SoCal

Last month, I went on one amazing trip.

My friend Carrie, for reasons unbeknownst to me, kinda thinks I'm awesome. So, with all her millions of dollars, she decided to fly me out to see her for a few days. Let me tell you something - - - WOW. I had the best time.

Carrie and I met on the October 2007 BabyCenter board when she started a thread asking if anyone else out there in the world wasn't loving every minute of being a mom. I quickly raised my hand and joined the discussion. Motherhood was NOT what I thought it was going to be like, at all, as most of you know. And thus our 'Good Mom' board was born. (Actually titled 'I Love Being A Mom, I Just Hate Doing It.) Ever since, Carrie has been a pretty big part of my life. Because of Carrie starting this board, and all the other ladies having courage to admit they felt the way they did, I no longer felt alone.

Since the board started, a lot has changed. Most of us have gone on to have another baby, and we no longer are mystified by why WE are different than other moms (are we really different? or are we the only ones brave enough to talk about it? jury is still out...), we're not as frustrated over all the things we used to be - but we're still friends, and still totally there for each other.

Back to the trip!!!

I flew out on Friday, the 16th. I was a mess leaving my babies at the airport. I sobbed. It was sad. I felt like a terrible person for leaving my children. Once we got in the air, everything was okay. And then we landed. Apparently, John Wayne airport is right in the middle of... you know, the city and stuff, and the main runway is short. One of the shortest in the country. So when we landed, we just kinda - - dropped down. Ha! Glad I took my Dramamine. Also glad I didn't know it was coming.

Carrie had been circling around for awhile and I darted out into traffic to hop into her luxury sedan. We hugged while at a red light, and that was that! It was like I'd been hanging out with her (in person) for years and years. She took me to this adorable little cafe (ish?) where we ate some delicious food. Then we went to pick up her son Jude at his intellectually superior preschool. Jude was just like I imagined - funny, smart, tall - his teensy, tiny voice doesn't match his lanky 2nd grade body though, if that makes any sense. :) We went back to their place, which is just totally adorable, and I met her husband, Rhys. Just as handsome as I'd seen from pictures, nice and charming as could be - I was so happy to finally meet all these people! Carrie's baby girl Raya was a shy little thing, but she warmed up to me after awhile.

Carrie and I went out to see some of the town, had some little breads at Corner Bakery



and also to see I Don't Know How She Does It, which, is kind of the perfect title to a movie of how we came to be friends. The movie was good. Good, not great, but worth seeing. We enjoyed a bit of a street fair, which I guess is just normal in Fullerton (?) and Carrie got a wee dinosaur balloon animal for Jude.



Later that night, after the kids were in bed, Rhys made us the single most fantastic thing I have ever eaten.


A beautiful set-up, right?


Dinner + dessert

And I don't even know what it was called! All I know is there was cheese, ravioli, green onions, tomatoes, some kind of cream sauce... H-e-a-v-e-n. All the flavors in my mouth were exploding! And then the dessert had something to do with peaches and ice cream. !!! (Is it odd that I'm going on and on about this meal?) We also watched Lady A on Ellen that Carrie had DVR'd - a perfect way to end the day.

The next morning we got up and after eating these delicious muffins -



we headed to Long Beach.







It was so pretty. I stuck my feet in the water and BRRRRRRRRRRRRR.



After walking around the beach and me asking Carrie what every single thing was (and her not knowing - hahaha), we headed to lunch at La Creperie Cafe. You do not understand the new found love I have for crepes.



Yes, 'tis true - I'd never had a crepe before. I will forever be singing their praises. We also went to Fashion Island in Newport Beach, which totally knocked my socks off!! (It's really not an island though, don't be stupid.) That night we went to Lucille's for some BBQ and I had to represent with the Texas style beef brisket sandwich.

On Sunday we headed to Hollywood and Grauman's Chinese Theatre. We walked up and down Hollywood Boulevard and saw as many stars on the Walk of Fame as we could.






This one was kinda funny. First of all, in my defense, there were people everywhere. And it was starting to warm up, so there were sweaty people everywhere. Anyway, I was distracted. And disoriented. Ha! So, I saw this ^^ and said, "Oh, hey! There's Tom Hanks and his wife... Rita Hayworth???" Then I thought to myself, No, self, that's not right! And then it hit me. "Thanks, Rita Hayworth." Ahhh, I crack myself up.








We were waiting to cross the street when this random guy walked in front of us and held up this sign. Just silently standing there. Crazy.


Genius

We got back in the car and drove through Beverly Hills (inside, my junior high self was squealing with delight -

)

and then I didn't really take any pictures!!! I barely got the ones I did! (Carrie fancies herself a race car driver.)





And then we headed onto Venice Beach. On the way, we happened upon the Los Angeles temple!



Fancy that!

Before we got to the beach, I spotted a Freebirds and I had to show Carrie what that was all about. :)



Venice Beach - well, what can I say? As crazy as I imagined, crowded, wild.


Can you see anything wrong with this picture?





At one point there was like, this troupe or something, of this guy announcing he was going to jump over ten people, and he would say funny things (most of them derogatory towards white people), and then his little group members would say something in line with whatever he said. Like they had the whole thing rehearsed and everything. Hilarious. They did some cool tumbling and tricks.





But they wanted money, just like everyone else. Still, it was like nothing I'd ever seen.



Monday morning, we went out to breakfast at another little cafe place, and then Carrie dropped me off at the airport. Side note: The short runway, along with the noise ordinance surrounding the airport, makes for a very quick and steep takeoff. *deep breaths*

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I really could not have had a better time. Carrie is one of those people that will be in my life forever. I'm so thankful that I had her to get through a really rough patch when Maddy was a baby, and I hope I can repay her in some small (or, several small) ways in the years to come. Love ya, Miss Carrie!!!

*Sorry for the mismatched photos. I took some with my phone and that fandangled Instagram stuff, and then the rest with Shirley. Apologies!