OUT AND ABOUT: SAN DIEGO

My friend Kate and I had been talking about meeting up for a girl's weekend for a while.  Living far away from one of your closest friends is hard and with my impending delivery from Mr. Stork approaching, we wanted to make sure we had a fun weekend of good times and uncontrollable laughter. 

So we both hopped on planes in our respective cities and met in sunny San Diego the other weekend.  I always wonder what it will be like when we see each other after such long periods of time.  Being able to talk on the phone is great, but it pales in comparison to being together in person and being able to know what she's thinking just by a look.  Will she have changed?  Will I have changed?  Within an instant of her finding me in the baggage claim, I realized, "Nope!"  I'm still the same girl who gets way too carried away buying souvenirs and she is the same sweet person who always knows just what to say to make me laugh or feel heard.

We started our trip in Old Town with our favorite libation--margaritas (virgin for me).  Luckily they had frozen ones, because we had to spend a ridiculous amount of time on our last trip together to San Francisco finding a frozen margarita.  And even then it was at some juice bar instead of a Mexican restaurant.  Anyways, I got burnt within 30 minutes of our trip since my skin is pasty from not seeing the sun for months and then, true to form, I bought WAY too many sombreros and Mexican textiles. 

It was the next best thing than actually heading into Mexico.  But I really felt the quality of those mini sombreros was superb.  I also bought two embroidered tops--one for me and one for baby for us to wear next summer.  I figure I have about a year to dress her up in all the ridiculous outfits I want before she starts realizing what is happening and protesting. 

After that, we blasted "California Gurls" on the stereo and headed up the coast to one of the smaller beach communities outside of San Diego.  I'm so glad we did, because it was exactly what I thought of when I pictured southern California in my mind.  Cute surfer towns with loads of charm.  We booked our place through VRBO and that was the way to go!  For less than the price of a hotel, we got a whole apartment that was decked out in midcentury modern décor. 

The next few days were filled with visits to the beach, other cute beach towns, fun shops, and delicious food.  It was way too cold to swim, but it was wonderful to see the water.  For the past few years, I've had a yearning to see the ocean, where the sea meets the sky.  My horizon in Kansas is tree lined, so I never feel like I see the sun dipping below my side of the world.  The only bummer of the trip was that we never got a good view of the sunset.  It was cloudy each of the nights we tried.  There's something so romantic about the sun slipping away into someone else's horizon.  Guess that just means I'll have to head back to the beach sometime soon.

We also got to meet up with my long time blogger pal, Devon!  It was a blast seeing her in person and getting to experience her San Diego first hand.  Her pictures are always beautiful, but in person everything is even better.  She and her husband are so sweet and wonderful!  Kate and I may still be suffering from decorator's envy.  Seriously, Devon--you need to come decorate our places:)

The time went by way too fast.  It was simply the best being able to hang out with Kate and talk and laugh...a lot.  I haven't laughed that much in a long time, and it was definitely good for the soul.  It made me feel so fortunate to have her in my life.  Someone who knows me from way back when and shares in so many of my favorite stories, as well as someone who still gets me now and loves me in spite of all my crazy quirks. 

In other words, she's a pretty big whoop:)

After my flight getting rerouted due to weather, I was happy to make it home.  I did manage to fit in a souvenir for Wade, too.  And I know Mr. Maisy sure loves his new sombrero!  Even if he did try to bite it off his head and looks so forlorn in the pictures.  He just has a hard time showing his true emotions:)