La Jolla Life: Part 3

La Jolla Life

Oops! I’ve let too much time go by since my last La Jolla Life post! We’re currently on Week 7 (what!?!) of our summer adventure, so I have a lot to catch y’all up on. We’ve had visitors, explored more, and had several Disneyland excursions, but I’ll save those details for some other posts! Here is a summary of some of the other Cali “adventures” we’ve experienced.

I’ve been spending some time with Louis’s coworker’s wife and daughters while we’re all here for the summer. They have been so sweet to let me “hoard in” on their mother-daughter time! A couple of weeks ago, we spent the day exploring the Westfield UTC Mall and Mt. Soledad. The malls here are basically all outdoor due to the year-round beautiful weather, and I can’t complain!

WestfieldUTCMallWe explored the various shops and ate outdoors at their food court. The mall even had a Tesla store, which doesn’t mean much to me. However, that is Louis’s current dream car as it is apparently masterfully engineered and electric. Naturally, I had to take a picture of the store front for him, and we have since returned to explore the store and dream of future purchases.

After we had our fill of the mall, we drove over to Mt. Soledad. This “mountain” holds a memorial for veterans and offers an amazing panoramic view of all of La Jolla and San Diego.

IMG_2083 IMG_2084 IMG_2089As you can see above, it was a rare overcast day in La Jolla. However, the views were beautiful, and the memorial was very touching. While I will always be a Texas girl at heart, I do love the terrain here. The hills (mountains? cliffs?) offer so many wonderful views regardless of if we’re sightseeing or simply driving around.

Another activity that often occurs when I’m with “the girls” is hairstyling. Below is their youngest daughter’s creation with my hair on the left. She kept saying this was The Princess Style. I also got to try The Princess Jasmine Style and The Princess Belle Style. On the right, I’m proud to claim that fishtail braid. 🙂

Hairstyles

 

Louis and I have also tried a few new restaurants since my last post. The first “restaurant” is none other than Krispy Kreme!

Krispy KremeWe each sampled their glazed donuts because, to us, that should be the heart of any donut establishment. Louis also tried a chocolate iced with sprinkles, while I opted for plain chocolate iced. Overall? Meh. The best part was the cute hat that Louis is modeling above. Now having tried Dunkin’ Donuts (YUCK.) and Krispy Kreme (meh.), I can safely say Shipley’s FAR surpasses any other donut chain. Honestly, that is one of the reasons we are most excited about going home to Texas. 🙂

Another California restaurant we sampled is Islands. Their main menu item is their burgers, but they offer other American food as well.

Islands

 

Their tag line is “Fine Burgers & Drinks.” I think they mean ‘fine’ as in high quality, but to us, it meant ‘fine’ as in yeah…it’s ok. Hah! Our burgers weren’t terrible, but they weren’t anything to write home about either. (I guess they were notable enough to blog about though? 😉 )

After Islands, we decided to branch out and try…wait for it…another burger place! Just kidding! This place does offer burgers, but they have several other options as well. Stacked is a trendy, cool restaurant located in Fashion Valley Mall. The coolest part about Stacked? Each table has an iPad on it, and that’s how you place your order! Everything from drinks to dessert! You can even request for your drink to be refilled from the iPad! The entire meal, I kept saying, “It’s like we’re living in the FUTURE!!!”

Stacked

 

The iPads were so awesome and so simple to use. You just “drag and dropped” whatever you wanted to add to your entree, and swiped it to the right if you wanted to remove it. You could also drop things next to your entree if you wanted them on the side. We were even able to pay by simply swiping our credit card on the iPad attachment. If this is the way of the future, waiters and waitresses better start looking for new career paths! Our burgers here were delicious, and we hope to return here before we journey home! The mall it was located at is amazing, too! It is the mall pictured in my intro photo at the top of this post, and it was gorgeous to walk around as the sun was setting.

