California

I had never been to the West Coast. Hell, I had never been further west than Pittsburgh, PA, so to hop on a plane and head to California was quite exciting for me. I got there Monday afternoon, a day after Serena, who was there for a work conference, and made my way from SFO to meet up with her while she was on a lunch break from sessions and presentations. I'm not sure what I pictured in my mind when I thought of San Francisco, but while I was there, I kept feeling like I was in Philadelphia for some reason. Palm trees and the Pacific Ocean helped me acclimate, though.

A good time was had in San Francisco, the Windy City*. I feel like we hit the appropriate amount of everything we set out to do: shop, touristy things, eat, randomness, and Berkeley.

Shopping:

• Amoeba in Haight/Ashbury (or "The Haight" as I guess I'm supposed to call it) where I found the most amazing imports and out of print CDs. I had to put blinders on to get to the cash register.
• KidRobot and Giant Robot (did I get those names correct?) I bought the little "No Smoking" guy.
• Whatever store that I found Cold War Unicorns for Ali!
• The vintage store where I bought a skirt for $1!

Toursity Things:

• Fisherman's Wharf- Cool for the boats and seeing Alcatraz**, but a bit overrated and also mfing hot when there!
• Cable cars- Yes, we rode one. Almost ran over some guy, too. I kept wanting it to go faster, though.
  
• Lombard Street, the most crookedest street- Holy hell do legs burn after walking up this! I felt like jelly on the walk back down.
  

Eat:

• The BEST Italian food and cocktails at a restaurant in North Beach with an incredibly sexay waiter.
  
• Mexican in the Mission area.
  
• Iced coffee wherever we could find it.
• Carl Jr.s in the middle of the night (See "Berkeley")

Randomness:

• Vesuvio
• Specks- Don't go there. Definitely don't order a Jack and Coke there!
• Sneaking into a fancy hotel for the restroom and then asking at the front desk how to get to the Bart.
• The Bart
• San Fran Barnes & Noble!
• Bums. A lot of them. Who like to talk to you. And come right up if they think you're a tourist.
  

Berkeley:

• What happens in Berkeley stays in Berkeley, but I will say that it was a kick-ass time.
  
• Oh, and we got stuck there.
• And had to find a way back to the city.
  
• And I found out I like feta!
• Party People!
  

All in all a fun trip! Take a look at my pictures.

XO,
SVR

*Just kidding. I know that's Chicago, but my mom kept calling it that and it cracked me up.

**Cue Mr. T!

Motown Philly

Please check my Twitter for the next few days as I won't be updating here most likely.


XO,
SVR

P.S. 555-2424
P.P.S. I can do it with my eyes closed.
P.P.P.S. 555-...2424

A Punch Up At A Wedding (No No No No No No No No)

So what if it's been over a week since I got back from North Carolina...

In preparation for our trip to my cousin's wedding in North Carolina, Ali and I had a few things we put on the agenda to do: go to Sonic, drink a lot of coffee, take advantage of any and all open bars, and to look adorable in our dresses.

As if there was ever any doubt, we accomplished all of our goals. After leaving our house at 4am on Friday we got to the first open Sonic in Rocky Mount, NC at about 9am where we proceeded to order from the lunch menu. It felt weird to order cheeseburgers so early in the morning, but since we had already been up for 6 hours, we were ready for them.

Wilmington welcomed us at about noon where we found the Barnes and Noble for 50% off coffee and a map of the area. Eventually we made our way to our final destination of Southport where we checked into our sweet hotel and were given a bottle of wine and instructions for the evening from my cousin and her fiance.

The instructions gave us the info we needed for the evening's booze cruise/rehearsal dinner, which ended up being about 50 people drinking and partying on a boat before dinner at a local restaurant. Even though Ali and I both partook in the open bar, we were lame-os in comparison to some of the other people around. Let's just say that Ali and I began playing, "Name The Drunkest" at about 11pm.

Skipping over some of the details of the weekend in the interest of keeping this shorter than a novel, we took the ferry over to Bald Head Island at 330pm on Saturday. We had some time to waste before the ceremony at 5pm so Ali and I debated stealing a golf cart to go exploring. See, there are no cars on Bald Head Island and the only way to get around is by golf cart of trams. We got to the church via a tram, but once there, we were sorta stuck. We not only eyed the two abandoned golf carts on the road near us, but even got in the one and were about to turn it on when some woman came out of the church so we jumped out.

The ceremony was gorgeous of course, and I have to thank my two little cousins for helping me to not cry. I held it in while watching everyone walk down the aisle, but just as I could feel myself getting a little misty over it all, the little bambinas (4 and 2.5), broke from their little flower girl personas and I spent the rest of the ceremony willing them to be quiet along with their mom (my cousin). The little boos did such a good job walking down the aisle and standing there, but they're so young, they just don't even comprehend that it's a ceremony. My cousin looked gorgeous, of course, and wore an amazing dress that I practically drooled over. Ali and I think the minister forgot to tell us to sit back down after standing for the bride because we ended up standing for the entire ceremony-is that weird?

The reception, held just down there street was off the hook. Open bar all night (hellloooooo, rum!), amazing food, and a dance floor. Ali and I taught our aunt (the bride's mom) how to verb and seriously cut a rug out there. (I think my feet STILL hurt. But hey, we looked super cute out there.) I even participated when my cousin tossed the bouquet. (Her maid of honor caught it-does it always work out that way? haha!)

We left the island at 11 to catch the last ferry towards the mainland and to go crash since we had to get up at 330am to head back. I, of course, had forgotten I had to play in a concert and needed to be back by 130. The ride back was brutal. Not that we didn't have fun, because of course we did, but because I was beyond exhausted and had to keep eating/drinking/talking/smacking myself in the face to stay awake. Sonic at 8am helped as did the Starbucks later on. And I made it back just in time:)

All in all...an amazing weekend. Check out my pics!