WOW! It's hard to believe it's already been 6 months since the wedding.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Jason's Birthday Weekend Bash!
What a fantastic weekend!!! Jason's birthday is the last day of August. I love his birthday being then cause we always get to take fun trips (i.e. Grand Canyon camping trip, Mt Charleston camping trip). Because it's usually the same weekend as Labor Day, I get that Monday off so we're able to have a fun filled weekend.
This year I decided to surprise him with tickets to WICKED in LA. What a fun time! I had the whole weekend planned out to nearly every minute. We left Vegas right on time and we were headed south. Due to my car being in the shop, we had a rental and it had a GPS system which was very new to me. The freeways I remember were still there, but I didn't have to pay much attention cause the GPS led us to Southern California. =)
Well, when you get to the divide between LA and San Diego, it said to go right. Jason didn't realize it was the far right lane, so we ended up getting on the freeway that goes South instead of West. No biggie, over the next mile of driving, we saw a sign for Redlands and thought, this place can't be that big, let's go check out their temple! So, we spent the next 2 hours trying to find the Redlands temple. We had to call in special op's to help us locate the structure. However, we found it and it was beautiful.
Since our detour took longer than anticipated, we were coming upon "really late" for our dinner reservation at Gladstone's. Not to mention we still hadn't checked into the Woodland Hills Marriott. The great thing about the GPS system was that it gave you phone numbers for places you needed to contact so we didn't need to call information. We called Gladstone's and let them know that we were on our way, we just had a little hiccup. We also called the Marriott to let them know we would be having a late check in and that we will be there, just really late, so don't give away our room!
I took over driving, and Jason plugged in Gladstone's for the GPS. We get there in about an hour. Not too shabby, except for when we finally get there, it is NOT at the end of Sunset Blvd like dad said, AND it's right next to the Queen Mary! "Uh... Jason, I'm confused. Had I known we were going to be next to the Queen Mary, we'd have skipped Redlands and taken a tour of this. I don't think we're where we're supposed to be."
After a quick, embarrassing call to Jenny, we were back on the freeway, calling the correct Gladstone's again, and letting them know it would be another half before we get there.
When we pulled up to Gladstone's I thought, "Really? This is it? What a dump!" But, Jenny and my dad highly recommended it. Dad grew up here, it was his hang out. He loved the atmosphere, the people, and that depending on the time of day, the tide can be at your feet while you eat! Being that it was low tide, Jason and I opted to sit on the deck; the area that if it were high tide, we'd get soaked and our food would be back with it's family in the sea. LOL
Looking at the menu, it had so many delicious things. My dad insisted we try the Clam Chowder. Thanks for the recommendation cause I think it was the best we had EVER had! Jason ordered Salmon, I ordered shrimp and before the waiter left, I tried to sneakily ask Jason if he wanted ceviche, and he said, "I'd like an order of ceviche too" in a matter of fact attitude. His passion for food is absolutely adorable.
We had already had a spectacular evening there, with our hilarious waiter, the guy catching sharks on the rocks down by the water, and just being out of Vegas and with each other. Because everything had been so great already, we decided to get some dessert. I got what I thought would be a piece of key lime pie, and Jason wasn't allowed to order cause they already had a surprise for him due to it being his birthday. When dessert came out, we were in shock! What I thought would be a slice of key lime pie actually came out as a half a pie! They placed it on the plate and decorated it with Strawberry glaze to look like it was a crab. Totally cute! And Jason's, oh my goodness, Jason got a piece of chocolate cake, but they're chocolate cake seriously is larger than the Mother Load at Claim Jumper's. He ate maybe 2 layers of it and packed the rest to go with us to the hotel. (I know what you're thinking, Jessica? Your's had strawberry glaze. I handled it pretty well. Jason ate the part of the pie touching the glaze and I tried to eat the rest, but I too had to pack it up.)
We went down to the beach for a little bit. Walked along the shore just to feel the sand between our toes, but it was getting pretty chilly and there was another patron of Gladstone's fighting with the guy catching the sharks. So, we headed off to the hotel arriving a little past midnight.
