Monday, March 19, 2012

emily goes to nor cal

i hope you're ready for an epic post. just to warn you...

just to get you up to speed---
years ago i met steve.
steve and i became dear friends.
steve married jen.
jen and i became dear friends.
steve and jen moved to sacramento and had two kids.
and then steve and jen invited me to come visit them.

and thats brings you up to last thursday, when i boarded my flight to the land of the north. i don't think it's really called that, but it's north of me so we're going with it. (i had intentions of re-reading hunger games on the flight. i got to page 82. whoops) i had never been to northern california before, and i had no clue what to expect. it was a different trip for me....i didn't plan a thing. i didn't look for things to do online, i didn't look at maps for things to see or restaurants to visit. steve and jen said they would take care of it--so i showed up in sacramento having no clue what we were going to do all weekend. steve and his daughter picked me up from the airport and from the beginning she called me emily. i should have corrected her, but it was so dang cute i just went with it. i was emily all weekend :)

we spent friday in sacramento. we played it by ear with the rainy weather, but had a blast in old sacramento, walking around and checking out the shops. we even practiced our aim at the shooting range :)
 we got to see the temple and even drove down mormon street. who'd a thunk??
 earlier that day steve said he wanted me to help them pick out new glasses. if you know me at all, one of my favorite things to do is help people pick out glasses. they needed updated prescriptions so we scheduled appointments and i watched the kiddos while they got their eyes checked. we had fun in optical trying frames and finding the perfect fit. these are two satisfied customers! i was so happy we found frames that they both liked. i can't wait until they are done and they can wear their new glasses. (ok, i understand this makes me very nerdy, but oh well.)
 we had plans to watch a movie that night after we got home. we were so pooped we decided to watch it upstairs in steve and jens room. is it bad that we kicked steve out of his own bed for some girl time? it didn't last long...we were all asleep about 5 minutes later and decided to call it a night.
 i had so much fun playing with the kids. liv loved her princess coloring book with stickers and brody was content to play with toys on the floor.
remember how everything was so green?? i guess i'm used to dead utah with no snow. i could have driven around all day and looked at all that green!!!!
 saturday we headed to SAN FRANCISCO!!! i was not expecting to make it down there, so i was so excited to go explore and see everything i've been seeing in pictures for years with my own eyes! we drove in over the bay bridge. i felt like a little kid, but it was so cool driving across such a big bridge. i loved it. the view of the city and the bay driving it was so pretty. what a cool city.
 we headed straight to pier 39 and walked around. so fun with so many little shops and restaurants. luckily it wasn't raining (even though it was in the forecast). it was still chilly, but nice that we didn't have to lug around umbrellas and such. the kids were so well behaved and we had a blast. it was at pier 39 that i bought my "souvenirs" from the trip. now jen and i have matching scarves (adorable scarves, i might add)
 we hit up the hard rock cafe for lunch. i will never understand the people that walk around and take pictures of the memorabilia on the walls. i guess we had a popular seat over by the beatles something or other, because people basically walked up to our table the whole meal just to take pictures of the wall. it wasn't uncomfortable at all. (liv was getting tired and when she would get mad at us for not giving her soda she would pull down the cover of the stroller so we couldn't see her. she would sneak her little hand out and reach for chicken nuggets or french fries and eat under there. i'm sure to a tired parent that would not be cute, but i thought it was cute. funny girl)

 after lunch jen navigated us to the full house houses. you know, uncle jessie, dj, kimi gibler. i was reminded of my crush i had on steve (dj's boyfriend) and had the theme song stuck in my head the rest of the day.
 off to the golden gate bridge!! it really was spectactular....and cold. we ran up to the view point to take pictures and then ran back to the warm car.
 we left the city and drove down the shoreline for a bit before we cut over and up to the oakland temple. what a view!!
sunday meant it was time for me to go home, dang it. i flew out of reno so we drove through the pass to get me to the airport. i think i saw more snow in that 2 hours drive in california than i've seen all winter in utah. since i wasn't driving, i got to enjoy the scenery.

i didn't realize i had a plane change in vegas on the way home. didn't bother me since i like flying so much. ps... i'm not big on buying souvenirs, but i am big on buying shoes. i have dc shoes and boston shoes, and now i have san francisco shoes. i know they're just toms, but i've been needing a new pair so it actually worked out. and get a load of that scarf. jen has a matching one. who needs best friend rings or necklaces when you can have bf scarves???

overall it was a perfect trip. i can't stop raving about it. i got to do and see new things and i got to do it with people that i love. can't wait for my next trip to northern california!! (yes cleggs, that means i'm coming back....) thanks for being such great hosts. sure love you guys!!!

Ps... Did I mention a trip to northern California was on my 30 before 30 list? Talk about crossing something off your list :)

4 comments:

Melissa said...

nice blog post em.

Steven & Jennifer Clegg said...

We would LOVE to have you visit again! Remember we discussed June! Giants game and better weather :) It's been a hard adjustment for Liv that you've left. You took the place of all time favorite in 3 days. That's pretty dang impressive! She asks for you all the time and reminds me constantly that "Emily" is at the "hospital." I think she means the airport. Who is this girl? I blame it on Steven's genes...

Ali said...

Yes. loved it all. especially the full house house. and your sweet scarf. and the goodness all around.

Lamb said...

This trip looks like a dream! I am so jealous. I love that you are reading Hunger Games, too. Maybe you have already read them, but I am late on the craze and I am on the second book right now. Good stuff.