THE TRIP

Hey guys,

So was that an auspicious enough title? I think so.

So I'm back from my trip for the summer/year to California. It was a great time, you'll hear all about it momentarily. I'm also 24 now. So that's cool. The way I'm going to do this is each day and it's events separately as opposed to one insanely long post with my jumping all around everywhere. I was a good girl and took notes about various things while on my trip so I wouldn't forget. Then I had a layover and was stuck on a plane for so long yesterday I ended up mostly writing out this entire post almost. It's photo filled and has some chuckles as well as some more serious thoughts so give yourself a bit of time. I love how I'm prefacing all of this like it's a book or something (lol don't scroll down).

And without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, enjoy. If you haven't eaten yet and/or are hungry, I suggest you take care of that first. Practically all I did during this trip was go places with people and eat and take pictures of it.

THURSDAY THE 13TH
Woke up before the crack of dawn which is impressive for me. I successfully completed calling an Uber, riding to the airport, checking my bag ($25), getting through security, and buying breakfast and coffee from Au Bon Pain, all in an hour. Felt pretty pro status. 

Feeling myself as usual except this was at like 5:30am

Zooming

Nina and Coffee: a Match Made in Heaven?

And now, some notes on flying in general:

• When it comes to flying, it's all in the shoe choice. 
• Note to self: bring your own plane food
• Note to self: buy a neck pillow?
• Note to self: if you're not in New York, Chicago or Italy, don't eat pizza. 
• Get your boarding pass on a mobile device as opposed to printed, it's better for the planet and you don't have to worry about what on Earth happens if you lose it

Had pizza in Texas (granted it was at the airport but I mean still) and I missed New York already. I got through half of it and all I kept thinking was, 'Lol what is this even?!' in exactly the tone you're imagining.

Never again

Flight #2 went better than flight #1. I was more alert and less nauseous, way less nauseous. Also, I had ginger ale so that helped tremendously. Felt a kindred spirit in the guy next to me when I saw him texting his mom and taking selfies on snapchat. It was cute. 

Airplane bathroom selfie for the win

So we're flying along and all of a sudden, above the loving roar of Jamie xx playing through my headphones, I could swear to you I heard a fog horn. Immediately I thought, 'Am I on a ship or a plane??' It was a confusing moment.

After an interesting dentist appointment, I spent some quality time with my dad, then went to IHOP for a late dinner with my mom and ended up chatting on her hammock until nearly 1 in the morning.

This wasn't as good as you'd expect

BEST ONE OF US OUT OF THE ENTIRE TRIP RIGHT HERE

What a way to start my vacay.


FRIDAY THE 14TH
This was the day I shopped at South Coast with Amy. 

At Zara looking like a work there

We realized we've known each other for over a decade now, making us both feel close to ancient. One benefit to having a friend who has also lost, and kept off, a fairly large amount of weight similar to you is that you finally have someone who understands the "skinny struggle" and the "fitness lifestyle struggle" as well. It's marvelous. We ate a place that reminded me of Corner Bakery, except it wasn't Corner Bakery, and I ended up going back later for snickerdoodles which was the best decision of the day.

A really good salad that had almonds and figs and apples and brie and other stuff

Later that night I helped my mom order, then eat some delicious Indian food.

Malai kofta (top right side) is my new favorite Indian dish hands down

I could eat it, and biryani, forever

Also, Krista's birthday was that day! But I didn't get to see her until later in my trip unfortunately.

Post-dinner walk that included me playing around on a jungle gym

I hadn't been on one in literally forever

All in all, I ate way too much that day but it was all so good.


SABBATH THE 15TH
Church was as church had once been for me and my mother simultaneously. When you get out of the habit of waiting for someone or having someone wait for you while you get ready, switching back can be interesting. I did alright though. 

Church bathroom selfie in which whether or not I have a shirt on is questionable

Arrived at church without incident and got to finally see the new bathrooms that took forever to come to fruition. I also got to see my favorite, and most attractive, pastor. It always makes me happy when he remembers me. That church is huge you see so personal touches can make you feel quite special. Also, I'm not going to lie, that pastor looks like a slightly shorter version of Drake. Praise the Lord indeed. Unfortunately however, that pastor was not preaching. The man who did was talking about health which would have been cool if he hadn't preached for 45 minutes, beginning at 1pm and had the whole church hungry and fanning like their lives depended on it by 2pm. I never wanted coffee so bad as I did throughout the entirety of that church service.

Was a little obsessed with her hair, then she moved

After a service of that length and in that heat, it was a pleasant surprise to run into a friend I hadn't seen in at least four years. Tall, male friends are fun. The end.

Best candid

And yes, that's a skirt with a cityscape on it. 

