HHN+Harry Potter

This past Wednesday night my family and I went to Orlando for Halloween Horror Nights. It was so much fun and so well done! I thought Howl-O-Scream was good, but this just topped the charts. Being a production company, I knew that Universal would do a great job, but they exceeded my expectations. The people were scary, the atmosphere was spooky, and they had great themes for the haunted houses. So much fun! Here are a few pics from the evening.

On Thursday, my sister, mom, and I went to Islands of Adventure for the day. We've been there countless times before, but this was our first time seeing The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. My mom hasn't seen the movies or read any of the books, but we were all super excited to finally get to see Universal's adaptation of the books. Just like Halloween Horror Nights, my expectations were completely exceeded! They did a wonderful job and I couldn't have asked for more. The butterbeer was delish and came in 2 different forms, frozen or normal (they both tasted the same, but the frozen was way better for some reason). It was an overall great day!

Bye bye California

Day 11.

This was our last and final day in California. Brooke was photographing a wedding, so Kim and I dropped her off where the bride was, then we were off to kayak! We drove to La Jolla, got our kayaking gear plus a water camera which turned out to be defective, gathered with our tour group, and were on our way! Kayaking was so awesome, highly recommended! The water was freezing, but once we got over the shock it wasn't too bad.

By defective, I mean that the "water camera" was water-stained. Go figure. So our pictures look like they are from the 70's.

The tour was guided by 2 HIGH-larious guys (pun-intended). They were funny, informative, and made the trip that much more enjoyable. The tour took us to a cave, where we got to kayak into. It was kind of scary...in order to get into the cave, you have to ride the wave into it and try not to hit the rocks of the narrow opening. No pressure. After we got inside, it was well worth it. The picture (below) doesn't really do it justice, heck it doesn't do anything at all for you! Outside of the cave was a big rock which housed like 20 sea lions. The rock really wasn't that big, so they literally were all on top of each other and barking really loud. They seemed to be a heated discussion and were extremely noisy. Very cool to watch! After that, we dangerously rode a wave back onto shore, and almost tipped into the freezing water. We returned our gear and went back to the hotel.

After taking army showers (seriously, we got ready so fast), we got all dressed up and went to the wedding that Brooke was photographing. A free meal and open bar, why the heck not? The wedding was beautiful...it was on the Navy base and was an outdoor ceremony on a pretty lawn. The reception was just as picturesque, with a Santa Fe feel. I must admit, this was by far the best wedding I've ever been to! The food was great, the music was great, the dance floor constantly had people on it, and people were just having a good time. A great way to end the trip!

Living it up at the hotel California

Day 10.

After packing up all of our stuff, we were off to San Diego! This ride was a lot more do-able, and we were so looking forward to enjoying the beach. Once we got there, we checked into our hotel, changed, and hit the beach! La Jolla beach was beautiful, but the sand definitely was not; it had kind of a blackness to it, staining my feet. After laying out for a bit, we went back to the hotel to shower and get ready for dinner.

Wanting some snacks for the hotel room, we hit up Trader Joe's. Next, we were on our way to a very intimidating restaurant in the Gaslamp Quarter, Dick's Last Resort. Here, the waiters are rude...making remarks and rolling their eyes. It was very entertaining. The place was a mess...bras hanging on the walls, paper towels all over the floor, and the waiters there make you hats with crude humor on it. The only one that was remotely appropriate was the one Kim got that read "skank." A very fun experience, and the food wasn't too bad either...highly recommended if you're not afraid of waiters making fun of you.

After dinner, we walked around the Gaslamp Quarter which was really nice. The weather was perfect, so it was a great night for a stroll. While walking, we ran into some random guy on the road, who told us to go to top floor lounge at the Marriott Hotel, where you could see an amazing view of the city. He was right...it was gorgeous, with all the lights of the city glowing. The lounge was cool too, tons of lights and a fire pit in the center...a nice way to spend the evening if you were a guest at the hotel. After a long day, we called it a night.

California, California, here we cooome!

Day 9.

About an hour and a half outside of LA is an awesome little county you've probably heard of. Orange County! Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, they have it all. I probably didn't mention it, but I visited California somewhere around 7 or so years ago with my friend Jessca. We stayed in Orange County, in Brea, and went surfing in Huntington Beach (I also got fried). We did visit Laguna Beach, but it was a quick trip and I don't believe that we went to the same place as we did on this trip. Good memories, good times! (I can't believe it's been that long!)

For this trip, we didn't surf (way too cold!) or go to either Newport or Huntington...we headed straight for the gold. I'm sure you've heard of the MTV show, Laguna Beach, about obnoxious spoiled kids and their dating lives. Well, the show did not give the city the justice of the beauty it deserved. This place was outstandingly beautiful. We had to park on the main road and walk against traffic, which was a bit scary, but finally made it to The Thousand Steps. Looking down, it really does look like there are that many steps, but there is only around 250. It was quite easy getting down, the way up was a different story. The pictures below: the first is the view from the top, the other is the view from the beach.

My oh my! The water was so beautiful! This was by far the most gorgeous beach we saw on our entire trip. For a girl that was born and raised walking distance to the beach, I must say that this beach wins against ours. Walking back to the car, on the side of a cliff, we spotted a house that was previously owned by Lauren Conrad's parents (picture below)...sold for over 13 million dollars! We also drove by a restaurant that they ate at in Laguna Beach (yes, I watched the show), and ate at the frozen yogurt shop they also frequented, The Golden Spoon. Delish!

