"In Los Angeles, everyone's a star."

Thursday:
     We started off by using our coupon for a free Lemonade drink. Heading to Balboa Pier in Newport, we were excited to get toe rings, but upset to find out the boutique was closed. We made our way back to Costa Mesa for lunch at Seasons 52 where we ordered salmon and filet dishes. The food was great but the dessert was even better! 
      We went back home to catch up on Netflix and then picked up Lucy's grandma to take her to an In-N-Out dinner where Syd ate her first In-N-Out burger and milkshake! We were so stuffed we went home and went to bed early. 
xoxo,
L & S

Free Lemonade Drink!

Roaming around Fashion Island

Impatiently waiting for our food

Seasons 52

Syd ordered: Filet with mashed potatoes and baby broccoli 

Luc ordered: Cedar plank roasted salmon with carrots, asparagus, & potatoes

For dessert

Syd ordered: S'mores crumble

Luc ordered: Pecan crumble

 SYD'S FIRST IN-N-OUT BURGER!!!! (Lucy forced the hat pic)

Friday: 
     Syd lost her credit card and had to make the dreaded phone call to her mom who was not pleased. 
  We woke up early to make the most out of our day in Los Angeles. By the time we arrived we were starving so we made a quick stop at Urth Cafe, (a certified organic restaurant that offers coffees, teas, sandwiches, salads etc... guaranteed to be grown 100% chemical free).           
      We drove to Rodeo Drive where we window shopped at all of the designer stores. Close by was a Sprinkles where we treated ourselves to red velvet cupcakes (Lucy even bought a doggy cupcake for her dog). After cupcakes Syd stopped for gelato where they designed a rose shaped gelato cone. 
     Finishing up our time in LA, we visited LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) and found multiple photo opps in the various sculptures. 
     Hitting traffic on the way home, we had no time to stop and rest but headed straight to dinner with Lucy's Godmother at The Cheesecake Factory. We each ordered delicious entrees and desserts and were more than satisfied after finishing. Deciding we needed to catch up on our blog, we headed to Starbucks for wifi. 

Urth Cafe

Syd ordered: Chicken pesto sandwich with a side salad

Luc ordered: Caprese sandwich with a side salad and a blended coffee

Rodeo Drive

Syd's Authentic Italian gelato

Our LACMA adventures

 Dinner at The Cheesecake Factory (Thanks Mrs. Maiorano!)

Syd ordered: chicken di pena 

Luc ordered: angel hair with shrimp

     

Catching Up

Monday: 
     We woke up to pack up our suitcases and headed out for our last day in San Francisco. Like every other morning we got our Starbucks before conquering just about every store in the city. We spent a bit of time in Nordstrom Rack before going to the famous Rotunda Cafe in Neiman Marcus where we purchased a cookie box (jewelry box with espresso homemade cookies), and croissants with strawberry butter.  
     Next up was Escape Alcatraz (an interactive game filled with problem solving, clues, riddles etc...). Our first mistake was letting a stranger handcuff us to a pipe inside a jail cell. Our second mistake was us paying him to do it. Within about fifteen minutes, we were still handcuffed and had run out of ideas. After sixty minutes we had conquered the cell, the doctor's office, and the dentist's office and were just about to "escape Alcatraz" when we ran out of time. 
     We decided it was best (knowing us) to give ourselves some extra time to get to the airport. Good thing we did. Taking the wrong form of transportation it took us over an hour and a half to reach the airport instead of twenty minutes. We sprinted to check in our bags and then ran through security, barely making it to our gate in time. Lucy's parents were waiting at the baggage claim, festive balloons in hand, welcoming us to Orange County. 
xoxo, 
L & S

Welcome balloons.

Tuesday: 
    We rewarded ourselves with much deserved sleep until 11:00a. Still in bed we decided that this day would be an easy one. We started off with The Orange Circle, one of the oldest historical locations of Orange. There we strolled through vintage antiques shops, record stores, and Starbucks for about an hour and half. 
    We cruised through surrounding neighborhoods to take a look at the different architectures and the amazing views that the homes had up on top of hills. Through winding and narrow roads we caught glimpses of mountains, sunsets, and beautiful houses.
     Thinking a reservation was unnecessary for Rainforest Cafe, we showed up having to wait forty-five minutes for a table. We quickly ordered and inhaled our overpriced cheeseburgers. Overestimating how much we could eat, we ordered a volcano (brownies with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream). After demolishing all of it, we were so stuffed we could barely walk back to our car and when we got home we immediately crashed into bed to sleep off our sugar comas. 

Antique Garden in The Circle

Volcano: Before

Volcano: After...(12 pounds later) 

Rainforest Cafe

Wednesday: 
     Sleeping in again, we woke up ready to get outside and start off our day. We drove to Fashion Island for lunch at Lemonade and afterwards played with puppies in Russo's Pet store. 
     Next we drove up to Crystal Cove State Park to go on a 4.89 mile hike (which felt like 20). We hiked up steep hills but the view was worth it. We were so tired we forgot to take a picture at the top but we were excited to start seeing all downhills. Afterwards we stopped by a local farmer's market in Laguna Beach to purchase Cookie Dough Cafe edible cookie dough to celebrate making it out of the hike alive. 
     We ate dinner at home and headed to visit Lucy's sister. 

