So two things going on lately.
1) Our adventure to Santa Barbara to see Isabella and David yesterday (Saturday).
2) Zach's new plan to join the Navy, and what that entails (which I don't think I mentioned before?)
So Santa Barbara. I already knew I loved Santa Barbara. I had only really spent time in downtown Santa Barbara, which was already on my list of top 5 favorite places in the world. And yes, I keep track of things like that. So anyways, this time we went about an hour north of downtown Santa Barbara because David works at the air force base up there and lives in Santa Maria. Isabella is out here what seems to be every weekend lately because she will be graduating early to move out here, yet we haven't really visited them much because we've all just been too busy.
First stop was Pismo Beach where we had lunch at Splash Cafe, which is apparently famous for it's clam chowder. I now know why. I've eaten clam chowder literally from the tip of the East coast all the way to Key West. Lets just say I'm a clad chowder aficionado. I always thought Maine clam chowder was unbeatable, and the only place that could get a close second was Cape Cod. Mark the calendars because today I am admitting it.. I was wrong. This was the BEST clam chowder ever. It came in an amazing bread bowl and just had the best flavor I've ever come across. Great way to start the day. Our next treat? Chocolate covered scorpions and crickets. Not bad, but not delicious, and very crunchy. We walked the pier and enjoyed the views before heading to Shell Beach. It has these great rocks right off the coast and is essentially a beach under a cliff. Actually, most of the beaches we went to had a cliff right there, which is why I love Santa Barbara. It is very hilly and mountainous, but its right on the beach. Shell Beach had some great caves and there was a wedding going on at the point of the cliff, which was fun to see. Next was Avila Beach, which is a super cute little town with great shops and food along the beach. We had some amazing Hawaiian Cider or something, which is essentially apple cider, vanilla and chai tea. I didn't think I would like it, but it was essentially a liquid dessert. If you like apple pie, you'll love this. Last stop on the tour was San Luis Obispo, aka SLO. I read about this town a few months ago and had been wanting to visit. It is voted as the happiest town in America and people mainly get around by bike. We strolled one of the main streets because Isabella and David were looking for engagement rings. (And Zach and I are too... see section on the navy deal..) We went into a few shops but didn't find anything. The best part was probably the gum alley. This was another thing I'd heard about previously, but I didn't plan on getting to see it. It was disgusting on every level. I won't go into detail.. you're welcome.
Finally we got back to David and Isabella's and they made Korean BBQ for us. We had been out to an all you can eat Korean BBQ place with them before and loved it, so we were excited. They made tempura for the appetizer because Isabella knows me way too well so she knows I'm obsessed. It was delish. I forced myself to stop eating it so I wouldn't be too full for the ribs portion, and I'm so glad I did. The ribs were phenomenal. I'm definitely going to be getting the recipe from them.
All in all it was a great day. We were in a beautiful area with friends that we have a great time with, and we had some fantastic food. It doesn't get much better.
2) The Navy. I'll keep this short because this is already a long post since I have been neglecting this little blog. The idea all started with the coast guard and eventually turned into the Navy. I was very apprehensive about it at first (even though I was the one that brought it up in the first place), but it has realllllly grown on me. There are advanced programs that have things that interest Zach, such as the nuclear program. He has been speaking to a recruiter about it, and we've also spoken to our parents and friends who know more about it than we do. So far it seems to be pretty certain that he will be joining. He has taken the ASVAB test and on Wednesday he takes the test to see if he qualifies for the program. He scored high on the nuc portion of the ASVAB, obviously high enough to qualify him for this test, so hopefully he does well on this next test. We went to the library and checked out a bunch of books so he can refresh his memory of physics, chemistry, calculus, etc. We've also been searching all over the internet to find things to help him figure out what to study, so hopefully with all of the stuff we have he will do well. After that will be the security clearance, which was stressful at first because he has some things that look really bad on paper, but my dad and other people we know with the clearance have reassured us that its okay as long as hes truthful, which he has been.
The nuc program was the first thing that caught Zach's attention as a job he would really like, and the more we find out about it the more hopeful we are that he qualifies and ends up placed there. Not only does it pay pretty well because it is in high demand, but its also often stationed in amazing places. One of my life goals is to live in Europe, especially Italy or Greece, so if anything remotely similar to that could happen, I'll die happy. It also gives us a great chance to travel and is the best opportunity we've stumbled across for him. He will now be able to get an education, we'll be able to support ourselves, etc.
