california one

and the road a-winding goes from golden gate to roaring cliffside, and the light is low as our hearts become sweetly untied beneath the sun of california one.

i am curently in a gigantic suite all to myself in LA, having left the north of california yesterday.

the whole bay area was pretty much excellent, beautiful and sunny. but i was definitely ready to move on and i cant help but think but one day, maybe years down the line, i will find myself back in northern cali, back in napa... you will find me on the wine train.

to celebrate a week and a half of early mornings and hours of driving, i decided to get up early and go for a drive!
visiting this part of the country, there was no way that i could leave without driving the famously gorgeous hwy california 1.

the journey took me up and downs some massive green mountains, through winding roads and small mountain towns including the lovely half moon bay.
i had no idea what to expect as the entire drive was going to be based on how ridiculously varied the landscape had been for the first hour.

but then it happened.
spoon came on the ipod shuffle, i summon you of all songs.
the mountains slowly gave way and all of a sudden there was ocean. miles and miles of ocean.
my eyes teared up.
i have never seen anything like it, and despite all the annoyances and frustrations of my time in the bay area, everything all of a sudden just seemed worth it.

it was just beautiful.

there were stops all along the way so plenty of opportunities to stop to take some photos.

there are ridiculous loads of pictures, but these are just a few of my favourites.

this was the first time i had ever thought that i could spend the rest of my life beside the ocean.

the smell of the air, the cool breeze... everything was so ideal.

my desire to stay forever was most certainly amplified by how fantastic the weather was.

sunshine, the sound of the waves crashing against the beach and the cliffs... my god it was ideal.

i was reminded of a poem... im so tacky. but its true!

i dont know much about poetry, and do you think i remember verses? hell no.

except for one.

edgar allan poe who said

i stand amid the roar of a surf tormented shore, and i hold within my hand grains of the golden sand. ... is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream?

thats how i felt. fully.
as i sat on the waters edge thats how i felt. for the first time since i arrived in california. i felt like i was living in a dream.

it all came to a bit of a halt when we came to the end of the coastal drive... at santa cruz.
santa cruz is decidedly not my favourite place on earth. so much so that i literally did not take one photo as it would have been a waste of space... and my camera is digital. so figure that out.

it was like the altlantic city of california...you know, like the idea is on the right track but the execution is poor.

the next day i was off to the second lag of my journey, LA.
i had to prepare!

so, step one: nails.

no more summer colours for now, i am putting on some LA glam!
gold nailpolish a la sally hansen.
my inspiration being of course the gals from honestly wtf
http://honestlywtf.com/beauty/good-as-gold/

... thats as far as ive gotten so far.
i hope to enjoy time at the beach tomorrow, venice beach to be exact. i hope to take my best friend, my camera.
i hope that i can truly capture the awesomeness that is california style, because it truly is awesome.
so that is my goal for my time here in LA- capture the essence of california style through pics!

challenge accepted.

OH! also, speaking of challenges... voila the results of my current project:

ooh la! it is not finished yet! stage one of the project is complete. plus its a trial run and it went better thean i thought. so success.
so now i think im going to have to wait until vancouver to complete the project, but it is promising.

LA is going to be a few weeks of some experiments and projects.
i hope to truly immerse myself in all that the city of angels has to offer.

california here we come.