san francisco kinda sucks.

so, i hate to focus on the negative, because, throw me a bone, NO ONE wants to hear someone gripe. So, I will just tell you a few not-so-awesome things about san francisco...then focus on what we liked!




{1} um. hi. if we are going to pay an arm and a leg to eat at a restaurant over looking the bay, please at least serve us edible food. and, srsly, no one wants to see two 13 year old girls playing tonsil hockey whilst massaging each other's butts while eating not-so-edible, overpriced crap.

{2} we don't like almost getting in car accidents...8 times in 20 minutes,.

{3} hearing people yelling and cars squealing at 3 AM is...awesome. Not.

{4} we would rather be surrounded by masses and masses of people in disneyland. just sayin'.

{5} paying almost 50 dollars for overnight parking was pretty much the stupidest 50 dollars i have ever spent in my entire life. i wish i had spent it on costa vida.



now, for things we liked...



being a lovers of all types of chocolate, we knew it was necessary for us to visit good old ghiradelli square. don't get all "oh em gee, lauren...that is so touristy of you!" yeah...i know. we were tourists....so we acted like sheep, and followed the flock :) we needed to wash down that sicknast dinner with something sinful. and since we choose to not watch R-rated movies...we stuck with the dark chocolate brownie sundaes...

um hi whipped cream. i'm lauren and i want you to "get in my bellay!" kthanxbye!



like how i am posing with my sundae like we are best friends? yeah...well, it's because we are.
best friends that eat each other. awesome.

the tedward gave it a rating of: "those are the freakin' best things ever"
i concur, my lovah. too bad we left the leftovers in the hotel fridge. drat!

speaking of the hotel...i loved our hotel room.
did i tell you all of our hotels upgraded us because we told them we were on our anniversary?
yeah...they did. i hearted this room. mostly because their was a polka dot pillow on the bed.

if you were wondering if i am slightly twitching because i forgot to turn on one of the lamps for the picture, i am. also, if you were wondering if that Smart Water on the bedside table was 6 bones, it was. um hi...you can buy a costa vida burrito for that. holla!

i liked the shutters. and the table skirt on the table...because i knew my mom would think it was cute. mom...you think it is cute, right? good...because i think it is sorta lamespice.
loveyoukaybyeeee!

we went to bed at 8 PM. yes...we are an elderly couple. ok. mostly because we were annoyed with san francisco and thought if we slept it would magically transport us to disneyland.


didn't work...but we did have an EXTRAORDINARY breakfast at the restaurant in our hotel...

I was happy and excited.

and the tedward had a query: "and why do i look like i have makeup on?"
hmm...i dunno. why don't you eat up and i'll tell ya!

oh you wanted a close up of what i got? okey dokey smokey...
Cinnamon French Toast of Awesomeness...aint no thing. aint no thing.

after breakfast we decided to ace the place.
so i took pictures of my favorite part of the city...
the architecture!

did you all know i am a design major and am obsessed with architecture?

well...i am.

peace out san francisco...

squirrly squirrels...

i don't know how many of you have driven right along the coast, but dude...everyone needs to experience it. the drive was really slow due to the fact that their were sharp turns right along the cliffs. i'm serious...on the highway you hug a cliff on one side, and the other side is a steep drop to the ocean. i think i got to enjoy the view a lot more than the tedward did because he got car sick after a while. poor thing...



luckily, there were MANY "vista points" where you were able to pull off to the side and enjoy the brisk ocean breezes and stunning views. this was at one of our favorite vista points...

doesn't the ocean look so frigid? i bet it was, because the outside air was in the forties! the forties! thats as cold as it gets in the dead of winter in mesa. awesome.
(ignore my hair...i have no idea what is going on right thuuuuur)




i took a picture of this poor fellow because he was just so ugly. i felt bad for him. all the other seagulls were chillin' together, being fed pieces of bread...but not this little guy. probably because he was so hideous. in the end he was lucky because HE ended up on the internet. AND i gave him sun dried tomato wheat thins. SUCKAAAAAAHS!

here is the tedward, looking..."special".

and here i am...looking "special"...except it wasn't on purpose.

now, for the MAIN reason why we enjoyed this particular vista point the most...

there were TONS of little squirrels! i'm not joking when i say that there were 20 squirrels...srsly. they were everywhere! and they were so tame. you could crouch down, stick out your hand, and they would run up and sit in it! i didn't do it, because i don't like rabies, but apparently ted likes rabies because he played with them foreverz. i think i could have written a dissertation in the amount of time ted played with them. if the tedward dies from rabies...i will be auctioning off his Lord Of The Rings book tapes. kthanxbye!

if you didn't know it already...i heart the ocean.

ted thought i would contract an aneurysm or something fatal when i looked over the steep edge of the cliff....but i was just fine. yah...i rule.

a few miles away from the vista point, we stopped at yet...another beach.

engagement ring
wedding ring
promise ring
i ♥ the tedward.

i had been messing with the settings on my camera for a while, and when i finally looked up, i saw ted drawing something in the sand...

and when i peeked to see what it said...

