Happy Now-Oct. 25 (Mommymoon 2)

  I am a couple days late making this post, but--boy--there sure was a lot to make me happy last week!

1.  Fall Break--Last week, I had Wednesday through Friday off for my school's Fall Break.  A 5-day weekend could never fail to make me happy.  Originally, Darren was going to spend this time helping his parents fix their roof in Idaho while my mom and I celebrated our second annual Mommymoon (see below).  Because of Darren's thumb injury, however, he couldn't make the trip to Idaho, but he encouraged me to keep my plans for the Mommymoon and sent me off for the long weekend in CA.

2.  Mommymoons--Before I got married last year my mom heard of a great tradition called a Mommymoon.  During a Mommymoon, mother and daughter take a vacation together away from the hustle and bustle of wedding planning to pamper themselves and enjoy some time together before the daughter's wedding.  My mom and I had so much fun last year that we decided to make it an annual tradition.  Who needs a wedding to have a Mommymoon?  Not us!

3.  Seaside Serenity--My mom and I decided to spend our Mommymoon close to their home this year in Orange County.  There's something about the salt air and sound of the waves that has an immediate relaxing effect.  I felt the stress from the classroom melt away as soon as my plane landed.

4.  Airport rides from Dad--This year, we had a guest appearance during our Mommymoon from Mr. Sonne.  I got to spend some quality time with Dad on the rides to and from the airport, as well as some time with him at home while my mom and I were staying there.  I love just talking to my dad about anything, but on this trip I especially enjoyed talking books with him--discussing the books we were both currently reading.  He is currently reading one of my favorites, The Count of Monte Cristo, and I had the rare advantage of being able to talk about a book with which he was unfamiliar, encouraging him to stick with it through the long sections in the middle until the fantastic ending.  He likes to read at least 3 books at a time, something I can rarely do as I have trouble keeping track of characters and plot lines, so he was able to share much more with me.  I left with a couple of book recommendations from him that I am excited to check out.  In addition to books, my Dad told me about a song he had heard that I have been totally hooked on since he played it for me--"Arms" by Christina Perri.

5.  South Coast Plaza (Shopping and Chatting)--South Coast Plaza is an amazing indoor shopping mall in Orange County.  It can be fun to just walk around the mall and window shop.  When my roommates and I were in CA for our Spring Break about a year and a half ago (and Darren and I had started to talk about marriage), we may have had a lot of fun trying on some pretty expensive rings to get an idea of what we "liked." :)  While my mom and I made some fun purchases on our trip, I mostly enjoyed the opportunity to chat with her.  She has such great insights on things, brings so much clarity into my life, and has such a cute sense of humor.  I just love her!

6.  Room Service Breakfast--Big, fluffy comforter.  Four pillows just for me.  Yogurt, granola, fruit, and a bagel.  Hot chocolate.  Fog outside the big hotel room window.  Talking to my mom while she eats her own breakfast in the next bed over.  Enough said.

7.  Funny Picture Frame Fiasco--I giggle just thinking about an experience my mom and I had in Aaron Brothers on Saturday.  I have four rectangular water color prints that I have been wanting to get framed for a while.  My mom offered to help me get them framed while I was home.  Without going into too much detail, trying to figure out how to frame these four odd-sized prints (that wouldn't fit individually into a standard frame) without costing us an arm and a leg took all the brain power of two employees, me, and my mom.  Leave it to my mom to finally come up with the solution.  It really shouldn't have been that hard, and it left us with quite a few moments to laugh about afterward.

8.  Roger's Garden--Roger's Garden is an amazing garden paradise.  In addition to having beautiful plants and flowers year round, Roger's Garden also has breath-taking holiday decor displays.  While I was in CA, they had just set up their Christmas decor rooms.  While I am not a fan of getting Christmasy in mid-October, I couldn't help but feel festive as I walked through the winter wonderland that they created in the middle of Southern California.  Here are a couple of pictures of their Christmas rooms (which definitely don't do the feeling they created justice, but it may give you an idea):

                    

9.  8 P.M. Bedtime--I received some teasing for this on the Mommymoon, but when you're comfortable on the couch or in the hotel bed and the T.V. is on, what's the point in fighting the heavy eyelids?  Am I right?

10.  Halloween Decorations--Our apartment has a couple of new additions thanks to the generosity and great taste of my mom:

                   

 


Thanks for a fabulous long weekend, Mom and Dad (and Darren)!

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