A post on Malibu today, one of my most favorite places on earth. And I’ve got a ton of pictures – after all, a picture is worth a thousand words. And Malibu is… well, it’s a perfect, shimmering gem.

I spent a year at Pepperdine, nearly ten years ago. I can’t hardly believe that it has been that long. It feels like it was just a year or two ago. And it was one of the best years of my life so far. Leaving it was strangely hard and so going back always unearths a whole lot of memories. Like laying on the beach in January or watching the ocean change colors with the sky. Or Simon coming to visit me that year, and taking him to all my favorite places. And finally, standing in the admissions office and revoking my student status. (That was hard.)

In many ways, Malibu is a vastly different town than it was ten years ago. The first time I saw it was on a trip to SoCal with my sister and brother-in-law. They said, “Do you want to go to Malibu?” And being the go-with-the-flow kind of girl that I am, I said, sure. And then I fell in love.  I was thrilled to get to go back with Jude and Simon this time. I loved wandering around the Pepperdine campus and letting Jude run free out at Alumni Park.

Do you know what my dream is? To have a little vacation rental right on PCH, right on the beach. Yeah, it’d be busy and crowded, but there it is. My dream spot – right there in the thick of it. Where I could just sit and stare out at the water all. day. long.

Things I want to remember from this trip:
Pepperdine with Jude & Simon
Playing at the playground in the Malibu market
The most perfect weather ever – no haze or smog!
Eating outside at Malibu Seafood
Exploring the tail end of The Colony
Jude’s first sight of the Pacific, and his joy at experiencing it
Random celeb sightings!
Seeing fire damage up in the mountains
Feeling like we’re at the end of the earth as we took curvy canyon roads up into the mountains