Beaches and Sun and Handbags, Oh My!

I know I promised a plethora of posts between yesterday and today. My best intentions for this blog have not always come to fruition. But this time, folks, is when I deliver.

As a little disclaimer, I must admit that I learned a major lesson on putting my foot in my mouth during our trip to Southern California last weekend. To give you a little background, Pat had suggested moving to Southern California instead of Northern California when we first started discussing moving away from Montana. I swiftly shot down the suggestion, because of a particularly strong opinion I had about LA (the word I used in reference to the City of Angels is reserved only for mature audiences only). Besides, I thought, Pat has only ever spent time in Huntington Beach and Hollywood. What does he know about Southern California? Truth be told, it would have been a lot harder to make a start in an area with such a drastically higher cost-of-living than we were accustomed to in Montana. However, after having spent the weekend in Santa Monica, Malibu, and Anaheim, my opinion has changed. Drastically. You'll understand when you view the pictures below just how beautiful this area is. Especially Santa Monica and Malibu. It's easy to see why so many celebrities and musicians call this place home. 75*, surfing, Frisbee on the beach, all in the month of January. What's not to like? $1700/month for a studio apartment with no refrigerator. (Yes, I looked on craiglist.) ::gulp:: Oh yeah, that's right. But seeing the smile that crossed my husband's face as we approached the Santa Monica boardwalk was awesome. And you really can't buy that kind of happiness, right? That feeling of freedom and serenity that engulfs you when you're dipping your feet in the water, feeling the cold, wet sand squish between your toes. That, my friends, is priceless. So I fully intend to spend the next 16 months attempting to convince the hubbs to move to Southern California when I'm finished with my masters. I'll let you know how that one works out... In the meantime, here are our pics of Santa Monica and Malibu:

Ahh, refreshing. I never said the water was warm. ;)

Santa Monica Pier

A lovely couple from Texas (who were surprisingly chipper considering their team had just lost the BCS game the day before) offered to take our picture on the beach.

Patrick on the beach.

Happy as a clam after a few beers and a buffalo chicken sandwich at Sonny McLean's, a New England-themed sports bar in Santa Monica. This may be, by far, my best bargaining tool.

The sunset crept up on us as we were driving up the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu, so I was forced to take a few pics from the car.

We finally stopped to take a picture at a public beach in Malibu. Incredible. I'm a sucker for a pretty sunset.

There were so many highlights to this trip. However, the best part came during our stroll on Wilshire in Santa Monica after our delicious lunch at Sonny McLeans. There was a designer handbag outlet on the corner that we had driven by a few times that I was dying to go into, if for no other reason than just to do some window shopping. My amazing husband, knowing that I was dying to go check it out, was not only a great sport in offering to venture into the store, but also surprised me by offering to buy me one!!! I have bought many a purse and handbag throughout my 24 years on this Earth, but this one rivals all. I always used to mock people that spent ridiculous amounts of money on a purse. Well now that I own one, I can understand the importance of owning a quality handbag. Without further aideu, allow me to introduce my new purse!

In the days since I've owned this bag, my love for it grows with each new compliment I receive. Perfect size. Perfect color. Perfect bag. Simple as that.

Stay tuned, another post will follow with pics of our main reason for venturing down to SoCal in the first place: DISNEYLAND!!!