Because I got it like that

Standard post-church photo shoot where I found my once trusty, dusty photographer to be a little out of touch 

(she still takes the best candids of me though, see above for example)

That night Alex and I went to dinner, which really turned out to just be appetizers and cheesecake, at the Cheesecake Factory. It was so lovely. I had White Chocolate Caramel Macadamia Nut Cheesecake and it was out of this world orgasmic.

Dimly lit avocado rolls that never fail to blow my mind

White Chocolate Caramel Macadamia Nut Cheesecake

Just do yourself a favor and try it

Came home a bit earlier than I imagined I would but it was okay. My mom got me officially hooked on the Discovery channel show "Alaskan Bush People". Also, my mother has a 3 pound bag of peanut M&M's. It blew my mind, I didn't know they made them that big.


SUNDAY THE 16TH
It is unfortunate how strangely unfulfilling people can be. What I mean by that is some people are better to speak with over the Internet or in text while other people are best experienced in real life. It's entertaining really, the differences.

Brunch with dudes can be cool. I hung out with some guys I've known from church for like a decade or so now, since I was about 13, in Lakewood before heading back to south county. It was nice and a little unexpected because I hadn't originally planned on seeing either of them, not necessarily on purpose, it just hasn't crossed my mind in that way. Also, Mimi's is cute but their iced mochas are a little lackluster. HOWEVER, their spinach and artichoke dip more than made up for it.

Above mentioned dip deliciousness

We walked around the Lakewood mall while we were waiting for a table to open up and I've never felt so inundated by the smell of cheap cheese in my entire life. It made me realize, I do not miss the experience of malls at all. 

I went to Verizon to help my mom purchase a new phone and ask some questions about connectivity and reception issues with my own. After receiving answers I personally didn't find to be satisfactory, I asked, mostly out of curiosity, how much it would cost for me to get a new phone that day, since I was eligible for an upgrade and the guy suggested that if a hard reset of my entire phone didn't work, I should just get a new one anyway. That answer was QUITE agreeable. An hour later I walked out with a new black iPhone 6 AND more data AND more gigs. #blessed #no regrets. Talk about a surprise birthday present. Ended up spending the rest of the night setting up mine and my mothers phones and watching "Star Trek Into Darkness", a great movie I'm not sure why I don't own personally.

Squid face and smiley eyes

Finally pulled off the "smile with your mouth closed" look, no?

MONDAY THE 17TH
This day began with what I was expecting to happen for the entirety of my trip. Too many people all wanting to hang out at the same time and I only had so much free time to begin with. Basically, my time was available on a first come, first serve basis and the first had already come and effectively been served. The possibility of my not getting to see everyone wasn't the happiest but that's what happens, I suppose, when you take too long to text a girl who's only got a weeklong vacation in the first place. What was most ironic was that my plans for the daytime ended up not materializing. I ended up hanging out with my darling mother and watched weird TV with her without minding in the least.

Sole morning outing, a coffee run of course

My leg looks like the leg of a chicken

Pick a track, any track

To actually get to sleep, as in sleeping in, while on vacation is a miracle and I'm glad it happened to me.

Later we got ready and left for the Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach.

Muscle tank lifestyle

We left early enough so we could get decent parking then walk down to the beach before the show. I did not get the opportunity to pick decent shoes because my cousin called as I was walking out the door but the shoes I chose still ended up doing a fine job. It was lucky I didn't have to take them off to walk in the sand, we didn't have time for all that.

Laguna

Weird selfie I'm not sure I like

Where da cute life guard at

Lol her hair got destroyed

"There's a place on Ocean Avenue, where I used to sit and talk with you

We were both 16 and it felt so right, sleepin' all day, stayin' up all, night"

The show itself was literally marvelous. I had to constantly remind myself every painting, every sculpture I was seeing was made up of real people, not carved from stone or metal. It was utterly insane and I loved it.

Intermission attempt at a better photo of us

I don't think I succeeded but she liked it

What in heavens name is in my hand??

TUESDAY THE 18TH
Birthday birthday birthday.
Would you believe that throughout the entire day I only took one selfie and it was in snapchat so I edited it without saving the blank one first and that's the only selfie I have from my entire 24th birthday??

Appropriate

I was half-shocked when I realized that at 12 something the next morning. 

But anyway, so about the day itself. A friend of mine from college, Sofi, and I had plans to go see the original "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" at LACMA and bless her heart Sofi drove. All in all it was lovely and by the time it ended I wanted chocolate more than anything ever.

Pre-show stage

****

People were having mini photo shoots in this like there was no tomorrow

We got back in time for me to grab a change of shoes then hop into my car in attempt to run over and say bye to my dad before my birthday dinner began at 7. I was surprised, though I shouldn't have been, at the amount of traffic I ran into getting from RSM to Orange at 5pm on a Tuesday. It look me a solid hour. What was most ironic about that was the fact he wasn't even home when I got there. Cute. I called him, hung around for a bit but after not hearing any signs of anything, I jetted off so as not to be late to my own dinner. And I'm so glad I did. I ran into an old friend who works at The Camp and got to catch up with him a bit before everyone arrived. 

