Las Vegas Spring 2014

I went to Las Vegas last weekend for a quick girls getaway. We stayed at MGM. Both nights we went to Beacher's Madhouse. I think the word "madhouse" described that place perfectly. 

Here we are waiting to get in to Beacher's the first night:

Here we are taking selfies outside the bathroom. We were probably trying to give our aching feet a break from our killer heels!

One of the girls in my group had some luck with the slot machines. She ended up winning about $100 which was exciting to watch. 

This is us on night two. I learned all about accessorizing from these girls. My plain Jane style just didn't cut it in Vegas. Luckily these girls shared their statement necklaces, purses, and earrings with me. 

This is us on our last night. We actually stayed out until about 5am even though we had to be at the airport at 6 and 7am. We stayed up all night and it was definitely a night to remember. 

I love having amazing, fun, spontaneous, smart, beautiful girl friends! 

Costa Rica

Officially booked my trip to Costa Rica! 

I'll be traveling with my good friend/co-worker Sharlene. I think choosing a travel buddy is a difficult task. First of all, it is not easy to find someone who has the time and money to travel. It is almost impossible to find someone who has the time, money, similar interests AND won't drive you crazy (or bore you to death) after spending days together. 

 

Introducing Sharlene, my 2014 adventure buddy

Sharlene's friend is a AAA travel agent and she helped us plan this trip. It was a great luxury having an expert that we trust do all the research and planning. I would highly recommend working with a travel agent if you're a busy working woman like us! Her expertise saved us so much time researching flights, hotels and activities. 

Postcards

I've been receiving a lot of cool post cards recently. Here are two that I got from my friend's trip to Europe. I love getting postcards!

San Francisco Dec 2011

San Francisco is one of my favorite places in the world! Last Friday I drove up just for the day.

I met up with Sarah and her BF for lunch. This was our amazing view from the Cheesecake Factory.

After lunch, Danny met up with us and we went to "The Haight" where we looked at all the cute/crazy boutiques. There were some interesting people walking around, but the most interesting thing I saw was a cat on a leash.

We stopped at Squat and Gobble where I had lemonade. Yumm.

My visit was super short because I didn't want to get home too late.

San Jose 12/3/11

"Death is very likely to be the single best invention of life" -Steve Jobs

Saturday was the funeral for my uncle. I really enjoyed the service. It was thought provoking and inspiring! The speaker made some interesting points. Death is life's best invention because it reminds us that our time is limited. From the moment we are born our clock is ticking. Knowing that our time is limited, we should want to make each moment meaningful. I am inspired to live a life full of LOVE and meaning and sincerity and adventure.

After the funeral, we went to the Elks Lodge to eat. There was so much good food. I was actually tempted to eat chicken for the first time in months but luckily there was more than enough tasty meatless options to keep me distracted. It was just really nice to spend time with family.

Then, I went to Starbucks to meet up with my friend, Danny. One thing I really like about him is that he lives the way I kinda want to live. I love that he doesnt hide his feelings. He'll say things like, "Sarah's so cute, I just love her" or "I was so excited to see you, I couldn't sleep last night." I just love how sincere he is because I think most people are too afraid to express themselves like that. But yeah, life is short so we should tell/show our friends that we love them!

We got to FaceTime with Sarah for a little bit, but it was kinda hard to hear her because we were at Starbucks and they were making blended drinks. Most of our conversation was us waving at each other.

For dinner, we went to the Cheesecake Factory where I had the most amazing pumpkin cheesecake ever. I need to go back to the Cheesecake Factory soon, but next time I'm only going to order dessert because life is short! Hahaha.

Text From Christine

Text from Christine: "i'm sad it's fall now after you leave.."

<3

Flagstaff 2011- Day Three- Part Two

Ok, time for me to sit down and finally finish writing about my trip.

So we met the guys for lunch at Galaxy Diner, a cute little 50s themed diner with yummy fries.



And after lunch, we had about an hour to kill before I had to be at the airport. Someone suggested that we go to a lookout point so off we went! What an amazing view!




Some man offered to take a group shot of us :)





After we took a few pictures, it was time for me to go :(

Rob drove us all to the airport. I thought it was really nice of them to not only drop me off (that would have been nice enough!) but they actually parked and walked in and waited with me. We sat at the bar for a few minutes, but then it was time for me to go through security. :(



I flew on that tiny little plane from Flagstaff to Phoenix. It was 80 degrees in Phoenix which was such a big difference from the Flagstaff weather. I waited in Phoenix for a couple hours. While I waited, I uploaded pics on Facebook. Thank goodness for Facebook! It can entertain me for hours!

