West Coast Adventure: Orange County

When Zach and I started talking about places to go for a honeymoon, we talked about Paris, Puerto Rico, and Argentina (I am really interested in Argentina). We ended up choosing...the state of California. It sounds so domestic and not exotic at all, but we had so much fun! I wouldn't change a thing about this trip.

I'm crazy and like to print things.

Planning this honeymoon was a lot of work. I totally understand the appeal of an all-inclusive honeymoon: everything is taken care of, just show up and relax! Our plans kept morphing until the week before we left. Originally the plan was to start in southern California (site of my Amanda's wedding!) and drive up the Pacific Coast Highway to San Francisco. But we started looking up rental car rates, gasoline, the cost of hotels, B&Bs, and campgrounds...and decided to just fly from Orange County to San Francisco, with some overnight trips to Monterey and Big Sur. 

We arrived in Costa Mesa ready for a drink after a long day of traveling. (Thanks, Delta!)

Zach, me, and Big Carl, my wine glass. I name every wine glass "Big Carl," after an episode of Cougar Town. 

I love Orange County. It makes me think of The OC, skateboards, Gwen Stefani, and surfing. 

We fell in love with Huntington Beach. It's the quintessential southern California beach. Even Zach was all, "Maybe I'll just get some surfing lessons while you and the bridesmaids are getting ready." (He didn't have time.) We were mesmerized by the surfers. It's so common there, like walking your dog or riding a bike. Also, no one really looked like Kelly Slater or Kate Bosworth in that surfer movie she did. Blue Crush? They were normal people, surfing. It gave me hope that I'll one day learn to surf.

Real, live surfers.

I understand the whole "beach bum" thing now.

From our hotel we'd walk over to a summer-camp- for-grown-ups themed shopping center called Camp. I don't know how else to describe it, but I liked it.

This airstream is actually  a little shop which sold succulents and other little plants. Cutest shop ever, but I wasn't about to bring a cactus on an airplane.

The day of the wedding was so much fun. It's so easy to enjoy weddings now, knowing mine is over and even though I loved it, happy to never do it again! 

Getting ready!

Me and the gorgeous bride! She pulled off a spectacular wedding and put a lot of hard work and detail into this day. Zach and I had so much fun. She should get married every year (to Chris, of course) because it was a blast. Being a part of this wedding was an honor. She really spoils her best friends.

I loved hanging out with the other bridesmaids. They were so funny and cool, just a great group of ladies. 

On our boat! 

Like a movie (about rich people).

My handsome date.

Bride and groom!

The next day, we ate an early breakfast.

Sunburned, drinking coffee. The life.

And I blew bubbles out of our rental car. Life isn't fun unless you can be 5 years old every now and then.

Some notes for my memory's sake:

-Delta cancelled our direct flight the morning of our 2 pm departure. They re-booked us for the next day, but I wasn't about to lose our hotel reservation, so I haggled with an agent to get us to Minneapolis, then LAX. Not fun. I prefer to be airborne for as little time possible. We arrived in LA about 4 hours later than planned, but at least we got there.
-I loved our hotel. I love Costa Mesa. I could get used to the palm trees. The beach = happiness.
-I hate the GPS on my phone. I am inherently wary of technology, so having a phone tell you to exit, then tell you "You went the wrong way," when you did exactly what it said to do, makes it hard not to throw it out a window.
-Zach is such a trooper to navigate the LA freeways. Also, thank God we didn't get into a wreck. The drivers were pretty nice, but there were so many cars. Claustrophobic.

Food, money, marriage.

Random kid makes it rain.

Here is an ugly truth about me: I have trouble staying on a budget.

Maybe it's the numbers and the adding and subtracting. My eyes glaze over and I zone out. This applies entirely to me, not my husband, who is pretty thrifty. I am the financial equivalent of a "grazer"--some Starbucks here, a little Michaels there. Before my dad gets all bajiggity, let me say: I'm not in financial distress! I save and contribute to an IRA. But I could also be a lot better about streamlining my spending.

I've considered:

--Rerouting the majority of my check to Z's and my joint account. Out of sight, out of mind, right? I feel our shared account is sacred and wouldn't go to Target alone with it. I'd still have enough for my own expenses and savings. I think this option will inspire me to save more.
--Giving myself an allowance via the Dave Ramsey envelope method. I'd allot a specific cash amount for a given time period as fun money. This would be my Starbucks, dinners with friends, clothes, crafting supplies. When it's gone, it's gone.

The rerouting thing is definitely doable, and when I go back to work in a few weeks I'll fill out the papers.  The envelope system...iffy. I say this because carrying cash is incredibly tempting--as in the Starbucks and Michaels will occur within minutes of each other, and it's like it never even happened because the transactions don't show up on my online banking. This is my warped mindset. For the envelope to work, Zach must be my monitor, perhaps even hiding it from me. (Extreme, but I don't 100% trust myself with cash.)  Another option is for us to combine our finances entirely. This might happen in the future, but for now we are sticking to yours/mine/ours, with an emphasis on ours.