...i smiled.

PS...have a good weekend! are you following me on twitter? you should. the end.
PSS...anyone new around these parts? introduce yourself! :) hi...i'm lauren. your turn!

blessed...

after our day in Southern California we woke up super early and started our journey to our next destination...which, i will not divulge until the next post.

i usually hate long drives, but the driving in this vacation was so amazing.

the tedward agreed to my request of driving up the entire Pacific Coast Highway, as opposed to the regular routes through California...even when the PCH added 3 extra hours to our drive!

the tedward is good people.

there was many-a-squeals from me when we drove past beautiful stretches of beach.

whenever i squealed, ted took that as a sign that he should pull over...and he did.

we stopped at probably 5 beaches on our way to our next destination, and i am so glad we did.

something i loved about the drive was the many fruit stands alongside the road...

there were also, many cute towns we passed through.

our favorite was San Luis Obispo.

Um. Hi...so darling.

apparently Zac Efron grew up there, and it is a big deal to them.

shooooot...it would be to me too.

anyway, the tedward and i were starving, so we stopped at a hotel/restaurant in town, mostly because it had beautiful architecture...but also because that seemed to be the only place to get good food in the little town.

it was called the madonna inn...and it was amazing.

1. the architecture inside the restaurant was victorian...
2. i loved the place settings because they used mismatched china...

3. for our drinking glasses they used mismatched milk-glass, and depression glass...

4. the sugar on the table was pink!

5. the waitresses wore victorian dresses...

6. classical music was playing in the background...

7. the food was so delicious.

after breakfast we went threw a blanket down on the sandy beach, and just marvelled...

marvelled at how soft the sand was...

marvelled at the dark storm clouds that seemed to blend in with the icy color of the ocean...

marvelled at the beauty that the Lord has given us to enjoy...

driving up the coast strengthened my understanding of how much Heavenly Father loves us...

i was with the person that i love more than anything, holding hands...

feeling the crisp ocean air tickle our faces...

smelling the fresh scent of the salty ocean breeze...

feeling the sand on our feet...

seeing the majestic waves crash against the rocky cliffs...

and being thankful...together...

...that our Heavenly Father gave us such a beautiful world to live in.

we are all so blessed.

california has the best beaches.

so...i packed a lot of clothes for our vacay.
seriously like 20 outfits....just so i would have options.
so in my recaps there will be lots of pictures of my outfits.
just...because.



so...after spending the morning and early afternoon in beverly hills, the tedward and i headed on over to santa monica where we stayed the night.
i decided i was sick of my outfit already, so i changed before we left for dinner...


we went to "the third street promenade" first, to see what food they had.
with lots of concentration i was able to walk past:
1. anthropologie
2. h&m
3. urban outfitters
without so much as a "ted please hold me back to keep me from going insiiiiide!"
anyway, we went to some italian restaurant that was way overpriced and not very good.
the only thing that i was impressed with was the way they served bread and olive oil.
there were olives IN the oil! stellar.



on the way to the beach, we found a shop that unlike anthro, we could NOT* avoid.
such a classy place.

*=sarcasm

and here is us...being cute.
i will say it again...i love us.

we finally made it to the beach!
my two favorite things...
1. the tedward
2. california beaches

i love birds. even seagulls.
yes...i am guilty of squealing when i saw them.
yes, i may have earned a smooch "for being cute" because of it.
but srsly...i want to hug a seagull.

something about piers makes me happy. srsly.
i dare you to ask ted how many piers we saw on our trip and how many times i yelled...
"look! it's a pieeeeeeeeer!"
the tedward: "yeah...looks like the one 3 miles ago."
FAIL.

i love lifeguarding thingies...
i'm so descriptive, right? haha.
but seriously...i love them. they make me think of the show, "the oc".
and "the oc" makes me think of seth cohen.
and then i am happy.

when ted and i were engaged i would tell him over and over again how much i loved california beaches. i would inform him of their superiority over all beaches.
yes, i talked much smack about rocky point.
and on this vacation ted said, "yes...california beaches are much better."
he is soooo my people.

just sitting on the beach with the tedward...freezing our cahooties off, was brilliant.
i didn't realize how stressed i had been, until i was on vacation and could just...
BREATHE

by the way...while we were sitting on the beach, ted gave me a new nickname.
it is "pop squish"...which is what he calls poops.
isn't that lovely?
yeah....NOT.

