Par-tay

My friend Kate came for a visit a couple of weeks ago. Our friendship has forever been long distance and now that we live on the west coast we see each other less and less. BUT, thanks to the snowmageddon in D.C. (and something about a PT conference), she needed a little California sunshine. Our visits are never long, but always fun.

As soon as she got here we headed to The Grove for some grub. We opted out of the hour-long wait at most places and settled for outdoor eating at a Greek restaurant. After a little walking around we headed to Hollywood to stand in line at the Laugh Factory for a little stand-up comedy. I had prepared myself for the inevitable inappropriateness of the jokes, but none of us were prepared for the unexpected guest....Dane Cook himself! When they announced him we were all looking at each other and screaming. A little star struck I suppose. Classic moment nonetheless.







Day 2 consisted of more patio eating and a movie. We saw Valentine's Day since....well, it was Valentines Day. I was pleasantly surprised. Not the typical, cheesy romcom I was expecting. We knocked Kathryn's socks off with a trip to Golden Spoon....a heavenly selection of non-fat frozen yogurt. And then we ended the night with a steak dinner. What else for V-Day...but steak?

We spent the entire next day in one of my favorite places....Pasadena. We shopped and ate....and ate some more. Breakfast at Noah's Bagels, lunch at P.F. Changs and dessert at Polkatots. Kathryn has this weird obsession with cupcakes. Just kidding....but seriously, she has to get a cupcake in every city she stops in. Seriously though (again) I admire her keeping up the tradition and enjoy the benefits of being with her when she continues it. I think this one was cookies and creme. YUM!



Since Kate had to be in San Diego for a conference, we spent Tuesday in San Diego. We had lunch overlooking the beach at Hotel Del, walked around Balboa Park, did some shopping and ended with some tasty Italian food after catching a west coast sunset. Sounds too good to be true...I know.

Quick Get-Away

Between my husband's roles as college pastor and full time student, we try to squeeze in as many exploratory events as we can. L.A. offers an endless amount of things to do, so we haven't done anything twice. Last weekend we were able to take a quick trip to San Diego with the Huxfords. The trip went a little differently than planned, but it was adventurous. The 2 hour drive took 4 hours, due to the late Chargers fans on the way to the stadium. We had plans to attend ourselves, but my aunt (who we were staying with) lives so close to the stadium that we couldn't find parking for miles. We literally had to give up on getting to the apartment and going to the game. We just drove to a local bar and grill and watched from there. We were finally able to find parking and settle into the apartment during the 3rd quarter.

The next morning started with a trip to a local coffee shop and then a few hours at Balboa Park. It was beautiful! We went to one of the many museums and then to the botanical garden. As lunch neared we headed to Pacific Beach to join a small group of UGA fans to watch the game. Oddly enough, we were outnumbered by Michigan fans 10 to 1. Apparently everyone got too cold in Michigan and decided to move to San Diego together. Although my dawgs let me down, it was SO MUCH BETTER watching the game among SEC fans. I was quickly reminded of how much I love the SEC!

We spent the latter half of the afternoon at Hotel Del Coronado, which is where Marilyn Monroe stayed when she filmed "Some Like It Hot." The night ended with a sunset drive to see one of the California Missions and dinner at Chick-Fil-A....yes, Chick-Fil-A. We can never get enough.


Balboa Park




San Diego Bay


Hotel Del Coronado


California Mission Trail