Another fun thing I wanted to add in this post, is a plug about the Aggie Network! I mentioned how I ran into an Aggie I know at the San Diego Zoo. Since then, I met a sweet Aggie here on a mission trip at our hotel, AND we saw a car with a Former Student Century Club member decal on the back of their Tahoe. I creepily left them the note below on their windshield. Even though they had no way of getting in touch with us, I still wanted them to know there was another unit of the Aggie Network staying at their hotel! Too much? Oh well. The Aggie girl I met at breakfast, said she actually reached out to them as well, and that it was a sweet couple that graduated in 1958! Looks like they’ve been carrying on the Aggie Spirit for quite awhile! Gig ’em!

aggienetworkFinally, I want to give a shout out to all of the landscape artists and gardeners around La Jolla. All of the greenery, succulents, flowers, and general beauty around here is stunning! I keep seeing a particular black succulent that I affectionately coined “the Louis plant.” I said if he was turned into a plant this would be him because it is so beautiful and unique, and his favorite color is black. 🙂

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The outside is black, however the inside is a vibrant fuchsia. They grow up on a tan stem, which makes them tall…also like Louis 🙂 Their scientific name is the Aeonium arboreum Zwartkop, and they are also known as “Black Rose.”

black rose

 

Ok! Whew! That’s a long summary for now! Look for more posts soon including details about other experiences we’ve had here! Thanks for checking in…I’ll try to post more this week!

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God Bless America & Disneyland

Fireworks Instagram

Since Louis & I are in Cali, we couldn’t attend my parents annual 4th of July Party this year. To distract ourselves from that, we decided to spend our Independence Day at Disneyland. Nothing’s as great as being with family, but we definitely had a fun day! Since we are in a hotel, I didn’t get to decorate for America’s Birthday. To appease my pain, I decided to decorate my body as much as I could. Okay, that sounded weird. What I mean is, I wore red, white, and blue eyeshadow and painted my nails navy and glitter! It was probably too much, but when else can you be that patriotic and not be judged?

Red, White, & Blue Eyeshadow!
Red, White, & Blue Eyeshadow!

For anyone DYING to recreate this American look, the products are as follows: Blue-Ulta eyeshadow, Red-Urban Decay Gash, White-MAC Blanc Type. My eyeliner is Maybelline Unstoppable Eyeliner in Onyx, and my mascara is Maybelline Falsies in Blackest Black.

American nails!
American nails!

For my nails, I painted two coats of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Navy Baby. Once that dried I added a stripe of Essie Beyond Cozy for some American sparkle.

Don’t worry, I don’t always do my makeup and nails this obnoxiously, but I figured I might as well go all out for the 4th!

Louis and I headed to Disney California Adventure first, so we could ride the thrills over there before heading to Disneyland for fireworks! It was a beautiful, sunny, hot day. We rode Tower of Terror THREE times without a wait! I guess everyone wanted to spend their day in Disneyland, and we were happy to have DCA to ourselves.

DCA Louis TOT

After Tower of Terror, we enjoyed the Disney Animation Academy building (a nice break from the heat), Toy Story Mania (Louis’s fave), California Screamin’ (another great way to cool off…it’s speedy!), and Soarin’ over California (one of my faves). Those are all favorites of ours, so I’m happy we were able to enjoy them! We figured Disneyland may reach capacity for the fireworks, so we headed over there around 3:30 PM to enjoy more rides. We grabbed lunch right away (corn dog for me! Yummmmm.) and enjoyed some people watching in Frontierland. After a bit of relaxation, we headed to ride Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion. Is there a better way to celebrate Independence Day than with Pirates and Ghosts? We didn’t think so. By then it was almost 6:00, so we decided to get a spot for Mickey’s Soundsational Parade.

Parade

The parade was cute and a fun way to see several of my favorite characters. We also had a great view of  Sleeping Beauty Castle and of Matterhorn Mountain.

