& that's the way life goes

Valentine’s Day started with the most perfect sunrise over the mountains.  Yes we were up at sunrise, that is how we roll.  No matter what we did we were up early every day!

We drove up to La Jolla and walked around a bit.

Wanting to jump in the car and just drive we decided just to see where we ended up.  (I look thrilled, huh?)

Well we ended up at a mall in La Jolla because C had to pee.  But it wasn’t quite 11am and the stores weren’t open.  We looked for a rest room but ended up walking back out into the parking lot.  Across the parking lot was a Crate and Barrel and I saw a couple come out.  So we hurriedly made our way over there.  We saw the workers standing at the door and we looked at each other like , are we ready to deal with salespeople?  But by this time we both had to pee (lots of coffee will do that) so we sucked in a breath and pasted a smile on our face.  As we walked in they told us to grab a registry gun and to help ourselves.

Help ourselves?

We had walked into an engagement promotion at Crate and Barrel.  I slipped off my wedding band and left my engagement ring on (something I only wear when we go on vacation because normally it just gets in my way).  I asked C to take his off but he didn’t believe me that all the people in there were engaged couples.  As we mocked shopping we ran across mimosas, strawberries and chocolate, waffles, cupcakes, pancakes and more.  It was awesome because we hadn’t yet had breakfast!

After we used the restroom and gotten some mimosas we were looking at furniture.  I unnerved impressed C with my quick skills of fibbing our engagement and wedding date (as he kept his left hand in his pocket).  When we left he was like I didn’t know you could lie like that!  It was fun to pretend for awhile.

Afterward we headed into San Diego where we wondered around San Diego Harbor.  C had wanted to join the navy so we bought tickets to the USS Midway.

Got some Valentine’s Day sushi, where C actually used his chopsticks (even if he cheated a little)

Checked out the Star of India

(C has cooler pictures of this on his camera)

Watched the sunset over the harbor

And back at the condo he was cracking me up while we ate the pizza we  ordered

It was a really good day and classic C and M style.  Low key and trying to avoid crowds of people. 

I need to start off by saying that C and I aren’t planners. We don’t go on vacation with a list of things we MUST do. Sure we’ll pick out a few cool things that maybe we will get around to doing, but in reality, we walk around aimlessly. When I say walk, I mean that literally. We also rent bikes and explore that way too.

So the day it snowed in 49 states? It fucked our flying plans. The closure of the Atlanta and Dallas hubs backed up all the flights and because Delta has it’s head up it’s ass, we waited 3 hours just to check in. JUST TO CHECK IN. We missed our 9am flight and had to be put on standby to fly into LA. They put our luggage on the first flight out so we were stuck flying there unless we wanted to trust them to get our luggage to us. Um no.

C called Delta’s reservation line multiple times as we waited on standby to see if there was anything else we could do. If we could fly into somewhere else and get a flight the next day, or something. There were over 20 people flying standby that had missed the same flight we had.  Did I mention that the flights to LA were overbooked too? On all these calls never once did anyone let him know we could receive a discount on a rental car. We ended up paying $300 more because we had to rent a car in LA and drop it off in San Diego.

We finally got on a flight, rented a car and got to San Diego around 11:30pm PST.  We had been up since 5am EST.  You do the math.  When we got to the condo we immediately passed out though I remember having a conversation about how the sheets smelled musty.  Yeah.  I don’t even want to talk about that.

After all that, we did have a good time and the weather was GORGEOUS.  We flew out Thursday and Friday was bringing rain so we definitely timed that trip perfect.

Enough talking!  Here are some pictures

We stopped in Redondo Beach to grab some dinner on the way to San Diego.

C just wanted to eat

Bike riding around Mission Beach/Mission Bay




Pacific Beach Pier

Mission Bay Sunset

Part II will be about our Valentine’s Day.  It was very movie-esque in something we literally walked into.

