C is for California!

OK, it's not quite two weeks since I've been back, so I'm not THAT delinquent. And, well, if you're cranky about it - this is what I say to you:
Not really, this is just my favorite picture from the trip. We went to La Jolla twice to see the seals. I was way more amused by them than is probably normal for a nearly-30 year old!

The seals are funny waddling around on the beach and then so graceful in the water. Saturday was in the high 70s, so there was a lot of time spent with the seals swimming then getting out to sun themselves on the rocks.
The pup birthing season starts in late January, so I was hoping to see a baby, which is why we went back on Sunday. To our luck, we were able to see Bubbles.

It was a little bittersweet, as it appeared the pup was abandoned and he was being harassed by a seagull. I was happy to find out when we came home and I read up on the website and saw that Sea World came to rescue the pup and that he's doing well.

Other than seal watching, we spent time wandering through Balboa Park and looking at all the gorgeous flowers in bloom. We used the flowers to practice using the macro setting on my new camera. Like everything else, Jake is way better at the photos. I think he has a steadier hand or something. Here are some of my favorites! (click to make the whole mosaic bigger, or the bottom links for the individual photos over on flickr.)
1. IMG_0301, 2. IMG_0360, 3. IMG_0334, 4. IMG_0328, 5. IMG_0326, 6. IMG_0324, 7. IMG_0323, 8. IMG_0319, 9. IMG_0315, 10. IMG_0312

The rest of the time in California was spent eating good food, enjoying the fabulous hotel right on the beach and watching the sunsets trying to catch a green flash. Jake has to go back to San Diego for another 13 days for work. I won't get to go again, though.

Now, I need to make my shopping list for Valentine's Day. I am making Jake dinner and attempting a souffle for dessert (a la Mark Bittman's Column). We don't really do much to 'celebrate' the day, so we'll mostly do errands, but cooking dinner seems a good excuse to use the funky silver candlesticks I got for my shower!

Have a great weekend!!