Congrats Martin and Kathleen!!!

I'm the worst blogger ever! It has been a whole month since my last post! I'll start back slowly and try to catch up...

CONGRATS MARTIN AND KATHLEEN! On December 11th, one of my best friends, Kathleen, got engaged to her wonderful boyfriend, Martin. I couldn't be happier for the two of them because I know how happy they make each other. Kathleen and I go way back- from our days in Mr. Vaughn's 8th grade math class (obviously we just talked to each other more than we learned anything as evident by our less than stellar math skills) , to cheerleading, to living together Sophomore year in college- we always have a way of making each other crack up. It's exciting to see someone so close to me go through the same thing I just went through. The moment you see the ring and realize this is actually happening, the tears of happiness and the sheer of exhaustion of telling everyone the good news. Such an amazing time!

Can't wait to help in the wedding planning! :)

The beautiful bride-to-be

The future Mr. and Mrs. Carr

The girls before a night out to celebrate! (It was golf themed...that is why we are dressed like that!)

More to come soon on mine and Mike's East Coast Christmas extravaganza!

Thanksgiving and Ry Ry

We have so much to be thankful this year. We are both so grateful to have our health, amazing friends and family and of course EACH OTHER!

We were particularly thankful that we were able to spend our first Thanksgiving as Mr. and Mrs. with family. Tom, Diana and Katie arrived on Wednesday night, while Karen and Randy drove from Thousand Oaks on Thursday morning. I'll be honest, Mike did most of the work in the kitchen but hosting Thanksgiving really makes me appreciate my mom for hosting all these years. It is really hard work!! We did a pretty good job for first timers, most impressing was getting all the food on the table and warm at the same time. I was disappointed with my stuffing, but Mike did an amazing job on the bird. Another thing I'm so thankful for- my husband is such an awesome cook!

Anxiously awaiting dinner :)

A man with a mission!

Yum!

We had a great time with our McDermott family. I think my favorite part was trying Mama Testas, a restaurant we saw on the food channel where Bobby Flay hosted a throw down for fish tacos. According to Mike, they were the best he's had here in San Diego. In addition, we did a little shopping, bike riding (with only one spill!) and just good, quality time together. We are excited for their next visit, and even more excited for upcoming Christmas festivities with both families in just a few short weeks!

It has been a busy month for visitors here in the McD house and we were thrilled with our most impromptu visitor- Ryan or "Ry Ry" as we so affectionately call him :) Ryan made a quick decision to visit us when Mike got really great tickets to see the Lakers vs. the Heat this past Friday. We were so happy he came to see us! We had a fun weekend that involved possibly a little too much drinking and a lot of singing!

Mike and Ryan had a great time at a very exciting game- Kobe Bryant hit the game winning shot at the buzzer!

The three musketeers ;)

Best Buds

Dance party to Lady Gaga--and yes, I made Ryan put on the Snuggie!

Totes Magotes

The fun, visitor filled month of November continued with the arrival one of Mike and I’s best friends and former roomie, Jaime. She arrived on November 14^th, just in time to go out to celebrate Cathy’s birthday! It was a great night and nice to have a bunch of the girls together. We enjoyed meeting an Olympic discus thrower (“So, do you girls like the Olympics?”…nice line), making Cathy ride a mechanical bull (lets just say she had WAY more class than some of the girls up there…yuck) and capping off the evening with a good old-fashioned sleepover. We also picked up our favorite catch phrase of the week-- "totes magotes"-- as defined by Urban Dictionary to mean "An awkward way to say "totally" when trying to act cool"

It was so great having Jaime in town for so long! It almost felt like she lived here too! We had some great quality time walking through Balboa Park, lunch in OB with Linda, shopping in PB, In N Out Burger, Mike making her a cheesecake from scratch and watching the beautiful sunsets by the water. All of this before she embarked on the true reason for her visit: to complete the Susan G. Koman 60 mile walk in honor of her mother, Linda Tomkins.

I stopped in to walk with the girls (for about a mile!) and to eat lunch with them one day. This event was like nothing I’d ever seen. The energy, excitement and sheer dedication was astonishing. It was like a sea of pink everywhere, with so many supporters there to cheer the walkers on. I’m really proud of the girls (Jaime, Whit, Cathy and Linda) for completing the walk- it was not easy- I saw the blisters/cuts and how they limped on after about 25 miles. It is because of their dedication that someday we will hopefully be able to find a cure for this horrible disease. Thank you, ladies, for hopefully get us one step closer with the money you raised!

