A Visit From The Parents

This past week, we had a wonderful visit from my parents! We had so much fun showing off beautiful Southern California to them, and they loved soaking in the sun and escaping the rain.

The night they arrived with started off quickly by showing them the pier.  The next day we went down to the beach again for a warm and sunny afternoon. For Valentine's Day they headed off to Santa Barbara and Luke and I enjoyed a great night at Huntington Beach.

The next day my parents returned and just as they came, Luke had to go out of town for a business trip.  We found out a week before they came that Luke had to go to Northern California for the week.  So we made the best of the time we had with him.

Right after Luke headed off, we went to Anaheim to see our dear friends, the Bruncks.  They've been our friends for over 17 years, and Michelle and I did ballet, soccer, softball and practically everything together when we were younger.  They moved away quite a few years ago but we've all stayed friends and it was so great to be reunited with them all again!

My parents and I headed out to Palm Springs for four days. We had a wonderful time with my mom's aunt and uncle.  They spoiled us with amazing food and fun as always.  Hours and hours were spent lounging in the pool.  One morning my parents and I went hiking along the San Andreas fault.  It felt a lot like hiking in Southern Utah.  A trip to Palm Springs wouldn't be complete without a trip to the golf clubs.  We spent the majority of one of the days at PGA West and also toured 6 magnificent model homes. If only...

Delicious dinner at The Cliffhouse with our Aunt Linda and Uncle Don

Nothing is boring with them

PGA West

We returned back to the LA Basin and the next day I took my parents up to Hollywood to give them the full turn that I am getting quite good at now. I took them to Burbank where we say Warner Brother Studios with the iconic water tower, and pointed out the church from Gilmore Girls to my mom, a show we always watched together when we lived in Switzerland. 

From there we drove all around Beverly Hills to see the big houses on the hill, something I hadn't done myself yet.  Grifith Park was also a first for me with some of the most beautiful views of the Hollywood Sign, and LA. There are so many hiking trails through those hills that I would definitely like to do.

The highlight of the trip to Hollywood however was Hollywood Boulevard. I forgot that the Oscars were coming up, so just one day before the first ceremonies, we got to see everything all set up, some of the red carpet still rolled up, and even got to walk on some of the red carpet! I also may have put a thread of the red carpet in my pocket for funsies. We followed the red carpet all the way up to the Dolby Theater as we watched camera crews set up, reporters do their thing and watched the oscar statues get their final gold pain touch ups.  It was a unique experience that we didn't plan, which made a great memory.

My debut on the Red Carpet

Walking into the Dolby Theater

Ready to Roll Out

Luke came back late that Friday night, and that last day all together was spent nice and relaxed on the beach.  We spent quite a bit of time at Huntington Beach and enjoyed delicious ice cream on the pier.  We completed the day by driving south on the Pacific Coast Highway to check out Newport Beach.  If was a full week to share all the goodness this area has to offer with my parents.  I miss them already, but am so glad I'll be in Washington with them in just under a month.

We Found Heaven

We're in love. Well yes, with each other, that's old news.  But we have recently fallen in love with Southern California. We seriously feel as though we have died and gone to heaven.  Moving around every 6 months for two years my be rough, but there are so many treasure and blessings that we have found along the way. And living here has definitely been a treasure.

Luke and I arrived on January 1st and Luke had until the 12th to "settle" in his new location before he started working again at his next location.  Well that week had as much fun as we could pack in, and definitely no moving in.  That wasn't our fault though. It wasn't our fault that the movers decided to come a week later than planned. So we took advantage of it and just did all we could that week.

First off, we live half a mile from the ocean. HALF A MILE. We are spoiled.  We love going down to the beach. Even in January, you can go to the beach in flip flops and a T-Shirt and splash your feet in the water.  Seal Beach (where we live) is this cute little tucked away town in Orange County. It's just north of Huntington Beach, and it still has a small town feel.  We are close to everything, but as soon as you get west of Pacific Coast Highway (Or PCH as we've learned all the locals call it) where we live, it's a quaint and quiet beach town.  We are so blessed that it's a safe area.  The company almost put us in an apartment that's in Downtown Long Beach which would have been very nice, but not in a safe area. So we are grateful for a quiet beach town with cute shops, restaurants, and a beautiful pier.

On one of our first days we headed up to Hollywood, which both of us had never been to.  We got to see the WB Studios and the water tower, Disney Studios, Universal Studios, the famous Hollywood sign of course, and then ended it by walking down Hollywood Boulevard.  The highlight was getting to see Robin Williams' star, and getting to put my hand in Matt Damon's hand print (anyone who knows me knows how much a love Matt Damon).

We live less than 30 minutes from Disneyland, yeah I know, it's like the happiest thing about this place (no pun intended).  We've literally been every week since we've been here. This week we've gone twice. It's an addiction. Locals can get very discounted passes that pay for themselves after you've been only twice.  And we definitely are getting our money's worth.  Our first week here when Luke still had work off, we went to Disneyland for the whole day.  Luke had been to Disney World but never Disneyland (considering the fact that he grew up in Atlanta) and so I was so excited to show him all of Disneyland! Our first day was the last day of the Christmas Season at Disneyland so we got to see the castle all decorated, Haunted Mansion, Jungle River Cruise, World of Color, Main Street and several other things all set up for the season! It really added a lot to the experience.  After a full day, we decided to go home, get some sleep, and turn right around and come again! We got to spend two full days just the two of us. Since then, we've gone a few times.  We usually come in the evenings for a few hours to go on a few rides, or to catch a show or two. It's nice that with these passes, when we got for the evening, we don't have to feel like we need to cram everything we can in.

My Aunt Linda and Uncle Don live in Palm Springs which is only about 2 hours away. We took a couple of days to go and see them, and they just spoiled us.  Good food, good games, greater company.  Palm Springs is beautiful and hidden away in a sun attracting valley. We will definitely be seeing a lot more of them!

Luke had a business trip in Alabama, and so my best friend/freshman roommate can to spend about 10 days with me! We started our time on a Mexico cruise! You can get them dirt cheap this time of year, and the port is only a few miles from our home (so close that we took a public bus home from the cruise).  We had a great time the two of us stuffing our faces and getting tan.  Catalina Island is one of the prettiest places I've been.  So quaint and beautiful, and we never even left LA County! Mexico was also fun with lots of shopping and bartering.  We really miss the food, especially the croissants.

My fun continued with Kellee by thrift store shopping through Orange County (local rich people + local thrift stores = amazing finds). We spent all day and it was worth everything.  Kellee purposely brought an extra suit case for this very event and she needed it.

A few days later I took Kellee to Hollywood where we did what Luke and I did, but we also got to watch an outdoor filming of a Jimmy Kimmel sketch when J.J. Watt came and got some coffee for Jimmy. It was pretty cool to see all that goes in to getting a production as short as that all ready.

And then... Disneyland with Kellee. What a day! Best day at Disneyland because... there we NO LINES. NO LINES. And it wasn't even rainy. It was perfect weather, it's just that January/February are such low seasons. We walked right onto Indiana Jones twice in a row, and walked right on to most of our rides.  It was great. Luke joined us after work and we just used up every moment we could.

Kellee actually got me to go on a roller coaster though... I hated every second of it as the picture below describes, but am honestly glad I did to check it off. I have now done every single big ride at Disneyland/California Adventure, which is saying a lot for this baby.