Castle

Matterhorn

As you can see, it was a beautiful, blue sky day! Another thing it was that day? CROWDED. The fireworks were scheduled for 9:30 PM that night. Louis and I assumed we could stake out a good spot around 8:00 PM. However, when we got our seats for the parade at 6:00 PM, there were already people saving seats for the fireworks! Even crazier, we talked to the people sitting behind us, and they had been saving their benches since 8:00 AM!!! They hadn’t gone on any rides or anything! They took turns grabbing food and using the restroom, and that was it! Louis and I weren’t that insane, but we decided to stay put to keep our spots for the fireworks show. While Louis saved our seats, I grabbed him a Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bar and a nice cold Coca Cola to wash it down (along with some Space Mountain FastPasses!). The crowds were so crazy and thick, that it was almost impossible for me to get back to him!

AstroOrbiter

The time went by surprisingly fast as we chatted with the fellow Disney lovers sitting around us. We all exchanged stories, tips, and memories, and had a great time. Soon the castle was lit up for the evening.

Night Castle

Finally, 9:30 arrived and the incredible fireworks show began! The entire thing was probably around 20-30 minutes with speaking interludes, fireworks synced to patriotic music, and projections on the castle. I can’t lie, I definitely teared up a few times, while thinking about how proud I am to be an American! The show was beautiful, whimsical, patriotic, fun, and magical! Everything I have come to expect from Disney! The pictures below are a small sampling of one portion of the show, but they definitely don’t do it justice. The final picture is from the finale, which was obviously too bright and amazing for my iPhone camera to handle! Haha!

DisneyFireworks

When the amazing show came to an end, we headed toward TomorrowLand because I was craving a yummy Mickey Pretzel. We perused the gift shops until our Space Mountain FastPasses were eligible, and then we hopped on our rocket to outer space! Since Louis had work the next day, once our rocket returned to earth, we decided it was time to head home. I passed out kept Louis company on the drive back, and we got back to the hotel around 1:00 AM. After our showers, we fell into bed, exhausted from our long, exciting 4th of July. It was a fun-filled day and a great way to celebrate America!

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San Diego Zoo

NightAlGoestotheZoosdAccording to everything I’ve heard, the San Diego Zoo was a “MUST DO.” Everyone said it was really incredible and unlike any zoo in America. Supposedly, it is the #1 zoo in the United States. It better be for the $45 a day adult tickets! I mean seriously? That’s half a Disneyland ticket! My review? Eh. I mean, it’s still a zoo. It’s still crowded, hot, and makes me kind of sad to see wild animals in tiny cages. However, I was offered a coupon to go with some of our friends, so I tagged along with them last week to see what all the excitement was about.

entranceOnce we arrived, we headed to the koala exhibit to see the little cuddly marsupials. They had a large exhibit and were mostly just relaxing in their trees or enjoying some leaves.

koala1The next thing we saw was my favorite part! It was their cheetah exhibit. The cool thing though was each cheetah had a best friend that stayed with them 24/7. Their best friend? A dog!!! Apparently the dogs being around the cheetahs keep them calm. So calm in fact that they often walk the cheetahs around the zoo on a leash! Can you imagine!? The dogs and cheetahs are raised together from birth, so they are used to being together even if their schedule or exhibit changes. How would you like to be the first dog they tried out this combination on? Hah! They were nuzzling an playing together…it was precious! The pair we saw were Bakka and Miley.

cheetah collage

cheetah3 cheetah4How cute are they? I loved it! Next we strolled through some other various exhibits…

Precious Polar Bear enjoying a carrot for lunch!
Precious Polar Bear enjoying a carrot for lunch!

Bear, flamingos, kangaroo

Giraffe CollageAfter exploring a chunk of the zoo, we made sure to checked out the panda bear exhibit. They volunteer said they have the only female panda outside of China, and she has birthed all of the cubs at the San Diego Zoo. This handsome guy was climbing all over the place while we were there…too cute!

Panda Collage

The last exhibit we checked out was the Orangutan area. There was one male and three females in this large exhibit. The big guy walking on the ground below is the male. The orangutan up on the ropes is pregnant right now; she’s due in October! Can you imagine climbing around like that when you were pregnant!? Ya right!

monkeys1

Monkey Collage

I’m pretty sure the best pat of the exhibit though was how this sweet girl, Karen, traveled around the exhibit. She LITERALLY used this method of transportation to get from one side of the exhibit to the other. It was cracking me up so much, I took a quick video.

