and the wedding, I scheduled some down time to wander around San Francisco and hang with Camilla.  We had so much fun.  Going through these photos makes me really miss San Francisco.  I want to go back, like, now.

Highlights included:

• Showing up on pizza night.  Girl makes good pizza.  And I know good pizza.
• Finally meeting Damir!
• Pizza at Gioia.  And, you know, learning how to eat a pizza like a New Yorker.  Thanks, Gioia.
• Finally meeting Claire!
• Spending the afternoon at a dive bar being ridiculous and playing pool.
• Meeting Graham!
• Playing beer pong, having dance parties and watching the vice-presidential debate (most fun I've ever had watching a debate, letmetellyou).
• Having drinks at the Tonga(aaaaaaaa) Room in the Fairmont.
• Camilla talking our way up to the penthouse where she and Damir were married.  Getting the full tour, complete with all of the great stories from the day.  
• Delicious brunches with exploding ketchup bottles.
• A walk through "the dark forest" which sounds (and looks) like something straight out of Harry Potter.  That place is pure magic.
• Humphry Slocombe.  Did I mention that already?
• Chatting with Jody while staring at the incredible view from her living room.
• Walking into my hotel room on Friday night to discover all of those windows.  And that view.  And the sunset.  Hello, room service?
• Not being the only one with a camera permanently attached to my face :)

Until we meet again, San Francisco.  And soon, I hope.

Khyati & Nick's Wedding at the SF Film Centre | San Francisco, California

Big Sur

I thought about flying from Los Angeles to San Francisco, but it wasn't really much of a debate.  It's been a while since my last road trip -- even longer since the last one on my own.  Maybe it was the countless hours of my youth spent sprawled out over the backseats of my family's suburban watching tumbleweeds out the windows, or one of the i-don't-even-know-how-many trips between New York and Georgia throughout the past seven years.  It's a combination of things, really, that makes me love being on the road.  See, I'm very good at distracting myself -- a contributing factor to my success.  There are always photos to edit! photos to take! websites to build! E-mails to answer!

My brain has a really difficult time turning off.

There's not much you can distract yourself with on the road, and soon you're forced to face whatever thoughts are nagging you - whatever you've been trying to distract yourself from in the first place.  There's always something.  And it helps, facing it.

And stopping to take in the scenery along the way helps, too.

William Randolph Hearst Memorial Beach, San Simeon Bay

Near Ragged Point

Pismo

The first stop on my most recent west coast road trip was at Target, which isn't all that interesting - unless of course you're from New York, where they don't sell wine and liquor at Target, in which case you'd probably be pretty impressed and post pictures to your instagram.  Probably.

My second stop on the trip was at Pismo.  I parked in the pier lot and wandered down to the beach where I received affirmation by way of blue skies that I did, in fact, do the right thing in driving rather than flying.  I snapped pictures and wandered around, let the sun kiss my face and the wind tie knots in my hair (we know it just loves doing that).  Then, I walked back to the car feeling light and happy.  I was so happy, in fact, that nothing could falter my mood, not even the parking ticket tucked beneath my wipers.  Sigh.

Santa Monica

sunset strolls on ocean avenue: it's what's up.

ps, top photo of my friend, erik, who never updates his photo blog.