MAD DREAM DESIGN: surf

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Mad Style // Beach Style

Paddling season is up and running with the third race of the season happening tomorrow. One thing the paddling season brings are those at the beach all day kind of days.

Summer is upon us and in California we have been having some great weather, but we also get a huge marine layer in the am, June gloom and eventually wonderful warm nights. So what should a girl pack for a whole day at the beach? I am talking waking up at 3am and not getting home till 6pm kinda beach day. I know, not your average day at the beach, but they are the best!

These are my favorite essentials for spending a day at the beach with my paddling ohana and getting a work out in while I am at it!

Inspiration:
(once the sun comes out)

I love this...hat, chambray cover up and a comfy pair of shorts = perfect.

The faves:

*At 3am I have got my leggings and big jacket on. I usually stuff my feet into my comfy uggs, grab my beach bag and go. There is no time for hair, so I almost always have a hat on.

Jacket: Patagonia Down Sweater Full-Zip Hoodie
Leggings: Lululemon Wunder Under
Bag: Roxy Start Stop Bag
Hat: Rip Curl Island Fever Trucker Hat

*We race in the mornings, so it is still cooler with the marine layer, but I always make sure to have sunscreen on, along with my favorite bathing suit top. We are all about cross and racer backs when it comes to tops.

Bathing Suit: Patagonia Print Kupala Top
Towel: Land's End Dot Beach Towel
Sunscreen: Neutrogena Suncare

NAC surfing in Santa Barbra, CA:

Photo Credit: C. Silvester

*After our race it is all about showering off and getting some food before the guys get back. The sun is usually out by now and it is warming up so I love an outfit like my inspiration above or a good sundress. Fun sunglasses are a must.

Sandals: Rainbows - Expresso Leather
Chambray Shirt: J. Crew Selvedge Chambray
Sunglasses: Sabre
T-Shirt: Rip Curl X Heather Brown Tee Into the Sea
+ my fave pair of denim shorts!

Photo Credit

Now after completing this Friday's favorites for the beach, all I can think about is August! On my birthday, I will be off to Hawaii for a full 10 days...GET ME THERE!

Happy Friday!!!

M E X I C O // 2 0 1 2

This trip was magical (for more reasons than one)!

Sunset at El Pabellon

I don't know if it was the the amazing rehash of our trip 7 years ago, the engagement, the places we have fallen in love with, the places that we hold deep in our memories and heart from these places, that new love feeling we still had 7years ago, the allure of Mexico itself, or the amazing off the beaten path adventure feeling you get when we go to these place, but I think it is a little bit of everything.

Mexico has been high on our list and in hearts for some time now. It had been 5 years since we had crossed that border, and a lot has happened to our beloved Mexico during that time. The growth there is insane.

A ship beached and abandoned in the middle of nowhere used to be the view of a small little lane of houses, and has now grown into a sleepy little fishing village stretching about a half mile. This would be Shipwrecks (or Freighters). Now probably a favorite place in the world for the time being.

We had just come up from El Pabellón, arguably, the best nicest campsite in Northern Baja. Here you find a little spot in the middle of nowhere where you can only see beach fro miles and you are the only two people on it for miles. Nice drivable hard sand and soft sand dunes that open up to a nice flat campground that is definitely geared toward fishing and RVing. Here Ozzie played for hours, we went for a beach run, we made chocolate chip pancakes, took tons of pictures and enjoyed the overcast, yet pink sunset. Dolphins came to say hello and I was able to have a hot shower in a clean bathroom!

Views of El Pabellon

El Pabellón is right outside of San Quintin where we fulled up and made our way north back up toward the border. About an hour north we came into Camalu on Highway 1. Here we turned left and hit the dirt for the coast, stopping at Shipwrecks, Robert's Left and finally coming to Cuatro Casas.

Perfect Baja truck

Robert's Left

Quatro Casas is probably my favorite place in Baja so far. Dolphins, high cliffs, a little cove, perfect waves, perfect sunsets, and make you want to get up early sunrises. This was the perfect spot to celebrate our engagement. Rum and Coke, steak, bonfire, hot pink sunset, dying winds, crashing waves and a warm bed to sleep in with my boy and my dog. We have lots of pictures from this spot 7 years ago because it was freezing so we ended up in Jimi's truck with the heater and music blasting watching the sunset. These are good photos from a happy time and are forever engrained in my head. I think that is what makes this place so special. We now have a ton of new photos, same place, different day but still a very happy time.

