it's a lie, a kiss with open eyes

I can hear the ocean from my bedroom, competing with the horn of a late-night train. My writing retreats tend to be in delightful locations that are purpose-built for inducing Instagram envy, but this one may take the cake - we are as close to the Pacific as we can be, in a house with eight bedrooms and bathrooms (only Tina and Grace have to share, but they have full-sized bunk beds, so they'll survive). We didn't take full advantage of it since we got here only an hour or so before sunset, but there is a large roof deck with a hot tub, and I fully intend to make use of it tomorrow.

Today, though, was all about getting settled. I awoke in Irish Matt's house, spent some leisurely time having coffee with him, and then said my goodbyes so that he could work and I could head toward Oceanside. I had breakfast at a cafe he recommended (All Time) before leaving his neighborhood, and then I drove for approximately two hours to get out of LA and farther down the coast. When I got to my destination, I sat in my car for forty-five minutes and talked to my parents since we missed yesterday's call. They are about to go through a crazy cold polar vortex, which makes my current view almost insulting, but c'est la vie.

I stopped talking to them just in time to meet my friends for a late lunch before checking into our house. Everyone else flew in today, and miraculously everyone was on time, so we had lunch to kill time and catch up before we could check into the rental. I had some v. excellent short rib tacos, which I split with Grace in exchange for her fish tacos, and a glass of rosé was a nice way to top it off. And we dove immediately into catching up - there are nine of us on this retreat (Barbara, Anne, Veronica, Grace, Tina, Steph, Deb, and Christie), which is basically the last retreat minus Monica, and it's a really excellent group to hang out with.

Eventually we drove back to Oceanside, checked into the house, and did the Hunger Games - which is what I call us picking rooms. It's really more civilized than that, but in any rental house there are some rooms that are obviously better than others, so it requires some strategy and a good memory. I'm happy with where I ended up, although I'd be happy anywhere that I can hear the ocean. Then we went on a grocery run (I drove, as usual - but since I got upgraded to an Infiniti SUV that can fit seven or eight people, I'm probably the right person to do it), came home, ate supper, and gossiped the night away. V and I also had some more tasty rosé, and I can already feel my work tension melt away....

But that's an emotion to explore another day - for now, it's time for bed!