I need my inhaler for these hills.

In case you missed the overview of our trip via Instagram, we started in the wonderful city of San Francisco and ended in Coronado.  I'll be honest, our vacations revolve heavily around eating and drinking...not so much sight seeing.  Prepare for an onslaught of drinks we drank and places we ate.  Let me start at the beginning.

We used Airbnb to rent out an apartment in the city.  After braving the hills (and taking the worst route via public transportation) and desperately needing my inhaler post lugging my suitcase up said hills, we arrived at our apartment.  On to drinking time!

Toronado is a renowned beer bar in San Francisco.  D says this is a spot that the locals go to and the staff doesn't mess around.  Have your cash and beer order ready at the bar.

The beers are going to be craft, so don't go looking for your Blue Moon or Bud Light.  We started with Russian River Blind Pig IPAs, which we can't get in North Carolina.

[First beer in California!]

Then we headed over to Magnolia Pub & Brewery, which was also within walking distance.  

I was a huge fan of Magnolia!  The beers were solid, but the food was delicious (which will obviously sell me on a spot)!

We topped our stomachs off with a little cheese and meats while we waited for our dinner reservations. We had gotten a recommendation to try SPQR.  I would most definitely recommend it to anyone visiting San Francisco.  It ranked as one of my top three meals of the trip.

Wine is really the specialty at SPQR.  It was nice to switch it up from beer for a bit.  Our waitress was really knowledgeable about wine and assisted us in choosing the perfect wine to pair with our squid ink pasta (with crab, shrimp, and trout roe) and smoked fettuccini (with sea urchin, bacon, and a quail egg).

And while I can not remember the wine name, I know ours was referred to as an orange wine.  I was in love with it!  I'm going to do some research in the future to figure out the name of the wine and track it down.  

Never hurts to end your night with a little espresso and dessert.  While we crashed after dinner that night, I promise we did a bit more sight seeing (and a lot more drinking) on our second day in San Fran.  

guest post :: bicoastally.

Claire is a girl after my own heart!  She writes over at Bicoastally.  Claire is a San Francisco transplant and originally from Georgia (like me!).  At this point in our trip, hopefully Claire and I will have met!  She has a lot of the same moral views as me and does some pretty amazing work for a living as well as in her free time (hint: it involves the San Quentin prison)!  Claire is really an inspiration, but she has a love for all drinks alcoholic as I do.

I love how Claire just wrapped up everything for drinking June and our guest posts overall!

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Hi there, Skinny Jeans & a Chai Latte readers!  I'm especially excited to be writing this guest post, cause Kristin's headed to California . . . where I'll get to meet up with her for a beer!  I'm here to share a couple of my favorite summer drinks, in keeping with Kristin's "Drinking June" theme.

1. Beer:

from

This is my favorite summer beer.  I'm a sucker for wheat beers anyway, and this one is SO REFRESHING on a sunny day.  Add an orange slice and I'm one happy girl.

2. Smoothie:

I'm all about the green smoothies.  They're the perfect summer (or any season) breakfast.  Here's my favorite take on the Green Monster:

1 tbsn flax seed

2 big handfuls baby spinach

1 banana

1 big tbsn almond butter

handful of frozen strawberries

Et voila--delicious & healthy breakfast.

3. Etc.:

Coffee is my #1 homie, my sweet addiction, that-which-keeps-me-going.  I don't know what I'd do without it.  I prefer mine darkly roasted with half & half (no sugar), and all the better if it's from a local company.  Peet's is a chain, but it's local, and it's sooooooo good:

from

4. Wine:

I just don't feel right writing a post about drinking without mentioning my first love: wine.  While I'm a red drinker throughout most of the year, I turn to crisp whites in the summer.  One of my favorites is from Napa Valley's own Cakebread Cellars.  Their 2011 Sauvignon Blanc is light & delicious, and it's one of their most affordable wines:

from

Lucky for me, Cakebread is only about a 45 minute drive from my house, and it's one of my favorite wineries to visit.

Thanks for having me!  Come say hi & let me know all about your favorite summer drinks. :)

guest post :: eat, drink, be a tourist.

Kelsey is kicking off my guest post series while I'm living it up in California for a while!  You've probably noticed Kelsey around here before from my Tourist Tuesday link-ups with her.  She is a girl after my own heart with her love of travel, drinking, and generally being awesome.  Go check her blog out and start brainstorming where you'll travel to for Tourist Tuesday!

And thanks Kelsey for kicking off my guest posts and making drinking June happen :)

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hello there skinny jeans & a chai latte friends! kelsey here from eat, drink, be a tourist.  you have no idea how excited i am to be taking over kristins blog today.  aaaaaand i get to talk about my favorite drink?  holy cow i can't control my excitement!

trying to think of what my favorite drink is was tough.  smoothies, coffee, beer or cocktails - there are so many choices!  ultimately, it came down to my favorite drink combined with my favorite atmosphere.  so in honor of "drinking june", let's get the party started.

there's nothing i love more than a good summer cocktail, especially when i get to drink it right on the beach.  my favorite?  drinking a coastal cooler on the deck at the beachcomber in crystal cove.  ahhh, the coastal cooler.  svedka citron vodka, bacardi limon, gran marnier, cranberry juice and fresca.  such a light a refreshing drink.  makes me wish i was there right now.  i mean, how can you beat a view like this?

