It’s no secret around these parts that I love living in California. I am a California girl, through and through, and am so proud to call it my home. Our little neighborhood that we live in is actually the same one I’ve lived in my entire life. My parents brought me home from the hospital to the same exact house that we live in now and that we brought Sam home from the hospital in. And I love it. This little neighborhood is home to me. It’s familiar. And it’s great.
One of our favorite things to do since having Sam is to go on family walks around our neighborhood. We live in Sacramento, which is the capital but also nicknamed “the city of trees” because it has the most trees in the world! Fun fact! So as you can imagine, walks around our tree-lined neighborhood streets are pretty nice. :) Sam loves being pushed in his stroller or being worn in his carrier, so he’s close to our chests, and he goes right to sleep, which gives me and Zack a nice time to talk and take it all in.
I’m so excited for this summer, so we can go on more family walks, and also have picnics in the park near our house. McKinley Park is a great place to walk through the rose garden and feed the ducks at the pond. When Sam’s older, there’s also a pool, tennis and basketball courts, a sweet playground for him to play at and a library, too! It’s really like the best park ever. The antique fair under the freeway is a favorite spot to go to the first sunday of every month. I love scouring the goods and finding fun things. Now that we have Sam, I’ve got another person to shop for, too! ;)
We love riding our bikes in our community, too, and eating outside at The Shack for the best turkey sandwiches and fries in town. They also have a great brunch with mimosas on the weekend! Yum! And of course we plan on walking to Starbucks in the morning, since it’s literally right around the corner from our house. Convenient? Yes. Dangerous? Of course. Awesome? Duh.
As far as summer plans, all of these things will be included, as well as a few day trips to other places. One thing that I love about where we live is our close proximity to a few awesome places, namely San Francisco, which is one of my favorite cities in the world, and Tahoe. I’m already planning a day trip to the city with Sam and I couldn’t be more excited! I think he’ll fall in love, too. And of course Lake Tahoe in the summer is a must! A road trip to the coast is in my plans, too. Love me some Southern California. Gotta dip those baby toes in some salt water.
California, I love you. Summer, I hope you’re ready for us. ;)
And now for some benefits and the economic impact of home ownership, from CA Association of REALTORS® themselves:
What starts with one California REALTOR® benefits all of California. That’s the underlying sentiment of the California Association of REALTORS® (CAR) integrated consumer ad campaign called ‘Ripple’. Now in its second year, the “Ripple” campaign connects the dots between REALTORS® and the California economy, illustrating how a Champion of Home™ can help consumers close on their dreams and, together, benefit the entire state. For example, one of the campaign spots tells the story of how a REALTOR® gave a family pricing and marketing strategies to help them sell their home.
What do you love about your city?
Any fun plans for summer?
xo
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
i will always bee a cali girl at heart, although i’ve spent the past 11 years in las vegas. i miss the beaches, HUGE farmer’s markets, and my small little home town.
vegas isn’t bad though, if you can look past the heat haha! we have so many hiking, climbing, trail running, and camping havens just minutes from our doorstep that it is really tough not to be active. we also now have several small farmer’s/crafter’s markets around the valley.
since we can’t make the 4 hour escape to california as much as we’d like, we’ve made it a tradition to go to the lake each summer. last summer we even camped right on the water for a few days! i can’t wait to recreate that this summer. :)
Aren’t the farmers markets the best?! LOVE them! :) And you can take the girl out of California, but you can’t take California out of the girl. <3
xo
Sounds like fun!! I’ve never been out to the west coast but you make it sound so awesome! I am looking forward to spending our summer days laying on the beach at lake Ontario. I can’t believe I live so close to a great lake– and that people use it as a “beach” during the summer! So crazy.
So cool that you live near a great lake!! You’re going to have to take advantage of that, for sure!
xo
That’s pretty cool that you can say that you truly know this neighborhood, and that it’s like another home to you. Not many people can say that, me included!
Yeah, I’m pretty lucky in that way! :) I love my little neighborhood!
xo
Sacramento is awesome and I love living here! I love all the same things you do. As for plans, I really want to go wine tasting in Napa. I haven’t been in forever!
Ooh wine tasting in Napa! I’ve never been! :) But I do love the vineyards around here!
xo
My Mom was born and raised in Southern California so we spent a lot of time there since Vegas isn’t that far away.
I loooove SoCal!!
xo
My husband and I will be in CA in July and I am SO excited because I have never been there! eekk – can’t wait!! :-)
So exciting! Which parts of California are you going to??
xo
We will be in Palm Springs for a few days and would like to go to San Diego for a day as well. Can’t wait!!
I grew up in Northern California and LOVED taking trips to Tahoe with my family and taking trips to SF for shopping! The BEST shopping in SF! Now I love in Southern California and LOVE it here too. California girl through and through too!
YES. Shopping in SF is seriously the best. And Tahoe- looove. I’m kind of jealous you live in SoCal now. That’s our goal, one day! Life on the beach. <3
xo
Cali girl at heart here too! It’s not MY fault I’m born and raised in Illinois. Ha! Fell in love with Cali on my first trip (age 2). I make a visit to the central coast once or twice a year. I have family in Los Osos, so it is my happy place. Also have family in San Rafael. In fact, will be getting my Cali love on soon…leaving Saturday to introduce Finley Grace for the first time. You are so fortunate to live there, and love that you are in the same house you came home from the hospital in. So very sweet!
No way!! My brother and sister-in-law just moved to Los Osos (she got a job at Cal Poly)! That’s awesome. AND I have an aunt and uncle in San Rafael! Ahhh we’re living parallel lives! haha ;)
xo
We are! Katie’s unite! ;)
I’m not from California, nor do I live there anymore, but I grew up in the Bay Area and loved it! I miss it like crazy!
I love the bay area too! (and just want you to know, I tried typing “bay” twice and both times I typed “baby” instead haha- mom brain!)
xo
There you go making me want to visit California