the vacation before the vacation

As I mentioned before, I spent almost a week in Seattle and Tacoma.  Before I left, however, I spent a wonderful couple of days with one of my very favorite people, Cassie.  She came up from San Diego, and we worked on whittling down our Los Angeles "bucket list."  We definitely made a dent in it, and while doing so managed to enjoy some delicious food, great conversations, and some of the best coffee I have ever had.:o)

Venice canals

 

 Full of gorgeous houses and gardens

 

And (without question) less expensive than traveling to the originals:o)

 Venice beach

My bias is still toward Santa Monica but Venice is absolutely beautiful

Cass learning the cha cha cha at a local park

 A vanilla latte @ Cafe Luxxe

And for non-coffee drinkers there was apricot tea

And (of course) there was a visit to our fave local spot

Santa Monica

Breathtaking

Come again soon Cass! I miss you already.