My Happy Place ~ An On Location Fashion Shoot Day 1

I felt pretty as a picture during a mid
week getaway. 

I was showing my hubby these amazing doughnuts from a shop in the area where we both grew up, and he said, " let's go get one..." , I thought he was joking of course as it would involve a 5 hour drive, and that is not a day trip. He said nothing much past that. An entire day went by and when it rolled around to the evening time the next day, I asked again if he was joking... and then I asked exactly when he would want to do this little road trip for a doughnut. It turns out that he was not joking and that we would leave Tuesday evening, giving me a day to pack and run errands such as getting a hair trim and my nails done. We left right after we had a bite to eat, and after a very long and some times a white knuckle ride down the 5, we made it to San Luis Obispo here is California. The nifty part was we were going to stay at a very famous landmark hotel there, and a place that makes every girl who loves kitschy and pink giggle with happiness.... The Madonna Inn. I was told that though my hubby wanted to get away, the trip was all about me. We would spend two days doing what I wanted to do. Including a fashion shoot of my latest purchase, the second custom made skirt I had just had delivered on Monday. 

Pretty in Pink at every turn awaits at the Madonna Inn, from the welcoming
sign, the steak house, the flowers and even Mrs. Madonna's gown.

We started our day at The Copper Kettle, the coffee house/cafe inside the main building at the Inn. We dined on fresh baked goodies and hot coffee before walking the grounds a bit, stopping off at the room to freshen up before heading out to meet with friends for the morning hours. It was a beautiful day. Clear blue skies, warm, and just enough of a breeze to make it so it was not too hot out. A perfect day for sight seeing.

After a lovely visit with some long time friends, we headed to Avila Beach and to one of the wineries we have been members of for a very long time, Alapay Cellars,  where we had a wonderful time having interesting conversations with the fellow patrons, the server as well as the wine maker himself.

Of course being right there at the beach, we took some time to do a photo shoot on the pier....

After a few minutes and getting the shots in that seemed to work, we went to our next stop, another winery that we enjoy going to when in the area, Kelsey Vineyards. One of the reasons for going there is not just the wine, but something I shared a year ago here on the blog where we went, is that they have quite a few peacocks roaming around... and even better, you can feed them by hand!! As it turned out they were doing their "Wine Down Wednesday", there would be wine by the glass, live music and fresh baked pizza. Perfect timing!! Oh and bonus there was a ton of babies and one, by the name of Franklin, who thinks he is either human or a Dog... I not only got to feed him, but pet him too! Then he went home in his own basket in the arms of his Mommy. 

We stayed about an hour and then decided to go for a walk along the beach as the sun went down and it was still so warm, it was a perfect night to do so. I could not help playing in the water, with the El Nino warming the waters of California, the water was still pretty warm and not at all the normal chilly water that we grew up with. 

The sun going down, the breeze just really getting started to becoming more gusty, we headed out to grab a bight to eat at a favorite Italian restaurant for a lovely and decadent dinner... butternut squash ravioli for me and rack of lamb for my sweet hubby....

Stay tuned, on Tuesday for part two!