All of this means that we will have to get married.. and probably soon. It is the only way we will get treated like a couple and be able to continue living the way we are now. This isn't a problem for us, we knew it was the eventuality, but I don't think either of us planned on doing it this soon. A lot of that probably has to do with finances, which will change once he joins anyways. Anyways, that means that this will be a huge year of change for us. Lots of planning to do, lots of things to figure out, and probably a couple of moves (the schooling for the nuc program is in Charleston, SC, and I may move back to my parents while he is in basic -Great Lakes.)
Very exciting, but also pretty scary and stressful.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Lisa, Ken and Jiggy too!
Oh.My.God.
I had one of the best nights of my life last night.
Zach's boss gave him $100 so we could go out to eat and we considered about 1000 different places. We jumped in the car from the valley just knowing we were going towards Beverly Hills or Hollywood, with Mitch's Zagat book in hand. Half way there I had a genius idea (and I almost spelled genius wrong just now..). Lisa, one of the amazing ladies of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, owns a couple of restaurants out here. I've been thinking to myself about how I want to go to one of them, because they look GORGEOUS in the show, and I figured that since last night was the finale of the show, she might be there to celebrate. So we called and were actually able to get a reservation. We get there and they put us outside. (because there are so many other awesome components to this story, I'll only briefly mention how awesome it is to live somewhere you can eat outside under a small heat lamp in January in a t-shirt, leggings and flip flops)
I was somewhat disappointed to be put outside because I figured if Lisa DID show up she certainly wouldn't sit outside and we wouldn't even be able to see her. Next thing I know Zach spots Ken (her husband) at the bar. I thought he was teasing me at first when he said it. Then he notices that Ken has their dog (Jiggy, who has his own blog hes so famous) in his hand. I didn't know if this was a good sign or a bad sign. Did he have the dog because Lisa was out doing something for the show and couldn't have him herself? Or did he have the dog because Lisa was on her way to the restaurant right there very minute. Well, I found out that the answer was, fortunately, the latter of the two possibilities because as I saw there facing the entrance I saw her get out of a car and walk right on in. Naturally, I interrupted Zach's sentence and said "shes here." Also naturally, I soon after put it on Facebook. Duh.
She put her purse down on a table that only Zach had a view of. I wanted to be in his seat anyways because he was closer to the heat lamp and was saying how hot he was, and I enjoy being hot. So we switched seats. Mistake. They moved to a different table. Was this a sad turn of events? NO. The table the moved to was right next to ours. Like, when Ken got out of his seat to walk the dog and take pictures with people, Zach had to scoot his chair in so Ken could squeeze by. Awesomeeee. I could hear their voices coming from their mouths as opposed to the speakers on my TV.
Zach was mocking my (hidden) excitement the entire time. At first I thought I was the only person there obsessed with the fact that she was there (on the night of the finale no less) but then the upper 20's women next to us started watching and discussing her table. They were excited too, I wasn't so weird after all! Then Zach and I decided to come up with a way to switch seats AGAIN so I could see Lisa. (Initially I was in the chair right next to Ken, but because of that I couldn't see anything). A plus of this is that the plan involved going to the bathroom as an excuse to get up, and the bathroom was gorgeous. Also, on my walk to the bathroom I could hear every one in the restaurant talking about how Lisa was there. After this people were walking up to her table constantly or she was going over to other tables that would call her over for a picture op. Ken literally would interrupt a server to go take her picture with other people so the husband could be in the picture too, as opposed to just taking it. What nice people.
I didn't want to interrupt their dinner, and I'm not even close to that brave, so I stayed in my seat. I knew I would LOVE to have a picture with any of the three of them, but oh well. BUT THEN. Ken gets up, slides between Zach's chair and the people at the table behind us. He notices the people there recognize him and the dog, and asks if they want a picture with Jiggy. He even let them hold Jiggy. This opened the flood gates and he had to take a picture with everyone. Note that this is a small restaurant, seating under 100 people, so it had a very intimate feel and most everyone could see what was going on. As hes walking down the sidewalk to where the dog can pee (I'm assuming) people are stopping him constantly. At this point Zach and I were ready to go and had paid and everything, so we walked out at the same time as him. Since he was in the middle of taking pictures I manned up and asked for a picture with him and Jiggy. Amazinggggggg. He was happy to do it. Plus I don't think he liked the people he had to take the picture with beforehand, it was actually kind of awkward. So anyways we were the last people to take a picture with him and had to walk to our car in the same direction he happened to be going, so he walked with us. We talked about how good the food was, he discussed the chef, Zach knew something about the chef so they said that. It was AWESOME.