The next morning, we had room service. Not too much cause we were still gorged from the night before. When I drew the curtains, I saw the green beautiful mountains and beautiful houses. I opened the balcony door and I could smell one of my favorite smells, California air. After lunch we started getting ready for our show. It started at 1 pm, and we had to leave the hotel by noon to get there in plenty of time (pending we take a wrong exit or get lost). We got there in plenty of time.
Though I spent a lot of my youth in Glendale and my mom tried to do what she could to show us the cool things about LA, the Pantages Theater was something I had never been to. What a glorious building! The colors were vibrant, the atmosphere was classic. It was so amazing! Jason and I were in row G, and though we were on the aisle seats, they were still fantastic. The show itself was impeccable! I was kind of wish washy about seeing the show and now having Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel be the main characters because I feel both of them have phenomenal voices and I didn't think the Glenda or Elphaba could compare, but those girls did wonderful! And, my favorite, Carol Kane (Miracle Max's wife in The Princess Bride) played Madame Morrible. I GOT TO SEE ONE OF MY FAVORITE PEOPLE!!!
The show ended about 4 o'clock and there was still quite a bit of daylight to burn. So, I convinced Jason that we needed to go to the Griffith Park Observatory. I loved that place as a kid. I remember looking at Saturn through their telescope when I was 7 and thinking it was the greatest thing I had ever witnessed. Jason had never been there, and I felt bad for having to drag him from some areas, but there was A LOT to see. I think his favorite thing was the pendulum when you first walk in. It was quite the hike to the observatory and back to the car (parking totally sucks), and because we had already had a long excursion, we started heading back to Vegas.
I don't know how Jason felt about the weekend. When I first told him that I had great plans for his birthday, he said that I didn't need to spend too much money on things we can't take with us to our next life. When I hinted about the weekend and said, "Honey, a billion years from now, we will remember how great your 26th birthday was." He was a little confused. I think the most terrible thing about the weekend was that I took a lot of pictures. I mean, A LOT! So many that I had to delete bad pictures cause I ran out of memory. I downloaded them onto my computer, but because I just bought a brand new computer, I didn't back them up. BAD JESS! The hard drive crashed a few days after our return, so there are no pictures to see. =( I saved the hard drive in hopes that one day I will have enough money to get everything off that hard drive, but in the meantime, the memories are all that are left of that wonderful weekend. After all, isn't that the reason we went - so we can have that great experience in our memory in the eternal life?
This year I decided to surprise him with tickets to WICKED in LA. What a fun time! I had the whole weekend planned out to nearly every minute. We left Vegas right on time and we were headed south. Due to my car being in the shop, we had a rental and it had a GPS system which was very new to me. The freeways I remember were still there, but I didn't have to pay much attention cause the GPS led us to Southern California. =)
Well, when you get to the divide between LA and San Diego, it said to go right. Jason didn't realize it was the far right lane, so we ended up getting on the freeway that goes South instead of West. No biggie, over the next mile of driving, we saw a sign for Redlands and thought, this place can't be that big, let's go check out their temple! So, we spent the next 2 hours trying to find the Redlands temple. We had to call in special op's to help us locate the structure. However, we found it and it was beautiful.
Since our detour took longer than anticipated, we were coming upon "really late" for our dinner reservation at Gladstone's. Not to mention we still hadn't checked into the Woodland Hills Marriott. The great thing about the GPS system was that it gave you phone numbers for places you needed to contact so we didn't need to call information. We called Gladstone's and let them know that we were on our way, we just had a little hiccup. We also called the Marriott to let them know we would be having a late check in and that we will be there, just really late, so don't give away our room!
I took over driving, and Jason plugged in Gladstone's for the GPS. We get there in about an hour. Not too shabby, except for when we finally get there, it is NOT at the end of Sunset Blvd like dad said, AND it's right next to the Queen Mary! "Uh... Jason, I'm confused. Had I known we were going to be next to the Queen Mary, we'd have skipped Redlands and taken a tour of this. I don't think we're where we're supposed to be."
After a quick, embarrassing call to Jenny, we were back on the freeway, calling the correct Gladstone's again, and letting them know it would be another half before we get there.