Next on our list was Redondo Beach (technically LA), where a lot of the show The OC was filmed. On our way there, driving through Newport, we also passed by the mall they filmed the show at too. Redondo Beach was so surreal! First off, we spot the Bait Shop, a bar and nightclub where Seth worked. It looks exactly the same, despite the large glowing sign. After a dozen pictures of the Bait Shop, we walked the famous boardwalk...you know, the one where Seth is riding a skateboard and Ryan and Marisa are riding a bike. It's unmistakable. For dinner we ate at the actual diner that is used in the show, Redondo Coffee Shop. The food was ehhh, but knowing that we sat in the exact booth that they did in the show was enough. We even posed with the menus that were used in the show! I have been watching some reruns of the show and it's always really cool to see places on TV that you have experienced in person...like you're apart of the show somehow.

The Bait Shop!

                                                                                                                  Me with the same menu!

                                                                                                                            Us in the same booth!

Me and Brittany mimicking Ryan and Marisa on the bike

After our awesome OC experience, we had to say goodbye to Brittany, who had a flight that night. We went to bed at a reasonable hour, knowing that the next day was going to be an early morning, the last leg of our trip...San Diego!

*Today is 9-11...Let us remember that tragic day and the lives that were lost.*

I left my heart in San Francisco

Day 8.

We started the morning by grabbing a large breakfast in a cute little cafe next door, checked out of our hotel, and were on our way for our last day in San Fran. The first thing on the list was Lombard St., the second crookedest street in the world. We decided to drive down it first...very very slowly! Then we parked at the bottom and took some pictures, watching the other vehicles descend the big hill.

Next on our list was to visit Alcatraz, a prison on an island (you have to take a ferry to get there). On our way finding parking, we found a cute little photo-op. If you would take note, for some reason I decided to wear a black and white striped shirt to the prison. I didn't wake up that morning and think, "Hmmm I think I'll look like a prisoner today," it just happened.

Alcatraz was quite interesting. I thought that I would have been creeped out, knowing that this place was housed for the worst of the worst, but it surprisingly wasn't. We were given tape recorders, and listened to a narration while we walked through. I like tours like that, where you aren't trying to figure out stuff on your own...the people tell you what to look at and you do. The view of San Fran from Alcatraz was beautiful. The water was soooo blue and the weather was phenomenal!

After Alcatraz, we went and saw the house from Full House!! The door is now painted black (as opposed to the red in the show), but it still looks like the same house! Very surreal seeing that. To carry on with the Full House theme, we next went to the Painted ladies. Do you remember in the opening credits when they are picnicking in the park and have those colored houses behind them? Well, those are the painted ladies in Alamo Square.

From there, Brooke had a surprise for us! We got all dressed up (in a bathroom because we already checked out of our hotel) and went to an amazing dinner at Michael Mina. If you've never heard of it (which I hadn't), it's a restaurant that you either order a 3 course meal or a 6 course meal. The entire table has to do the same thing, so we went with the 3 course, where we were able to have many more options. Oh. My. Goodness. That food was probably the best meal I've ever had in my life! So exquisite, so tasty, so classy. We paired our meal with non other than a glass of wine, each of us ordering something different...we had to make those waiters work for their money! After dinner we said goodbye to San Francisco, and drove back to Los Angeles.

My heart is drenched in wine

Day 7.

This was the most anticipated day for me. The day we got to visit wineries! Note: I am not an alcoholic, I just enjoy a good glass of wine haha. We were able to tour 3 separate wineries through a tour. Initially we thought that the group on our bus was very boring, everyone was so quiet! It's amazing where a few glasses of wine will get you...we all became best friends by the end of the trip! The first 2 tours were in Sonoma, while the last was in Napa Valley. The first winery, Viansa, was definitely the most beautiful. It was be picturesque for a wedding. Here, we went up to a bar area and were able to try 4 wines of our choice from a list of many (the bartender gave me 5...shhhh!)

The next winery we visited was the most enjoyable, in my opinion. It was a quaint little vineyard, family owned by the Larson Family. The people that worked there were so nice. At this winery, we were given a list, but we tried them all together. We tasted in order from a light white wine to a bold merlot/cabernet sauvignon blend. We sampled around 7 different wines.

After the second winery, we went to lunch, which was provided through the tour we did. Everyone sat at one large table, and the Scottish couple (we absolutely loved them!) bought the entire group a few bottles of wine. It was great being able to all converse together. After lunch, we visited our last winery, Domaine-Chandon, which was a sparkling wine winery. They had us sit in a circle and sampled many different types of sparkling wines. They were delish. The second picture below is of some people from our tour group. We had quite the assortment of people in our van. It was the 4 of us, a couple from Scotland, a couple from Germany, a couple from China, a couple from Tennessee, and a guy from Mongolia.

That evening, we went back to Fisherman's Wharf for dinner. On our way back, we went to a lounge, Gold Dust. They had live music and it kind of reminded me of lounges in Europe. That was it for the day. Below are 2 of my favorite pictures of San Fran. The first is a super cute pic of all of us on the trolley, and the second was Brooke on our way back from touring the wineries...we were all wiped out from the long day!