California in the Summer

California was amazing. It was a complete opposite from New York. I am so used to clouds and rain that I was so confused when it was just sunny everyday in there. Anyways, this is the first picture I took on the trip. Wewere heading to the LA Farmers Market. What I didn't realize though was that in California instead of clouds I guess they have smog...I do not miss the smog.

Oh I already forgot part of my trip. The first night I was their Heather and I drove to Orange County to see Jacks Mannequin and The Fray concert. We had lawn seats, and the amphitheater was amazing, we sat on this giant hill and had a great view. It was a perfect night. We got back super late and I was exhausted from the 7 hours on a plane and airports and such but I am so glad we went. It was a perfect first night in Cali.

The next day is when we went to the farmers market. It was so cool. There were tons of vendors and the whole thing was under this covered walkway. I thought it was the best thing ever. They also had this place called Pinkberry, which serves insanely good frozen yogurt. It was the first time I ate frozen yogurt but if you want a amazing version of it, try Pinkberry. We also went to a this place, Mr. Marcel Gourmet Market . I wanted to go in because I really liked the sign...everything looked fancy inside so we bought a bottle of wine and some chocolate for dinner and snacks.

I didn't realize how many cultures there were in LA. I am not going to lie, I only recognized English, Spanish and French. I had a conversation with a woman in Spanish, that in itself was pretty funny, but its definitely a melting pot of cultures.

Our next stop was the beach! Out of all the beaches I picked Venice Beach. OK I know there are

better beaches than Venice, but before you judge, my tourist button was switched on in my head and I had to see it! Venice Beach is umm interesting to say the least. Actually I loved it! The mix of people there was just unbelievable and it was just so cool to see all this stuff in one place. I have heard that people go to Venice Beach to buy you know, marijuana, but I didnt realize how many people sold it, out in the public! I always assumed it was like in a back alley off the board walk, ohh I am so nieve. They also had "doctors" that would write you a prescription for the medical version of the cute little leafy plant. One guy advertising that the doctor was caught me in the middle of his pitch and says "Don't panic hun, its organic!" (I laughed so hard I could barely walk) It is a catchy saying though. Anyways, it was a awesome beach day, the weather was mid 80's, sunny and breezy. I thought for sure I would fry like a egg in a hot pan out there, but I stayed cool and layed out and read. OK I am lying, I brought a book, but I got distracted by the insanely hot life guard that just kept walking by us. I have a feeling he realized I was staring when all of a sudden he laughs and introduces himself to us. I think I managed to get out a hello. I was minimally sunburned...only two smalls spots got burned. I hate to burn and I am one of the people that burn, stay burned and then go back to being pale...tan is not a option!

Traffic in LA is killer. I think I sat in a car like 5 hours everyday, even if we were only driving like 30 minutes total.

Friday morning we drove to Vegas! Vegas was like a 3 1/2 hour drive...I was the lucky driver there and back. It was OK cause at least when you leave the city the traffic dies down a bit and then its

just straight driving all the way to Vegas. The Mojave Desert was gorgeous. It was the second time I have driven through it. When I was 13 my dad took my brother and I on a cross country trip, my mom flew out and met us in Vegas, but I remember the desert quite well. Anyways, it was a long drive, but well worth it!

Vegas was insane. We stayed at the Tropicana, it was cheap and on the strip and perfect place to crash for the night. We walked around and say as much as we could, no insane amounts of damage was done, but we had a amazing time. Las Vegasat night is inane, the lights just make you go, wow.That picture was of the fountain show in front of The Bellagio. Its a beautiful water show, and as one of my friends said, "its just like in the movie Oceans Eleven!" We also got our picture taken in front of the Paris hotel which recreates the Eiffel Tower. We walked so much that day, we were ready to collapse as soon as our bodies hit the beds. The next morning we got up and headed to a super tasty break fest buffet at The Excalibur hotel. I think it was the Round Table restaurant or something medieval themed.

We then decided to go back to LA, we hung out for the day and then we headed to the local bar, Rude Dogs, I met Heathers friends and it was definitely a interesting first bar experience...I think some drunken texts were involved. I will say I am not the kinda girl who goes out to get plastered and never will be, but I think it was a much needed life experience to add to my list of things I have done and will never do again. This past year has been nothing like I have ever planned and the first night I was in Cali I told Heather that I wanted to do all the things I always say no to. It was fun to really live it up for a week and loosen some of the strings that make me so uptight.

One night we even made cake soup...or attempted to. This is us and our cake, the cake was insanely good. For all of you still reading at this point and wondering what is cake soup, I will let my favorite funny lady tell you:

Kathy Griffin: How to Make Cake Soup: "You microwave a piece of chocolate cake, put it in a Cuisinart with a pint of vanilla Häagen-Dazs. Then you eat it and cry a little bit."

OK so we didn't have a Cuisinart...so we put in in a blender, the smart thing would have been to probably just stir them together with a spoon but umm blender sounded more exciting. Anyways- that picture of us is with our cake... Heather couldn't wait to frost it, so she started to when it was still hot and umm well it broke.

A word to the wise, do not blend cake and ice cream in a blender...or not like we did cause it was like drinking warm, thick cake batter...

Heather worked Monday and Tuesday and I recovered from the past few days. Then the next thing I know, I am lost at LAX. LAX is big, like big big. I was supposedly flying home US Airways, but they went the operators of my first flight, United was. So I go to US Airways thinking this is where I check in and get boarding passes, only to have a man yell at me that I am not flying US, but United instead. The ticket worker was very unpleasant and of course US is at terminal 1 and United it at terminal 8...they are like 1ish miles apart so walking was not happening...So Heather and her friend came back around and dropped me off at the proper terminal, I got tickets and headed through security and slept the entire flight.

I had a two and a half hour layover in Philadelphia. Then I was home in Syracuse. It was nice to be home! I was so exhausted though, I feel asleep last night at 7:30PM and woke up today at 9:30.

Today I am off to Rochester, dinner with Steph's family, randomness with Steph, Tysabri #8...(I cant believe it will be #8) then bathroom shopping for our shared bathroom in our dorm room. I move in like in two weeks or something insane...If I never mentioned this, Steph, Hannah, Hannah and I are sharing a on campus apartment, it has a kitchen, living room, 4 separate bedrooms and two bathrooms. Steph and I are of course sharing and we are picking our a theme tomorrow!

I think I have written plenty...if anyone lasted until this point, thank you for reading!

"But if you left it up to me

Everyday would be

A holiday from real

We'd waste our weeks

Beneath the sun

We'd fry our brains

And say it's so much fun out here

But when it's all over

I'll come back for another year"

-Holiday from Real- Jack's Mannequin