Canadian Girls Take Over Southern California!

I have been home for a couple days now and I have finally had a few minutes to download some pictures from my trip to California. Christy is an awesome photographer and she has made me a disk of all of the pictures she took while we were visiting her. She is going to be here this weekend so I should get the disk then and I will post more when I get them.

So here is the recap from my trip to California... so much fun!

FRIDAY - Rhonda and I left early in the morning to drive down to Seattle for our flight to LA. Our flight wasn't until 4pm but we stopped and shopped along the way :-) I picked up my stash of A&W Cream Soda from Fred Meyer in Bellingham and stored it in the car while we were gone. We had lunch in Seattle and then dropped the car off at the Seatac Inn and got a shuttle to the airport. We arrived in LA around 6:30pm and Christy's husband Jeff met us at the airport. Jeff had told Christy that he had a business meeting with an 'Australian Customer' that evening to explain his absence :-) We arrived at Christy's house, rang her doorbell and then walked in... she was shocked and in a bit of disbelief that we were standing there in her living room! Elena's reaction was great too... she had flown in from Vancouver earlier in the day and she had no idea we were coming either! Rhonda and I are so sneaky!


After everyone chatted for a bit we all got ready and went to the Beach Fire Grill... it was a fun night! I got to meet Christy's friends Michele and Cathie who I had heard so much about :-)



SATURDAY - The 4 of us Canadian girls (Christy, Elena, Rhonda and I) got up and went for breakfast to a little place near Christy's house. I had the best french toast! Then we met up with Jeff and some of Christy's Californian friends at a local park for a BBQ to celebrate her Birthday! The weather was nice and sunny... I even got a little bit of a sunburn that afternoon! I also have to mention that Michele's husband Steve is my forever friend... after hearing about my obsession with A&W Cream Soda he snuck out to the store and picked some up and brought it to the park... he knows the way to my heart :-)



After we left the park we headed over to The Ritz Carlton in Laguna Beach for drinks with Jeff's mom and to watch the sun set. It was so pretty to see the sun as it was setting behind Catalina Island! But it was pretty windy and a bit cold out on the patio at the hotel so we watched most of the sun set from inside.



After we finished our drinks we headed over to one of Christy's favourite restaurants called 'Hennessey's' I had a 'California Dip' for dinner which is really just a Beef Dip with a different name :-) It was good! After we ate we went next door to a bar called 'The Fish Bucket' for some more drinks and dancing - I'm serious... we went dancing at a bar called 'The Fish Bucket'! It was a fun night :-)

SUNDAY - Jeff and Christy took us to Newport Beach where we had lunch at a little diner at the end of the pier called 'Ruby's'. While we were eating we saw a couple dolphins playing in the water just off the pier! We all abandoned our lunches for a few minutes so we could watch the dolphins... Christy took some great pictures (I'll post them after she gives them to me).



After lunch we left Jeff at a pub so he could watch the football game that was on... Jeff is an avid football fan and he did a great job at explaining the sport to me. I think I get it now! While Jeff was watching the game at the pub us girls walked around Newport Beach and did a bit of shopping.

We were hoping to go to 'Knott's Scary Farm' that evening but the tickets were sold out. Instead we went to Irvine and bought tickets to see Joe Rogan at the Improv Comedy Club that night. So after a quick dinner at 'PF Chang's' we went to the show. It was really good and we laughed all night long... and well into the next couple of days :-) I think we all have some new lingo now!

MONDAY - This was Christy's actual birthday... Jeff was working but Christy took the day off and she toured us around Laguna Beach. It was really beautiful there! We did some shopping and walked along the beach. Christy took lots of pictures of us and we had a nice relaxing day.





For lunch we went to 'In N Out Burger' and I must say that I LOVED the cheeseburger I had there! It was probably one of the best fast food burgers I have ever had. I am sad that there is no 'In N Out Burger' close to here (I checked online already!) I am going to have to go to California again just for a cheeseburger... I hope you don't mind if I come back Christy and Jeff!

That evening we all went to 'The Cheesecake Factory' for Christy's birthday dinner. The menu was at least 15 pages long... it was like a book! I had some yummy steak and shrimp there... it was a great time (even though they all made fun of me for starting to miss my kids a little bit!) After dinner it was back to Christy and Jeff's place to pack :-(

TUESDAY - Jeff drove Rhonda and I to LAX airport in the morning. We flew back up to Seattle where we were in climate shock from the cold weather after spending so much time in the California sun! Then we drove home from Seattle and I got home around 6pm.

Dave and the kids were at home waiting for me... they had bought me a bouquet of roses and a card to welcome me home :-) Dave helped Hannah make me some cupcakes too! The kids were pretty excited to see me... it was nice! I am happy to be home and it was nice to be missed :-) But I am sure missing that California sunshine!!

Thanks SO much to Jeff for being our co-conspirator and putting up with all us girls taking over the house! You were a great tour guide and it was great getting to know you better :-) Thanks to Rhonda for being such a great travel companion... we didn't get sick of each other did we? Also Thanks to Elena who had planned her own trip to California only to have us ambush her holiday... I hope you didn't mind and that you had just as much fun as we did!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTY!

See you this weekend to celebrate here in CANADA!

(You officially have the most drawn out birthday celebration ever!)

So now I am back to reality... my life is back to revolving around pre-school, swimming and birthday parties! Hannah starts ice skating lessons on Monday... she is excited about it.