I have not seen one of my best girlfriends, Katie, in four years. She's since married and had a baby so it was definitely time to get out to Bakersfield, California for a visit. I bought a ticket back at the end of June and had been counting down since.
Thursday night I prioritized watching the football game over packing for my trip to Bakersfield, California. I half-assed laundry completing three loads but only pulling out the items I wanted to pack and not bothering with hanging/folding which means I'll come home to a giant pile of clothes and what will feel like an even bigger task.
Friday morning I raced to the store to pick up some travel size necessities and did my last minute packing while getting ready for my work day. I'm that crazy person who doesn't like to use another day of PTO/Vacation time so I work a full day (10 hours) and then jump on a plane that evening. It works for me.
Traveling is such an exciting thing... the planning, anticipation, packing and then arriving at your destination. My least favorite part is the flight itself. I still get jitters and have the usual what ifs. I kiss Little Man goodbye a million and one times. He cried when he told me goodbye this time and my heart broke. Those tears!
Before I arrived to my destination I kept reminding myself of all the hard work I have been putting into my recent weight loss attempt, this go round started at the beginning of August, and how I wanted to keep up with the forward progress. I had been going to the gym 5-6 days a week, following the BeachBody meal plan, and started a
squat challenge where I would perform 25 squats every time I used the bathroom. Holy shit! My legs and buns would be on fire before 10 am because I already peed four times. I attempt to do weighted squats until I lose my form. Once I get to the point of not being able to move my legs anymore I would stop the challenge for the day and take the next day to rest my legs. Hurts so good! I had really good intentions of keeping up with my workouts and healthy eating while I was away.
Started off strong. At the airport I picked up water, a Naked Mighty Mango Smoothie, a bag of smoked almonds, and the magazine, Southern Living. I can see why I've never subscribed to this one. BORING!!! I don't care about the millions of dollars spent on sorority house renovations or prize winning dahlias. At least it bored me to the point of being able to sleep for the majority of the three and a half hour flight. I probably would have slept the entire flight if it wasn't for my stomach growling. Thankfully I had that bag of almonds but I couldn't get the effers opened! I wrestled with the bag in the dark trying to rip it open. I didn't want to turn on the overhead light because I felt bad for the man sitting next to me who was over six feet tall and in a business suit and on his laptop. Did not want to put a glare on his screen and I already felt like an idiot not being able to get the bag open. About ten minutes later he went to the restroom and used that as an opportunity to inspect the bag closer realizing that it was a tear open package. He probably returned to his seat thinking I was a moron.
Made it into Bakersfield just before 11 pm. Their airport is so tiny with only one luggage carousel. Katie was outside waiting for me. Excited to see each other but so exhausted that once we made it to her house it was bedtime.
Saturday September 19th:
I laid in bed until I heard some banging in the kitchen. Being a guest I didn't want to wake anyone else and knowing that they have a two month old I know how precious sleep is for the parents. It was her husband Ben who was awake. He set me up with a coffee cup and him and I chatted for about an hour before Katie and Lillian woke up. It was nice getting caught up and hearing about how excited he is to be a dad. That makes me so happy for my friend to have a supportive husband and father to her child. These ladies are so lucky to have him.
After meeting Lillian (aka... Lilly and Lils) I got to meet two of their other family members, Maggie and Jackson. Maggie is a lovable Labrador who is aggressive with her loves and Jackson is a German Shepherd and one stud of a dog. Him and I hit it off immediately and I fell in love. Thoughts of a puppy with a red bow on Christmas morning were all I could think of every time I saw him.
Ben made me fresh veggie juice for breakfast which I was thrilled about since I was starting my trip out on the right foot and then it happened. Katie is rail thin and weighs less than her pre-pregnancy weight. She's one of those lucky bitches. Instead of Ben's offer to make us scrambled eggs for breakfast she insisted on doughnuts for breakfast. Both Katie and I love maple bars but they make me feel like shit from all of the sugar. I ate one anyway since Ben went out and bought them for us.
After breakfast Katie and I went on a mile and a half walk around her neighborhood. Bakersfield is desert and nothing breathtaking but I loved it, probably because it reminded me of living in Las Vegas. The homes in her neighborhood are huge and just beautiful to look at with their perfectly manicured lawns and gorgeous landscaping. By the way... this was the only walk we took while I was there and the only physical activity I got besides rocking the baby standing up. Such a shame!
Ben and Katie and big soccer fans so we watched the Manchester United game and being a college football game day we followed it up with the Texas A&M game. While watching the game Katie suggested we grab lunch at
Eureka! so we loaded up and headed out. I had their Watermelon Salad and it was so delicious but I eyed Katie's burger and fries the entire time. Healthy choices, healthy choices.
Went to Target to pick up some baby essentials and I grabbed a few snacks. They offered me up their fridge and pantry full of food but I have a hard time wanting to help myself to someone else's food so I picked up a couple Suja juices and a Kind bar.
That night Katie and Ben had their first adult league soccer game and invited me along which meant I was on baby duty. Unfortunately I didn't get to watch any of it because the baby cried almost the entire time. Thankfully the game was only thirty minutes long. It was a late night and baby stayed awake the entire game and car ride home. Once she went down for bed so did I.
Sunday September 20th:
The baby slept thru the night and I slept so good. The plan for the morning was to do the Hollywood hike but that got cancelled since Katie did not want to get up early and then was worried about triple digit temps later in the day. I was kinda bummed but wanted to go with the flow especially since there was the possibility of us going the next day. Instead we went to BJ's Brewhouse for brunch. I ordered a Bloody Mary and the California Scramble. The calorie counts were right there in front of me and I did not make a healthy choice. Sundays are usually my cheat days and I went with that mentality. But still, knowing the California Scramble was a 1000+ calories would have normally deterred me but not this time... it's vacation baby! My unhealthy choices carried on for the day. We stopped at Starbucks, hello Salted Caramel Mocha Frappuccino with extra salt topping!, and took it home to enjoy while watching my Steelers kick the 49ers asses. Sorry Ben!!