Baja Doggie, Ozzie

Sunset at Cuatro Casas

Sunrise at Cuatro Casas

Me on the pebble beach of Cuatro Casas

Mexico = Happiness
Happiness = beach, off road, tacos, dolphins, things that take your breathe away

No matter how many times you see a sunset, you never grow tired of it. We still sit there in awe of the colors and the beauty of it. That is my favorite thing about traveling, seeing all the places that take your breathe away, no matter how many times you see it.

¡Mexico, hasta luego!

Moloka'i: Go BIG or Go Home

Na Wahine O Ke 2012 was one for the memories books...the record books too. Not the kind of records of winning, personal best or fastest time, but the kind of records that come from survival, and experiences.

Our crew consisted of some experienced channel crossers, some not as experienced ones (like myself), and some first timers which made it really diverse and fun. Basically our job was to get all of us across the channel safely. This was my second Channel crossing and I learned so much, like I do every race, but when you get hit with these kinds of conditions, you learn a heck of a lot more. I am so thankful to every single one of the girls in my crew, because everyone was positive, humble and fun, which made it awesome!

Sunday morning produced huge swell that was closing out the Harbor entrance. It was pure chaos getting out of the harbor that morning. Pictures and video show this best, because words cannot explain it. We were scared, but focused and able to get through the swell with no waves crashing on us and just a little drama with other crews around us.

The conditions made the crossing a slow going as the fastest time on the water that day was 45 minutes slower than last year. The wind was coming from the North and the swell from the North East. Not too much to ride, until we got through the channel to Oahu and into Hawaii Kai.

8 hours after leaving Hale O Lono Harbor on Moloka'i, we arrived in Waikiki on Oahu to finish the race. We stayed strong and embraced the ocean, the race, and the challenges. Our coach says "We survived!"

Here are some photos of our race and my crew before and after 42 miles of paddling the Kaiwi Channel!

Photo credit: 808photo.me

SanO Sundays

Our favorite thing about paddling is riding waves. Hands down. One of the best places to ride waves in a canoe in Orange County, Ca is San Onofre State Beach. This kind of surfing is what you see everyone on those canoes in Waikiki doing, catching waves from way outside and being able to ride them all the way into shore. For me this is the best of both worlds...surfing and paddling, can't get any better than that, in my opinion.

Photo Credit: Kel Thompson

My love for the ocean started when I was really young. I wanted to be a lifeguard at the age of three, swim lessons were my favorite and I started swimming on my own just after I turned three. My sister and I were in the water 24/7 in the summer with Jr. Guards, swim team, the beach, and our neighborhood pool. I started surfing in Jr. high every summer and started paddling my sophomore year of high school, so now I was on the water almost every day of the week year round. My senior year of high school I started surfing 3 times a week and paddling 6 days a week and that lasted through the first couple of years of college. Once I started art school at CSULB surfing dropped off for me, but paddling and my love for the ocean still hold true.

Photo Credit: Molly Bishop

I have never understood the surfer attitude that is given off when you are not someone who is there everyday or is just there to have fun, like the idea that this is their beach and why are you here, even though I had been coming to the same exact spot to go to the beach every summer since before I can remember. We still get the same attitude now as paddlers, or stand up paddlers, from surfers, even though a lot of us surf and have the same love of the waves and ocean that surfers do.

Photo Credit: Molly Bishop

Paddling was an easy choice for me because of the community, the history, the culture and the boat. Believe it or not I feel so much more comfortable in a boat, then on a board! There is always someone to paddle with and there are always dozens of people who are willing to go surf SanO with you in a canoe. We were able to muster up three surf canoes, 3 standup boards, a surf ski and a dozen surf boards on a trailer made for fun. We had people from all different clubs down there taking rides together and sharing some of the most gorgeous day! SanO days maybe only happen 2 -3 times a year for us but they are always well worth the wait and no one can get us down on days like that.

Photo Credit: Molly Bishop

It is whoever is having the most fun right? Its all about the people you meet, the experiences you find and the days you will never forget...that is what paddling is all about. xo