Traveling is So Good
Our travels to Southern California were a success!
Okay, okay, I admit, I was sort of a crying mess when I finally let my Dad pull away with Dahlia in the backseat on Thursday at the airport, but once I got over that, things got better. (that being said I can't count the number of times during our trip when Steve or I said "Oh Dahlia" in that little voice that we do....)
We got to the airport with plenty of time, checked in, relaxed and waited. Our flights were on schedule, no hassles, exit row seating and we landed without incident 4 hours later.
It was so WEIRD to be back in LA! I felt like I was in the twilight zone in a way. I remembered how to get where we were going, but it was just sort of surreal. Our hotel was nice - an old 50's "California style" apartment complex which is now a hotel.
It was nice to have a lot of space instead of just ONE ROOM. And for the price, it was okay. Nothing is cheap out there so why not spend $20 more and have some breathing room? We were one block from the ocean and one block from the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica. It was just nice to be able to walk places.
Thursday night we met up with my friend Sarah (who is a transplant from MN). We had some beers followed by dinner at Monsoon Cafe.
I have to say, the martini wasn't that great, the Pad Thai is just as good (if not better) here in Duluth and well...Steve thought the sushi was great! We were pooped and in bed by 10pm that night! 
Friday we had a leisurely morning followed by a trip to Hollywood. I think Steve was getting seriously BURNT OUT on my running (mouth) commentary - "oh this is the street that I used to turn on when I was going to work in the morning" "this is my old bus stop" "there's the grocery store I used to stop at" "my old boss lived on that street" etc etc. We made it to H-wood and visited my friend Jimmy (from college) at the Jim Henson Company.
I LOVE that lot. It is so much fun. Even if the Muppets DON'T live there any more. One of my most happiest days was spent there (when they opened the lot and had a big party - I met Gonzo!) so I was happy to go back. Jimmy is doing great and we all had lunch at In-n-Out - which he laughed at. I was CRAVING it!!
After lunch Steve & I headed to Griffith Park to do some hiking...via my old apartment. Yes, I'm a nerd and took photos.
The hiking was pretty good - and hot! It wasn't that warm out really, but in some areas it was very very hot. The views were pretty good but sort of hazy. I was super nervous about seeing rattlesnakes.
It's hard for me to relax and enjoy hiking sometimes. 
After hiking we headed back to Santa Monica to meet up with Heather for dinner. Place one was TOO LA (HA!) so we went to place 2...right next to my favorite old video store (Vidiots). It was so much fun to see Heather (who looks FABULOUS AND ALL GLOWY, btw) and to meet her beau Scott. They seem like a really great match. We chatted & chatted over authentic Mexican food. It was a nice time.
Saturday we headed south! First stop Manhattan Beach to meet Samantha's little CUTIES! I had met Savannah of course before I left LA (I think she was 2 when I left) but had only seen Shelby & Sydney in pictures. They are such cool kids. Not only are they beautiful but they are smart, funny, precocious - all of the above! I was having baby-withdrawl so it was heavenly to snuggle up to Miss Sydney (who's doing FABULOUSLY btw). After our little meeting we headed off to San Diego.
We followed Sam & Cary down the 405 and then the toll road - which was quite pretty. Hit some traffic around Camp Pendleton but it wasn't too bad. 2 1/2 hours I think. We arrived ON TIME at the pizza luncheon which was nice.
It was great to see Sudhara & Alex. Sudhara looked all glowy and wonderful as a bride should. We met some of their friends & family and enjoyed the tasty pizza.
That night we drank some wine with Sam & Cary and just basically hung out. We ate a fabulous dinner at our hotel (which was very nice, btw). Sunday morning Steve & I went to Cabrillo National Monument for some hiking & beautiful views.
That afternoon we hung out at the hot tub with Sam and that evening was the big event.
The wedding was small and quite lovely. Very personal. Sudhara walked down the aisle to the Mamas & the Papas CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' which was sweet.
She looked fabulous. Their vows were so sweet & everything was just very THEM. I loved it. Afterwards there was a great reception - cocktails, dinner, dancing, it was a lot of fun. I met more of Sudhara & Alex's friends and we all had a blast.
Monday morning was leisurely which was nice. We had breakfast with Sam & Cary at the hotel and got to see Sudhara & Alex and a few others from their wedding too. After breakfast we had to bid farewell to Sam - which SUCKED. I miss her so much. They were off to LA and we were off for a quick bike ride before packing up and heading back home.
Of course we left to return our car WAY TO LATE which caused much stress when we couldn't get the car into the lot (bad directions) and then it got SUPER busy and then the stress REALLY piled on. Of course when we got to the airport the security line was RIDICULOUS and more stress - but our flight was delayed anyway so it really didn't matter in the least.
We arrived into Minneapolis to a lovely blizzard and about 8 inches of snow. We had to circle the airport for about an hour before we could land as they were plowing the runway. Ugh. We didn't drive back to Duluth that night - it would've been a white-knuckler all the way. Instead we stayed at Kathy & Jays along with their triplets, my Mom and Dad, Steve & I and of course Miss Dahlia.
It was SO AWESOME to see that little peanut and pick her up and hug her and kiss her. I loved it.
She was sleeping when we got there but I couldn't resist and hand to hold her anyway. She slept like a champ that night and we had some great family snuggle time the next morning.
So Tuesday - back to Duluth - no snow here (of course!) and back to reality. I can't believe it was a week ago already that I was in LA!! Time just moves way too fast.
I had a great time. It was nice to have a break, revisit my old life & see old friends and it was even better to come back home.
