Tropical Thursday Recognizes World Oceans Day

These photos were taken this past February while snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef.  World Oceans Day is a celebration of ocean conservation.  I have such a love with the sea and all its creatures.  Please join me in remembering to take care of one of our most amazing natural wonders.




CooCoo for Coconuts!

I can't take the credit for finding this recipe since my mom forwarded it to me, but I can certainly share it with all of you!  It's a delicious recipe for Coconut Pound Cake and extremely easy to make.  I hope you can find the time to make this goodie!

Serves 12 to 16
*Recipe from Southern Lady Magazine

Ingredients for Cake
2 cups (4 sticks) butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
6 eggs
1 (7-ounce) package of flaked coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon coconut flavoring

Ingredients for Icing
1 teaspoon coconut flavoring
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 Tbsp. milk
Flaked coconut (for topping)

1. Grease and flour a  Bundt pan. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cream butter and 2 cups sugar for 7 minutes in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 cup flour and mix well. Add eggs one at a time and mix. Add coconut with remaining 1 cup of flour. Mix well. Add vanilla and coconut flavoring. Spoon batter into pan; smooth the top. Tap the pan on the counter to get out any air pockets. Bake in the bottom third of the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
3. For Icing: Mix 2 cups powdered sugar, vanilla, coconut flavoring, and milk.
4. Loosen the side of the cake with a table knife and then turn out onto a cooling rack with waxed paper. Pierce the top of the cake all over with a fork. Cool completely on wire rack. Spoon icing over the top of the cake and sprinkle flaked coconut. Serve at room temperature.  Cake freezes well. Wrap in platic wrap and place the entire cake in a large freezer bag.

Please join me at A Beach Cottage for her Linky Party!

Carmel-by-the-Sea

I start a new job on Monday (yippee!), so Mr. H and I decided to spend my last week of "freedom" by visiting a few towns around us.   Carmel-by-the-Sea (aka Carmel) has been at the top of my list to visit, so we made the 2.5 hour drive south of Monterey Bay to this adorable seaside town.  If you ever visit California, Carmel should be on your list of things to see.....it's AMAZING!  It has fantastic shops, yummy cafes, beautiful art galleries, and quaint cottages.  And here's an interesting fact...Clint Eastwood (yes, the actor) was the mayor of Carmel from 1986-1988 and he still owns the Mission Ranch Hotel and Restaurant in town.     

I couldn't get over how beautiful the flowers were all over town.  So many different colors.

Love, love, love this window display.  It screams ocean!!

I was in search of fried oysters and we found them and a lot more at Flaherty's Oyster Bar.  Mr. H ordered crab tacos and I had delicious clam chowder soup with my friend oysters.   

We collect ornaments from every city we visit.  To represent Carmel, we selected an ornament with a cottage on the front because there are so many cottages in town.  The cottage pictured above is called The Tuck Box and is painted on the ornament we purchased.  The Tuck Box is a popular tea room in town.

Another view of The Tuck Box built by Hugh Comstock in 1927.  Hugh built several cottages in town refered to as the Comstock Fairy Tale Cottages.

It was suggested to Mr. H to visit Galante Vineyards & Winery for a wine tasting.  It's a cute lil' tasting room with a western vibe...be sure to check it out. 

Before moving to San Francisco, we lived in Houston...home of the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo (aka "the rodeo).  The rodeo is a big deal and hosts two weeks of concerts, bull riding contests, livestock shows, and a wine competition.  Galante Vineyards just won many awards for their wines in March at the rodeo...way to go!

I love this chair and it was comfy too!  Takes me back to my Texas roots...

Another adorable storefront called The Cottage of Sweets.  Any store that sells only sugar is my kind of place!

The designer-builder of The Tuck Box, Hugh Comstock, built several other fairy-tale cottages in Carmel.  This lil' cutie called "Hansel" was built by Hugh to house and showcase his wife's hobby of making "Otsy-Totsy" dolls. He built a sister property called "Gretel".

Beautiful beach!

Such beautiful white sand.

A Comstock Cottage inspired home!

Check out the beautiful turquoise water...almost looks like a Caribbean island, not California!

After visiting Carmel, we decided to drive a bit further along the PCH.  There are so many places to stop along the highway and walk down to the beach.  So we did just that! 

Stunning!

Walking along this beach feels as though you're on the movie set of "The Beach" with Leo DiCaprio...totally isolated, relaxing and beautiful.

Don't let the sun and blue water fool you....it was barely 60 degrees out there!

We took the famous 17-mile drive through Pebble Beach back home.  He's the start of our journey. 

The famous "Lone Tree".

You really can't appreciate how large this mansion is.....it seriously looks like a hotel in person!!

"Excuse me, sir, would you happen to have a sunflower seed to share with me?"

That's it for our Carmel-by-the-Sea adventure and I can't wait to head back!  If you've ever visited this lil' town, I'd love to hear your advice on other sights I should see/do.

Manhattan Beach

How was your holiday weekend?  Mine was great!  I had the fortunate opportunity to see one of my besties from Texas who flew in to visit a friend in San Diego.  On Saturday, I drove from SF to LA for a girls' afternoon/night at Manhattan Beach.  I'm starting to think I'm meant to be a SoCal girl....this cool or shall I say cold weather in NorCal is not sitting well with me in May!  I was definitely the only person in jeans (yes, JEANS!) and the palest person in sight while walking around Manhattan Beach.  Who have I turned into? Haha

This was a cute store....I took a picture of the store front because my pup's name is Bella. :)

I love how this seagull popped his foot....such a poser.

The girls....aren't they so pretty and trendy in their sundresses?  Again, notice me in my jeans on the beach...haha.

Picture perfect SoCal.

This was another cute beach shop we walked into.  I love sea turtles and took a photo of this pretty mural on the wall.

My purchase for the day....these super cute espadrilles from Katwalk.

What do you think?  Pretty cute, huh?

Katwalk was also selling this shirt.  It says "Je suis l'ocean" which mean "I am the ocean" in French.  This shirt was meant for me!

My weekend continued with a visit to another bestie who lives in Bakersfield.  She just had a baby boy and I was so lucky to meet the lil' guy and hang out with my friend.  The baby was so tiny and precious!  And today, I drove back to SF and spent the afternoon driving around Berkeley with Mr. H.....the sun was shining and we had the top down on the car....great Memorial Day afternoon!

View of the Bay Area from the top of the Berkeley Hills.

View of the Golden Gate...so pretty.