Monterey Bay

It seems that we have a thing for bay cities...in the past 2 weeks we have been to Morro Bay, San Francisco, Half Moon Bay, and now Monterey Bay. Don't mind me, just hanging out with my "bae" on a Bay! ;)

We went down to Newbury Park this weekend for Carson's farewell.  Don't worry, a post on that is coming soon. 

On our way back up north, we had to make a few scenic stops ...of course! We pulled into Monterey Bay and instantly loved this little town.  It is well known for its abundant marine life and used to be a hub for catching & canning fish.  The fish cannery was ironically converted into an aquarium and is now the 2nd most popular Aquarium in the nation! The streets are lined with cute shops, chocolate stores, seafood restaurants, as well as the famous aquarium.  Matt & I just registered to get scuba certified so we were pumped to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. 

We loved seeing all the marine life and it started to make us really antsy to be IN the water, swimming with these sea creatures in just a few months!  We enjoyed the deep sea, otter, and the newly opened tentacles observatory; although, I have to say my favorite part was the jellyfish. They were so beautiful and fascinating. 

Another highlight for us was spotting 20+ Humpback Whales only few hundred yards off shore.  I had never seen a whale so I'm embarrassed to admit that I was THAT girl...a little too excited. They were adorable and it looked like they were playing with each other, jumping and spraying simultaneously!

Yes, we did take a picture in the middle of the street. Photo cred: ME :)

A few of the whales! 

Gorgeous

I could stare at these all day.

Really though, how is that neon color natural on these things?!

Me with quite possibly the ugliest sea creatures ever.

Going for it!

How do you make sure someone actually did touch the bat ray? Look at their face right after they touch that slimy thing!

Underneath the wave!

These fish swim in that circle all day long...every single day...some life. 

No flash allowed.....oops!

We finished off the day with dinner overlooking the bay! We did feel a little funny eating seafood when just a few hours prior we were admiring all the beautiful marine life in the aquarium. At least it tastes as good as it looks! 

Another day, another adventure!


xoxoxox Brittany 

22!

"I don't know about you... but I'm feeling..."

I LOVE birthdays!!! why? 

Because I talk to everyone important to me..all in 24 hours!  

I am a total lover and feeling loved is enough to make my whole day.  People are just SO nice!

I am reminded of how much I care about the many people in my life, and why I am so blessed. I just feel SOOO grateful!

My sweet husband also spoiled me (he does every day :) ) but found a way to make me feel "especially special" on my birthday. Its hard for me to match his thoughtfulness because he ALWAYS goes all out for me! 

 I woke up to warm donuts in bed...HEAVEN!...(it's the fat kid in me...)  We then went to workout, having eaten one too many ;)

Matt also gave me some of the nicest gifts but then sadly had to go to work... 

I wasn't too sad after he left though because you can probably guess what I did all day..SHOPPED TILL I DROPPED..my phone on the ground and cracked my screen. But I didn't even care, nothing was bringing this girl down!

It was just a great day. I like to keep it low key on my actual birthday DAY because I want to be able to take all the calls and talk to everyone for a bit.  Thank you all for the birthday wishes!! <3

Here are a few pictures from Yesterday and Monday in San Francisco. We were walking down Market street and birthday balloons randomly blew by us...I'm not kidding...it was meant to be..so we had to do a mini photo shoot! I say mini because it wasn't long before the owners came chasing after their balloons! 

Bag full of chocolate...my kind of party!

Literally 100 degrees 

Ended the day the best way! Pazzokies!

Thanks again everyone!! <3

Excited for a new year!

SAN FRANCISCO!!

A Labor Day in San Fran! 

On our trip north we spontaneously decided to detour and spend a day in San Fran.  Matt had never been to San Francisco so I was excited to go with him!  

We stayed in a hotel right outside of the city and had the whole day to EXPLORE! 

We went to the mall on Market Street and did a little shopping...Of course ;)  We then took a traditional trolly to Pier 39 which is famous for all it shops and famous seafood!

Matt has traveled a lot in his life and when we pulled into the city he said it looked like it could be another country!  The city has thousands upon thousands of crammed together little buildings, shops, apartments, and town homes, not to mention several districts representing countries from all over the world like Russia, China, Itay, etc...Pretty cool!

You can see Alcatraz island also!

so many people there this weekend! 

We couldn't stop laughing at this picture...guess why... (it looks like Matt is missing a tooth) hahahah maybe it's because of the beard??  

We ate lunch at Bubba Gump at the end of the Pier! Delicious!

Matt & I have a serious problem, our sweet tooths...teeth? haha We love sweets and it makes it worse because we BOTH have the hardest time saying no to chocolate! So Ghirardelli square was glad to have us...

Oops! It's my birthday in a few days...birthday calories don't count..right?!

After visiting Ghirardelli Square we had to rest for a bit and digest the chocolate we inhaled.  We relaxed on a beautiful grassy hill overlooking the bay.  

I really need to publicly thank my sperry's for taking good care of my feet! 

loving this 

does it look like us?? 

Awkward picture, cool view.... diggin it. 

nope, not windy at all!!!!

photo cred: the sexy bearded hubby 

made it just in time to see the sunset!

