A trip to remember

I havent written anything for so long now. Everything has gone a bit mental in my life. All for good reasons and I couldn't be happier, I'm just so busy. But I'm going to get back into doing this because I will be so disappointed with myself for stopping this and I now Ive got to much I want to write and keep somewhere forever to look back on and share with people.

In April I managed to get some holidays booked in work so I was able to head out to California to visit my boy for 12 days.

I was so excited to get to the airport because I was in desperate need to get some new perfume, and seen as its the only place I can buy Escada I was so happy to stock up. So imagine my shock when they didn't have any there. Well technically they did have some there, but I didn't like them. The first time I have ever not liked it. I didn't know what to do. I kind of walked around like a lost sheep, smelling way too many perfumes that I gave myself a headache. But I finally decided on Britney Spear's new one. I felt 14 years old again buying her perfume but its actually really nice. Im hoping that next time I go there will be an Escada I like. I also was on a mission to find some new sunglasses. I want a proper nice pair, for the last few years Ive just had super cheap ones, so I was excited to go and find some. Glasses shopping for me is stressful, not because of too much choice but the complete opposite. I have a very small and round head. Mike calls me pea face, I've accepted it and embrace it. However this make finding glasses that dont make me look like a bug very difficult. I often try on kids glasses, which seem to be perfect for me. I did find one pair that I really liked and I thought didn't look too bad, typical they were £230. So I left empty handed.

I managed to find a direct flight into San Fransisco. I was so happy, its bit of a pain having to get my bags at a airport then take them and put them on the right carousel and then make sure I get to my flight on time. So I was chuffed to bits when I found a direct flight and with Virgin. Ive heard they are really good so I was looking forward to it. However this excitement was short lived. Safe to say I will not be flying with Virgin every again. The staff were SO rude. Normally you get drinks and people coming through the cabin often. I think saw them 4 times. When they came around with the food, I asked for the chicken dish and when I looked at what he gave me it was the wrong dish, so I turned around and told him about what happend and asked politely to swap it. He huffed at me, then said 'well pass it here' and then shoved the chicken dish onto my tray. Even the person sat behind me said 'well that was rude'. I shouldn't have even bothered swapping my food. It was exactly like how old plane food was, plain, dry and no flavour. I just ate my bread roll and picked at some chicken. Luckily I had bought some sweeties in duty free so they kept me going. The flight seemed to take forever cause normally I would have stopped and then swapped plane. So I filled my time with films. I managed to watch 4. Flight with Denzel Washington. Maybe not the best film to watch on a plane as its about a plane that crashes and then he is investigated for being drunk whilst driving. It was however really good. I love all of Denzel Washington's films. Next I watched Argo, I had heard so many good things about this film. I quite enjoyed it. Not the best film Ive ever seen but still good. Then I watched The Silverlining Playbook with Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, it was the weirdest film Ive watched in a long time. I found it hard to follow and the story line was just strange. I didn't like any of the characters, so that wasn't a hit. Finally I watched The Hobbit. I LOVE The Lord Of The Rings and so was beyond excited to watch this. I was very disappointed. I didn't think it was good at all. I think because LOTR was so good it set a standard that was just too high, but Im glad Ive seen it.

I got through customs in less that 10 minutes :o I was so shocked! The man at the counter I went up to was finishing I was his last 'customer' of the day so he literally said why are you here then didn't even listen to my answer just stamped my passport and let me in. Woop woop! Mike was actually landing in the airport a hour after me after going to Palm Springs for a camp conference. We thought it would work out perfect by the time I get through customs and get my bag we could meet at my baggage claim. However because I got through so fast I thought I would surprise Mike and go to his gate so Id be there when he got off. American airports are totally different to British ones. The baggage claim in right next to the main door out of the airport so basically people can walk in off the street and pick up your bags if they wanted to. I thought I would surprise Mike but then I actually started thinking that maybe he would have gone a different way and be waiting for me at my gate so I ruined the surprise and messaged him so he knew where I was. Then I had my favourite moment and had that long awaited hug and kiss. One happy Amy.
We drove back to school, I picked up a chicken burger and chips on the way back. Mike had to work that night, so I went and had a nice early night.