We lounged around the entire day watching football. No different then how my day would have been here at my own home. Loved it! Baltimore unfortunately lost to the Raiders, yes, hell froze over and I ended up getting my one and only wrong pick allowance in the annual
Survivor football league. Any and everyone should bookmark this to their favorites for next year and participate for a chance to win $40k+. Although I took a loss in Survivor my weekly pick 'em league was a big win with Dallas' win over the Eagles which secured my winning of $70 for the week with a $5 buy in.
We worked up an appetite yelling at the TV and Ben ordered and picked up pizza for dinner before the Seattle/Green Bay game. Katie is a die hard Green Bay fan and I was rooting for them to pull out the win over Seattle which I am glad they did.
Monday September 21st:
Another much needed night of sleep and even slept through the baby crying in the middle of the night. That never happened with my Little Man. He would turn in his crib and it would wake me up.
(Ironic... he was in the crosswalk, haha!!!)
Katie and I were hungry first thing so we wore out jammies to Nature's Food Market and Juice Bar. We had the peanut butter shakes with coconut milk and a banana added. While they were making them I looked around the store for snacks to take back home looking for new to me items. I spotted pumpkin and spicy carrot chips which I just had to have. The shake and the pumpkin chips which were later consumed at the airport on my way back home were so damn good.
We stopped at the Kern County Museum so Katie could drop off a form for her non-profit she volunteers for before we headed home to relax before going to
Chef's Choice Noodle Bar for lunch. I had their Drunken Noodles. This was my favorite meal of my trip. The portion sizes were generous leaving enough for another meal and the noodles were not greasy at all and so full of flavor with a bit of heat. The service was incredible as well and our food came out in the blink of an eye and that was during a busy lunch hour.
Even though I was stuffed from lunch and couldn't think of food anymore Katie had her heart set on picking up mini bundt cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes. I couldn't resist when we got home and saw how moist the cakes were. The carrot cake was fabulous!
In our early twenties Katie and I would watch chick flicks, eat brownies, and drink cocktails so while baby slept she chose to put on Bring It On and the bundt cakes with milk were much better than brownies and cocktails.
Thankfully the movie wrapped up before Ben got home from work and in time for the Indianapolis vs Jets game.
Tuesday September 22nd:
I was on baby duty this morning while Katie went to an interview and had a doctors appointment. The baby slept the first two hours and then was awake for the doctors appointment. She really is a good baby but she doesn't like to be held sitting down. I'm not used to that since Jason loved to be rocked in my arms no matter where I was.
We were really hungry for lunch and picked Ben up from work and headed to
Singha Thai Restaurant and had a Thai Iced Tea (amazing!!) and the chicken fried rice with extra egg. After eating we dropped Ben off at work.
I wanted to check out Smith's Bakery but Katie didn't want to drive to the actual bakery since she knew a smaller bakery of theirs in a Shell gas station. I went in and checked out their selection of cookies. Nothing impressed me enough to want to buy anything. If I lived in town I would have picked up an alligator cookie for Little Man but the icing would not hold up on the flight home so I passed. I did try some of her thumbprint cookies and they were okay. I'm not a big cookie fan and have to really be in the mood for them.
The baby was still in a good mood while we were out so we checked out Nordstrom Rack since it was finally brought to Bakersfield. I picked up an orange jeweled tank top (thinking this will be perfect for October), a blue paisley peace sign pajama set, and we got matching workout pullovers in grey. Baby stayed happy until she needed a diaper change so we rushed through the store and headed home.
When Ben got home from work he rented us the movie Pitch Perfect 2 and we took down some frozen Thin Mints. So tasty but terrible for the waistline. Ugh!!
Wednesday September 23rd:
Katie had me stressing about my flight suggesting that she was going to be dropping me off at the airport less than an hour before my flight. I follow the two hour rule for all flights. She was so confident that due to the size of the airport I had nothing to worry about. I seriously stressed the night before getting very little sleep and thankfully she finally agreed to leave the house fifteen minutes earlier than she planned originally. Yes, she was right that I'd be sitting there well before my flight but that did not matter. I wanted to be comfortable knowing I was there and would not have any hiccups. I was so stressed I had a terrible stomachache. Once on the plane it was so nice because I had the row to myself so I could stretch out and sleep. United's credit card machine was down so I got a complimentary Tapas box which I ate the cheese and crackers, almonds, and chocolates setting the olives aside. When they back back through the cabin offering drinks I requested the bloody mary mix and lemon wedges so I could make a non-alcoholic bloody mary to go with some more reading of that terribly boring Southern Living Magazine.
My flight arrived into Houston thirty minutes early and ended up going to dinner at Chuy's. It felt so nice to be back home. Didn't feel like I even went on vacation since I didn't do anything really touristy while there and lounged around like I would have done if it would have been a four day weekend here.
Thinking I would have been jet-lagged I scheduled Thursday off as well and ran a bunch of errands. My car hadn't been washed in a couple of weeks so I spent two hours getting it cleaned up, stopped at the bank to deposit Little Man's piggy bank savings, went to Kohls to pick up Little Man a requested Star Wars backpack and some clothes off the clearance racks for me, and then headed downtown to Maggiano's to pick up my boss' favorite entree for his birthday to surprise him with it for lunch tomorrow.
I'm definitely ready to get back into the daily routine, work included. I missed my family and friends!!!
