Welcome to Everything Coastal, a blog all about lifestyles at the beach - showcasing coastal decorating styles, beach travel, beach house recipes and entertaining by the sea!
I invited Tom on a Friday night date last night. I even wore a dress for the occasion! What do you think of the view from our ocean side table? Seriously, we have to pinch ourselves every time we realize how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful place! We had dinner in Montara, a tiny coastal town north of Half Moon Bay, and south of San Francisco on Hwy 1.
Cannot begin to rave enough about our newly discovered restaurant beside the sea - La Costera! Truly, their dining room and lower deck bar, are all about the view of the Pacific Ocean. Just driving by, you would have no idea of what is waiting inside. Wide open floor to ceiling windows to the sea, and tastefully decorated in a coastal-seaside style, La Costera proudly claims their specialty in freshly prepared contemporary Peruvian cuisine. Oh mi... we sampled three different tapas on their Happy Hour menu, and promptly gobbled up every single delish bite. The presentation was gorgeous, and every thing was fresh and full of interesting flavor combinations. Peruvian cuisine may be my new fave!
Moving on to our dinner choice, Tom and I followed our dining out "rule". We always try something that we can't (or won't) make at home. Last night, we decided to be brave and try this Paella. The only reason I am saying "brave" is because neither one of us had ever tried anything cooked with calamari (squid) ink. Pella Negra Saffron rice, Peruvian style seafood paella, with calamari, seasonal fish, shrimp, mussels & clams cooked in calamari ink & salsa blanca
Filled with tender prawns, steamer clams, fresh mussels, beautifully prepared monk fish and calamari. I can assure you that we were not disappointed.
We somehow managed to save room for chocolate lava cake for dessert! P.S. Their wine list is Fantastic. Not only some affordable local (California) selections, but also some wonderful different choices from South America and Spain. Have a great Saturday everyone!
Last month when I got my advance copy of the latest Ocean Home Magazine, I opened it up to discover a wonderful article about travels and things to do in Half Moon Bay. As you all know, I spend A LOT of time over there wandering the beaches, picking up sea glass and dining at some of my favorite beach haunts; Half Moon Bay Brewery, Moss Bay Distillery and The Ritz Carlton to name a few.
We were so excited to see Tom's friend Doug Brown, owner of Half Moon Bay Art Glass, profiled in the article too! Doug's specialty is his famous, hand blown colorful Half Moon Bay glass pumpkins. Every single one of these incredibly beautiful pumpkins is uniquely different - cannot imagine how many of these amazing creations he's made.
We jumped in the new Mini Cooper (have I told you about our Mini yet??) to take a copy of the magazine over to Doug at his glass art studio. He was so happy to get a copy that he invited me back to learn how to blow glass the following week. Just gotta say; the man is brave and a courageous teacher! "Hot" doesn't even begin to describe molten glass in Doug's kilns - yikes.
Here's Doug hard at work! I just tried to stay out of the way as he is amazing to watch.
Finishing touches before being placed in the kiln to be fired overnight.
Whew! Somehow I managed to spend an hour in Doug's studio without burning myself -
and look how my "pumpkin" turned out! I was a little afraid of the glass blowing part, and truly handling the glass is much harder than it looks, but I am pretty proud of my little pumpkin paperweight.
You too, can learn how to do create these. If you are planning a trip to our stretch of the California Coast, or if you are a Bay Area local, Doug teaches regular classes in his Half Moon Bay Art Glass Studio, for all ages and all experience levels,. Not just for pumpkins alone, but he's taught classes in creating glass hearts or sea creatures. It is extremely affordable and fun at only $40.00, and about a half-hour's time. Plus, you actually get to keep your very own creation!
I feel terrible about neglecting all of our blog readers. Unfortunately, I have been stuck in my office for over a month now - and all my creative ideas are being used up on our new website. It will be amazing once it is finally done, but at this point it looks like it may be another month or so before the fantabulous unveiling.
So, in the meantime, I am glued to my desk chair editing both sites. Drinking buckets of coffee, and forgetting to eat... maybe sneaking a chocolate chip cookie or two....
Here are a few more of my dream office spaces! Maybe after our new website is done?
Really not opposed to the mix of faux coral, zebra and wicker either... from House Beautiful
Clean white office with beachy aquas. Pretty, but my office would be way messier than this!