GOLDEN Gate Bridge, literally 

My world!

After seeing the Golden Gate Bridge, we went back to Pier 39 and got a world famous San Francisco sourdough bread bowl to split for dinner. I didn't get a picture quick enough before it was gone, so it must have been good! Matt said that it was a much cooler city than he thought it would be! So glad we stopped in for a little peek. Thanks San Francisco for starting off my birthday week with a BOOM!!  Till next time. 

xoxoxo The Richardsons

We are Nomads

Some of you might wonder why we are so all over the place...haha We have been married for almost 5 months now and have moved 3 times already! Kinda crazy, I know. We joke and say we live an ADD life. :)  Matt manages a sales team which makes him very busy, and also requires us to be mobile. We moved from Ahaheim, to Huntington Beach, and now we are in northern California...but just for a month before we come back down to Southern Ca. (If anyone reading this is a Vivint wife.. you know exactly what I'm talking about!)
 Despite being a little hectic, life has been such an adventure and we love seeing different places! It's fun to see where life takes you and to enjoy everything to the fullest. Once we have little kiddos, we won't be able to do this so we are taking full advantage! 
We also have been fortunate enough to have my family close by because they have helped out tremendously with our moves, storage, and lodging when homeless...:)

On our road trip, we decided to stop by a few places where Matt has never been.   The first stop was Morro Bay.  Morro Bay is this cute little town right on the harbor, a 30 minute drive from San Luis Obisbo. It is known for it cutsey shell shops, salt water taffy, sea food, and the beautiful Morro Rock! 

Here are some pics of our pitstop!

Something about beige hats lately...its getting to me

Pretty view from the dock!

We picked out our dream boat in the boat yard...

He picked one for me, I picked one for him and we guessed the flavor! We were both way off...maybe because theres like 50 random flavors....haha

Matt looks good as a bearded blonde! haha

Morro Rock!

Trying to sneak up and scare birds...what else is new? I love this guy! haha! Always making me smile. 

After Morro Bay, we headed north to our next destination... San FRAN! Never a dull moment with my hub! 

DISNEYLAND (again!)

Me and my friends have a mutual love for Disneyland and it just works because Matt went one time this summer and he was good....not me though! 3 times wasn't even enough!

 See, I have been going to Disneyland every year since I was a little girl. We would go with our second family, the Bennetts, whom I completely adore. We would look forward to it all year!  We were that family... We always were first in line and had to get up REALLY early so we could beat the traffic and get there right when it opened and stay till they kicked us out when it closed. There were only 2 days out of the whole year when I was stoked to wake up early, Christmas, and the day we were going to Disneyland. Carson and I would literally pop right out of bed! From the second we arrived to the time we left, we wasted no time! We knew fast pass times, locations, and the quickest most effective route to every ride.  We would have our day perfectly mapped out so we didn't miss a thing! I have memories of my "big sister",  Kris, basically wrapping her feet in duct tape to prevent blisters because we would power walk from place to place, it was no joke! We always got a good laugh at how quickly we would move.  I remember one year when I was a little older and could keep up with the pace of things, Melodie turned to me and said "dang Brittany, you're right here keeping up so well!" I remember I couldn't help but be really proud of myself :) haha 
I have to tell another funny story really quick.  One year we were on the grizzly rapids ride in California Adventure and near the end there is this huge blowhole.  You never know when its going to blow, and one time it came right over our raft and basically landed all on Bart, drenching him from head to toe.  His hair was completely matted down on his head, there wasn't a patch of dry clothing, and his glasses were dripping water.  I  just remember thinking it was the funniest thing I had ever witnessed in my whole life! hahaha! 

So there's a little bit of why I love it so much and why I am always so happy when I go!

 One of my really close friends, Stacey, came up from Newbury Park, and Viv decided to come last minute. We had the best time and will argue that we know how to do Disneyland better than anyone else on the planet. We got a special pass that let us cut the lines because we know someone that works there! We started off at Disneyland and spent a lot of time there going on all the bests... we captured some super attractive pictures of ourselves on the rides too............ha! 

1st pic attempt not bad! 

Always ask people with nice cameras to take your picture, they get it. haha (4th attempt)

splash mountain bringing out the best in us...

I'm sorry these are just too funny

Had to make a churro stop!

Matterhorn selfie after we got WWWWhiplash 

Days at Disneyland call for shirts that allow breathing.....

our 7 dollar cones that melted before we could eat half of our ice cream....new diet plan--eat ice cream in 85 degree weather 

Paradise Pier!

Cars land is just too cute

I kind of feel like a granny for saying this, but we were rided out by the end of the day and were even feeling a little dizzy.  I finally understand how the adults felt all those years after asking them to go on roller coasters again and again... so we decided to have dinner on the pier and stay for the World of Color show! 

Cute restaurant right on the water

Oh you want to know the story of our experience on grizzly rapids?? I'll let my hair do the talking....

We had the best day! These girls are life long friends and I am so blessed to know them! I couldn't have thought of a better "end of summer girls day out!" I miss them already!!