Kirk in Cali!

In June, I was able to attend a couple of CEU trainings in California (if anyone wants to know anything about Bipolar Disorder or Motivational Interviewing and Coding, let me know, LOL!). It was a wonderful opportunity to see my baby brother in San Jose as well as college and grad school friends in San Diego! It was a whirlwind to say the least but the education AND fun I was able to accomplish made it all worth it!!

After almost a day of travel, my bro picked me up in San Francisco and we were off to the beach!

The wind was chilly but the sun was hot. California beaches are so different than anything I grew up with on the East Coast or have experienced in Japan.

Cole took me to Guy Fieri's restaurant,  Johnny Garlic's, for dinner and it absolutely lived up to my garlicky expectations!

We were able to spend some time in downtown San Francisco and it was so beautiful and fun! There are so many restaurants I want to go back and try!

The harbor area was gorgeous.

Alcatraz!

Token Japanese peace fingers photo

Had to do it. I HAD to drive down Lombard Street. It's NO joke with its steep curves, but so beautiful! The homes were amazing!!

Another "had to" moment. I HAD to see the Golden Gate Bridge.

Cole was a wonderful host! I was super sad the nephews were in Virginia the week I was there, but we were able to have some awesome sibling time in the meantime. 

And get this: one of my best friends from college and one of my best friends from grad school became friends themselves out in Southern California! What a SMALL world! We had an amazing dinner together and all of their children are BEAUTIFUL. I have been SO blessed with such wonderful friends.

Next time I go to Cali, Joel had BETTER come with me - there are simply too many fantastic restaurants that he cannot afford to miss out on! :-)