Wow, it seems like forever since I’ve blogged! When I sat down to write this I wasn’t sure I even remembered how to write a post! Obviously I figured it out.
The past couple of weeks have been insanely busy! I barely remember the day my mom flew in for her ten days with me/us but I do remember looking forward to it.
My mom’s arrival marked the beginning of our girl’s only vacation. Thursday night I arrived at the airport early and waited for her plane to arrive. I don’t know anywhere better to people watch than the airport. Wal-Mart might be close but I think the airport wins. On the way there, I saw a man going to pick someone up on a small motorcycle. Perhaps I ask too many questions but all I could think about was where the luggage would go. Did the passenger not take luggage? Do they have to carry it on the motorcyle? Do they strap their suitcase to their back? I was dying to know!
I arrived at the gate, found a spot and got comfy (as comfy as you can get in the airport chairs). After a few minutes a girl, her mother, and her very tall boyfriend sat in front of me, completely blocking my view of the passengers arriving. I strained to look around the VERY tall boyfriend while listening to the girl’s high-pitched voice as she went on and on and then on some more about her shoes, her makeup, her day, and anything else about herself that her poor mother and boyfriend may have missed. Apparently she was going to meet her boyfriend's mother for the first time. She reminded me of Snookie from Jersey Shore so hopefully his mother is a fan! I prayed my mother would arrive simply because I’d have a reason to get up (I did also want to see her for other reasons)! Finally I saw her! We got the luggage, found the car, and I managed to only take one wrong turn on the way out (remember that I’m directionally challenged). The TomTom GPS and I are BFFs. I don’t know what I’d do without that thing.
I was grateful my mom visited for a number of reasons. The first was that it was wonderful to see her. Second, there was an insanely fast, large spider in the kitchen that made an appearance the night she arrived. Had I been completely alone, I may have stood on the couch all night waiting for the spider to leave. Unfortunately for the spider, my mom was there and was able to "take care of him"...if you know what I mean. Lastly, it is CREEPY being alone at night. Every little noise makes me think that there's an intruder. I don't know what my mom could have done had an intruder broken in but I was very happy to not be alone. I do think that between my mom, myself, and my super scary dog, we could have defended ourselves!
I had to work Friday so as always my mother put herself to work cleaning what I hadn’t cleaned in our house (which wasn't much). I am not offended one bit by her cleaning, however I do feel bad that she doesn’t just relax! I joke (is it a joke if it’s true?) that our sliding glass doors never get cleaned unless she does it. I’m sure it will be covered with puppy nose prints by the next visit. She sewed buttons back on the numerous pairs of shorts Mr. C needed fixed that I had been avoiding, and cleaned things that haven't been touched since we moved in such as the lights that have to be reached with a ladder. It was wonderful!
Saturday morning we started out for California at 6 am. We decided to stop at Burger King for a quick breakfast on the way. Freeway exits were closed and I was not yet accustomed to our new (and apparently improved?) GPS system. It took us 45 minutes to find Burger King. 45 MINUTES! Did I mention that we were still in Phoenix at this point? Luckily the rest of the drive went much smoother and we arrived in San Diego around noon. We drove around until we ran into an area with a ton of cute little restaurants. Unfortunately I did not take pictures (remember how my thinking isn’t straight when I get hungry?). We found a wonderful café with fresh sandwiches and salads and had a great lunch. Then we headed over to Balboa Park to find a parking space which we figured would be a piece of cake. I think we may have been able to bake a cake in the time it took us to find where to park and then a parking spot! Somehow we finally found a spot! While it was a ways away, it gave us a chance to walk by the dog park, over a beautiful bridge, and through some flowering trees (not literally THROUGH the trees but you know what I mean!).
I had been to Balboa Park one time before, however we went in the evening when everything was closed so we didn’t really see much. Nevertheless, I fell in love with the park. I love the beautiful, old architecture (I was a design major after all), the flowers, and the people.
After parking and walking, we only had a few hours before the park closed and decided that our time would be best spent at the San Diego Natural History Museum. Neither one of us had been to a museum with dinosaurs before so we both were pretty impressed! My favorite thing was the ginormous shark hanging from the ceiling. I need one of those in my living room. On second thought, he wouldn’t go with the décor but I still think it's super cool! To sum it up - we learned a lot, saw some cool stuff, watched a 3D movie about dinosaurs, and just had fun doing something different together. I’m posting a few of my favorite shots on here.
The last time I went to San Diego with Mr. C and Max Emerald (my BFF’s blog code name) we stumbled upon this AMAZING Italian place. When I say amazing I mean that this is probably the Italian food that is served in heaven. We had been driving around after a day at the zoo. Max Emerald and I were in the front and Mr. C in the back, and I was in the mood for Italian. We had no idea where we were going and I got us a little lost. After having to reverse down a hill because I couldn’t turn around, and then almost driving into the FedEX landing strip, we somehow stumbled upon a restaurant with the cutest little outdoor patio. Miraculously the restaurant was Italian! We all agreed that it was the best Italian food EVER. The restaurant is Jack and Guilios and obviously I recommend it. My mouth is watering just thinking about it now. So, because of the amazingness, it was obvious that I had to take my mother there. We checked into our hotel and were happily surprised to find that it was within walking distance of the restaurant. Our hotel layout was confusing and we again got lost that day, this time in the hotel! We did manage to make it to the restaurant eventually and it was sooooo worth it!
We ate outside in the beautiful weather next to the fountain. My mom and I had planned to have the same thing so after she ordered I said I’d have what she had. A few minutes later I found out that she had changed her order and I wasn’t getting what I had really wanted (the names were hard to pronounce if you’re wondering how I didn’t figure this out earlier). I decided to just stick with it and when it arrived it tasted wonderful as well. Unfortunately I did not think of pictures at this point either so I cannot show you the amazing food but I can tell you that the pasta was freshly made, the sauce was full of garlic, seasoning, and the food was just plain wonderful. After dinner we wandered around Old Downtown San Diego, listening to the music on the street, stopping for ice cream (not a healthy night obviously), and buying jewelry from a very unique boutique.
All in all, the day was great even though we had a few navigational challenges. I had been planning to write about both days but I guess I had a lot to say so I figure this will have to be a two parter. Up tomorrow - the San Diego Zoo with some very cute panda pics!
No comments:
Post a Comment