What a weekend!

Back to life...back to reality. This past weekend I took a much needed break and went out to Santa Barbara to visit some good friends. You know I typically don't use real names on her, but since this story doesn't involve my dating life, I will. I met Rob and Lara shortly after I moved to Sacramento. They quickly became what I would call 'best friends'. We have a lot in common and always seem to have a good time together. They both grew up in Santa Barbara and moved back there about the same time I moved back to KC. I hadn't seem them since and was overdue for a visit! Since moving to SB, they have had 2 children...who I must say are about the most adorable and fun kids to be around! And it was amazing to see both of them as parents....they pretty much have it down to a science! At times I wished I would have taken my little monkey as their youngest is only 6 weeks younger than her. But then again, it was really, really nice to have a weekend free of Mommy duties.

I also got to hang out with one of their good friends, Lowell. We had hung out a few times in the past when he'd come up to Sac to visit or when I went down to SB. I hadn't seem him in years and we had a great time catching up. He certainly knows how to keep life interesting!

Being that I was childless, I really thought it was going to be a great opportunity to sleep in for the first time in a year. Not so much. Apparently my body has adjusted quite nicely to getting up at the crack of dawn. And with the time change, that meant I was up at 5am everyday. WTH? I forced myself to sleep in (until 7:30a) and got the chance to wake up to the sound of the ocean right outside my door..it was heaven! Lara's parents were nice enough to let me stay at there house and I have to tell you, it's about as good as it gets! They have an amazing house on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Here's are a few pics:







Suffice to say, I'd forgotten how much I adore Santa Barbara. It's absolutely beautiful and so amazing. If I didn't have a child and family in KC, there would be a moving truck at my house this week. I don't care if I had to pitch a tent and live in Rob and Lara's backyard, I'd do it! It's that incredible.

We had a fabulous weekend together. There are too many things to go into detail about, but here a few quick snippets: we drank, we bbq'ed, we went wine tasting, we drank more, sat in the sun, played beach volleyball, I broke their car, drank more, ate more, drank more, etc. You get the idea! :)

I will go into detail about one thing. The Peanut Story. Hanging out with them is always fun and there always seems to be some hilarious story that ensues. Sunday night Lara and I cooked (well, Lara mostly) dinner for her family (fresh fish tacos, coleslaw, coconut ginger rice, homemade mango salsa,guacamole, and fresh mojitos. I forget how great the produce is in CA!). Lowell came over the brought the most amazing Ahi tuna I think I've ever had. After an amazing dinner, sunset (see picture in the next post)and few too many mojitos somehow we convinced ourselves going out would be a good idea...after all, I had to be up at 4:45am to catch my flight. Good decision making on my part! Lara was the only smart one and decided to take the kids home and call it a night (damn her!). We went to some place on State street and listened to some pretty good karaoke. Lowell tried his best to convince me to sing and lucky for everyone in the place I had enough sense not to. This bar happened to have shelled peanuts and apparently at some point, someone with us (still not quite sure who but I'd bet my money on Rob) decided it's be funny to fill my purse with peanuts. Ha. Ha. Ha. I got most of them out:

Somehow, I missed quite a few (either that or I had too much to drink and didn't see someone refilling my purse). At about 12am I started to feel really, really bad. I couldn't figure out why. I had only had 2 drinks at this bar. I somehow forgot about the glasses of wine we had while making dinner, the mojitos during dinner and the glasses of wine after dinner, then I topped it off with bourbon at the bar. I was convinced someone had ruffied my drink. It wasn't until the next day and I remembered everything I drank and realized I apparently ruffied myself. I must say, I haven't been that out of it in a LONG time. That 4:45am wake up call was ROUGH! I was definitely still drunk. Lowell had volunteered to take my to the airport (love him!) and conveniently slept on the driveway in his car. I rolled out and woke him up. I could barely talk on the way to airport. The entire time I was thinking about how bad I felt for the poor person who had to sit next to me on the place. After downing some coffee and choking down a banana (trust me, it wasn't easy) I boarded this tiny commuter plane for a 2 and half hour flight to Denver. Woo Hoo! Since it was a small plane I had to store my carry ons in the overhead. So I get settled into my window seat and then a guy sits down next to me. Holy shit! First of all he smelled like he hadn't taken a shower in a few days and secondly, his clothes smelled of curry and onions. This didn't set well with my stomach. I thought for sure I'd be able to pass out on the plane. No luck!!! I decided to get up and get some music from my bag. When I opened the overhead compartment my bag fell over along with my purse. Out came the peanuts. This poor, poor old lady ended up with peanuts sprinkled in her hair that I had to pick out. I couldn't even begin to explain to her why peanuts had fallen out of my bag. For one, I still couldn't really talk coherently and then I could hardly contain the laughter. Needless to say, it was the perfect ending to a grand weekend!!!

Thanks again to my wonderful hosts. As always...great times with great friends!

Here are few pics from the weekend: