I wanted to follow up my previous post with some photos from the sunset the other night. I know I've posted similar photos before, but for some reason I never get tired of that time of day. Personally, I'm a huge fan of taking some time out of each day to relax and process life, whether its with friends or just solo. Taking time to be grateful for everything I have in life as well as all the people I love makes me happy and feel like i'm doing things right. Anyone else have ways of winding down their days?
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It is absolutely pouring outside right now. I love the rain, but considering I biked to the coffee shop I'm at right now, I could definitely go for some sunshine. Besides the weather, October has been absolutely amazing! I've been busy with classes during the week, and have managed to get out and about during the long weekends to adventure with some pretty cool people. My favorite sister (yes I only have one, but she is undoubtedly the best) came to visit! She is in her first year of university in Denver, Colorado. I was so happy when she told me she was coming to stay for a few days and immediately started thinking of all the fun things in the area I wanted to show her. First stop? Panino for some of the world's best sandwiches. Trust me, I definitely know sandwiches, and these are the bomb.com. On Saturday we headed North a bit to San Louis Obispo with Kasia. Our original plan was to camp in Montaña de Oro for the night but heavy rain was predicted, so we just turned it into a day trip. Montaña de Oro is a a beautiful state park right on the ocean just outside of SLO. It was sunny when we arrived and got started on our hike. The hike itself was a little over 4 miles roundtrip and is definitely for all levels of hikers. About halfway up we hit not-so-great weather and the wind and rain picked up. We trekked on and made it to the top, alas no incredible view to be seen thanks to the clouds. We were all pretty soaked after the hike so we changed into warm clothes and headed to one of the best coffee shops in the area. Every time Kasia and I pass through SLO, we make sure to stop and grab a hot drink at Scout Coffee. The rest of the weekend was spent getting homework done and exploring the bluffs near my house that overlook the ocean. Last weekend we finally made it out and went camping! I say finally because it's been forever since I've been and being outdoors with good friends is one of the best things ever. Kasia is a member of our school's excursion club and led a trip to Big Caliente, a natural hot springs/camping area outside of Santa Barbara. On the drive up we just had to stop and check out the views. We arrived around 5:30 and set up all of our tents. We managed to squeeze almost 20 people into one campground! We headed towards the hot springs after dark and it ended up being a few groups squished together into one pool. There were almost thirty of us at one point. With a little bit of music and some cold beers, that night definitely made my list of top favorite moments at UCSB. The next morning we made breakfast, cleaned up, and hit the road. Besides a flat tire on the way out, and a huge bicycle race, the drive back was pretty peaceful. This past Wednesday, my friends and I decided to head to the pumpkin patch in celebration of fall/halloween. There's a great local one close to our house that I've been to before and we had a great time running around and getting lost in the corn maze. I'm going into week 6 of the quarter. My school schedule moves pretty fast and I finished midterms last week. I'm excited for things to slow down a little bit before it picks up again for finals in December. I don't have too many plans for November other than spending thanksgiving with my family in the Bay Area, but I''m sure I'll find a couple fun things to do. Hope everyone's enjoying the holiday season!
Kasia's parents came to visit last weekend! Though they've come many times over the years, we spent Saturday exploring around as if we were tourists.
The 'build your own hash' sounded really good but I wasn't incredibly hungry so I stuck with some toast and poached eggs with sausage and avocado. Super exciting, I know. This friendly guy was hanging out around the corner. I couldn't help but snap a pick of his handsome mug. From the restaurant it was a short walk to the pier. We tooled around for a while and I had fun seeing all the fishermen out for the day. After the pier, we hopped in the car and drove down to Carpinteria to walk around the town and hit the beach. We stopped at a cute wine bar for some sangria and fries (epic combo). I actually didn't have much sangria when I was in Spain so it was fun to get that experience closer to home. For anyone thinking about visiting the Santa Barbara area, I would definitely recommend going to the beach in Carpinteria. It has beautiful sand and the water was perfectly clear and warm. It also wasn't too crowded which was really nice. After swimming for a bit, we dried off as best we could, grabbed some snacks from the grocery store, and hopped in the car again to head for the hills. One of my favorite places in the world (in the top 5 actually) is called Lizards mouth and it is the perfect place to watch the sun set in Santa Barbara. The area is made up of lime stone rock formations that span across a small valley. You can climb around to your hearts content, all while having the best view of the entire county. It was really windy so we bowed out a bit before the sun set entirely, but it was beautiful nonetheless. We had dinner reservations downtown at a place called Wine Cask (highly recommend as well) and wanted to get there in time. After living in a place for a while, I find it is really refreshing to get out and explore like you're a tourist. I have been incredibly lucky to have lived in some beautiful places, and my goal over the next few years is to take the time to appreciate them and take advantage of all there is to do. I want to give a huge thank you to Kasia's parents who made the entire day so much fun. And thank you for driving all the way down here and hanging out with us before we get completely stressed out with school! Parents- your kids definitely want to hang out with you, especially if they're in college, I promise. Hope everyone's fall is going well! If my roommates agree then maybe the next post will feature the local pumpkin patch:)
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Amani P.Last fall I took off for a year abroad. Now I'm back in the states, trying to figure out this crazy thing we call life! Archives
February 2017
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