I wish I could be a California girl...

"If everybody had an ocean 

Across the U.S.A. 

Then everybody'd be surfin' 

Like californ-I-A 

You'd see 'em wearin' their baggies 

Huarachi sandals, too 

A bushy bushy blonde hairdo 

Surfin' U.S.A."
-The Beach Boys

We're home now... but I kinda want to go back already. I miss the sunshine, the sand, the sea breeze! I miss seeing mountains outside any window I looked through. I miss fresh squeezed OJ from oranges locally grown. And I miss my family most. I am already counting the days until we come back in September for a dear friend's wedding...  approx. 96 days!

Casey's Cupcakes & Cappuccinos

For Mother's day, I sent my mom a "coupon" for a coffee date with me when we are together in Ca. My mom wanted to take me to Riverside to show me the Mission Inn so we decided to grab coffee there. We stumbled upon the most adorably quaint little cupcake and cappuccino shop called Casey's. Before our Riverside coffee date, I wasn't into the whole gourmet cupcake shop fad that seems so prevalent lately. But from the moment I stepped through the front door of the shop, I was sold! This was so much more than fancy coffee and cupcakes. It was a cupcake boutique! Everything from the bubblegum pink walls to the employees' uniforms perfectly suited the theme. The employees were friendly and helpful. The cupcakes we exquisite. The atmosphere was so sweet and whimsical. I fell in love with cupcakes!

The cupcakes are each individually packaged in these perfect pink boxes. I felt like I had purchased myself a gift, more than a cupcake! My mom and I brought our little treats out to the front patio where we enjoyed the light and fluffy goodies on pink pedestal tables under a canopy of pink balloons floating in the breeze. 

One of my favorite parts of this cupcake experience was enjoying my Razzmatazz Raspberry Cupcake with a logo-ed wooden spoon! Such a cute idea!

My mom and I decided that every time I come to Ca we will HAVE to stop by Casey's Cupcakes and Cappuccinos! We even shook hands on a pact that someday (Lord willing, not in the near future!) when Bluejay and I have a daughter, we will celebrate the first birthday of said daughter in California at this cupcake shop for what I can only imagine will be the cutest party/photo shoot ever! 

Santa Monica

My little sister is doing a sumer project with Campus Crusade in Santa Monica. We went to drop her off on Friday. I fell in LOVE with Santa Monica! I love the promenade and the pier. They are both so lovely! How lucky is Stacey that she gets to spend her summer minutes away from the beach and all this fun?