 

the beachcomber is definitely one of my favorite restaurants in south orange county.  it's nestled in crystal cove, a sweet little hideaway right on the beach lined with beach cottages and lots of history.  the food is amazing and no matter what meal you decide on, you can't go wrong.  but their drinks are where it's at.  they have a great line up of fun and flirty martinis, smoothies, cocktails and coolers.  i highly recommend all of their drinks!

so the next time you find yourself in south orange county, head to crystal cove and check out the beachcomber.  grab a drink on the deck, enjoy a fantastic appetizer, and soak up that sun.  i promise, it won't disappoint! check out more on the beachcomber here & here.

thanks for having me kristin! can't wait until we are celebrating "drinking june" together here in california.  i hope you have been practicing (haha).

find me here: blog // twitter // pinterest // instagram

european adventure revisited :: munich.

After leaving Prague, we took the train over the Munich.  It was a gorgeous day, so after checking into our hotel, we headed right over to get started drinking.

The Augustiner-keller Bier Garden was my favorite beer spots in Munich.  This place is all about tradition and customs.  The waitresses are dressed in the traditional German outfit that is often spotted at German beer festivals in the US.  If my memory serves, we got some pretzels and I enjoyed the most delicious sausage of my life.  If I ever come across a kasekrainer (which was NOT spotted on the menu and I might die if they don't have it one day when I return)  here in the US, it will totally break me from my vegetarian ways.  I literally spent the rest of our trip in Europe scouring menus for another kasekrainer.  Bailey, their menu made me think of you!  If you make it there, the menu has a vegetarian section (albeit consisting of only three things!).

We spent our first full day in Munich drinking doing sightseeing and drinking.  Definitely visit the Marienplatz, which is the central square in the heart of Munich.  Visitors flock to Marienplatz at 11 am, 12 noon, and 5 pm each day to watch the famous animated Glockenspiel (carillon) in the New Town Hall made of 43 bells and 32 figures.  

[Weiss Bräuhaus]

[Ayinger]

Time was spent searching out awesome breweries/beer pubs to try out.  We hit up Weissen Bräuhaus, and Paulaner, and Ayinger.

We started out second full day in Munich by visiting the Hofbräuhaus.  They have a restaurant as well as a museum that provides some history.  This is one of Germany's oldest breweries.  The building itself dates back to before World War II.  

Most of our time in Munich was gray and overcast, but it didn't stop us from exploring and spending time in the Englischer Gartens.

 [Yep!  Surfers!]

[The locals playing bocce ball!]

We had a wonderful time in Munich, but ultimately decided we had seen all the cool beer spots and wanted to head to Italy a day early (the gray weather didn't help).  Nonetheless, I would totally stop back in Munich on my next trip to Europe.

Pretty sure this is considered part of drinking June!

<a href="http://www.skinnyjeanschailatte.com" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhly4_egIDkAf6sEc21JK2s9R5a-d6br5lLBdVcW695Nkc2s046g4gMeDMQf1QgV2kcGIi3JS7OER1Y81qJPoEq3mhHhlT2vnoUWUv-Pe3yzM4sPW8V9Jf_spVdGtQcZxHm87PxtD-CjCc/s180/Drinking-June-button.jpg" border="0" /></a> Also linking up with Kelsey for Tourist Tuesdays!

All the pretty birds.

D is is prime time travel season.  While it may seem like all I do when he's gone is drink and browse the web, I do get out and about every now and then.  One of my favorite things to do is take out my bike on the Greenway.  Our house is about a mile from the actual Raleigh Greenway, and we have pretty large bike lanes on the main road where we live.

There is something about biking in itself that sort of puts you in the zone.   I never take music with me, so I'm left alone to my thoughts and surroundings.  The trail near my house is never busy (not even with the homeless).

I always see animals when I go out by myself.   Last time, I rode along side of a fox and saw a bunny.  There's the occasional scare when a scare runs out or bird flies across my path.

[via]

The Rocky Branch Trail portion is one of my favorite parts.  To the right is sprawling green fields dotted with rustic, hand-made fences.  There is even a picnic pavilion.  D and I must make a priority to bike out to this area with our picnic basket sooner than later.  There is never any people around this area.  I'm going to make a habit of my solo bike rides on greenway.

On another random note, I'm dedicated June "drinking June."

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I'm going to have some awesome ladies guest posting for me while I'm on my California road trip about their favorite drinks (they don't have to be alcoholic!).  If you get the urge to post about some of your favorite summer drinks, bring it on!

PS. Don't forget my giveaway ends on June 6!