last week i had a great opportunity to travel with andrew on a business trip to california, a destination that rarely makes the list for his trips since his company already has an office out there. we decided to seize the opportunity for me to join him, and i’m so glad we did! we started off in san diego and stayed a night with my aunt and uncle, which was such a treat, and then spent the remainder of our time in the greater l.a. area. on thursday, i had the rental car and half a day to myself, so i did some exploring and documented it to show andrew later. 
enjoy a glimpse:
i decided to take a drive down to huntington beach, and because it was such a gorgeous day, i kept driving. i was thrilled when i stumbled across newport beach/balboa island. when i was in middle/high school, i read a series of books that was based there and had always dreamed about going one day. check out the cuteness of balboa island.
as much fun as it was to be exploring by myself, i was itching for some people to photograph. there were literally great spots everywhere you looked!
these trees lined the streets of balboa, and i fell in love with them!
seriously? who has a cute post office??? balboa island does. by the way, golf carts were everywhere–people that live on the island use them as their primary means of transportation.
if people aren’t riding golf carts, they are riding bicycles. this one was tucked in an alley next to a bookstore we had checked out. again, this was photography location heaven!
as i was sitting on this bench to eat my tasty lunch from a local market (insert photo for andrew, of course), i got a phone call from andrew that his last meeting was over. he explained that it would be a while until we met up because he was all the way down in newport beach. back up. “wait, i’m in newport beach!!” turns out we were about 5 minutes from each other and got to spend the rest of the afternoon together in the setting of one of my favorite books growing up!!
while there, we HAD to get the famous balboa bars that i had read about–delicious!
after a bit of exploring, we said our goodbyes to balboa and headed back up to go out on a date night and walk on the beach~
our only photo with palm trees.
~
under the pier~
sunset is my favorite way to end a day together~
and in-n-out burger is my favorite way to end a trip to california.
now that we are home and settled, i’ll be back next week with new sessions to post. until then~
i don’t travel very often, so when i do, i love capturing city lights. here we are coming into dc. 
i know this isn’t particularly spectacular, but i wanted you to see how massive the crowd was! it was like this everywhere!!
jefferson memorial.
we had gorgeous weather saturday and sunday of our trip, but saturday (as you can see above) was crazy windy. the branches were going wild, so andrew had to hold this branch so i could get the shot below. 
thanks, hon! 
did i mention the blossoms were in peak bloom?? they were so dense!!
the washington monument, of course.
where should we go for lunch? i had to laugh that everyone (myself excluded) pulled out their blackberry.
andrew actually grabbed this shot and it has become one of my fav. pics from the trip. i’m not sure what, but there’s something about it that i love!
the white house. if you look to the left, you’ll see the washington monument. one thing we loved about dc is that everywhere you look, you see a major monument or building. so cool.
on saturday we ended up walking about 10 miles, so a quick ride on the metro was definitely welcome.
on our way to the naval observatory open house, we walked past several embassies. i especially loved this one for vatican city. yes, they had their own embassy!
as the sun was setting, we walked past the national cathedral. 
katherine grabbed this shot of andrew and i–i love it!
back at rob and katherine’s place, we enjoyed some homemade strawberry shortcake. rob and katherine are both amazing in the kitchen–it is such a treat to stay with them!
the next morning we headed out bright and early, after a quick stop at dunkin donuts of course, to try to beat the crowds. 
it worked! we had an entire metro car to ourselves for several stops. while we’re on the topic, may i mention how much we loved the metro? it was our exclusive form of transportation for the weekend–no cars–and was incredibly convenient, clean, and easy to use! how do we get this in atl?
world war 2 memorial.
i am a fairly indecisive person, but i will have to say that this memorial was my fav. for so many reasons, one being that you had a great view of both the washington and lincoln monuments.
of course, the actual structure helped, too. 
the lesser known world war 1 memorial.
more cherry blossoms…and a lot less crowded early in the morning!
at the sculpture garden, katherine, rob, and andrew are studying a modern piece.
rob (who is in the navy) at the navy memorial. super cool memorial.
train arriving at the metro station…
our last morning we attempted to get into the archives to see the declaration of indepence. after waiting in line for over an hour (did i mention it was raining?), we gave up and headed up the steps to check out the front of the building. when we reached the top of the steps to the national archives, we felt like jack in the bean stalk. anyone remember that fairy tale? we felt so tiny!! check out these doors!
being swallowed by the columns…
since it was raining, we made union station our last stop before heading to the airport. 
the sounds and bustling activity at union station made for a different and fun experience. and i had no idea there were restaurant and shops inside?? i would definitely recommend stopping through here if you are in dc.