How cute is it that she rolls everywhere!?! I loved it! After the monkeys we decided it was time for a quick ice cream snack, and guess what? I ran into a girl I know from A&M! What are the odds of that? I guess the Aggie Network really does extend everywhere! Gig ’em!

Overall, it was a fun day, and if you are a zoo fan you should definitely check it out. However, if you want to save $45, I’d say a day at the beach is just as well spent (and free!)! Hope y’all enjoyed the quick zoo review!

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La Jolla Life: Part 2

LaJollaLifeAs we begin Week 3 of our La Jolla adventure, I figured I would add another update. We are still really enjoying our time here, and trying to explore as much as our schedule allows.

Last weekend we attended a picnic at a park that far outshone any park I’ve ever seen!

PicnicIt had volleyball courts, playgrounds, kites, bubbles, and spray on tattoos! I was cooler than Louis and decided to get a paw print tat on my wrist. It felt very Lion King-esque to me. Is that a thing? I’m making that a thing.

picnictat

In addition to the games they had delicious catered food…no PB&Js, Lays, or ants at this picnic. Cali is too fancy for that apparently. We had a great time enjoying the weather, playing bingo, and admiring the fact that we needed to wear sweatshirts outside in June. A very foreign concept for us Texans! After a few hours of picnic fun, our hunger returned, and we decided to hit up a well known California landmark…In-n-Out!

innout1Apparently there are several not-so-secret “secret” ways you can order your burgers like animal-style, 3×3, etc. However, Louis and I are pretty boring when it comes to our burgers, so we just went simple.

innout2The burgers were pretty yummy. They reminded us of Sonic burgers. The fries were pretty meh though…not sure what all the hoopla is about! Oh well, at least we can say we tried it!

Speaking of food, our hotel conveniently offers free dinners Monday through Wednesday evenings as well as free breakfast every morning. Tuesday is usually “homestyle” food, and Wednesdays are always BBQ night! However, Monday is almost always “Chips & Salad.” The first time I saw that on the community calendar, I assumed they must mean taco salad or something more exaggerated. I was wrong.

chipsandsaladY’all, this is seriously what they have for “dinner” every Monday night. Thankfully, we’re within walking distance of several yummy restaurants. Typically our Monday nights end up looking more like this:

chipotleYes, Chipotle is just as delicious in California as it is everywhere else. Yum.

No, eating isn’t all we do in La Jolla! We also enjoy the beautiful scenery. Even driving around here I am constantly in awe of the landscaping, terrain, and random ocean views that spring up. The other day we were lucky enough to enjoy the sunset down at La Jolla Shores. First, we took a stroll down Ocean Lane. How cute is this?

ocean lane

Even though the streets are painfully steep, they make up for it with cute street names and adorable views.

oceanlane2Once we finally made it down to the shore, we were not disappointed. I’ll let the pictures do the talking here…

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Aside from animating the first two pictures, I haven’t edited any of these pictures! That beauty is all God! I can’t believe this view is only a mile and a half away from us here! So stunning!

This is only a sliver of our La Jolla Life so far, but I’ll update again soon!

CoralSiggy

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Disney Dreams

Exciting news! Louis and I spent last Sunday at Disneyland! We took the big financial plunge and invested in annual passes, so we can enjoy the parks all summer long. We felt SUPER official and very “legit Disney fans” having our official passes with our  names on them and everything! Definitely worth the chunk of change to us. Plus, we only have to spend 6 days in the parks for them to “pay for themselves.” Also, we get 15% off food, and 20% merchandise in the parks! Another big plus is it covers parking, which is $16 a day (ouch!). All of the positives added with our love of all things Disney meant the passes were the perfect purchase for us!

annualpasses

Back to our first trip. We are staying in La Jolla, which is about an hour and a half from Anaheim where Disneyland is located. We woke up around 4:45 AM to leave at our planned time of 5:30 AM! EARLY. Thankfully, we’re still on “Texas time,” so it felt 2 hours later to us! After a quick stop at Ralph’s to grab some breakfast, we hit the road! Thanks to Louis’s lead-foot, Disney Way popped up on our map after only about 45 minutes of driving! Apparently, the speed limit wasn’t 85 MPH…oops?

