La Jolla Wedding and Pledge Class Reunion; Part I

When I was in Idaho I was visiting in-between two weddings that were just one week apart. The first was the wedding of my dear friend and college sorority sister, Kendal, to the love of her life Brandon. Not only was I invited to the wedding, I was honored to have been asked to stand by Kendal as one of her bridesmaids.

The wedding was in La Jolla at the La Jolla Shores hotel. The BF and I flew in early so we could make a mini romantic getaway out of the trip and also spend some time in LA. (Did I mention that I LOVE to travel with the BF? We are good at traveling together, and I know that is important and it makes me happy)
We both flew to LA and on our first day we drove around, headed to Venice beach, dined on some amazing food at Gjelina, and then walked the shops before driving along the coast to soak in some West coast beauty.

Limes hanging down above us on the patio at Gjelina

California Ave in California!

What we think is the flagship Toms store. 

Palm trees and blue sky for dayzzzz.

Street shopping and neat signage.

 Venice Beach Canals

 That night I was surprised by the BF driving us through LA, and finally arriving at Ink. , Michael Voltaggio's resteraunt. It almost feels like a crime to include this snipit of the trip in a large post, as it was hands down The BEST Meal I Have Ever Eaten In My Life. We ordered a smattering of dishes including: charred avocado, egg yolk gnocchi (be still my heart), heritage pork chop, lamb belly (never ever have I tasted such delight!), then we circled around for the hamachi because we were in love with the food. To top it all off, we had the apple dessert.

I can't even summarize this flavors of this meal into words. All I know is that M. Voltaggio is a force to be reckoned with. His food is crazy good. Surprising and complex. I will say it again-- best meal of my life. My mouth and palate is forever changed.

The next morning we were in a food funk thinking about how nothing could compare to that amazing meal, but needing something before we hit the road and drove down to La Jolla for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The BF has been eyeing a large donut in the sky from some of his previous trips to LA, so without further thought we started our morning with some amazing donuts.

These were amazing. 

After breakfast we hit the road and headed south. Taking a few detours to see some more West Coast beauty, we decided to stop in Del Mar to have lunch at Sbicca where we had a great view of the ocean. 

Sbicca patio view for a relaxing lunch. 

 Quickly checking out the beach view before driving the rest of the way to La Jolla.

That evening, after a mad dash to the hotel, was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The bride and groom were so happy, and the whole evening was really memorable. Kendal went out of her way to make, yes I said make, personalized bridesmaid gifts. Mine was an adorable blue and cream colored soft ipad carrying case. It was embroidered with my name and had a soft fuzzy cream liner that Kendal picked because "it reminded her of poodles". Now that is friendship right there!! 

I mean seriously, how adorable is that??

Stay tuned for Part II.....

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