palm beach + the best gluten-free sandwich i ever ate.

soooo let's just take a second to ignore the fact that i have completely neglected this little blog here for the past month or so (read: entire summer) and that i really, really meant to post this at some time much closer to july 12th. 

but you know my favorite mantra... better late than never, right? so we're just going to pretend for a second that it's july 12th, and i am wishing my darling cousin josie and her kind husband jeremy the happiest of first anniversaries! remember they're beautiful summer wedding photos i took in mesa, arizona last summer?

in honor of their anniversary, i though i'd share one of my favorite memories from our trip to australia to visit them earlier this year!

josie + jeremy were the perfect aussie-american tour guide duo and really showed us the best what sydney had to offer. one of our most picturesque australian adventures took place my second morning there (let's talk about jet lag, for a sec! the germany to australia time difference was a doozy). 

josie and jeremy took us on a hike to visit the lighthouse at palm beach in new south wales, and it was gorgeous. 

there was the most unique scenery combination at palm beach, with an almost-tropical vibe and plenty of unique vegetation. i loved the color of the water and how much prettier the views got, the higher we climbed. it was so cool to see where the waters nearly touched, too! 

we finished off our morning adventure by stopping at nourished. (in the local beach town of avalon) for an early lunch. we noshed with the (likely, according to my in-the-know australian sources) next prime minister of australia, which was the coolest. and by "noshed with the next prime minister," i really mean creepily eyed him from a few tables over, as he had also stopped in avalon for brunch while on his bike ride. but really, what's the difference? 

the food was to die for, and i was so excited for all of the gluten-free options! in fact, eating gluten-free in sydney was actually not too terribly difficult. in avalon, i ate the best gluten-free sandwich of my life... grilled cajun chicken on toasted gf bread. and jeremy even ate gluten-free... their blueberry compote pancakes were beautiful and so tasty. 

it was a perfect morning. i mean really, is there anything more ideal than family, good food, a nice hike, and the beach? oh yeah, and australia! perfect. 

a sunday at the barn.

when we were at home last weekend,
i showed tess allll around my hometown.
and tess adores horses,
so i naturally had to bring her down to our neighborhood barn.

we took a sunday stroll with little jakey down to the barn,
and tess was one happy girl.
it's always fun for me to go to the barn, too.
it reminds me of my childhood...
bike rides to the horse stables with pockets full of carrots,
the occasional horseback ride,
and picnics at the nearby park.

can't you see why i'm so obsessed with where i grew up?
i miss it.

summer, epitomized.

sometimes, my aunt/uncle/cousins come to town from the weekend.

and we hit up the lake on a saturday afternoon.

and the sun shines and shines and shines for us.

and the water is the perfect, cool temperature.

and we don't stop playing for hours.

jardines.

what did i love about sevilla?

the gardens at el real alcázar.

palm trees,

patterns,

&

peacocks.

allll in one location.

how's that for an aesthetic heart attack?

oh, and i guess the building itself was pretty cool too...

view from my balcony, la fortuna.

so i must admit, i am feeling a bit spoiled.

i woke up this morning to this view:

seriously, it's unbelievable.

when the fog clears (which is rare... we are in the rainforest, after all), you can see the volcano's mini eruptions.

i'm not much of an earth science person (tectonic plates aren't my thing), but even i catch myself thinking, this is sweet.

after a long, adventuresome day in the jungle, we're set to head back to san jose tomorrow to enjoy city life for a day.

then, it's back home to colorado.

is it fair to say that this trip has gone by too quickly?

ayyyy carumba, i never want to leave!