Laguna Beach

Breakfast is quite possibly my favourite meal of the day. I woke up particularly excited for my first meal, knowing that the surreal had become real - my uni friends were here.

Lauren and Ashley had set up camp at my grandma's summer house up the street from mine. We went to work like busy housewives, Ashley chopping berries, Lauren scrambling up the eggs, and me on table setting duties.

Lauren's mom had made us the most delectable rum cake and Lauren carried it all the way from New York! It went brilliantly with our coffee and tea, and also with the Greek yoghurt and berries we drizzled with honey.



After breakfast we piled in the car and drove down to the beach. As designated tour guide, I decided to drive down PCH from Newport Beach to Laguna, to give Ashley and Lauren a wee peek of the ocean. Unfortunately, as can happen by the sea, it was cloudy. The Pacific wasn't nearly as sparkling turquoise as it can be, but we enjoyed the ride nonetheless. We made it to Laguna as LA Calling by Crystal Fighters blared through the stereo and the sun tried peeking through the clouds.



I led the way to the tide pools tucked behind one end of the beach.



It was a bit of a misadventure… I'm not really sure why, but it smelled like something large and fishy had died. We also didn't find any tide pool dwellers. We snapped photos and stuck our noses into hermit crab homes anyway, while I loudly complained silently prayed for the sun to come out.

We walked back towards the main beach and claimed a lovely bit of sand away from the tourists. We basked in the sun (which finally decided to show itself) for hours and hours.



With a very necessary gelato break in between.



I love this little niche pathway. It's old and hidden from the main drag of cars and tourists, and a vanillary scent wafts through from the waffle cones at the gelato shop. It all seems a bit magical, like faeries used to live here or something. Prime example of my rampant imagination.







After devouring our gelatos and taking a veeerryy long nap in the sand, the girls donned different dresses for dinner (and I, the Californian, didn't bother).

There was a mural stuck in the sand a stone's throw from our tanning spot just begging to be a photo op. We obliged.







Ashley struck profile picture gold. Ain't she a beaut? Totally envious of her blue and white Vince Camuto number.





As the sun went down, we meandered down PCH to La Casa del Camino Hotel for dinner. We made our way up the rooftop lounge in just time to watch the sun say goodbye for the day.































On our walk back to the car, we came across a procession of Holi celebrators beating drums and having a lot of fun. By this time, we were already thinking about eating again - part of the reason we're friends, of course - and decided on a late night In-N-Out burger run.





After showering and grabbing In-N-Out, we settled into our glasses of wine and called it a night. Crazy spring breakers, right?

**Thank you oh so very much to Lauren, for letting me steal the photos she took on her camera.