What else was awesome? The king crab roll appetizer we ordered. It literally may have been the best thing I've ever eaten. Same concept as sushi, but it had that white soy paper which I very much prefer and instead of rice they used risotto. That alone was delicious, but the crab meat they used and the sauce it was cooked in was perfection. Even if it weren't for the rest of this story, I'd be going back to that restaurant just for that. The shrimp pasta I got was great and spicy, but not fully memorable (except the way they did the shrimp was something I had never seen before and very cool). Zach got the sea bass which he said was great but the vegetables were the best thing on the plate I think. The dessert was a true disappointment, but whatever. Shortly after that dessert I got to touch little Jiggy so I was easily distracted.
Also, the design and style of that restaurant I will never forget and they have changed my design sense forever. My next home will be decorated completely differently than I had imagined before. My wedding, all changed. It was stunning.
I had one of the best nights of my life last night.
Zach's boss gave him $100 so we could go out to eat and we considered about 1000 different places. We jumped in the car from the valley just knowing we were going towards Beverly Hills or Hollywood, with Mitch's Zagat book in hand. Half way there I had a genius idea (and I almost spelled genius wrong just now..). Lisa, one of the amazing ladies of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, owns a couple of restaurants out here. I've been thinking to myself about how I want to go to one of them, because they look GORGEOUS in the show, and I figured that since last night was the finale of the show, she might be there to celebrate. So we called and were actually able to get a reservation. We get there and they put us outside. (because there are so many other awesome components to this story, I'll only briefly mention how awesome it is to live somewhere you can eat outside under a small heat lamp in January in a t-shirt, leggings and flip flops)
I was somewhat disappointed to be put outside because I figured if Lisa DID show up she certainly wouldn't sit outside and we wouldn't even be able to see her. Next thing I know Zach spots Ken (her husband) at the bar. I thought he was teasing me at first when he said it. Then he notices that Ken has their dog (Jiggy, who has his own blog hes so famous) in his hand. I didn't know if this was a good sign or a bad sign. Did he have the dog because Lisa was out doing something for the show and couldn't have him herself? Or did he have the dog because Lisa was on her way to the restaurant right there very minute. Well, I found out that the answer was, fortunately, the latter of the two possibilities because as I saw there facing the entrance I saw her get out of a car and walk right on in. Naturally, I interrupted Zach's sentence and said "shes here." Also naturally, I soon after put it on Facebook. Duh.
She put her purse down on a table that only Zach had a view of. I wanted to be in his seat anyways because he was closer to the heat lamp and was saying how hot he was, and I enjoy being hot. So we switched seats. Mistake. They moved to a different table. Was this a sad turn of events? NO. The table the moved to was right next to ours. Like, when Ken got out of his seat to walk the dog and take pictures with people, Zach had to scoot his chair in so Ken could squeeze by. Awesomeeee. I could hear their voices coming from their mouths as opposed to the speakers on my TV.
Zach was mocking my (hidden) excitement the entire time. At first I thought I was the only person there obsessed with the fact that she was there (on the night of the finale no less) but then the upper 20's women next to us started watching and discussing her table. They were excited too, I wasn't so weird after all! Then Zach and I decided to come up with a way to switch seats AGAIN so I could see Lisa. (Initially I was in the chair right next to Ken, but because of that I couldn't see anything). A plus of this is that the plan involved going to the bathroom as an excuse to get up, and the bathroom was gorgeous. Also, on my walk to the bathroom I could hear every one in the restaurant talking about how Lisa was there. After this people were walking up to her table constantly or she was going over to other tables that would call her over for a picture op. Ken literally would interrupt a server to go take her picture with other people so the husband could be in the picture too, as opposed to just taking it. What nice people.