When we pulled up to Gladstone's I thought, "Really? This is it? What a dump!" But, Jenny and my dad highly recommended it. Dad grew up here, it was his hang out. He loved the atmosphere, the people, and that depending on the time of day, the tide can be at your feet while you eat! Being that it was low tide, Jason and I opted to sit on the deck; the area that if it were high tide, we'd get soaked and our food would be back with it's family in the sea. LOL
Looking at the menu, it had so many delicious things. My dad insisted we try the Clam Chowder. Thanks for the recommendation cause I think it was the best we had EVER had! Jason ordered Salmon, I ordered shrimp and before the waiter left, I tried to sneakily ask Jason if he wanted ceviche, and he said, "I'd like an order of ceviche too" in a matter of fact attitude. His passion for food is absolutely adorable.
We had already had a spectacular evening there, with our hilarious waiter, the guy catching sharks on the rocks down by the water, and just being out of Vegas and with each other. Because everything had been so great already, we decided to get some dessert. I got what I thought would be a piece of key lime pie, and Jason wasn't allowed to order cause they already had a surprise for him due to it being his birthday. When dessert came out, we were in shock! What I thought would be a slice of key lime pie actually came out as a half a pie! They placed it on the plate and decorated it with Strawberry glaze to look like it was a crab. Totally cute! And Jason's, oh my goodness, Jason got a piece of chocolate cake, but they're chocolate cake seriously is larger than the Mother Load at Claim Jumper's. He ate maybe 2 layers of it and packed the rest to go with us to the hotel. (I know what you're thinking, Jessica? Your's had strawberry glaze. I handled it pretty well. Jason ate the part of the pie touching the glaze and I tried to eat the rest, but I too had to pack it up.)
We went down to the beach for a little bit. Walked along the shore just to feel the sand between our toes, but it was getting pretty chilly and there was another patron of Gladstone's fighting with the guy catching the sharks. So, we headed off to the hotel arriving a little past midnight.
The next morning, we had room service. Not too much cause we were still gorged from the night before. When I drew the curtains, I saw the green beautiful mountains and beautiful houses. I opened the balcony door and I could smell one of my favorite smells, California air. After lunch we started getting ready for our show. It started at 1 pm, and we had to leave the hotel by noon to get there in plenty of time (pending we take a wrong exit or get lost). We got there in plenty of time.
Though I spent a lot of my youth in Glendale and my mom tried to do what she could to show us the cool things about LA, the Pantages Theater was something I had never been to. What a glorious building! The colors were vibrant, the atmosphere was classic. It was so amazing! Jason and I were in row G, and though we were on the aisle seats, they were still fantastic. The show itself was impeccable! I was kind of wish washy about seeing the show and now having Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel be the main characters because I feel both of them have phenomenal voices and I didn't think the Glenda or Elphaba could compare, but those girls did wonderful! And, my favorite, Carol Kane (Miracle Max's wife in The Princess Bride) played Madame Morrible. I GOT TO SEE ONE OF MY FAVORITE PEOPLE!!!
The show ended about 4 o'clock and there was still quite a bit of daylight to burn. So, I convinced Jason that we needed to go to the Griffith Park Observatory. I loved that place as a kid. I remember looking at Saturn through their telescope when I was 7 and thinking it was the greatest thing I had ever witnessed. Jason had never been there, and I felt bad for having to drag him from some areas, but there was A LOT to see. I think his favorite thing was the pendulum when you first walk in. It was quite the hike to the observatory and back to the car (parking totally sucks), and because we had already had a long excursion, we started heading back to Vegas.
I don't know how Jason felt about the weekend. When I first told him that I had great plans for his birthday, he said that I didn't need to spend too much money on things we can't take with us to our next life. When I hinted about the weekend and said, "Honey, a billion years from now, we will remember how great your 26th birthday was." He was a little confused. I think the most terrible thing about the weekend was that I took a lot of pictures. I mean, A LOT! So many that I had to delete bad pictures cause I ran out of memory. I downloaded them onto my computer, but because I just bought a brand new computer, I didn't back them up. BAD JESS! The hard drive crashed a few days after our return, so there are no pictures to see. =( I saved the hard drive in hopes that one day I will have enough money to get everything off that hard drive, but in the meantime, the memories are all that are left of that wonderful weekend. After all, isn't that the reason we went - so we can have that great experience in our memory in the eternal life?
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