Numbers 6, 5 and 4

SO. Things to do before I leave California #'s 6, 5 & 4 are all related to clothes. Yup. You heard me. Clothes. (I know, I'm normally not big on them)

#6: accept 'the Point Arena look' as a necessity, not a fashion statement. And then make it your own fashion statement.

This may sound weird to the non-initiated, but this is a true thing. By 'the Point Arena look' I mean: Sweater/sweatshirt over a tank top/T-shirt, skirt, leggings (in the winter), and Uggs (year round). Why? Because it is freezing here on the coast in a perma-50 degree sort of way. Up on the ridge (where many people live) it gets hot and you need to be able to go summery in a quick minute (see #5). But the Ugg thing is not because of how they look - it's because they're the best thing for quick summer footwear conversion as you don't need socks.

At first you resist this look and chalk it up to people living in a rural setting for too long, blah blah blah, but then you realize they have something and you're only truly comfortable when you embrace it.

#5: rig up your car to carry almost as many clothes as you have in your bedroom.
Oh yeah. I learned this one quick. There are SO MANY micro climates in California - especially coastal California, that every time you get out of your car it's practically a different season.

Example: it'll be 65 degrees and sunny at my house, 90 degrees and sweltering at my friend's house, and then 50 degrees and foggy in town. So you have to be able to get appropriately dressed before you get out of the car. Very important.

#4: realize that going to the beach means you dress up, not down.
Seriously one of my favorite things to do in SF is to look at all the tourists walking across the Golden Gate Bridge in July in tank tops. In 50 degree fog. I find it slightly hilarious (I know, I'm mean). The smart ones buy San Francisco sweatshirts at the conveniently located gift shop in the GGB parking lot...

No - in all seriousness, the beach is one of the coldest places you can go to in the summer. Gorgeous. But cold.

True story: I happened to go to the beach in July once and got sunburned. Upon returning to town, people kept coming up to me and asking me where I had gotten so much sun. When I replied "the beach", they asked which one. When I said the local beach, no one believed me. It's that strange for it to be hot at the beach here in the summer.

And as I write this, it's 51 degrees outside. and in my house. *sigh* I love coastal California!