I didn't want to interrupt their dinner, and I'm not even close to that brave, so I stayed in my seat. I knew I would LOVE to have a picture with any of the three of them, but oh well. BUT THEN. Ken gets up, slides between Zach's chair and the people at the table behind us. He notices the people there recognize him and the dog, and asks if they want a picture with Jiggy. He even let them hold Jiggy. This opened the flood gates and he had to take a picture with everyone. Note that this is a small restaurant, seating under 100 people, so it had a very intimate feel and most everyone could see what was going on. As hes walking down the sidewalk to where the dog can pee (I'm assuming) people are stopping him constantly. At this point Zach and I were ready to go and had paid and everything, so we walked out at the same time as him. Since he was in the middle of taking pictures I manned up and asked for a picture with him and Jiggy. Amazinggggggg. He was happy to do it. Plus I don't think he liked the people he had to take the picture with beforehand, it was actually kind of awkward. So anyways we were the last people to take a picture with him and had to walk to our car in the same direction he happened to be going, so he walked with us. We talked about how good the food was, he discussed the chef, Zach knew something about the chef so they said that. It was AWESOME.
What else was awesome? The king crab roll appetizer we ordered. It literally may have been the best thing I've ever eaten. Same concept as sushi, but it had that white soy paper which I very much prefer and instead of rice they used risotto. That alone was delicious, but the crab meat they used and the sauce it was cooked in was perfection. Even if it weren't for the rest of this story, I'd be going back to that restaurant just for that. The shrimp pasta I got was great and spicy, but not fully memorable (except the way they did the shrimp was something I had never seen before and very cool). Zach got the sea bass which he said was great but the vegetables were the best thing on the plate I think. The dessert was a true disappointment, but whatever. Shortly after that dessert I got to touch little Jiggy so I was easily distracted.
Also, the design and style of that restaurant I will never forget and they have changed my design sense forever. My next home will be decorated completely differently than I had imagined before. My wedding, all changed. It was stunning.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Holy Holidays That Went Fast
Whoa it's been a long time since I updated this. (considering how much has gone on, I suppose)
Ok so Christmas. Zach went home for TWO weeks. That's a lot of dog watching for Caroline. Anyways, after dropping him off at the airport I had the day from h-e-double hockey sticks. Between winding up in the wrong place twice (thanks GPS) and dealing with miserable people (apparently LA doesn't love xmas eve) I ended up having a minor breakdown while taking Kaos to the boarding place. Not worth the whole story, but it was terrible. He even puked in the car right before I dropped him off. Awesome.
Christmas morning was great; its always more fun to have little kids around that still believe in Santa. My mom is awesome and sent out some great gifts and even a stuffed stocking. We left for Palm Desert after opening presents and having breakfast. It was a beautiful weekend, in the 70s, and the house we go to there is ridiculous. Featured in Architectural Digest ridiculous. I was fairly anxious going into the whole thing, because I wasn't going to know many people there.. and the people I did know I had only met once for the most part.. but it ended up being a great time. There was a chef and serving staff there for dinner, but the food was just average. The table was beautifully set though and the people there were fairly interesting (there were about 20 of us) so all in all Christmas night went well. One of them was the voice for either Cinderella or Barbie, another was the head of the Jewish Federation, and yet another couple was super rich and for some cool reason, but I forget why. And by super rich, I mean even compared to people with hundreds of millions.
The most interesting/controversial guest was some guy that was "best friends" with Lindsay Lohan. When he was telling Mitch and me all about it the first night I just figured it was him exaggerating because he was drunk. Apparently not, Googled him. Why did I Google him? Because another lady there Googled him after he left at like 3 am the second night and found out he was charged with 17 felonies (don't know the outcome) and actually IS best friends with her. He said he was meeting up with her in Betty Ford on Day 2 but I wasn't around so I don't know if he actually did. I actually thought he was an okay guy, just arrogant like the rest of the people my age. Oh, but wait, turns out hes 37! Totally acts like lower 20's.. and a couple of his felonies are for sex with a minor. Oops. Still, he was entertaining and very friendly.
Day 3 in Palm Desert, the day we left, was Snow Day. Now, I know what you're thinking.. I just said it was in the 70's. Oh, they create snow there with huge blocks of ice and create a hill to sled down with 4 lanes. It was AWESOME. Free food everywhere, a parking lot of carts on the golf course... omg. Sledding in short sleeves and being HOT - this is why I am meant to be here. I've always said it would be awesome if it could snow when its warm out, and my dream came true.
After three days of work, which went well, it was New Years Eve. I was supposed to go to Santa Barbara to see Isabella, but since she was sick and I couldn't board the dog I stayed with Mitch and Donna. They were having a small party at Susan's house, who had been inviting me all week so I was pretty excited to go there anyways. We had a great time, but I filled up on appetizers because someone made a brie and blackberry reserves wrapped in puff pastry thing. Lets just say I ate the majority of it. To die for.