Day 2.
Today was one to remember... I found bread I like. Simple things but I LOVE bread and all the bread in America is gross apart from this one loaf from Sprouts a healthy food shop - ironic. Mike then had to work, the school was doing a mini olympics so I went for a walk. I decided to walk up windy hill again, this time there was no chance of it turning dark and having to relive that nightmare experience. But half way up it got so windy that I turned around and walked down to a little park. There was a few kids playing baseball which was super cute to watch. Also hysterical to watch the over competitive and pushy parents who were trying to still to come across as nice and friendly and failing. Because it was so windy I didn't realise how hot it was and so I burnt to a crisp! It was horrendous, I looked terrible and could have actually cooked a egg on myself I was so hot. Once I got back to the school and Mike laughed at me he then told me that the school staff asked if I wanted to judge a talent competition that night.  Brilliant! My first impression on all of Mike's work colleagues and kids at the school and I look like a tomato! It was good fun though the kids didn't take it very seriously so it made judging it easier. Luckily there was another 2 ladies judging it and we nominated one of them to do all the talking so I could sit there with my head down.

Day 3.
Mike had a open house for camp so the camp director and the assistant director came over and they went to work for the day. Because I couldn't go outside I sat and watched TV all day and I stumbled upon EXTREME COUPONING. Wow! That is one crazy show. The people go on shopping trips they have planned for the past 6 months and then spend $1000 dollars and end up getting it for free by using coupons. They fill up about 10 trollies. But they end up buying about 300 toilet rolls 100 tins of soup and 20 toothpastes. Its weird. Then they have store rooms back home which is stuffed full. As much as I like to get good deals on things there is no way I could ever do that, its way too much. And plus extreme couponing doesn't work on clothes :(
In the night Mike and I went to watch Olympus has Fallen which has Gerald Butler in it (YUM) It was pretty good, I like action films and films that are easy to watch and dont take much thinking whereas Mike likes films that make you think, it was very American and very unrealistic but we both still liked it.

Day 4.
Mike had to work all day so I had another day inside watching tv letting my burn cool down. This visit I was set on going to the Cheesecake Factory. Ive heard their cake is incredible. I didn't have to wait to go and eat there Mike went on a trip with the kids and bought me back a piece of chocolate cake. When I said piece I should say slab. It was the biggest slice Ive ever seen. I took me 6 sittings to finish it, but it was so so good!

Day 5.
One hobby that Mike and I both enjoy is hiking. We hope to do more of it in the future and also want to camp so we can stay places for longer and just stop wherever we fancy. So today we went and bought some camping equipment. We bought a gas stove and a pot and pan set. Were slowly getting everything. Im excited about getting a tent, surely thats the most exciting part. Its got to be easy to put up because Mike will admit he's not good at arts and craft things which includes putting up tents so I'll have to be able to do it mostly just with a little help.

Day 6.
We went on a brilliant walk around Point Reece. Mike found out about a waterfall that is on the beach so we went to go and find it. It was a really nice walk, an easy trail until you get to the secret path to get down to the waterfall and then to get onto the beach we had to slide down on our bottoms. But it was worth it. The beach was gorgeous, we sat there for a few hours then climbed on our hands and knees back up the cliff and back to the car. One of Mikes favourite food places is a Chinese called Panda Express. He gets orange chicken from there which I think is gross, he loves it though. So while he ate that I went and got Burger King..much better :)

Day 7.
My favourite pair of jeans Ive owned were from American Eagle, the material is super soft and they fit nicely so I was hoping to get a new pair this trip. Mike bless him took me to basically every single clothes shop he could think of so I could try find a pair but I didn't find an I liked. I came home empty handed. Mike however, got new shorts and trousers. It wasn't all doom and gloom for me I tired my first philly cheese steak sub and it was good! In the evening we sat down and watched The Lord Of The Rings - The Two Towers. I love LOTR I put it on whenever I am ill. Mike however, had never seen them I made him watch them. He didn't love it as much as me, but maybe the pure amount he'll be seeing it in the future he might start to like it more and more.

