My 100 Year Old Mansion

I knew I wanted to take some time to travel after graduating college. The lack of a job proposal after I walked to get my diploma did help with that decision, but I knew after my *next* trip I'd get a job, get an apartment, and decorate my windowsills with succulents while stressing over a car payment. That's the life, right? The summer after graduation was peppered with trips to Yellowstone and drives down to southern Utah. Thanksgiving travels brought a spontaneous trip to India. After Christmas, Chinese visas were stamped into my passport. Now, that gap year I had planned after graduating has turned into a year and some change. But after China, that's when I'd settle in and start work in a proper office like a grown up, right? Now I find myself typing away in California cafes and coffee shops during an extended stay in Coronado.

The invitation was too good to pass up. I write and edit for a couple different companies on a contracted freelance basis, meaning I can rack up my hours wherever there's wifi. And there happens to be wifi in this gorgeous home I'm staying in. Now, technically this mansion isn't mine. Just in case you didn't get the "I can't afford a house in Coronado because I work as a writer then spend money on plane tickets vibe", I can't even think of being able to afford to live here because I work as a writer and spend money on plane tickets. My cousins are managing the property in their own inspired turn of events, and there happens to be 14 or so extra rooms for me to stay in. How could I say no?

I've got hours to spend with my 3 darling second cousins; I mean, you can't resist when an adorable little curly haired 3-year-old says "Can you pick me up and read me a story?". I'm more than happy to play on the rope swing or pick oranges with the kids while parents can run errands without their energetic entourage. I'll plug away in the library reading articles or out the porch with a cuppa tea in the mornings, read some stories and join the princesses in their castle or battle with lightsabers before packing a bag for the beach. It's a walkable 10 minutes past charming beach homes and sprawling estates before reaching sandy shores and ocean views, interrupted only by the massive naval ships out in the distance. I'll stay for the afternoon, devouring novels and snacking on goodies from the adorable grocery store down the street. My calendar has the local farmer's market pegged and I'm already used to scheduling in the beach a couple days a week (in between appointments at the princess castle, of course).

I still am infatuated with the blue tiled and old styled bathtub knobs, and the ivy carpeted windows. Everything is so old and enchanting. Sure, a house this old has its quirks but it's an adventure to live somewhere with old metal door knobs that twist to open heavy wooden doors, or black and white tiled kitchens with an actual icebox refrigerator.

It's lovely.

I bought a one way ticket to California and don't know what the next chapter will be in my extended gap year. Maybe I'll get that succulent filled window sill and car payment, or maybe my post graduate year will spill into two...or three.

When it Rains in Coronado.

September demands a vacation. It's a transitional month, a 30 day split between summer as it slowly melts into fall. Naturally, California, the eternal summer, offered a lovely break before jumping into a new job and extended the summer month just a week longer. A late (but heavily delayed) flight brought me to LAX late Thursday, and the lovely Miss Emily was kind enough to pick me up at the airport. We'd been roommates at university before I bid a tearful goodbye and she left BYU for USC, (a fine trade I suppose) to attend graduate school. It's all very sad until I get to crash at her apartment and spend time with her in Los Angeles. Then it's pretty great. A couple of days full of friends and sunshine was a grand way to spend the weekend, before  hopping on a train at Union Station and headed south towards San Diego for some cousin time. 

Maybe it's because I'm trying to stretch summer just a tad longer, but it ended up pouring buckets on Tuesday. I suppose walking around the shops in Coronado sopping well was an adventure but I was ready for some serious beach time that day. Refuge was found in a corner coffee shop and a rad store until the worst of it was over. The up side of the whole affair was that Coronado looked beautiful when dripping wet, hence the photos. The rest of the week was spent with my little cousins, wandering the beach in the mornings, and staying up late talking. Thrift shopping in Utah doesn't hold a candle to the Salvation Army's and Goodwill's found elsewhere. Of course, an afternoon was spent at the beach though the kids wanted to go to the pool, but "Emily doesn't have a beach where she lives". Right you are, mister. Balboa park also made it into the itinerary, as did lunch at places only found in Coronado. 

 
The Salt Lake City airport greeted me back with monsoon like weather and a definite dip into fall. Armed with wool skirts and ankle boots found thrift shopping, I do think it's time to let summer go...although you can bet popsicles will still make an appearance part way through October.