California Vacation Days 3-4

Happy Monday!  Or at least I hope its a happy Monday, it's always hard to tell how the day will go, especially on a Monday morning!  I'm bringing the 2nd half of my mini-vacation to you today in recap form, so hopefully the beach pictures help with the whole "happy" thing.

Monday morning started out beeeaaauuutiful.  This big aircraft carrier was out in the ocean in front of the condo when I woke up, and the sunrise was really pretty, the picture  really doesn't do it justice.

After watching the ship for awhile, my mom and I decided to drive into San Diego to get some fresh squeezed juice from a juice bar near downtown.  This was so yummy!  Mine was a bunch of citrus fruit and cayenne pepper.  We also got these "detox" elixir shots.  They were…interesting.  But good. 

We saw my aunt for lunch that day and did a little shopping in the afternoon before we came back to the condo to relax and watch the Sunset.  It was a good one!

The next morning we went for a walk and saw a TON of dolphins swimming really close to shore.  I wish I had better pictures, but they are really hard to capture!

Also happening on the beach that morning was some Navy SEAL training.  They are really hard to see in the picture, but there are at least 50 men swimming in the water along these boats, they appeared to be tethered together in pairs.  I love watching them train, its so interesting!

That afternoon, we headed to Fashion Valley, which is a really nice mall in San Diego.  We did some MORE shopping (so many new clothes, ahh!) and indulged in some Pinkberry for lunch!

We just spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and watching the sunset.  We had dinner at a good seafood restaurant and then called it a night.

I got home the next day, really late at night.  I was supposed to get back in the middle of the day, but I had truly one of the worst traveling experiences of my life.  It was like Delta was playing a cruel joke on everything.  It was NOT cool, and my bag did not make it home, which totally freaked me out because all of my new clothes were in there!  Thankfully, the bag made it home abut 24 hours later…sheesh.

California Vacation Days 1-2

Well, here I am back in the frozen tundra.  While Minnesota has been experiencing extreme coldness, Southern California has been "unseasonably warm" according to their local news.  The weather was in the 80s! In January!  I did not see one cloud the entire time.

I arrived on Saturday afternoon and basically just relaxed at the condo for the rest of the day.  We did go out to eat at my favorite restaurant of all time, Miguel's, where I had some amazing flautas.  

On Sunday morning, I was lucky enough to be able to attend my cousin's baby's baptism.  I didn't plan my trip specifically for this weekend, it was just a coincidence, and a very happy one!  I was able to see a lot of family, meet the new baby, and say goodbye to my other cousin who is leaving San Diego for San Francisco next month (before Mark and I go back to SD, boo.)

Right after the baptism, I was SO lucky to be able to meet one of my best friends for lunch.  Allison lives in Twentynine Palms on the Marine Corps base (her husband is a total badass Marine Corps Officer, he is currently serving in Afghanistan on his 2nd deployment.)  We went to college together, but met while studying abroad in Chile and Nicaragua.  I only get to see her every couple of years, but I am hoping they are stationed in San Diego next, which will increase our visits for sure!  

Anyway, we met in Temecula, which was only an hour drive for me.  It was a really cute little town and I'd totally go back there for wine tasting at the many vineyards in the area.

That evening, my mom and I walked next door to the Hotel Del Coronado, did some shopping and sat at the bar for awhile.  We walked back to the condo while the sun was setting and just had dinner at the condo while watching TV and relaxing.