Ahhh! (That was a sigh of relief, not a scream!) It feels so good to be home. I didn't think I would miss
my our house so much! Vacations are fun but it's so nice to come home again. And not only were we gone on a 7 day vaca we were at our parent's houses for 7 days before that, so it had been 2 weeks since we had been home!
We landed in Fargo last Thursday (the 12th) from LAX and almost immediately froze. Seriously!! The week before when we flew out on the 5th, Fargo had record highs. And we come home to wind chills that were below zero. Oh hi winter... Can't really complain, I know we live in NW MN and I know what winter is like here.
Ok- on to the honeymoon recap :) I'm going to have to break this up into a couple posts and spread them out a bit because I seriously took 450 pictures on my iPhone and like 10 on my camera (didn't know I had become one of
those people...)
It actually started the night before we left. I got my nails filled that afternoon (yes, I still have my acrylics from the wedding). So on Wednesday night I decided that I NEEDED the Minnie Mouse nails I had seen on Pinterest, but I wanted pink not red. So I set about making them:
Pinterest:
Mine:
Sorry- I couldn't get a very good picture of them, but you get the idea.
My toes are the same color pink and the big ones have dots and bows too.
While we were at downtown Disney on Sunday night one of the ladys working noticed my nails and complimented me on them. The Mr told her that my toes matched. He was proud of my artwork! Isn't he the cutest??
I also made one of these. I haven't taken a picture of mine but I promise I made it!!
But of course mine had a pink bow not a red one.
I wore this on the plane both ways but not at Disney because I got the Minnie Mouse bride ears :)
The next morning my mom took us to Fargo/Moorhead where we made the first purchase of our honeymoon:
We each got Fighting Sioux sweatshirts since their name is suppose to be changing now. This is mine, it has the Indian head logo on the left arm. The Mr got a green sweatshirt that says Fighting Sioux Hockey on the front. Great first purchase :)
Then to Taco Bell before the airport for lunch where we got free dessert because I had my just married pin on :)
Somehow, these taste even better when they're free :)
Our flight was fine. A little more than 3 hours. No rough air. It was only the 3rd time the Mr had flown (once to Florida and then home again, so idk if that counts as one or two, I'm not sure how to count flights). But that trip was 10 years ago, so he was like a little kid looking out the window. It was cute :)
Us on the plane! I hate that my iPhone pictures are grainy when I flip the camera around. Does anyone else have this problem? Do you know how to fix it?
LA was great! We got there on the 5th of January at about 3, got our rental car:
(a Ford Focus, same thing I drive here in NW MN... awesome.)
and headed for the beach. We went to Huntington Beach first. We wandered around on the beach, pier, and Main Street then had dinner at a local brewery- so yummie! We got to sit on their outdoor patio (which had a heater- so funny to us that they were heating the outside! Made us think about when we were little and our parents would yell at us to shut the door because "what do you think I want to heat the outside?!?") This was our sunset dinner view that night:
After dinner we walked around more and we found a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Company store! This store started in Colorado not far from my Uncle's house and we go there anytime we're visiting. They make this bark/fudge yummie-ness called Tiger Butter... So good... I don't even know how to describe it to y'all. If you ever find yourself near one of these stores you have to try it.
That night we stayed at a Best Western just a few miles from the beach and went back to the beach in the morning.
We drew in the sand:
Cheesey. I know. And I'm ok with it.
I put my feet in the Pacific for the first time!
I got my pants wet trying to take this picture :(
The folds of my jeans were full of sand after that!
Recreated a picture I fell in love with on Pinterest:
Had a stranger take our picture:
The lady that took this was so cute. She was like "Do you want to move somewhere else? My kids are going to be in your picture..."
Saw how far we could walk out into the ocean before it turned around and followed us:
(and then we had to run to get out of its way)
Isn't Huntington Beach's city logo cool?
We had lunch at Fred's Mexican Cafe on the corner of Main Street and the PCH. Check out our lunch view:
While sitting at lunch, two Ferrari's pulled up next to each other at a red light on the PCH. Two of them!! I don't normally see one of those in my day to day life, and I got to see two at the same time at lunch!
And this was on the bathroom wall in Fred's:
I had to take a picture of it. Don't worry, no one else was in the bathroom so I wasn't totally creepy.
Then we drove down the Pacific Coast Highway to Laguna Beach. I was a Junior or Senior in High School when MTV gifted us this show and I was in love with it. Seriously- my girlfriends and I got together to watch it. I was so excited to go see it in real life.
What.A.Let.Down.
It was crowded, there was nowhere to park, the streets were narrow
(and steep!)
the beach/sand wasn't as nice as it was at Huntington beach, and we ended up having to park on the side of the PCH. AND the only things from the show that we saw were the coast line from the opening scenes and Second Reef where Steven worked (we just drove by, we didn't go in).
BUT it was still the beach and it was way warmer there than in NW MN :) And, the Mr drew me a note in the sand:
Isn't he cute?
So I wrote back:
The view from where we parked:
It really was beautiful. California beaches are great. And the views are stunning.
That night we drove up to Santa Monica and tried to find a hotel on the beach for not too much money. Toal uphill battle. Everywhere in Santa Monica is expensive. First we tried the Holiday Inn, $180 a night, but only 1 block from the beach. Then we tried the Best Western, $150 a night, but 20 blocks from the Ocean. We argued over where to stay. We ended up at the Holiday Inn.
In hindsight, no plans, no booked hotels, not a good plan. I will never travel this way again. I love my Mr. but that was stressful, and had you asked me if I loved him in the parking lot of the Best Western, not totally sure what my answer would have been (kidding! don't freak out- of course I love him!!). But I do remember saying, I don't care where we stay, I just want to go home. I don't think you're supposed to say that on the 2nd night of your honeymoon...
It got better from there. No sarcasm. It honestly improved.
The next morning we used the computer in the hotel lobby to book a room in Anaheim for the next leg of our journey so we wouldn't have the same issues :)
Then we ventured into LA to see the stars on Hollywood Blvd, the Kodak theatre, the Chinese theatre, the wax museum and everything else that LA has to offer, but you'll have to come back to hear about all of that :)
Love, Mrs. K