Maybe we get along most of the time because he will pose for silly pictures with me. Too bad my camera was set at 800 ISP…why? No idea. And while he will play along for my amusement, asking more than once sometimes is a bad idea. Do-overs are only allowed sometimes. And really, except for the lousy exposure, the composition is pretty sweet. It wouldn’t have been the same the second time. Right? Just nod your head.

And if you care, that’s Scrubs on in the background.

Day Five of My Michigan Bloggers is Mae from Thereafterish. Most of you don’t know that Mae is actually my cousin, but since it’s by marriage I haven’t known her my whole life.  She is creative and inspiring.  Many areas that I lack knowledge or experience in Mae has.  I’m so glad to have her as part of my family.  Hanging out with her is like hanging out with an old friend and my mouth seems to just let all my thoughts come pouring out.  Luckily she stands it and keeps the secrets that seem to rush out.  Love you cuz!

Enjoy!

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Because my cousin Ria is visiting my hometown, I though I’d write about it. (Have fun, Ria! Make sure my town treats you well!)

San Diego.

I once lived there. All of my formative years, and most of all my childhood memories were formed there. It is sometimes my pride for close to twenty years to say I grew up there. It’s such a golden, warm, beautiful town that it’s really easy to forget that there’s a whole world out there to be experienced and explored. In Southern California, we all lived in some sort of sheltered bubble, encased with our endless seas and perfect sandy beaches.

About five years ago I met a man on the internet that tore me out of dull-brained existence, and woke me up. Meeting him left me salivating for a greater world. And in June of that year, I packed up most of my worldly possessions and moved across the country to Detroit.

Before I left, I wrote San Diego a good-bye letter.

—

Dear San Diego, Once upon a time, I loved you.

As a little kid, growing up on the border of the ghetto, I would feign a ghetto-fabulous accent and holler “reppin’ the 6-I-9″ (for 619, the original sole area code of the Greater San Diego Area). I’d frequent San Diego-only chat rooms on AOL as a teenager. If we saw a San Diego Store (like the Made in Detroit store in Detroit) I’d go there and try to find a bunch of San Diego gear to sport my loyalty for you.

But the thing is, you’re just one big typical Southern California town with a big attitude, pretensions of being a big, bad bustling metropolis with edgy urban things to offer, but you’re really just a vacation town for old Republicans to retire in if they have the money, and stupid fat head frat boys and sorority girls from all over the US to come and make party time hell for the people who actually live here.

You’re stunningly beautiful, don’t get me wrong. Very beautiful. And you have a history and culture all your own. There’s no denying that. There is an artistry in some of your neighborhoods that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. There is a poetry that can be felt in the nature found here. Balboa Park and it’s gardens and museums. Historic Gaslamp Quarter and its restaurants and old building facades, and the many drunken Friday and Saturday nights I spent there, giggling and dancing with my best friends… Hillcrest and all its vintage shopping grandeur. La Jolla Cove and its cliffs and small grotto. The beaches. God, the beaches. The mountains. The quaint tea and coffee shops hosting acoustic folk pop and poetry slams well into the indigo night.

You’ve got a simple gorgeousness that you won’t find in big, complicated, drama-filled LA. There’s nothing else like you anywhere else in CA.

But after living here for so long, you’ve lost your lustre for me. Even this letter is losing its lustre.

Let’s just say I’m ready to move on. For now. My eyes are looking East. Detroit. Chicago. Toronto. Enyce? Maybe. Anything is possible. And the only thing I know is that my love for this city no longer resides in the city itself but in the people who live here who love me and I love in return.

After all, home is where the heart is. So, I guess, you’ll always be a home to me. A place where I can return and still feel all the warmth of love I’ve always felt.

I just didn’t know it was possible for me to call more than one place home. I guess I can now.

Take care of yourself. And never change. I’ll see you again some day.

Love, Mae

Img cred: Balboa Park Lily Pond (www.sommersetsuites.com>; Historic Gaslamp (Ron Niebrugge via www.californicating.wordpress.com ); Hillcrest (hillcrestlodgings.com); La Jolla Cliffs (www.pdphoto.org); San Diego Beach (www.cbnsandiego.com).