california dreamin'

last month dave and i headed for a weekend getaway to california to visit dave's best friend zach and our friend trina in los angeles. it was the perfect weekend to get away because the weather in denver was cold and snowy and we were ready for some california sunshine (although we were worried that the sudden blizzard that hit denver would make it impossible to fly out but lucky for us everything worked out perfectly).

we had our first experience with wally park valet airport parking. i get a discount through work and it seemed like the perfect morning to try it out. we arrived at wally park at 3:45 AM (yes, we crawled out of bed at 2:30 AM. i wanted to cry because it was so early) and it was snowy and sooo cold. we were happy to leave the car (and have someone else park it for us) and head inside for some hot chocolate before our shuttle picked us up. our flight left denver late and we had 10 minutes from the time we got off the plane in slc until our flight to LA left, 2 concourses over. we literally sprinted the entire way through the airport and arrived (quite winded and wheezing) at our gate. they were nice enough to open the door back up and let us on (and miraculously our luggage even made it to LA). those were the first miracles of the day. i am sure we were quite the sight running through the airport. i was just proud that even at 5 and a half months pregnant i beat another guy that was running with us to make the flight. maybe it was the fact that it was 7:30 am and he had already had 2 little bottles of vodka. yikes!

we had a fantastic time that included:

- my first experience with cankles. let me tell you, they were H.O.T! dave and i couldn't believe how swollen we both got

- trina's weight lifting class at the gym right after we landed (as if only getting 4 hours of sleep and our airport sprint wasn't enough).

- visiting zach at work for lunch

- dinner at gladstone's, an AMAZING seafood restaurant. they even wrap your leftovers in tin foil in the shape of animals (check out the bunny pic below). it's worth having leftovers just for the cool animal! by the way, their chocolate cake is larger than life. seriously!

- a ferris wheel ride on the santa monica pier

- our first experience with pinkberry! dave is still dreaming of it. who knew captain crunch on frozen yogurt could be soo good.

- a walk down hollywood blvd and the walk of fame

- a visit to grauman's chinese theater

- cruising in trina's convertible in true california style

- a dave and zach jam fest

- breakfast at an amazing little cafe

- a visit to this amazing landmark

and a stop by this beautiful building

we also experienced an LA miracle. while we were at lunch our first day i was looking in my purse and couldn't find my wallet. still no luck after checking the car to see if it had fallen out and i was hoping i had accidentally left it at the apartment we were staying at. then i got a call from my dentist office. the receptionist told me she had just gotten a call from a guy in california that said he had just found the wallet of one of their patients and was hoping she could track me down. turns out my wallet had fallen out in the parking garage when we went to the gym. john, the guy who found it, had gone through my wallet looking for a phone number to reach me at and when he couldn't find one he called the number to my dentist office (good thing i had my next appointment card in there). so we met up with him to get my wallet back. all my cash, credit cards etc. were still there! it was amazing!! i couldn't believe someone would go to such effort to return a wallet. bless john!! i hope good things come his way.

woohoo! all in all it was an awesome trip! we loved visiting zach and trina and can't wait for next time!!