Last week I was posting from chilly northern California, where my husband and I were visiting his family for a late Christmas get-together. Here are some photos from the trip:

The top photo is a view of the San Francisco skyline from the Presidio near the Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately, this picture does not do justice to how beautiful the city looked in the setting sun. The middle photo is a view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the Walt Disney Family Museum, where we had gone to see the Disney and Dali exhibit. We spent a good part of the day at the museum, which is much larger inside than it appears from the outside. The model of Disneyland in the bottom photo was taken at the museum.

One of the days we were in the Bay area, my husband and I drove up to Napa. We started at the Hess Collection winery, which also has an art gallery which includes some major 20th century artists. My husband is photobombing the picture I took of an Anselm Kiefer sculpture. We had lunch at the Boon Fly Cafe, where I had some awesome smoked salmon flatbread.

Another day we drove a bit up the coast along Highway 1. In Stinson Beach we came across this little bookstore. I am lucky to be married to a guy who will always stop for a bookstore. We ended up at Point Reyes National Seashore, which was amazing. We hiked out to the lighthouse in the top photo, and we were lucky enough to see whales far out in the ocean migrating south. Point Reyes is also a great spot to see elephant seals, and we saw plenty of those as well. The bottom right photo I had to share because my sister-in-law made this awesome carrot cake in the shape of a rabbit for me. Not only was it an incredibly thoughtful gesture, but the cake was also delicious!

So, I had a good time despite the fact that I had a terrible cold during the whole trip, which I am still getting over. But, I love the time we get to spend in California, as brief as it is.