Then I flew from Phoenix to SLO. The guy sitting next to me took up more than his fair share of space. Also, he could have benefited from taking a shower. I finished my book just as we started to land. (Hilarious book and a fast read! Perfect for my needs this weekend!)

Flying at night always reminds me of my first nighttime flying experience when I was in the 8th grade and we flew into Washington D.C. It's so cool to look down and see all those orange and white clusters of light.



To be honest, arriving at SLO was kind of depressing. I think arriving at an airport with no one to pick you up is one of the saddest experiences. I lugged my own luggage through the thick fog into the dark and dusty parking lot and drove myself home. I felt a heaviness in my stomach, and I just felt sort of bummed to be back.

But I don't want to end my story on a depressing note! When I got home, my brother was still awake. We immediately started playing our newest Wii game, Just Dance 3. I mean, I had that Wii controller in my hand before I even set down my purse! At first I sucked, but that's because Myles had all day to practice. Ahahaha. :)

Flagstaff 2011- Day Three

We were really slow to wake up on Sunday. We really didn't have much planned for the day other than a late lunch with Justin and friends.

Christine and I went to another super cute coffee shop downtown called Late for the Train. I got a Coconino Mocha and Christine got some sort of latte.



We sat outside and enjoyed our drinks in the sunshine.



Here's a pic of us that you won't find on Facebook. Most of the pics I have of myself from this weekend are unacceptable for Facebook because my bangs make it look like I have a mullet! But since only, like, two people read this blog I'll go ahead and post a pic here. Hahahaha.



After coffee, we just walked around Target (our fav store!) and Jo-anns to kill some time before we had our late lunch.

Then, we went back to Christine's so I could pack my stuff and say goodbye to her roomie.

I'll post more later... lunch break is almost over :)

Flagstaff 2011- Day Two

We slowly woke up and got ready for our day.

To start, we went to the coolest coffee shop/restaurant called Macy's. Everything looked sooo good, I had a hard time deciding what to order. I ended up choosing some fancy soy latte and vegan waffles from their amazing all-vegetarian menu! I loved that everything was vegetarian. Love love loved it!









After breakfast, we walked around downtown. We went back into a lot of the shops we went to the night before during artwalk. It was nice to go back when it wasn't so crowded. I bought a couple little things.

Christine had to be at NAU for the football game at 2:30 and we had lunch plans with some friends including a friend from high school, Justin (actually I've technically known him since preschool I think). We were really short on time, so we just sat with them for like 15 minutes and then went off to enjoy the game. Since we didn't have much time to catch up over lunch, we made plans to BBQ in the evening.

Christine is part of a club called Chain Gang so I sat with Cassie and her swim team friends while Christine fulfilled her Chain Gang duties.





Christine was able to save me a seat next to her so I went down to sit with the Chain Gang... right behind the football players. It was smelly! Also, number 69 had a mullet.



Christine was able to leave after the first quarter. Per the boy's request, Christine baked cookies as a contribution to the BBQ. So, we went back to the apartment and Christine did what she does best... baked cookies!





After the cookies were done, we stopped by a grocery store to pick up some other BBQ essentials. Then we were off to the BBQ.

Here's a pic of my cheeseburger with no meat. I did end up taking a 10 second break from being a vegetarian so that I could try a tiny piece of lamb. Hahaha. I just wanted to be able to say I tried it, plus it smelled really flavorful. I'll admit, it didn't taste bad!



Unfortunately I didn't take any more pics at the BBQ. We spent the evening watching Netflix, eating, and laughing. We left at about midnight.

I had such a fun day. I really like Christine's friends, Flagstaff, and of course, Christine. <3

Flagstaff 2011- Day One- Part Two

Sooo I finally arrived in Flagstaff where I was greeted by Christine and a little bit of snow!!!!

She drove me through NAU and then we went to her apartment. I met her roomie, Cassie. Then, we went to dinner at a restaurant downtown called Cuvee 928. I got vegetable kabobs. Yumm!





After dinner, we walked around the beautiful downtown area for Frist Friday Artwalk. I loved looking at all the cool boutiques, artsy galleries, and unique restaurants.





Then, after the artwalk, we went over to Christine's friend's house for a little bit. They were planning on going out to a couple bars later in the evening, so we decided to go join them! We went back to Christine's place and changed and then we took a taxi downtown!

Christine's friends are hilarious and easy to get along with. I had sooo much fun dancing, people watching, and enjoying 2 for 1 drinks!

Arizona 2011

It all feels so "Eat, Pray, Love" which is weird because I really hated that book/movie when I first read the book and again when I tried to watch the movie. The reason why I thought the book was so annoying was because I really didn't like the main character, Liz. I felt like she was really selfish!

