I woke up at 4am, picked up my friend Reese (and her bun in the oven) up at 5am (okay, 5 minutes after 5am), then we headed out towards Santa Barbara. We wanted to make sure to get out of the city before traffic hits and come back home before traffic hits. When you live in southern California, your outings revolve around traffic. You want to try and avoid it if you can!

It was a great drive up. Reese and I were chatty about everything and laughing about everything. We actually just met a year ago (as a result of her traveling to L.A. to meet her boyfriend’s family and friends), then she married said boyfriend (who is one of my closest guy friends), and they just moved back to Southern California from Minneapolis with a little baby on the way. Despite not knowing each other for very long, it seriously feels like we’ve known each other forever. She’s someone that I just feel comfortable speaking and laughing with despite only knowing each other for a short period of time. No awkward getting to know each other moments at all! I’m always thankful for kindred spirits and Reese definitely is one.

We got to Santa Barbara and walked around the beach, more like the cliff area of the beach. Then, we grabbed some yummy breakfast. After which, we continued about another hour northeast into the country until we reached our destination. The reason for the little road trip was to pick up some fantastic find on craigslist. It’s something Ben and I have been searching for and we finally found it! It’s a bench for our backyard and when everything is set up, I will definitely share pictures.

I found the listing Sunday morning and Ben and I would have picked it up Sunday afternoon, but the seller had work at 1pm, so we wouldn’t have made it in time. We didn’t want to chance waiting until our next chance to go together because I’m sure the bench would have sold had we waited a full week. We thought it would work out if I went on Monday morning. Thankfully Reese, who is a Starbucks manager and used to being up so early, was up for the challenge, we were able to borrow my dad’s truck, Ben had to leave the house at noon for work, so we had Steph, our babysitter, come watch the girls until I got home. We’re so happy it worked out and that we safely got there and back home. I love driving (as long as it isn’t in traffic) and I love road trips, so I had a blast even if I had to wake up before the sun did.

The bench is outside and we are still working on pulling things together for a cozy, comfy outdoor space, but it’s slowly coming along. We’ve been budgeting to be able to do some things to our backyard and that’s our main project for this spring (last spring was wood floors), so it’s been fun seeing it all come to fruition. Don’t worry… I promise to share it when it’s all done. Do you have any major house projects you plan on tackling this spring?