we had to hide the tedward's toes because let's face it...
they are sicknastspice.
srsly...he has a weird fungus that he got in madagascar.
no. i don't have the fungus from playing footsie.
it just afflicts him.
suuuuuckah!

i'm greatful for the tedward's lazy eye in this picture.
it makes being called "pop squish" so much better.

after walking on the beach, we hit up the pier...which was overcrowded.
i was afraid i was gonna get knifed or something lamespice like that.


while walking on the pier, a fisherman caught a sting ray! it was amazing. but then i felt bad for it, because people were poking at the poor thing with a stick. I felt so sad we had to walk away.


also on the pier their was "trapeze school".
so random and so weird. and everyone sucked at it.
naturally the tedward wanted to do it.
naturally i told him no, because all i could imagine was him in some sicknast leotard.
eww.


FINALLY we found something enjoyable. we found a little carnival.
we bought a few tokens and played a few games...

the tedward didn't win me a prize, but i forgave him.

i didn't win a prize for myself...but i forgave myself.

that concludes so-cal. check back for where we went next!


what was your favorite thing about this part of the vacay?

lauren reviews stuff...

don't worry, i will be continuing my posts about my trip...

but i had to pause and review a couple of pieces of media, while they are still fresh.

 

 

 

while the tedward and i were on vacay, we saw the ever-popular "500 Days of Summer" in the beautiful city of Bellevue, Washington. {talk about a gorgeous theater!}

i had been dying to see this movie ever since i read a review of it in entertainment weekly...

...and hi. it has zooey deschanel in it. love her.

 

i don't know how to write a review about this without giving everything away, so i will tell you what i liked and didn't like...

 

1. i loved the outfits. if you love vintage, then these two dressed to kill. i told the tedward we had to make a run to a store immediately to buy him a vest. he agreed.

 

2. i loved how REAL this movie was. it was awkward in the most perfect way. i think that is the key to this movie. real life is awkward. relationships are awkward. you cringe at the things they say, and they cringe too. it was delightful.

 

3. i loved the way the film was set up. it jumps from different days in their relationship. one scene might be day 14 in their relationship, and then it will jump to day 324. at first you are a little unsure what is happening, but over time everything fits. amazing.

 

4. i loved that it made the tedward and i laugh out loud. even when some of the jokes were distasteful...ashamed that i laughed? sorta. haha.

 

5. i loved the beautiful cinematography. the scenes of LA were exquisite.

 

 

6. i love/hated that the movie made me cry.

 

7. i didn't like the few scenes of scandal...but at least the tedward and i are married now, as opposed to dating, when you have that really awkward aura vibe that happens during those scenes.

 

8. i didn't like that the movie ended so soon...

 

 

so, all in all...i loved this film.

i hope it wins awards.

i recommend it to adults..not to kids...just sayin'.

go see with your hubs! you will fall even more in love.

{and check out zooey's apartment in the movie...it's stellar!}

 

 

the tedward and i did like 2,500 miles of driving in 10 days...srsly.

are we crazy? duhspice.

while we were driving i had the following options:

 

1. eat my weight in sun-dried tomato and basil wheat thins.

{i may or may not have done that}

2. sleep

{i did do that}

3. listen to 13 audio tapes of Lord of the Rings.

{i did that against my will}

4. read "The Vampire Diaries"

{yes, please!}

 

 

 

Despite popular belief, "The Vampire Diaries" was written BEFORE Twilight, and L.J. Smith did NOT copy Stephenie Meyer. Just had to say that...

 

naturally i spent the first 100 pages rolling my eyes comparing the main character, Elena, to Bella. And I spent a lot of time comparing the main vampire, Stefan, to Edward. finally i decided to just let it go and enjoy the book.

 

hi. i am hooked. srsly.

 

the book is the typical, beautiful human girl meets mysterious beautiful vampire teen. their love is tested when a ton of mysterious crap happens...including stefan's hott vampire brother showing up who gets the hots for Elena. Good times.

 

 

the book ended with a cliff hanger...with me in tears.

unfortunately for me, we didn't have the next book in the car with us, so i was tortured. i am currently reading it and will let you all know how i like it.

 

 

 

please start this series and get into with me. you will love stefan.

but let's face it...edward can kick his trash.

 

 

 

want to know what i am excited about?

the fact that "The Vampire Diaries" will be a new TV on CW in Sept...

 and hi...

Boone from LOST is in it.

Boone is MY kind of people...{HOLLA Lula!}

 

 

 

So, have any of you seen "500 Days of Summer"?

Have you read "The Vampire Diaries"?

 

Let's all discuss!