CALIFORNIA, Throwback Tuesday.

Two years ago, Jason and I were living on 2 separate continents. He returned to the states for a bit, mid-way through a year overseas. The location of a training, allowed us to be able to spend almost 2 months in California. Our hotel was lovely, right on the beach, complete with an amazing continental breakfast every morning and a happy hour with complimentary drinks. Seriously? Wonderful! :)

[These are the only photos I can get to at the moment, as my external hard drive with the majority of this trip as well as most of the photos I have taken our first year of living in Germany might or might not be done-zo. Either way, I can't access the photos. Boo!]

Anyway, while in California, Jason and I toured as much as possible during his time off. We ate pizza (some of the best pizza I have ever had, to this day!) and seafood; glorious, delicious seafood! Cupcakes and ice cream. We visited Disneyland! Ah! We spent a day in Santa Monica, walking along the pier, taking in the sights and sounds. We lunched at a delicious little Mexican restaurant at the end of the pier. The atmosphere and view was amazing! We spent a day on a boat, on a whale watching excursion, no whales were spotted; we did see dolphins, sea lions & some stunning views of the water and islands around us. We spent a couple of hours in Hollywood. We were both sort of bummed by Hollywood. It was nothing like either of us imagined. It was cool to see the stars and the theater, though. I got to shop at Kitson, LA and DASH, in Calabasas. We spent a lovely day in Santa Barbara. We loved Santa Barbara. The city and the people. It was such a pretty little place. We found an awesome Mexican restaurant that we had to sample one more time. ;) We also fell in love with In and Out and their fresh burgers and fries! I had my first legit fish taco. We saw movies at the local theater and tried loads more local restaurants. I love California! I miss the water!

 Samoa cupcake, Crumbs in Hollywood.

 Reese's cupcake, Crumbs in Hollywood.

 Santa Monica, CA. Santa Monica Pier.

 Santa Monica, CA. Santa Monica Pier.

 Santa Monica, CA. 

 Santa Monica, CA. Santa Monica Pier.

 Santa Monica, CA. Santa Monica Pier.

 Dolphins, seen from our boat on our Whale Watching Excursion.

Ventura Harbor at night.

MAGNOLIA BAKERY, NYC.

So, I was a bit lazy while living in DC; but, we won't get into that, now. Anyway, I have loads of photos and trips I never posted and/or edited. Perhaps, I will make these 'throwbacks' a weekly occurrence here on my little blog. So, for today, here is your 'Throwback Tuesday' post, complete with photos taken on J & my second trip to NYC, while living in DC. 

Magnolia Bakery was oft featured in 'Sex and the City,' and for good reason. Their baked goods are GOOOD. I wasn't a fan of everything I tried, but I did/do love the Hummingbird cupcake and I have been known to whip a batch of these babies up, from Magnolia's own recipe. Of course, I love the cream cheese frosting! Cream cheese is one of my favorite frostings, EVER! [I need to find a way to make it a bit better for me, but that's why I don't bake as much as I once did. And, when I do, I try to use things that are beneficial to my body...I digress.]

 If I were in NYC, I would definitely be partaking in one of these little mini-cakes. Germany just doesn't do up cupcakes like we in the States, but maybe that's a good thing. ;)

Oh, yes, please forgive the photos. They aren't the best quality or composition. I have learned a bit since these were taken and saved in JPEG form, multiple times. ;)

MUNICH, Germany. Ammer Tent.

J & I hadn't exactly planned on Oktoberfest this year, until we visited Munich in July and loved it! J casually inquired on whether or not the hotel we were staying at, had any availability during Oktoberfest at all. They said they did, in fact, but only during the week. J & I, being newbies, were sort of disappointed at first, but then, we talked about it and decided, 'hey, who cares, it's still Oktoberfest!' So, before leaving Munich in July, we booked a room for 2 nights in October, to experience Oktoberfest.

We started our journey to Munich on Wednesday morning and arrived in Munich around 5 hours later, after stopping for food along the way. We checked in, got the dog settled in our room, changed and set out to see what Oktoberfest was all about! First of all, could not have had a better hotel! We were literally a block and a half walk from the grounds and it was fabulous! 

J & I wandered for a bit and finally decided we should attempt to find a place for an early dinner.   We had NO IDEA how the tents worked. All we knew was that we could not get a 'reservation.' So, we found a tent, saw people casually walking in and decided we would take a chance. So, we walked on in and stood around (I took the opportunity to snap some photos), until J decided to ask if we could eat. We got a 'SURE!' What? It was that easy?! More on tents in posts to come..

The tent we picked was Ammer, known for their chicken & duck. Yum! How gorgeous is their decor, seriously? I love it! It was too early for their nightly headliner band, but they still had a really great band entertaining their early dinner guests. J & I ordered beer. At Oktoberfest, you only get one size. BIG! It's really a Liter. Truthfully, at any other brauhaus we visited in Munich prior to this visit, only served this size, or maybe that's all we ordered. ;) 

We loved and enjoyed our beer and lunch and probably looked at each other and asked if this was for real 100 times. We really are doing our best to really experience our time here to the fullest!

And, as always, on vacation, I can't get enough of the sweets and the bread. A girl's gotta have some cheat days! :) 

How about a brezel as big as your head?!

Obatzda. A Bavarian speciality of cheese, butter and spices. So good!

Bread dumpling with vanilla sauce! Yum!

MUNICH, Germany. OKTOBERFEST.

Here is a little sneak peek of the tons of photos I took last week at Oktoberfest. J and I were able to spend a couple of days in Munich and experience all that is Oktoberfest! :) We did not go with reservations, just hopes we could still enjoy the experience and atmosphere, and honestly, I don't think we needed them. We were able to get in to each of the tents we wanted to, eat/drink in the ones we wanted to and had a great time! We also went during the week, which I have heard makes a BIG difference. More details and photos to come.

I also have several summer trips and our trip to Italy to still blog, as well. I have gotten busy with life and getting involved with the spouses' group here and some of the fun activities, combined with working out and planning/working on Christmas gifts for J and just living. I'll get around to it. :)