March 8, 2015

beautiful berkeley

hello and happy monday!

living in the bay area means having so many great places surrounding us.
from the city .. down to the south bay .. to the east bay .. + all of the
surrounding getaways, you can never get tired of it in our opinion!

one area we haven’t explored quite as much is the east bay.
after living in the south bay, working on the peninsula, and
currently living right in the city, we don’t find ourselves across
the bridge in the east bay as often. other than flying out of
oakland airport once in a while, visiting the temple, and
having a few adventures in berkeley, we really haven’t spent
a solid amount of time in this fun area. that changed this
weekend! we had no excuse – it’s so close and has so many
great restaurants, people, and neighborhoods to get to know.

our berkeley weekend involved ::

great food discoveries ranging from a tiny pie shop to the #1 restaurant in berkeley
75 degree weather and breezy nights
hiking in the hills to see views across the entire bay
walking all through the UC berkeley campus
wandering the charming neighborhoods
and staying in a memorable, historic hotel

…but more on all that later. for now, here is a little taste of wandering berkeley.
the way the sun hits it during golden hour, the charming homes, the cute
families, the strung lights, the hills, the views, and all the best spots.

oh hello, perfect homes ^^^

and hello spring! ^^

this picture represents berkeley’s hippie – meets – charm
that makes for a unique culture combination here ^^

the local berkeley favorite, cheese board pizza ^^

i don’t know what it is about the east bay,
but succulents. are. everywhere.
i’m not complaining!

i’m also not complaining about the gorgeous homes at every turn.
walking the neighborhoods here is a feast for the eyes.

telegraph street is always fun to stroll ^^

^^ fun murals all over berkeley. . . i love the artsy feel!

^^ cal campus, one of the prettiest ever. i love a good college campus.

just strolling through campus . . . beauty all around.

after lots of strolling & wandering, we found ourselves on university street and
decided to try a new restaurant :: townie. we had definitely worked up an appetite.

the wharehouse setting with strung lights feels very berkeley ^^

great appetizers between the beet – arugula salad and the herbed mac & cheese ^^

and, one of the best restaurant dishes i have had in a while :: their peri-peri chicken.
the meyer lemon/almond topping with the perfectly tender chicken and kale salad
was a winning combination. i think i’ll need to recreate this at home ASAP.