7 days in Northern California

We just got back from a week in Northern California, and it might have been my favorite yet. It had a lovely mix of pure relaxation: hours of reading outside, walking along the beach collecting shells, being with my family, a few days alone with G, and eating well. Like, really, really well.

Here's a look at how we spent seven days, including everything I packed and wore, where we stayed, what we ate, and all the places we visited and shopped along the way.

Day 1

We arrived at my parents’ house by mid-afternoon after a 6-hour car trip, ate a stone fruit salad my dad prepared (a nice contrast to the McDonald’s we’d gotten along the way), and then went downtown Mill Valley to walk around. The shopping there has gotten considerably better in recent years, and I always visit Tysa, Pavilion, and Eli and pop in to my cousin’s store, Cypress.

Then, as per tradition on our first night, we went to dinner at PizzaHacker, a casual, family-friendly spot that serves great wood-fired pizza, salads, wine and beer, and most importantly, has a shuffleboard set-up that Sloan and I beeline for every time we go.

I wore my inside-out sweatshirt (that I actually got at Tysa a couple years ago), vintage Levi’s, and Birkenstock mules.

Day 2