Collage 1So, we rolled into the Mickey ‘n Friends parking garage at about 7 AM…only 30 minutes earlier than planned 🙂 We parked on Daisy Duck’s level and sprinted strolled down to the tram. We couldn’t contain our smiles as we rode towards the park!

onthetramWe hopped off the tram and power-walked to the gate. We arrived 45 minutes before the park even opened! Haha! Typical over-zealous Disney lovers! We stood waiting and chatting with fellow passholders about the best rides to go on first and extra park tips. Since it was our first time at Disneyland, we were soaking up any information we could!

Louis was anxious to head in!
Louis was anxious to head in!

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, we were let into the park! We rushed to adventure land, as we planned to go on Indiana Jones Adventure first. As soon as the rope dropped we ran over and were one of the first people on the ride! The theming was incredible, and it was SO much fun!

adventurelandAfter Indiana Jones Adventure, we walked toward New Orleans Square to take on some rides. It felt like we had the park to ourselves! We were able to ride Pirates of the Caribbean with an entire boat to ourselves! It was so fun to experience the Disneyland version of the ride with just the two of us. And I must say, the Disneyland version was much more fun than the Disney World one!

onpirates

We hopped off our boat and walked right on to another one of our favorites…Haunted Mansion!

hauntedmansion1It was fun to see all of the differences between this version and Disney World’s, but I think DW’s version takes the cake this time! We stepped out of our Doom Buggies (with a hitchhiking ghost!!!), and walked right on to Splash Mountain…with our ponchos on of course! We stayed relatively dry, and loved following Briar Rabbit through his adventures. We then stepped onto The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh to dry off a bit from Splash Mountain. And this was all before 10:00 AM!

It was time to dry another Disneyland classic, so we walked over to Matterhorn Bobsleds. It was quite obvious to our bodies that this ride was built quite a while ago…I think my tailbone is still bruised!

matterhorncollage

After that, we strolled over to another Disney classic and were met with our first line! It was well worth the wait though! Disneyland’s Space Mountain was AWESOME. I think it was my favorite ride of the day!!! I can’t wait to go on it again.

alispacemountain instagramspacemountain

After Space Mountain, Louis grabbed his favorite Disney snack (a churro), and we decided to head over to Disneyland’s 2nd park, Disney California Adventure. Several parts of it really reminded us of Disney World’s Hollywood Studios because it had an “old Hollywood” feel. We journeyed over to the newest portion of DCA, which holds Cars Land!

carsland carsland2This area is themed SO cute! Louis and I aren’t huge Cars fans, but this area was so fun to walk around. The one big downside is new at Disney=CROWDED. They wait for the main ride, Radiator Springs Racers, was OVER 2 and a half hours ALL day! We explored the rest of the park and rode Tower of Terror, California Screamin’ (twice!), Toy Story Mania (Louis’s favorite in DW), Little Mermaid (I know my mom will love this one!), and strolled back to Cars Land to tackle the wait for Radiator Springs Racers. We waited TWO AND A HALF HOURS. Ugh. We were dying to get out of line, but the ride was fun! Granted, it wasn’t worth that long of a wait. However, at least we can say we experienced it! We’ll only ride it again this summer if we can snag some fastpasses though!

That long line did us in, and we walked out of the park to head home surprisingly early! We decided to eat McDonald’s for dinner instead of paying 5 times as much for the same amount of food in the park! Hey, our annual passes don’t give us THAT big of a discount! Disney is expensive! Even though or feet were killing us, on the way home we were already planning our strategy for our next trip! We’ve actually already returned since I’ve written this…but that’s for another post! 🙂

Can’t wait to share our remaining Disney adventures we have planned for the summer!

CoralSiggy

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