a little rendezvous in newport

thanks to a last minute decision we found ourselves at the newport coast villas with a few family members over the weekend. saturday morning we took a walk along the beach and ate at this yummy breakfast place that sits on the sand called the beachcomber. we relaxed and hung out in our "what evers" most of the time enjoyed the beautiful ocean view!

i still cannot get over this day. is this weather for real? is it really november? i lived in utah for long enough that i have forgotten what southern california weather is like. it's sort of surreal! 

we also laughed at things like my sister, shalice, tripping over this huge pile of seaweed,

and carter discovering tortilla chips

i know carter, i know. they're addicting.

we spent some time on the balcony taking in the ocean view while eating raspberries and squinting because it was so bright. this really was the dinner-is-almost-ready-we-are-desperate-time.

that night, we met up with a few friends at fashion island to see the lighting of their Christmas tree. i have been really trying to hold off on Christmas festivities. i have always been a die hard Christmas-after-thanksgiving type of person but holy smokes, a person can only wait for soooOOOOOooo long. thanksgiving is so late this year! 

the truth is i started blasting 103.5 Christmas songs on the coast in my car about 2 weeks ago. i couldn't resist! one day, i turned on Christmas music while showering, not thinking anything of it. daron came in the room shocked. oopsies. and alas, my secret was out. since then, we have just decided to embrace Christmas with open arms. and there's no better way to get giddy about Christmas than seeing fashion island's incredible Christmas tree. it's one the tallest in the entire world. over 100 feet and au naturel. the smell... it's amazing!

the before^

and after!^

i have a feeling we will be seeing a lot of this tree this season

i know your favorite tree should probably be your own, but since "our" tree this year is technically my parents, i'm dubbing fashion island's tree as my favorite. feeling really good about this decision too...