But, one thing I learned recently (interestingly, I heard this on the radio during a segment with the psychic, Miss Bonnie. LOL) is that when you're unhappy, you have to be a little self-ish. Not selfish, but just self-ish. But it's true. There are times when you just really have to focus on yourself. It's not being selfish, it's being self-ish. There is a difference.

So anyways, I've been doing lots of road trips which has been great, but I really wanted to do something more for myself. Something that involved flying. Soooo I'm going to visit one of my best friends (Christine) in Flagstaff, Arizona! It's going to be a short visit, but I'm really looking forward to just getting away for a little bit.

The one thing I'm worried about is this:

(The California girl in me shudders at the thought of anything colder than 60 degrees! But this won't be a repeat of my Europe trip, I'll for sure pack weather appropriate clothing.)

P.S. As I was looking up the weather forecast, Christine texted me and told me to bring an "h2o proof" jacket. We have the same thoughts at the same time... true friends. <3

Weekend Road Trip 9/16/11

Right after work Friday, I drove down to Camarillo for another weekend getaway. My sister's apartment is turning into the weekend party place and I love it!

As soon as I arrived, Kelsey and her roomie, Lindsey, were ready to go to dinner. We drove back up to Oxnard and met my mom and nino who came separately. Our wait was almost 1.5 hours just to get seated! BJs is the place to be on a Friday night! While we waited for a table, we took some pictures...

When our food finally came, we were disappointed to find out that they made my sister's order wrong. They took her pizza back and offered to buy us dessert! Of course we got pizookie!

I love my sister's roommate. When the desserts came out (we decided on sharing two pizookies) Lindsey was like, "I always feel like it's a competition when you're sharing a dessert." Hahahaha... Judging by the photo above, Kelsey was in it to win it!

Kelsey drove us back to Camarillo and we had another fun photo shoot/dance party in the car.

Back at the apartment, we just relaxed and had a fun little slumber party!

____

By the time I woke up the next morning, my sister had cooked us all a delicious breakfast! Such a little Martha Stewart! We all took our time getting ready. By 10:30 I was back on the road with my favorite little travel buddy. <3

I drove down to Torrance to meet up with my friend, Michael. He just moved back to California after attending grad school in Virginia. Yay!

We ate at El Torito Grill. It was so nice to just catch up on each other's lives. Mike actually drove back to California from Virginia and turned it into a road trip. It was a baseball theme road trip where he and his friend stopped at various baseball stadiums along the way! Sooo cool!

I thought the tortilla looked kinda funny...

After lunch, we were soooo stuffed! Mike suggested that we go shopping! We drove to a nearby shopping mall which was half indoor and half outdoor. As I was walking around, I started recognizing some of the places. I realized that I had actually been to this mall before!

They had this cool used book/CDs/video game store. I bought a Sheryl Crow CD for $5.

We tried to take a picture of ourselves to send to Sarah, but it was really difficult because Mike is like a foot taller than me. We eventually took a good pic that included most of both of us.

Then, some man offered to take a real picture of us. :)

Hanging out with Mike made me really miss my college life. I'm so glad he's back in California, but it's kinda depressing because now Sarah has left the state :(

Anyways, I had to leave so that I could drive to Culver City to drop off my Auntie Julie's cane (she left it at our house during Labor Day weekend). When I got to her house, we chatted for a bit. I was disappointed to find out that I had just missed my cousin, Miki. She left for work right before I showed up. I told my Auntie that I would have liked to visit Miki at work, but I didn't have a GPS and I didn't want to get lost. Auntie Julie was so cute, she was like, "Want me to show you how to get there?!" So we hopped in the car and drove to the grocery store Miki works at.

One cool thing was that my Auntie had a handicap parking thingy so I got to park right in front! We said hi to Miki, but she was super busy so we just walked around the huge store. Auntie Julie pointed out the Jamba Juice, Starbucks, bank, pharmacy, florist, bakery etc. (the store was huge).

After that, I dropped Auntie Julie off at her house and was back on the road again.

I drove to Krispy Kreme where I bought 3 dozen doughnuts. Yum!

Then, I drove to Camarillo to drop off doughnuts with Kelsey and Lindsey. Lindsey was at the gym, so I just waited around for her to come back so I could say hi. I left about a half hour later.

On the drive back home, I blasted my new Sheryl Crow CD and I just felt happy. I love making little road trips. I love getting away. I love visiting old friends. I love spending time with my family. And I love Krispy Kreme doughnuts. <3