I celebrated the New Year with Kaos by taking him on a couple great hikes, and also went on one to the helicopter pad with M&D and the girls. They were all great.
Not Zach is back. I haven't murdered him/the dog for leaving me for two weeks yet, but I still have time.
Tonight we are playing Scrabble with Mitch and Donna. Big news people - Sunday night Donna and I beat Mitchell. He couldn't believe it. He still can't believe it. The next day he beat us by one, but right now Zach and I are playing him and Donna and we're about to beat them like crazy. I don't know if we'll ever be invited back.
It's important to note that this is what we're doing instead of watching Jersey Shore, like the rest of the idiot 20 year olds. And we're playing on the Ipad, so we're still cool ;)
Ok so Christmas. Zach went home for TWO weeks. That's a lot of dog watching for Caroline. Anyways, after dropping him off at the airport I had the day from h-e-double hockey sticks. Between winding up in the wrong place twice (thanks GPS) and dealing with miserable people (apparently LA doesn't love xmas eve) I ended up having a minor breakdown while taking Kaos to the boarding place. Not worth the whole story, but it was terrible. He even puked in the car right before I dropped him off. Awesome.
Christmas morning was great; its always more fun to have little kids around that still believe in Santa. My mom is awesome and sent out some great gifts and even a stuffed stocking. We left for Palm Desert after opening presents and having breakfast. It was a beautiful weekend, in the 70s, and the house we go to there is ridiculous. Featured in Architectural Digest ridiculous. I was fairly anxious going into the whole thing, because I wasn't going to know many people there.. and the people I did know I had only met once for the most part.. but it ended up being a great time. There was a chef and serving staff there for dinner, but the food was just average. The table was beautifully set though and the people there were fairly interesting (there were about 20 of us) so all in all Christmas night went well. One of them was the voice for either Cinderella or Barbie, another was the head of the Jewish Federation, and yet another couple was super rich and for some cool reason, but I forget why. And by super rich, I mean even compared to people with hundreds of millions.
The most interesting/controversial guest was some guy that was "best friends" with Lindsay Lohan. When he was telling Mitch and me all about it the first night I just figured it was him exaggerating because he was drunk. Apparently not, Googled him. Why did I Google him? Because another lady there Googled him after he left at like 3 am the second night and found out he was charged with 17 felonies (don't know the outcome) and actually IS best friends with her. He said he was meeting up with her in Betty Ford on Day 2 but I wasn't around so I don't know if he actually did. I actually thought he was an okay guy, just arrogant like the rest of the people my age. Oh, but wait, turns out hes 37! Totally acts like lower 20's.. and a couple of his felonies are for sex with a minor. Oops. Still, he was entertaining and very friendly.
Day 3 in Palm Desert, the day we left, was Snow Day. Now, I know what you're thinking.. I just said it was in the 70's. Oh, they create snow there with huge blocks of ice and create a hill to sled down with 4 lanes. It was AWESOME. Free food everywhere, a parking lot of carts on the golf course... omg. Sledding in short sleeves and being HOT - this is why I am meant to be here. I've always said it would be awesome if it could snow when its warm out, and my dream came true.
After three days of work, which went well, it was New Years Eve. I was supposed to go to Santa Barbara to see Isabella, but since she was sick and I couldn't board the dog I stayed with Mitch and Donna. They were having a small party at Susan's house, who had been inviting me all week so I was pretty excited to go there anyways. We had a great time, but I filled up on appetizers because someone made a brie and blackberry reserves wrapped in puff pastry thing. Lets just say I ate the majority of it. To die for.
I celebrated the New Year with Kaos by taking him on a couple great hikes, and also went on one to the helicopter pad with M&D and the girls. They were all great.
Not Zach is back. I haven't murdered him/the dog for leaving me for two weeks yet, but I still have time.
Tonight we are playing Scrabble with Mitch and Donna. Big news people - Sunday night Donna and I beat Mitchell. He couldn't believe it. He still can't believe it. The next day he beat us by one, but right now Zach and I are playing him and Donna and we're about to beat them like crazy. I don't know if we'll ever be invited back.
It's important to note that this is what we're doing instead of watching Jersey Shore, like the rest of the idiot 20 year olds. And we're playing on the Ipad, so we're still cool ;)
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