Lemonade.

View from Crystal Cove hike. 

Dolce Amore = Sweet Love

     Waking up at 9:00am, we expected this morning to go smoothly...but with us that's never the case, we immediately ran into problems. We reviewed our card transactions expecting no issues, Lucy noticed an unauthorized transaction for.... Christian Mingle. She called her bank and immediately had her card closed out, the operator mentioned that it was ironic that out of all the fraudulent possibilities, a christian stole her card. Her card being her only form of payment, we had to go out of our way in order to withdraw all of her money. 
     After this delay in plans, we headed to brunch at Dolce Amore. We were immediately enticed by all the delicious menu options (crepes, pastries, gelato, macaroons etc...). We licked our plates clean and caught an uber to the Palace of Fine Arts. 
     With amazing European architecture, the Palace of Fine Arts was crawling with photo opps and plenty of wildlife, ponds, and tourists. Being irritated with the complicated bus systems we caught another uber back to the hotel. Exhausted from today's escapades we rested for a bit and then tried the bus thing again, this time to the Heart of the City Farmer's Market. 
     Missing our bus stop we walked four blocks and witnessed an arrest for theft on our way back to the Farmer's Market. Getting there 20 minutes before closing all vendors were already packing up and we missed our only chance. We caught another bus back and luckily this time we knew where our stop was. After browsing around for a bit in Neiman Marcus Last Call, Marshall's, and Forever XXI, we headed to Pier 39 for dinner and ordered burgers and dessert at the Hard Rock Cafe. 
   Next up was the laser challenge. We opted instead for the zombie apocalypse virtual shooting experience and even stayed after for another virtual monster theatre shooting game. At ten o'clock we caught an uber back to our hotel where we winded down and reminisced on our eventful day. 
xoxo, 
L & S

Brunch at Dolce Amore 

Syd ordered: Signature French Toast & a Breakfast Pastry with a Cafe Mocha Frappe 

Lucy ordered: Hazelnut crepe with a Cafe Mocha Frappe

Palace of Fine Arts

Heart of the City Farmer's Market

Tickets to Zombie Shootout 

Engagements, Prison, & So Much More

     Waking up at 8:00am we were sore from our uphill adventures the day before but were eager to start our day...but not before having Starbucks. Cameras in tow, and caffeinated we trucked down busy streets towards Union Square. We took a picture by the "Heart of San Francisco" and were lucky enough to see an outdoor art gallery. Surrounded by high-end stores, we were excited to get shopping (window shopping, of course!). 
     We spent the majority of our time admiring all the high-end designer's boutiques and Neiman Marcus's architecture. Next up was Louis Vuitton. We walked in amazed by all the handbags and luggage which a college student can only ever dream of owning. We were shocked to see a father buying his five year old daughter a handbag & matching wallet as she sat on the ground eating her carrots in Cinderella pajamas. 
     On our way to catch a bus to Fisherman's Wharf we commented on the sketchiness of the street as we walked past Valentino and Louboutin stores. Grabbing a quick lunch at Boudin, we were headed to check in for our Alcatraz tour. While waiting in line, we met a couple on their honeymoon from Australia. After making small talk, they gave us dinner cruise tickets which they could not make due to conflicting flight times. We adjusted our schedule to fit in free food and cruise. At Alcatraz we hiked up fourteen stories at a 12% grade to follow along an audio tour for an hour. Tired and ready to move on we caught the next boat back to get ready for our cruise dinner. 
     Underestimating traffic, we pulled up to Pier 43 1/2 five minutes from departure... 25 minutes late. Outside on the bow of the boat, we stood taking photos of the sunset dropping behind the Golden Gate Bridge. A young couple asked us to take some pictures of them, right before he handed us the camera he whispered, "take a bunch of photos, I'm going to propose." He got down on one knee and said, "This is our first time traveling together, and I want to travel with you for the rest of my life." Needless to say, it was a pretty darn cute proposal and don't worry, she said yes! 
     After wrapping up our dinner we had an uber waiting to take us to a Comedy Club. Our driver's name was Fabio, he was from Brazil. We had a great laugh at the improv show called "Improvised Farce." After we headed back to our hotel. Little did we know we would end up having the best uber driver yet! Not only was he from Minnesota, but St. Cloud! Listening to us talk about how we missed getting to see Lombard Street, he drove out of the way (free of charge) to take us. While attempting to take pictures (we couldn't get out of the car) he suggested we stick our heads out of the sun roof. Why not...when in San Francisco. 
We were relieved to be back at the hotel (at a decent hour) and are ready to wind down in preparation for what tomorrow has in store for us. 
xoxo,
    L & S                                                

Union Square, The Heart of San Francisco

                              Union Square, Neiman Marcus                                                                     

                                                   

Roaming the streets of Union Square

Touring Alcatraz

Dinner Cruise

 Congrats Andrew and Ashlee!

Today we were introduced to a lot of new technology. This included wireless charging stations at Starbucks as well as 360 dressing room mirrors at Neiman Marcus.