I know, I know, I am slacking again. I haven’t posted in over a week! But don’t worry, I’ve been working on some great things for you guys! To start, this week I am doing a little series about our mini “winter vacation.”

This weekend we went with a few of our friends to Big Bear Lake, CA for our annual weekend away in the snow… only due to Mother Nature’s lack of precipitation here in California there was, well, no snow. So we found other ways to keep ourselves occupied in the ski-resort town.

Friday Chris and I woke up early and headed up to the mountain before anyone else. We got into town around noon and spent the first part of the day walking around the village and checking out the little boutiques in town. Maybe because it was Friday, or maybe because it was 60 degrees but the town was absolutely dead compared to other years we have been up there. But no complaints here because that just meant it was easier to get around and shop through the stores.

After town we still couldn’t get into the cabin we were renting so we headed over to Big Bear Mountain Brewery to taste some local beer since Chris is getting more and more into appreciating local craft beers. It was located in a cute little house on the main road into the town. With only 6 tables and about 10 bar stools it had an awesome small town feel with simple foods like sweet potato fries, burgers and nachos. Chris, of course, got the sampler where for just $10 you can taste the 6 craft beers they brew.

After we met up with the first of our friends to show up and got settled into the cabin where we relaxed, cooked food, and hung out for Friday night and Saturday. Sunday we planned on heading to an Alpine Sledding mountain and taking a few rides down the mountain but instead we had to run down the mountain before an actual snow store started coming in. But now we have another reason to head up for a night or day.

Big Bear is one of my favorite getaways from the super urban life of living in LA or Orange County. I love getting up on the mountain and literally being in the forest and having beautiful, huge, mature trees all around us and the fresh mountain air. One day I do want to get up on skis or a snowboard and take that risk but this weekend sure wasn’t the weekend to try it. Two more years until I need to check that off my bucket list.