June Wrap Up

Hello blog family,
I apologize for my absence over the last month. I was doing a great job of blogging every week until I went home for a friend's wedding, took a weekend to relax, got sick, but now I am back! I hope you all can forgive me :) June was a great month and I have lots to catch you up on. The month started with me flying home to PA for a wedding for one of my best friends from high school. He was the first out of group of friends to get married and although it is surreal that we are now at the age of getting married, I couldn't be happier for him. The ceremony, food, music, everything was perfect.  I can't remember the last time I had that much fun and danced for that long. I am truly blessed to still be great  friends with my friends from high school even after I've been moving all over the country for the last 2 years. They mean the world to me, and I don't know what I would do without their love and support. The night was truly amazing,  and I was so happy I flew the 3,000 miles to be in the presence of two people who truly love each other. Congrats to the happy couple!

After all these years, we're still friends

Wedding ceremony, I cried the entire time

I'm so happy for you Banji! 

My favorite... 2006 (junior prom) to 2014. Not much has changed 

When I got back to California after flying 6,000 miles in less than 48 hours, I really needed a R&R weekend. Instead of spending all weekend relaxing, my boyfriend suggested that we go to Santa Monica Pier for a wine festival. We've been to the famous pier before but I really wasn't impressed especially because it was way too crowded. I was skeptical about going back, but the festival was secluded and you needed tickets to get in. Tickets were each $60 which allowed you try as many different wines as you wanted from 5-9pm. Honestly, I don't think I got my money's worth since I am a light weight, but the festival was really fun. There are tons of different wine booths were you can try all local red and whites and great food trucks. We made sure to take a "lyft" home after all that wine and we also didn't have to pay for parking. What a great idea! Overall the wine festival was a great time and I am glad we ended up going. 

Back at the pier, still didn't ride the roller coaster

What a great day with my boo

Some of the craziness from the festival

After my first trip to LA a few weeks ago, I was still unsure how I felt about the city. I've mentioned before I am not much of a city girl and feel uncomfortable outside of perfect suburbia. I decided to give it another try when we went to a LA Dodgers vs St. Louis Cardinals baseball game last weekend. The weather was absolutely beautiful as was the stadium. I think anything surrounded with palm trees is amazing though. Since I didn't grow up in California, anytime I see palm trees (which is every single day) I feel like I am on vacation. Still not sure if it has hit me that I actually live here. The Dodgers killed the Cardinals so the energy in the stadium was great. I wasn't into the game as much because I didn't really care who won. Of course I was wearing my Phillies gear as a true Philadelphia would. It was a perfect way to spend an afternoon and I'm glad I gave LA another chance. 

Game time

Dugout 

Play ball!

Outside the stadium

View of LA

I hope everyone had a great weekend celebrating the birthday of our great country. Happy 4th of July! My boyfriend and I took most of the weekend to be lazy and catch up on sleep. I love those kind of weekends more than anything! We did go to dinner and watch fireworks on Friday in Downtown Disney. I went to Disneyland when my Mom was here last month, but I didn't get to explore Downtown Disney while I was there. It is a cute little area with stores, restaurants, and of course has that Disney flare. Parking was hard to find and ended up costing $20 for the night but you could get your money back after validating that you ate at one of the designated restaurants. We went to eat at Catal which is considered a Mediterranean restaurant but it was more upscale than the typical Mediterranean food I am used to. For an appetizer I had the Manchego salad with apples and candied walnuts and my boyfriend had the stuffed calamari. For our main course I had the risotto and my boyfriend had the lobster paella. Both were incredible. Along with alcohol and tip our meal ended up costing $200. The real reason we went to this particular restaurant was to see the world famous Disney fireworks. At 9:30 when the fireworks starting going off we realized that our table was in a bad spot and the fireworks were blocked by some buildings. The show only lasted for about 10 minutes and I was honestly disappointed in Disney. Even though we waited 3 hours at this restaurant for the disappointing fireworks, I still had an amazing night with my love and felt blessed to have shared it with him.

The beautiful flowers my boo bought me. I love them!

Menu

Enjoying my margarita waiting for fireworks 

Lobster paella 

My risotto

Overlooking Downtown Disney

Our view of the blocked fireworks 

This upcoming weekend I am super excited because my Dad and sisters are coming to visit California for a week and a half. I can't wait to share all the fun things we get to do together. Until next time...

XoXo,

Valerie