One by one everyone trickled in until we were all one happy little party. Native Foods did well for us. The night was nice, the conversation was amusing and the food was vegan and delectable. I also received presents and cards, all of which I was not expecting. After some group photos and lots of goodbyes, we all trickled back to our lives.

Taco salad I only ate half of because I was so excited

This guy...

Friends.

This photo was taken by  girl who was simultaneously on the phone. Props to her

I went back to my dads one last time, then headed home, utterly exhausted. From there it was presents and bed for me. 

And can I just say, to everyone who gave me presents, I really wasn't expecting anything more than the pleasure of your company. You all are darling angels and I love you to pieces for even showing up. You realize how strong friendships truly are when you make a cross-country move.

WEDNESDAY THE 19TH
This trip lasted just the right amount of time on my opinion. Everyone who really wanted to see me, saw me. And I got to see quite a few people I didn't at all expect to see which is always a lovely surprise.

I woke up at 5:15 and my body was like, 'Nina nooooo!' But I did it anyway. So proud. Arrived at the airport and it was everything I had to just stay awake until I got on the plane. Even with coffee in hand, the struggle was very real. On the plus side, I don't believe my body ever got used to the time change being in California, so my body shouldn't have much trouble changing back, right? We'll see about that.

Started out the day like this

Turned in that wonderful rental with no troubles and it was on to the plane from there. 

Charger life forever (taken Sabbath after church)

First flight was not nearly as bad or nausea-inducing as the first one last week. I slept on and off, then read for the last hour and suddenly I was in Texas.

After two hours and a decent tasting Margherita baguette, I was back on a plane for the second time around.

This was actually really good

Or so I thought. Take off was at 3:55 and yet for some reason, at 4:33 I found myself still sitting on the Tarmac being told we "needed more fuel because control told us we have to take a longer route in order to avoid some nasty weather in the middle of the country." who knew it took that long to get more fuel and sign off on some papers. Finally by 4:45 we were on our way, with a 30 minute delay attached to us at the hip.

Ended it like this. Best braid ever.

Texas was icky

Set-up for the second flight

Saw some rather lovely clouds

Blurry New York at night

More notes about flying:

• Do not buy everything you see in the airport just because you see it. It's a lie and things are always more expensive than they're worth
• Always bring a book AND your fully charged phone AND a back up battery AND your usb cable because you really just never know
• Always have a ginger ale, the fizz will help settle your stomach 
• Pick an airline in which your bags fly for free or as cheap as possible and they still offer you peanuts or pretzels in flight. You don't realize how much you miss that until you don't have it
• Also, do yourself a favor and just tie up your hair. No hair everywhere=better trip overall
• Window seats will save your life when you're bored but make going to the bathroom the hardest decision you'll ever make. Still I recommend them when possible
• Finally, bring a pashmina or a large scarf or a blanket or a big coat with you. I don't care if you're flying in the summer, it is like Antarctica in airports and airplanes alike

Pulled onto the tarmac a little before 9pm and after that it was easy peezy. I called an Uber, hopped in (I certainly did a lot of hopping during this trip, didn't I?), and was home by 10pm. I for one fully and completely support Uber drivers in New York City. The line to get a taxi at the airport was so long I probably would still be there now.

Gotham in the dark

I actually got home with enough time to call and reassure my mom I was okay AND unpack my entire suitcase. It was strange since it's never happened like that before. There was a little love note from TSA saying they went through my bag. I didn't know they informed you after doing such things, how kind of them. I still didn't end up going to sleep until past 11:30 though. Then insomnia struck and well... that was sort of the end of that, plus one sleeping pill later...

THURSDAY THE 20TH

So today wasn't part of any trip really except my return to the office which was a trip in and of itself. I was back at it today and oh was it a mess. I walked into my office and got very optimistic upon seeing there was absolutely nothing on my desk but a corny birthday card signed by various people in my office. I was optimistic all the way up until I opened my email. Since Sunday I hadn't been able to check anything concerning work, not that I wanted to specifically but I mean it would have been a nice gauge, because I don't know how to set up my work email on my phone correctly. I was not prepared to come back to over 100 unread emails. Not prepared at all. Let's just say, in short, this day flew by. Hours felt like minutes but that's okay because I got a heck of a lot accomplished. Even with my manager bugging me to do smaller, less important things while I was in the middle of big ones. Such is life I suppose. 

One thing about this past trip that I wanted to do but didn't was go to the movies. I should have. I'm going this weekend, solor or not. It's happening. The only issue is whether I'm going to see Straight Outta Compton or Sinister 2. Decisions decisions...

In conclusion, because this is a high school length report at this point and I feel the need to close out in style, I'm fat now. 

Until next time lovelies,

xx

PS. This new iPhone 6 is everything but it is huge and I have the hands of a small child. Cool.