but never got around to finishing it,
thanks to computer issues, among other things.]
It was nice getting away for a while,
but.....
it was really strange not going to Disneyland.
I arrived at LAX around mid-afternoon and headed to my hotel in Buena Park,
where I met up with my friend, Tafriha,
whom I hadn't seen in 5+ years!
We chatted in my hotel room for a bit and exchanged gifts.
[We're both May babies!]
We went out for dinner at Fuddruckers,
which was just down the street from my hotel.
It was Tafriha's first time eating there.
As you can see, she really enjoyed it! ;)
[I really enjoyed it, too....YUM!]
Then we went to Downtown Disney.
It was fun, but really weird to be that close
to the Disney parks...and not go!
While we were walking around the fireworks show started,
so we stopped and watched them for a bit.
Our last stop was the World of Disney store.
In the end, we both ended up with a bagful of goodies!
As we headed back to the car, we stopped at
a Mrs. Fields Cookies kiosk where Tafriha bought me
my first Mrs. Fields Cookie as a birthday treat! YUM!
It was great seeing her again,
but a bummer that it was for such a short time.
The following day was my "alone" day.
I did some shopping....and eating!
I visited a bunch of the "old haunts".
Got a few things at Big Lots!
and stopped off at Arby's for lunch.
I went past Disneyland, once more, on my way to Fullerton,
[Felt so weird to be so close...but yet so far!]
where I hit Michaels and the Disney Character Warehouse.
I found a few goodies at both stores...
most of which were not for myself.
Then I went to Sonic for a few goodies...
including a yummy grape slush!
My final stop was In-N-Out to pick up some
of their YUMMY french fries!
I was "in-n-out" of there in a minute!
My fastest time EVER!!!
When I got back to my hotel room,
I dined on the smorgasbord of goodies
that I got from Arby's, Sonic and In-N-Out
and just relaxed for the rest of the evening.
The following day was my birthday.
I gave myself a present, by sleeping in
a bit longer than I had planned. :)
I got a surprise birthday voicemail.
One of the teachers at my work had two of "my kids",
CJ & Tatiyana, sing Happy Birthday to me.
I thought that was so sweet!
[It was also Tati's birthday, too! We're birthday buddies!]
I got myself ready and walked down the street to Denny's,
where I had a free Birthday Grand Slam.
It was good and SOOO filling!!!
After that, I headed up to Los Angeles.
First, I did some walking around/sightseeing
.
I went to Shakey's for lunch and was bummed
that they had changed their menu a bit
and no longer offered the meal I usually ordered. :(
I then went to wait in line for Jimmy Kimmel Live!
I met up with my friend Maaike and her friend Wietske there.
[They're visiting from the Netherlands. ]
I spent a day in San Francisco with them the week before
and we planned to do some things together here in So. Cali, too.
As usual, there was no one super exciting as a guest on the show,
but it was still a lot of fun and a funny show! Jimmy Kimmel rocks!
[I am determined to one day attend a show when a favorite actor/band is on!]
From there we headed back to the hotel.
[They ended up booking at the same hotel as me because
it was so affordable and to make it more convenient
for us to get together.]
Before turning in, we stopped to get something
to eat at a place called Paul's Restaurant,
which was next to the hotel.
Maaike got me a birthday shake and some onion rings.
[Although I didn't like the onion rings very much.
The onions were too thick and not sweet enough.]
The next day we drove up to Santa Monica.
We spent the whole day at the beach by the Santa Monica Pier.
It was a very windy day....a little too windy at times.
It was very relaxing though, just lying on the beach.
I read a book for a while and took a little nap, as well.
We also walked around Third Street Promenade not once, but twice!
I was bummed that we weren't there during the Farmer's Market.
[We were there a day too early for that!]
The first time we walked around was to get something to eat.
The second time was to look into seeing a movie,
but we either just missed one or had an hour wait for another,
so we decided to head back to the hotel.
The following day we all checked out of the hotel.
[Maaike and Wietske had a late-night flight to NYC.]
There was a museum in Los Angeles they wanted to go to,
so I decided to come along with them,
rather than stay at the hotel for another hour or two
before having to leave to head to the airport.
I probably should have stayed behind....
After finally tracking down where the museum
was and walking a few blocks to get to it,
we discovered that it was closed.
[The one day out of the whole week that it's closed!]
To make things worse, I really need to ummm... "go"
and I had to wait until we walked all the way
back to the parking lot, where there was
a restaurant next door to use their restroom.
However, we did walk past the La Brea Tar Pits,
which I had never seen before, so the trip wasn't a total loss.
I ended up having them drop me off at
the nearest Metro station, so I could make my way
to the airport, since the next place they wanted
to go to next was even farther away and I was
nervous I would miss my flight.
Unfortunately, the closest station was
not in the nicest of areas.
We took this photo as we said our goodbyes and parted ways.
I got to the airport in plenty of time and got home late that evening.
footnote: The following day, my sister was changing channels
and I told her, "Stop! I was just there yesterday!"
What are the odds that we would come across a TV program
talking about the La Brea Tar Pits the day after I was there?!?
Weird!
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