Well, the last half of 2011 was a whirlwind. And I've been awfully absent from this whole blog thing. So what's shakin? Well, to start, I moved back to California. As in California knows how to party, as in the Sierra Nevadas, as in Big Sur and the whole amazing coast line, as in Lake Tahoe, as in great wines and beers, as in granite and sandstone, madrone and manzanita. Yep, that one. It seems like ever since I moved away every vacation I've had has brought me back here. So now maybe I'm here for good. Still waiting for some snow... my snowboard is patiently waiting as well. In the meantime I've been road biking and spending more time outside exploring with the Bon. I promise more photos to come. Soon. In the meantime, we'll start off with some road trips.

This is from Wyoming, where it was amazing fall weather with patches of golden leaves in early October.

And another road trip down the eastern side of the Sierras. This one's of Bishop, one of my all-time favorite places on earth.

And Malibu, home of the rich and famous, and lots of egrets. 

One of my best friends got married last weekend in Lake Tahoe, and it was the first time all four of my college roommates have been together in close to seven years. I don't think I've ever been to a wedding where the bride, the groom and the minister were all busting out laughing for about half the ceremony. It's safe to say we had a blast. Although we didn't stay nearly long enough, we managed to fit in some quality beach time, an awesome hike along Rubicon Bay and plenty of wedding festivities. And the bride looked gorgeous, as always, but especially with her makeup done by our awesome friend Brittany. Check out Britt's really entertaining (but also informative!) blog if you want some tips on makeup, hair and fashion. 

After way too much time I finally opened up my Etsy shop - Spruce by Emily Setzer. It's small now but more sweet goods are on the way. So if you're into nature decor, check back every so often.

I have a bazillion photos of adorable Baby Anna, but here are a couple appetizers (isn't she delicious?) My friends Lauren and Brendan were troopers, bringing armfuls of gear and blankets and toys and clothes to the park on a deceivingly warm day for our photo shoot. We were all sweating, including Anna. But it's good practice for her. That girl's model material so she'd better start perfecting that tiger face now. And models must brave all the elements.

My parents' gorgeous three-year-old pit bull, Mara, aka Mars Bar, is putting up a good fight against mast cell cancer. Known at the vet's as "Miss Happiness," they can stick her with needles, isolate her in a crate and do surgery on her and she's still the happiest and friendliest dog anyone's ever seen. Every single dog and cat is her new play pal. Each human is her new best friend. She's gone through two surgeries and when it's all over we're going to celebrate with some Mara-garitas!

You get me every time. I can't walk by without stopping to take a closer look. This beauty didn't have a name tag, but it was in the National Botanic Garden, one of my favorite spots in D.C. The horticulturalists there bring in the most amazing plants each summer and plant them in bright blue pots, dispersed around the gardens. If you sit around the pool, surrounded by succulents, you can easily imagine yourself in some cliff-side Mediterranean locale with cobalt waters, where you can ride around on donkeys, eat olives and drink wine. Well, a girl can dream.

I'm kind of ashamed that I've been hiding these gorgeous photos of Bonnie for months! So I finally got around to posting them today. They were taken on a beautiful April afternoon in a park that has lots of sticks - her favorite!

The fireflies have been getting down to some serious business lately, lighting up the trees, completely unashamed of their publicly displayed mating rituals. It's pretty cool to watch, but even more cool to wade through the grasses in the dark taking bets on how many mosquito bites you'll have the next day.

Check out these super mamma-jamba clouds. Seriously, that is their name. Well, technically they are called mammatocumulus clouds. Imagine my surprise after coming out of a new-to-me Mexican restaurant that delivered the best tamales I've had east of the Mississippi and then I look up and bam!- these clouds! What a night! Although I am a sucker for both clouds and Mexican food. And here's another photo to put it in perspective. I can't decide which I like better.

It's finally warming up here and on Sunday we had the most glorious day of blue skies, perfect temps in the 60s and lots of new greenery and flowers bursting from the foliage. I highly suggest this eight-mile hike on the Elizabeth's Furnace trail in the George Washington National Forest. The forest is free (unlike the national park), and has surprisingly open, rocky and interesting terrain with good views from the top. It also appears to have some climbing routes, which I'll have to spend more time exploring on my next visit.