Good morning my lovelies! I’m sorry it has been a while since my last post but there has been so much going on lately! I worked some crazy hours at the restaurant so I could save up to go on vacation with my boyfriend Matt. Two weeks ago we went on vacation to California to visit my best friend Elyse. Oh how I missed her! We did so much in California and I want to tell you all about it! So for the next few weeks I’m going to walk you through our adventure there!

Now for anyone who doesn’t know I am a huge I Love Lucy fan, so I was pretty much replaying the California Here We Come episode in my head the entire plane ride there. I know… I’m a dork. I’m cool with it.

It was the longest flight Matt and I have ever been on and the furthest west we have ever been. Matt slept the whole way there… lucky duck. I spent majority of the flight trying to watch something on my tablet, but the internet connection was awful! I ended up dozing off and spilled an entire glass of sprite in my lap… yeah. So for the remaining three hours of the flight I sat with napkins under my ass like I was wearing a make shift diaper to sop up the carbonated drink.

When we arrived in California I could hardly contain my excitement! We walked through LAX and out the doors to where my best friend Elyse waited for us. I gave her a big hug and we were off!

For the duration of the trip anytime we did something completely ordinary such as grabbing a coffee or eating something I would say to Matt, “babe! It’s my first Starbucks in California!” or “look! It’s my first grilled cheese in California!” I’m such a nerd!

Our first day in California consisted of driving to Venice Beach, where of course we got some Starbucks coffee and breakfast. We ate at this little café called The Terrace, where Elyse and I both got mimosas and a grilled cheese sandwich, while Matt got a breakfast platter.

The weather in California is so weird! It’s cloudy and a bit chilly near the ocean. I only say this is weird because here in Florida if it’s cloudy and chilly it means there’s a huge rainstorm coming that will last for about an hour and then it will be hot and muggy again in no time! After breakfast we walked down the Venice Beach Pier and there in the distance you could barely make out the Santa Monica Pier beyond the clouds.

We headed toward the Santa Monica Pier and I couldn’t believe how big it was! There was a rollercoaster with screaming kids on it, their brave little hands up in the air with triumph. An array of carnival games lined the walkway along with street performers and gawking tourists taking pictures of the beach. Elyse and Matt talked me into going on the Ferris wheel, something I haven’t done in 16 years since the last time when my cousins thought it would be funny to rock the car back and forth and scarred me for life. Every slight movement I would yell at Matt. “BABE! CHILL! DON’T MOVE! DON’T EVEN BREATHE!” But after a while it wasn’t that bad, it was actually really beautiful looking out over the Pacific Ocean. To the right of us was muscle beach and to the left was these huge chiseled out cliffs. It made me think about just how flat Florida is.

After we did the tourist thing we made the drive back to Elyse’s house in San Diego, where we were met with open arms by what I consider to be my second family. This amazing group of people who I have missed so deeply. Elyse’s dog Remmi cried with happiness over seeing me and I held back tears myself. We of course played fetch, throwing the ball up this huge hill in the backyard and watching her zoom up there with no issues. My dog Lucy would have looked at me like, “yea I’m not doing that… but good try.”

We went to an authentic Mexican restaurant, the name escapes me, but I had a really good cheese quesadilla…oh did I mention I eat like a five year old? Matt and Elyse has these huge burritos and tacos and then we were on our way to Pacific Beach… what the locals kept calling PB.  We picked up her friend César on our way there and got a hotel for the night.

A few of Elyse’s friends/co-workers met up with us and we of course started drinking! A little while later we walked down to the beach where there were people searching for something in the water. César said they were searching for Grunyons. What the hell is a grunyon you ask? Well it’s a tiny little fish that washes up with the tide and from what I understand it makes good bait to catch bigger fish.

Me being the curious one I had to see what these things looked like! Unfortunately, Elyse’s friend Erica and I despite our efforts were unable to see any Grunyons. We all walked the beach for a while and I put my toes in the Pacific Ocean for the first time ever.

The beach was windy so I braided my hair to the side, I rolled my pant legs up to my knees and let the waves crash into my feet. It was so cold! I absolutely loved it. Matt and I both agreed that the weather in California is WAY better than Florida (sorry Florida).

After the Grunyon search was called off we headed back to the hotel where we played Heads up! If you haven’t played it, you need to hop on it! We played until we couldn’t play anymore and eventually the time change got to us and it was time for bed!

First day in Cali = success.

Come back next week for day two! Have an amazing week!