repost

so I posted this today while updating my iphone at Peet's... but it put it as posted on May 9th (probably that's when I started writing it, saved it as a draft and finished it today). I never knew until today that when you finish a draft that it doesn't post it in order of the posted date, but of the date that you started it. So here it is again, but so that you know it exists...


So recently (last weekend to be precise) Jake and I went to Los Angeles. We went to watch our good friends Jeremy and his fiancee Becky graduate from college. Jeremy had proposed to Becky the weekend before we came down! But since we were going down there we also visited with one of Jakes ex-coworkers/friends, and the family that I used to take care of (caregiver and nanny)! It was overall such a fantastic trip. The drive was nice. I had prepared myself with lots of magazines. Unfortunately we had to stop several times for me to go to the bathroom (as is normal!). Once we got into LA we drove straight to Westwood, the little town where the UCLA campus is located, and where the Starbucks that we both worked at is :) We parked in the same garage that we used to always park in, and went to our old Starbucks. Talk about weird! It was so familiar being in the area, and I saw at least 6 regulars that I still know the drinks of! But I didn't recognize a single employee! The turnover at that store is so high because its a college town. So it doesn't really surprise me that i didn't know any of them. Even when I worked there we were always getting new people and saying goodbye to our partners before the Summer season each year. Lame. There are a few people that I know are still working there, but they work the night crew, and it was too early for anyone on night crew to be at work. Oh well. At Starbucks Jake and I looked up hotels, talk about leaving the details until last minute! We found one in Santa Monica that looked pretty decent, and it was one of the cheaper ones, at just a little over $100 a night! Whew! Then we walked up to the campus to pick up Jakes diploma, he couldn't get it before we moved, and he never got it mailed to him! It was so weird, we went up to the counter where you get them and he showed his ID and told the lady his old student ID number and she literally just turned around and picked it up off the shelve behind her! As if we had called ahead and let them know we were coming or something. It was so weird! I can't believe that almost 2 years later and they just had it right there waiting for us. Plus we picked up Jake a new hat and sweatshirt. And a really nice frame for his diploma. Plus of course some postcards for the fam bam. Then we went and signed into our room, showered, and got dressed for the rest of the day. We went out for "happy hour" with one of Jake's ex-coworkers/friends at a nifty bar/sushi house in Santa Monica. Originally we were just there for drinks and were going out for dinner with the family I used to take care of. But we didn't really give ourselves enough time for the first one. So I called and pushed our plans back an hour and the elderly man said he didn't think going out was such a stellar idea anyways. So we agreed to just come over for a visit and eat before we came. I had a Kama Sutra/Forbidden City drink :) Well I had 2. And they were so yummy! My favorite food that we had there was the crab wontons. Delish! Next we arrived at the families house that I use to take care of. And as I was giving hugs to everyone two wonderful things surprised me, 1. how much the 9yr old grew since I saw her last! She was about chest level on me before, and now she is taller than me! And 2. The old lady that I used to take care of came around the corner and couldn't be more pleased to see Jake and I. Mostly me. Which to be honest really shocked me, in a good way. You see, caring for her was quite a job. She has had 3 strokes, cannot move half her body, and cannot talk anymore. But she is still able to understand what is going on around her. She gets really frustrated that we can't understand what she wants all the time. And she is really stubborn and opinionated. When I was working for them I would sometimes come by to say hi on my days off and she would be confused and sometimes upset that I was there on my day off. I was kind of expecting the same reaction for our visit. So I was thrilled when she was so happy to see me. And she was a peach all night too! She was laughing along with the jokes and smiling and patting her husbands arm and in general participating in the conversations with "yes" "no" (but not always meaning what she was saying, thats just all she can say (and "why")). We did end up going out for Chinese food for a second dinner. But that was ok with Jake and I because we didn't eat that much already. The night was wonderful. We cried when we said goodbye. Thus the end of the first night in LA. The next day we had the graduation for Jeremy and Becky. We arrived an hour early! So we found a Starbucks and sat there drinking coffee and either reading magazines or playing games on our phones. The graduation was nice, but there was a lot of just standing around afterwards while everyone else said hellos and took photos. We eventually all met up at Home Town Buffet and had lunch. Then we went out for a movie and dinner at Chick A Fila (is that how it's spelled?). I had never been there before. But it was pretty good. The weather both days was PERFECT btw. The next morning we went out for breakfast at a cafe named Marmalade and it was sooooo good! It was a cute little place. Mostly I just feasted on coffee toast and marmalade! Then we went to our old church and saw everyone we used to see! And last but not least we had lunch at an old friends house. Then we headed back home. I know this post should have some photos, but they are not on this sign on, and I really want to get this post posted... Also, one last thing that really stood out to me was how amazingly perfect my hair was the whole weekend. It was the first time in a long time that I have worn in down for 3 days straight! It was nice. I (and Jake) would love to move back to So. Cal. someday :)