Day 8.
I drove! Mike asked me every single time we got in the car if I wanted to drove so today was the day. I drove us to Chipolletes a mexican food place. I do not get stop signs and I drive too far over to the right side of the road. But apart from that I did good. I even did a good bay park. Ill get there slowly, I just dont like being on the wrong side of the road. The fact that the cars are automatics makes it easier, basically they are go karts. Next time im there I'll drive more again. Mike had to work the rest of the day so I watched tv. While I was over there boston bombings happened and obviously it was ALL over the news today they caught him so I watched all of that. Also friday night is bride night on TLC so I watched I found the Gown and say yes to the dress for about 5 hours. I think every girls loves those kind of shows.

Day 9.
My burn had finally calmed down enough to be able to sunbathe again, so I headed down to the pool to try and get rid of my tan lines. It was SO hot! I had to keep getting up and going and sitting in the shade. After a few hours I couldn't stick it anymore. I hate getting hot it makes me irritable and I feel gross so after a nice cold shower I walked down to the local shop bought a burger and sat in the shade and read my book. I love reading, I love getting to into a book that you cant put it down. I read a few good ones during this trip, I cant remember what they were called now though unfortunately. It was such a nice night I decided to go and sit at 'our spot'. Its in a field on the school ground where Mike and I had our first kiss. You get an amazing view of the stars from there so I lay there for hours. Way too many hours that I completely lost track of time and ended up staying there until 1am. I kind of scared Mike whoops but I had a lovely night out there.

Day 10.
I headed back to the pool to make the most of the sun, however there was a strange man down at the pool who kept staring at me. Maybe he just didn't know who I was, to him I was the stranger who was laying by the pool. But it creeped me out to much so I went back to my room and watched tv for the rest of the day.

Day 11.
My surprise day! This day will get a whole post of its own but as a summary.. I GOT ENGAGED! waaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Day 12.
We headed down to Santa Cruz for the day, I had hoped to lay on the beach however it was so windy when we got there we couldn't. We stopped off in Quizno's on the way and got a sub which was not as good as I remembered it being before. Then we walked along the board walk which was nice, its a shame the fair wasn't open. I love rides. I lost at a game of Air Hockey. Mike and I played putt putt back in 2010 and I beat him by 10 shots. He had an absolute disaster on one shot, and plus Im good at putt putt (and modest). So we decided to play again cause there was a course there. This time Mike got lucky, it was all going so well until about the 12th hole and then it all went downhill. Literally I couldn't get my ball up the hill. So Mike ended up winning by 5 shots. We then walked along the pier and right at the end of it we saw hundreds of Sea Lions lying underneath the pier on the beams. We couldn't figure out how they got there. They were also floating in huge groups in the sea. One man had swum out from the beach and got up quite close to them. It was then that I thought I saw a shark fin. I freaked out. I HATE sharks! I thought I was about to see a man get eaten. However using my zoom on my camera I found out it was just a seal on its side with its fin sticking up. We took the scenic route home along the coast, it was super pretty and there were some gorgeous houses, we made a few stops to try and find a good spot for Mike to go surfing. We picked up a Jack in the Box on the way home, then ate it watching one of the NBA playoff games.

Day 13.
Home time :(
On the way to the airport I bought some more toothpaste. Toothpaste in america has bicarbonate of soda in and so is good for whitening teeth. Then we went and ate in Chilli's. I got the nicest desert it was a giant cookie with ice cream and chocolate sauce. When we were at the airport there was the longest queue for check in. It took forever!! I HATE security check. Because this is the goodbye spot. It was a million times worse this time, saying goodbye to him normally is tough but saying goodbye to your Fiance is literally heartbreaking. I just had time to go to the toilet and buy a bottle of water before I had to board. I was sat upstairs on the jumbo jet. I was so excited, I'd always wondered what it was like up there. For anyone that hasn't been up there.. DONT unless your short like me. Its so claustrophobic. I always get window seats so I can lean against the wall to sleep. Up there though there is a big window sill so you cant lean against it. So I got zero sleep. Once I landed I walked straight through customs then had a 3 hour wait for my bus. But I managed to get on a earlier bus so I got home a lot earlier. My mum met me and the bus stop with a gorgeous bunch of congratulations on your engagement flowers. I could not wait to jump into bed.

Another amazing trip... ready for the next one now

Flossy x