Los Angeles & San Diego

Leonard and I recently went on a five day mini-trip to L.A. and San Diego to escape the Vancouver rain. We took a 7am flight to LAX and were on our way by noon to our rental apartment on Melrose in West Hollywood, an excellent location. He took me on a whirlwind tour of the city, including the farmer's market, the Getty, Hollywood, Silver Lake, Santa Monica, Griffith Observatory, and downtown. We did a surprising amount in one and a half days, and ate incredibly well thanks to our food research the night before we left.

We took an Amtrak train from LA to San Diego, where we stayed with my sister and her husband in Pacific Beach.  We only had one full day in the city, and we ended up deciding to go to Tijuana for that afternoon. We parked the car on the San Diego side and walked across the border, and I was surprised at how easy it was to get across. There was no one checking passports; we simply walked through a gate and were suddenly in Mexico. Our lunch spot was a hundred times fancier than I imagined a Tijuana restaurant could be, and we even ate ceviche and raw oysters. The line-up to get back to the USA was the opposite of the other border crossing. This time, we had to wait 2.5 hours in line. At least there were churros being sold along the way.

California Dreaming

And this is why I love San Diego. Also this.

La Jolla Wedding

 

My sister's wedding was so beautiful and went so perfectly. We spent the morning chilling and getting hair and makeup done, then photos around the hotel for the girls while the groomsmen got photos of themselves eating steaks in their suits, and then before we knew it, it was time for her to get married! My brother played chauffeur and drove the bridal party from the hotel to the venue a few blocks away in our rental Ford Crown Victoria (aka a car for seniors).

I wore my five inch heels, which was actually a good thing because the groomsman I was matched with was 6'3". During the rehearsal my arm was angled way up because I was wearing flats, but during the actual ceremony I was the perfect height for him at 5'9", which incidentally I found out is the same height as his wife.

It was a cloudless day, and the ceremony was gorgeous with the beach and the surfers in the background. I wish I had photos from a real camera instead of my phone!

My sister and her now-husband surprised the audience with a choreographed first dance to Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel" (I'm quite proud of the photo of him lifting her, seeing as how I only had my phone and it was backlit!). I made a speech, and after that, it was smooth sailing for me, with a buffet dinner and wine and dancing and an afterparty. It was a fun wedding. Weddings make me so happy!

San Diego, Instagrammed

I flew down to San Diego for my sister's wedding, which was on La Jolla beach. I love SoCal!

San Diego