I'll take my tacos with a side of happy, please.

My boyfriend took me away to celebrate my birthday over the weekend. We stayed at the cutest hotel in Monterey called Hotel 1110. It was seriously one of the best vacations I have had and I know I will be longing to relive it for years to come.

Our welcome toast :)

We had a busy week last week (like every week..) and decided to take a very laid-back approach to the whole weekend. On Friday evening, we had dinner at home to both save money and use up the last of the week's groceries. After we casually packed essentials for the weekend and headed up the coast. We arrived at Hotel 1110 around 10PM and fell in lust. The lobby is decorated in rich golds and luscious reds, with accents of cool blues. It is a family-owned business and quickly became one of my favorite places. Upon arrival, one of the owners checked us in while the bartender poured us welcome champagne. We sipped our bubbly and made our way upstairs to our room, and then up another story to the rooftop deck. The warmth from the heating lamps and the alcohol (we up'd our game and poured rye and gingers) combined with the conversation - the good conservation that is layered and deep but also light with laughter - made for a perfect rooftop night. 

The next morning we woke up and headed downstairs for a home (hotel?) cooked breakfast of poached eggs over roasted tomatoes, sausages, and French bread. We took our time, slowly eating the intimate meal; compared to the less-than-personal standard continental breakfast usually served at hotels. I swooned over my boyfriend, and his adorably-messy bed head and perfect brown eyes, in between sips of coffee. I was the luckiest girl in the world. 

Cactus invasion 

After eating we went back to our cozy hotel room and leisurely alternated between watching the Food Network and getting ready for the next adventure; a hike with a packed picnic lunch. I'm not necessarily a hardcore nature-lover but this hike was gorgeous. It started almost desert like with cactus's sprawling all around but quickly transformed into a green wonderland with tiny streams and strong tangled trees. Midway out we stopped for our lunch of  ham and brie sandwich on a giant fallen tree. 

I'm King (Queen) of the wooorld

Admittedly the hike was longer than I expected. After lunch I was ready to head back but my brown-eyed boyfriend wanted to continue trekking. We didn't make it all the way to the top (and if we did I might of still been up there now considering how long - and how many falls - it took me to make my way down the slippery, downgrade portion of our hike) but still experienced an amazing view. (And had the opportunity to take an I'm King of the World picture.) 

This hike was probably the most exercise I've had in the past two months (yes, I'm sore today) so I felt good and ready for a shower after! Another round of Diners, Drive-Ins and Drives (while doing my makeup and brushing my hair) later and we were ready for a food crawl.* We walked to Cannery Row and majorly indulged in wings, beer, and onion strings. After carb-loading I was ready for lighter fair, so we walked in the brisk night to a restaurant on the ocean where we split a Cesar salad with grilled salmon. 

So chic 

Stomachs full, we made our way back to our little gem-hotel. Once there we decided to have a drink at the hotel bar. Here we spent the next 2 hours drinking a bottle of champagne and making friends with the bartender and the hotel owner. Many bubbles, laughs, and a shot of tequila (a couple also having a great vacation bought a round) later and we'd again concluded Hotel 1110 was a new favorite spot; for the decor and the hospitality. 

This morning, we enjoyed another intimate, delicious breakfast (this time of french toast and berries), packed and, sadly, checked-out. I was still bliss-ed out and found myself wanting to delay regular life some more. The basics like laundry and grocery shopping - time consuming tasks you try to do over the weekend to prepare yourself for a stress free work week - would have to wait. I wanted to prolong our vacation, even if it meant not getting my whites, dark's, and colors clean, folded, and put away. I didn't want this perfect weekend to end. I wanted to stay in it... even for a couple of hours... so, we decided to go to the beach. 

...But then we got coffee and there was traffic and I was hungry. Change of plans, we'll eat first and then go to the beach. Except the service was sloooow (and terrible!) at the place we decided to dine. My vacation buzz was wearing off and quickly being replaced by reality. My coffee no longer tasted good because the cinnamon I added didn't mix with the spicy salsa at the restaurant. I failed to realize the fish in my fish tacos came battered and fried until I bite into the greasiness. Time was passing and stress was stirring. My supposed-to-be-bonus-vacation-hours sucked... But the raspberry dressing on my salad was pretty good... and the sun felt nice... and I still had that beautiful boyfriend sitting across from me... trying to make me laugh... making me smile... so, it wasn't so bad... crunchy cod and all.

Love almost always,

Ashley  

*Most of the time when we are on vacations we'll do mini food crawls; we'll have drinks at one restaurant, appetizers at another, and entries at a third.