Okay, okay, I admit, I was sort of a crying mess when I finally let my Dad pull away with Dahlia in the backseat on Thursday at the airport, but once I got over that, things got better. (that being said I can't count the number of times during our trip when Steve or I said "Oh Dahlia" in that little voice that we do....)
We got to the airport with plenty of time, checked in, relaxed and waited. Our flights were on schedule, no hassles, exit row seating and we landed without incident 4 hours later.
It was so WEIRD to be back in LA! I felt like I was in the twilight zone in a way. I remembered how to get where we were going, but it was just sort of surreal. Our hotel was nice - an old 50's "California style" apartment complex which is now a hotel.
It was nice to have a lot of space instead of just ONE ROOM. And for the price, it was okay. Nothing is cheap out there so why not spend $20 more and have some breathing room? We were one block from the ocean and one block from the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica. It was just nice to be able to walk places.Thursday night we met up with my friend Sarah (who is a transplant from MN). We had some beers followed by dinner at Monsoon Cafe.
I have to say, the martini wasn't that great, the Pad Thai is just as good (if not better) here in Duluth and well...Steve thought the sushi was great! We were pooped and in bed by 10pm that night! 
Friday we had a leisurely morning followed by a trip to Hollywood. I think Steve was getting seriously BURNT OUT on my running (mouth) commentary - "oh this is the street that I used to turn on when I was going to work in the morning" "this is my old bus stop" "there's the grocery store I used to stop at" "my old boss lived on that street" etc etc. We made it to H-wood and visited my friend Jimmy (from college) at the Jim Henson Company.
I LOVE that lot. It is so much fun. Even if the Muppets DON'T live there any more. One of my most happiest days was spent there (when they opened the lot and had a big party - I met Gonzo!) so I was happy to go back. Jimmy is doing great and we all had lunch at In-n-Out - which he laughed at. I was CRAVING it!! 
After lunch Steve & I headed to Griffith Park to do some hiking...via my old apartment. Yes, I'm a nerd and took photos.
The hiking was pretty good - and hot! It wasn't that warm out really, but in some areas it was very very hot. The views were pretty good but sort of hazy. I was super nervous about seeing rattlesnakes.
It's hard for me to relax and enjoy hiking sometimes. 
After hiking we headed back to Santa Monica to meet up with Heather for dinner. Place one was TOO LA (HA!) so we went to place 2...right next to my favorite old video store (Vidiots). It was so much fun to see Heather (who looks FABULOUS AND ALL GLOWY, btw) and to meet her beau Scott. They seem like a really great match. We chatted & chatted over authentic Mexican food. It was a nice time.
Saturday we headed south! First stop Manhattan Beach to meet Samantha's little CUTIES! I had met Savannah of course before I left LA (I think she was 2 when I left) but had only seen Shelby & Sydney in pictures. They are such cool kids. Not only are they beautiful but they are smart, funny, precocious - all of the above! I was having baby-withdrawl so it was heavenly to snuggle up to Miss Sydney (who's doing FABULOUSLY btw). After our little meeting we headed off to San Diego.
We followed Sam & Cary down the 405 and then the toll road - which was quite pretty. Hit some traffic around Camp Pendleton but it wasn't too bad. 2 1/2 hours I think. We arrived ON TIME at the pizza luncheon which was nice.
It was great to see Sudhara & Alex. Sudhara looked all glowy and wonderful as a bride should. We met some of their friends & family and enjoyed the tasty pizza.
That night we drank some wine with Sam & Cary and just basically hung out. We ate a fabulous dinner at our hotel (which was very nice, btw). Sunday morning Steve & I went to Cabrillo National Monument for some hiking & beautiful views.
That afternoon we hung out at the hot tub with Sam and that evening was the big event. 
The wedding was small and quite lovely. Very personal. Sudhara walked down the aisle to the Mamas & the Papas CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' which was sweet.
She looked fabulous. Their vows were so sweet & everything was just very THEM. I loved it. Afterwards there was a great reception - cocktails, dinner, dancing, it was a lot of fun. I met more of Sudhara & Alex's friends and we all had a blast. 
Monday morning was leisurely which was nice. We had breakfast with Sam & Cary at the hotel and got to see Sudhara & Alex and a few others from their wedding too. After breakfast we had to bid farewell to Sam - which SUCKED. I miss her so much. They were off to LA and we were off for a quick bike ride before packing up and heading back home.
Of course we left to return our car WAY TO LATE which caused much stress when we couldn't get the car into the lot (bad directions) and then it got SUPER busy and then the stress REALLY piled on. Of course when we got to the airport the security line was RIDICULOUS and more stress - but our flight was delayed anyway so it really didn't matter in the least.
We arrived into Minneapolis to a lovely blizzard and about 8 inches of snow. We had to circle the airport for about an hour before we could land as they were plowing the runway. Ugh. We didn't drive back to Duluth that night - it would've been a white-knuckler all the way. Instead we stayed at Kathy & Jays along with their triplets, my Mom and Dad, Steve & I and of course Miss Dahlia.
It was SO AWESOME to see that little peanut and pick her up and hug her and kiss her. I loved it.
She was sleeping when we got there but I couldn't resist and hand to hold her anyway. She slept like a champ that night and we had some great family snuggle time the next morning. So Tuesday - back to Duluth - no snow here (of course!) and back to reality. I can't believe it was a week ago already that I was in LA!! Time just moves way too fast.
I had a great time. It was nice to have a break, revisit my old life & see old friends and it was even better to come back home.
Comments
your old apartment building looked pretty cool. would've never guessed that was LA!
welcome home!