"hopped off the plane at lax with a dream and my cardigan"

We had a crazy awesome time in LA/Pasadena last week surprising my sister for her 25th birthday. We got her sooooo good.

We finally got to see where they live, we had a lot of great food, and we saw as much as we possibly could in the 50ish hours we were there. Here are some of our adventures!

 Um, Hollywood Boulevard is cah-razy. Like straightjacket crazy. I did manage to find one of my faves.

"The Hills"

Pretty Pasadena, where they live.

"Wah-r! Wah-r!"

Parks 'n Rec, anyone?

Posing with a toddler...

Giant Connect Four with Uncle Andrew

Venice Beach!

We had to reenact the serious playgrounders. 

Wore my Venice Beach shirt at Venice!

 People are allowed to graffiti everything at one section.

Jaina digs it.

Venice skate park

Next time I'll get inside to the Rose Bowl Flea Market. All my favorite bloggers shop there.

 That's the Father of the Bride house! 

(Decorated for Halloween, obviously. Notice the huge creepy cat eyes in the windows.)

Unbrushed hair; that was not a battle I wanted to fight.

This poor baby was dragged across the country and back in two and a half days, and she was a trooper! It was worth it to be with family and to actually get to step outside the LA airport for once. Plus, we got a few more sunny days before heading back east for the long, cold winter.

Miss you, Aunt Beka and Uncle Andrew! See you soon!

texas and the approximately three pictures i took while there

Last weekend I went on a girls' trip to Dallas. We visited some dear friends, got to stay in their cool house, went shopping, went flea marketing, and stayed up late every night. And I decided to bring an 11-month-old.

It wasn't one of my better decisions, but since she's still nursing it was either stay home or take her along. She did so well, but when you travel with a baby everything is about her. You can't talk to people while you eat, while you're driving around, or while you're walking places. Every bit of your mind space is occupied by naps and mealtimes.

I had intended to do a big Texas Trip Recap complete with full itinerary and lots of pictures, but the whole taking pictures whilst making sure your baby doesn't pass out from heat exhaustion thing didn't quite work out. The few that I did get turned out really cute, though, so enjoy!

 Three out of four flights she fell sound asleep during takeoff. 

And I even managed to have my Kindle within arms reach. Score!

We got a whole row of seats to ourselves. Woohoo!

Always say yes to the pack of peanuts, even if you don't want them. They make the best baby toys.

First Monday Flea Market in Canton, TX. It got HOT. 

Her look says it all.

 Someone learned how to say "dog" on this trip. Though it sounds more like "dah, dah."

Finally fitting into the cute strawberry suit from Miss Kari!

First time going swimming! Just what we needed after a hot day.

Best nachos of my life from Fuzzy's Taco Shop, with a delicious cactus pear margarita on the side!

Thanks, "Uncle Larry", for staying with Jaina that night and the next. I actually remember those meals!

Can't believe this is the ONLY picture I got from our Dallas by Chocolate tour!

I bought these beautiful French macarons from Rush Patisserie. They were pistachio, raspberry, and lavender flavored. I always thought macarons were cookies with cream, but they're actually like little meringues. Very light. Here are the other stops from our tour:

Two Corks and Bottle: a wine bar where he gave us a sort of wine/food pairing 101

CocoAndre Chocolatier: a traditional chocolate shop with lots of cool chocolate molds

Some other place I forget, probably cause it wasn't that great

Dude, Sweet Chocolate: sort of an avant garde chocolate shop. You've gotta check out some of the flavors on their site. Some of them are totally out there, like chocolate with bleu cheese and sea salt. Sounds awful, but it's all so good. I brought home some chocolate fudge with Peruvian coffee which sounds boring, but it's probably the best chocolate of my life. I'm trying to savor it.

Thanks, so much, Larry and Tamaron for hosting us! And thanks, ladies, for putting up with me when I was grumpy about taking care of a baby. I guess I'm still a rookie mom. I definitely learned a lot, and am excited to go back when I don't have a little one in tow!