Hi, friends! How was your Thanksgiving? Are you almost done eating your leftovers? Did you get anything good on Black Friday? Small Business Saturday? Reuben and I had a very very low key Thanksgiving. We cooked ourselves a feast for two, consisting of turkey roulade, cranberry sauce, sourdough stuffing, scalloped potatoes, and sweet potato pie. No vegetables. There were mushrooms and celery in the stuffing if that counts. It was all super tasty and buttery. We have somehow almost finished all the leftovers, with the exception of some scalloped potatoes and the last bit of turkey. Is that impressive or sort of gross? Hard to tell.

In the days following, we continued to be hermits and avoid contact with the outside world. We watched Moana (cried) and LaLaLand (snooze... sorry!), clocked in some time at the gym, cleaned, cleaned, cleaned some more, went to Home Depot PRO (sooo much better than normal Home Depot), and attempted to save our bird of paradise plant. It was all very boring. But boring is good sometimes. These last few days allowed us to rest and catch up on life. Mental health days, ya know? It feels great having a clean apartment and purging all the useless junk from our apartment. WHY DO WE HAVE SO MUCH STUFF???

Honestly, it feels like we have been on one long vacation since we went up to Tahoe last weekend. Plus next weekend we'll be heading to Healdsburg, CA! I've booked my first massage EVER. I'm so excited.

I'll fill you in on our trip up to Tahoe last weekend, in case you're planning a trip there soon! Reuben has been to Tahoe about 241,984 times. Or something like that. He spent a good year and half driving to and from there working on the Mountainside Stellar Residences. So I just default to him whenever we go up to Tahoe. Our weekend was essentially a rotation of: hiking, not sliding off the face of a mountain, eating until our bellies ached, lounging in the cabin, eating again, and sleeping for at least 10 hours. I think its the higher altitude, or I'm just a sleepy traveler, but we went to bed the first night at 9pm and it was GLORIOUS. I've listed out every place we went to during our trip and also some of Reuben's favorite Tahoe spots that we didn't the chance to stop by this time around.

If you've never been to Tahoe before, it is just beautiful! The lake is so vast, blue, and clear you could mistake it for the ocean. I had a very traumatic kayaking experience on the lake once. I don't want to talk about it. Still breathtaking though. During this trip, Tahoe was cold, snowy, and peaceful. The best part of the weekend was that I didn't have to cook and photography anything! It was a nice break away from styling food and chasing the short daylight hours in my apartment. Tahoe is about a 3 hour drive from San Francisco. We left early on Friday morning and made a pit stop for brunch and beer in Auburn, California. It is a super cute gold rush town covered in fall trees and the air was clean and crisp just like how Fall should be. After consuming our daily recommended calorie intake in hashbrowns and beer, we made our way to our little cabin Airbnb.

Tahoe was perfectly dusted in snow. At first, I was like, "shit. it is freaking cold!" But then I reminded myself that I was an Ohio lady and have been through much worse. So my complaining was curbed... just slightly. I'm happy I packed all my layers and an abundance of socks! However, I forgot to pack my hiking boots... so when Reuben insisted that we hike up a snow and icy mountain I was all 😫  But I only cried once-ish and fell into deep snow about 10 times. We didn't quite make it to the very tip top because it got super icy and I refused to die that day in my running shoes. But we did it and got to eat a whole sheet of Korean Nachos afterwards! To balance all the exposure to nature we spent a good amount of time wandering around the shops and cafes of downtown Truckee. Some of the stores there are sort of a vacation-home-furnishing nightmare, but others are super cute and you can find the perfect pig cookie cutter to add to your collection. 

I think it was the snow, the mountains, and Christmas lights, but I'm definitely feeling the holiday spirit! I'm going to bake some Christmas cookies today and keep the holiday vacation vibes rolling until the end of the year 😎

Where We Ate + Drank 

Edelweiss 2 – Auburn, CA
Classic breakfast spot with super crispy hashbrowns and small town vibes.

Moonraker Brewing – Auburn, CA
Reuben says their beer is legendary.

Mellow Fellow – Truckee, CA
Chill and fun bar where I discovered that I actually don't hate mustard after ordering their tasty pretzels.

Drunken Monkey – Truckee, CA
Awesome sushi restaurant that Reuben has ate at about 90% of the times he's visited Tahoe.

Alibi Ale Works – Truckee, CA
Stopped here after our snowy mountain hike for beers and their Korean nachos!

Coffeebar – Truckee, CA
I had the best matcha latte of my life here. The secret is vanilla agave syrup.

Moody’s – Truckee, CA
Classic old school mountain steakhouse. So meaty, it was great!

Sugar Pine Cakery – Tahoe City, CA
Cute and solid bakery. Off the beaten path.

Reuben's Tahoe Favorites

Jason’s – King’s Beach, CA
Woody 70's ski lodge vibe. Great for a huge mug of beer.

The Bridgetender – Tahoe City, CA
Nice log Cabin bar and restaurant. Grab a beer and a snack.

Morgan’s Lobster Shack – Truckee, CA
Excellent lobster rolls far away from where lobsters live.

Dark Horse Coffee Roasters – Truckee, CA
Best option for a pour over. Located in a cool and cozy old building.

Jax on the Tracks – Truckee, CA
Classic East Coast diner with a big menu.