I Lost My Head in San Francisco, Pt. 1

This past week started out with a artfully delicious mug of hot chocolate at a small, window-lit coffee shop in the middle of San Francisco. My friend David Talley had been planning a trip to visit me and some other friends here all the way from Los Angeles for the past couple of months, and I was anxious for the week to begin! David has been one of my biggest artistic inspirations and best friends for a few years now, and we always have such a fun time when we're together. 

Finally David arrived, along with our friend Ashley Hershberger, and we hugged and snapped photos and talked over our plans for the next few days. David took my hat from me and began passing it around to different people in the coffee shop, and I couldn't stop laughing the entire time. He's a goof ball.

He also took my camera and began taking pictures with it, so there was that ;)

Eventually we met up with our friend Marissa McPeak and her brother Preston, and we headed over the Golden Gate Bridge and up the 101 to get to Muir Woods! We had planned that day to meet up with my friend Ethan Watts and our other Flickr-friend, Rosa Furneaux, that day, and I couldn't wait!

We waited until everyone had shown up, and I was so happy to be surrounded by my friends! Especially Rosa, whom I have known for several years, but have never met until now :) It was such a great experience to meet her at last (she's standing next to me in the photo below). Rosa is one of my sweetest friends and biggest artistic inspirations. She's from England and is studying in California for the academic year, and we finally made a meet up happen! It's amazing meeting someone you feel like you already know, since I guess we have "known" each other for a few years. It was surreal.

We ventured into Muir Woods for a little while until we realized that half of the path was closed off, as some researchers were conducting biological experiments in the forest. Determined not to let that ruin our day, we wandered up a separate path in the woods and hiked for about a mile or two through the trees gigantic. It was so lovely in the woods that day, and I always love the feeling I get standing beneath these ancient giants.

We stopped every few feet to take photos of each other along the way, as is our habit when we meet up together as photographers haha. Of course I had to take some pictures of my little English rose ;) Rosa is just the loveliest girl, and I am so glad to have met her in person at last! I hope to visit her in England someday--that would be a literal dream come true! It would be so much fun to explore her own country with her as my tour guide.

Marissa McPeak (below) is one of the loveliest humans I have ever met. She is so kind and positive, and she has  incredible artistic talent to boot! She drew me the most beautiful picture of Benedict Cumberbatch, and I was very grateful for that ;)
Plus, her firecracker red hair ROCKS.

All in all, the first day of this week's adventure was such a beautiful day! It was so much fun to spend it with friends that literally mean the world to me and have such similar interests as myself. It is such a gift to be able to explore the world with people who see its brilliance and majesty as clearly as I often do.

Part 2 of this past week's adventures is coming tomorrow! Stay tuned :)