Somewhat related to the money issue is the food issue. We use the envelope method with our grocery shopping; sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. Mostly I think we need to increase the amount in the envelope, but there was one time we were significantly under budget. Not coincidentally, I looked for recipes using things we already had and planned our meals for the week before hitting the grocery. The process must have been exhausting, because it hasn't happened since! SAD.

He cooks! I love him!

I want to be one of those women who plans meals for the week. Obviously, it saved us money, we ate pretty well, and I was so proud. Not sure why I didn't follow through, or why Zach didn't encourage me. Meals are a weird thing in this house. Z is pickier about his food, he eats much healthier but also twice as much as I do. When my sister and I lived together, we regularly had 5 types of cheese in the house, and we could both eat cheese-covered leftovers for a few days. (We also ordered a lot of takeout.) Now, I won't deny my husband seconds and thirds so I can pack lunch for the next day. Zach also does a lot of our cooking, works full-time, and is getting his MBA. I have to step it up in the food department. Somehow meal planning needs to be tied with the fun-money envelope, because secondary reinforcement seems to be the only way this will happen.


Just thinking about budgets and money makes me tired. I want to take a nap now. Maybe I should run to Starbucks. Kidding! Seriously, we feel like this is a good time for us to save, while it's just us. Becoming more fiscally aware before bringing babies into the picture. For me, the heart of all the money talk is a desire to live more simply. Sometimes I get caught up in the blogs and the Pinterest and convince myself I need things, things, OMG THINGS to be happy and accomplished, when the truth is I have way more than enough. Plus, once work starts again I'll be less inclined to spend because I won't have the free time to do so. Now if only I can stick to the envelopes...

*After hitting the publish button I scrolled down the blog and realized how much I go on about saving money and buying things. (Mom) I swear I don't have a problem. Really! I hate money.

"What's up?" "Nothing, what's up with you?"

When the summer began I had grand illusions of writing on this blog every day, documenting all of the fun things I'd do and the fun crafts I make. Turns out I haven't been very interesting lately. In fact, I'm pretty boring right now, at least in the blog way. I've ventured out in the heat occasionally and hung out with my friends and family, but haven't taken my camera. Certainly not taken any pictures of anything I've made or eaten. But I promise to get better. Pinky swear!

Exception to the "no picture" thing:

Hey deer.

I made a terrarium for my sister-in-law's birthday present! I've been semi-obsessed with terrariums for a while and actually thought about making them as wedding centerpieces. I love them for no other reason than they are cute. Now I know they're also easy and pretty cheap to make. Googling "How to DIY a terrarium" brought up this tutorial, which I loved because of the graphic.

I used an old candle jar with a cool shape and dollar store river rocks I found in my car trunk (from a wedding project which never materialized.) Both types of moss were from the garden center at Home Depot. Michael's has the same mosses, but Home Depot was cheaper.

Assembling the terrarium took about 5 minutes. Sooo easy, and I have plenty of materials left. Everyone is getting a terrarium for Christmas!

I swear the moss was green when I made this...I put it by the window to get rid of the condensation and it might have dried out the moss. Why must I kill every plant.

Some things I bought that I love:

I saw this tea while creeping through Whole Foods. It promises to clear up my skin and make me feel radiant from the inside out. It's too early to tell if it works, but it's basically mint tea, which I love. If it doesn't follow through on it's claim I won't get upset. (Especially because it was on sale.) I fall for just about anything hippie which claims to clear skin. At least this one is tasty. Maybe I'll turn it into a mojito.

50 shades of purple leopard print? I have not read the book.

Sleeping mask! I'm not a great sleeper; even the slightest hint of light and I'm awake. This lets me sleep for a few extra minutes. Plus I feel a little dramatic when I have it on, and who doesn't love to feel dramatic at 6 am? From Target's $1 section.

More Target. The picture looks like bacon, but in real life it's more of a cross between Twizzlers and fruit-roll ups. They are portable, the perfect size for a purse and have saved me from hunger a few times. Raspberry lemonade sounds so refreshing right now.

Out of 20+ attempts, this was the least creepiest picture. Really need a life.

New sunglasses. They aren't visible from the angle, but there are hot pink hearts on the temple. I feel fun and silly (in a good way) in these. Don't know what's up with the purple leopard print everything; I just realized these and the eye mask have the same pattern. I guess it's a purple leopard print kind of summer.

Thing I haven't bought yet but will:

I get mad shoe lust in the summer--or every season--but always end up wearing flip-flops from Old Navy everywhere. They are so comfortable, but only the ones from Old Navy. It's strange how my feet don't respond to other flip-flops, even the ones from Target. My pair is worn down to the heels. Time to drop $4 on new ones.

Things I'm reading:

I've been struggling to finish The Corrections for a while. It's not a bad read per se, but I don't like any of the characters. They are simply an unlikable family--selfish, unsympathetic. It's hard to become invested in characters who annoy me. I want so much to like this book. The other one (Zach checked it out for himself actually) is about an Ironman triathlete, Chrissie Wellington. We caught an Ironman special on TV recently, and she struck me as half crazy. So far this book has done nothing to change that opinion. But she's also honest, super driven, a self-admitted hoarder, and likable. This book has not inspired me to do triathlons, it has done the reverse and I am afraid of them. Very easy to read.