Here are just a few photos from Jaime's visit! Was it an amazing time?? Totes Magotes!

Next up: The McDermotts come to town TONIGHT!

Meredith Comes to Town

When we decided that we were moving to San Diego, there was one friend that came to mind that I just knew would visit. Sure enough, before we had even moved from VA, Meredith had booked her visit to sunny San Diego. Last Friday she arrived around 8pm and we really had such a fantastic weekend! Meredith is just plain fun to be around and she never has a shortage of hilarious stories that keeps everyone laughing!

Saturday we had a low key day- working out, riding bikes around the neighborhood, lunch in La Jolla and just a little bit of shopping. It was just so great catching up with her- take me back to my 1101 days in college.

On Saturday evening- Meredith and I embarked on what would become a real life video game challenge (think the Sims or Super Mario Cart) of sorts to get to the Civic Theater downtown to see the Lion King. “You know how to get there because you went to see Wicked there, right?” you may ask. It is true that I have in fact been there- but I can tell you I had no idea how to get there- not a shocking surprise to anyone who has been exposed to my abysmal sense of direction. Not to mention that this place is the most confusing place on earth to find. I watched the clock tick anxiously as it grew closer to the start of the opening number as we dodged various obstacles (again, we were in a video game) and drove around for what seemed like forever. Finally we found it. We got parking and raced to the ticket collector. One problem…wrong theater. So off we ran, in our heels and dresses down the street overshooting our destination by about 3 blocks, as a nice police officer kindly told us.

So now we are running back and FINALLY reach the Civic Theater. We were unable to go in because the opening number had begun so we were forced to wait patiently until the theater worker told us we were able to go in. Finally, we were able to enter the dark theater as Zazu the bird enters the stage and the play was continuing on. I’d seriously been grasping to the tickets we needed to get in for the last hour and sure enough, as soon as we stepped into the dark theater- I couldn't’t find them. I’m was dropping things out of my purse on the floor, eventually finding the tickets to stand up just in time to see some random woman taking the Playbill out of Meredith’s and asking if she can have two. She definitely thought Meredith worked at the theater. The look on Meredith’s face was priceless. After crawling over people in the dark, we finally got to our seats and enjoyed what I think is one of the most imaginative and well done plays I’ve ever seen.

On Sunday, Meredith and I jumped on the highway and started driving North- our destinations: LA, Beverly Hills and Hollywood. We shopped like the stars (Kitson, Tory Burch) and ate like the starts (at The Ivy) and with “Pretty Woman” playing in our heads, we drove down the fabulous Rodeo Drive. I shouldn't forget we also made a pit stop for the yummy Pinkberry!

Mimosas and $20 eggs at The Ivy. Such a cute place!

Hollywood was like nothing I’d ever seen (well, except probably Times Square in New York). There were so many people there- tourists, street performers, impersonators, weirdos, etc. The ultimate people watching spot. Madame Tussauds Wax Museum was so much fun. We couldn't’t get over how real they looked! It was kind of freaky!

Mere and George snuggling

Hanging with the Fresh Prince

Brit from the VMAs- the start of her triumphant comeback

On Monday, we made a visit to the San Diego Zoo. It was awesome! I can’t wait to take my little nieces when they come for a visit. They animals all seemed reasonably happy (compared to those at the National Zoo in DC) and we saw everything we wanted to see. I think our favorites were the rhinos that chased each other around, the pandas, the giraffes and probably the cute meerkats. I can’t wait to try the Wild Animal Park too!

It really was a great visit. The best part is Meredith is already talking about her next visit. Just what I like to hear!

The Line Up

November is going to be a FUN month! Mike and I have plenty of great friends and family coming to visit and we cannot wait to show them our new home!

The line up:

Tomorrow (Nov 6): One of my dear college friends and sorority sisters, Meredith, is coming from Charlotte, NC. I cannot wait to see her! Meredith and I always have such a great time and she never fails to keep me laughing.

Nov 14: Jaime is making her annual trip out west where she will be participating in the Susan G. Komen Three Day breast cancer walk. I'm so inspired to Jaime's dedication to this great cause. I hope to do it with her next year.

Nov 25: Mike's parents and youngest sister, Katie, will be out here for Thanksgiving. I can't wait to make my very own Thanksgiving dinner as a wife. Sounds kind of old fashioned for this working woman, but oh well :) We will miss Kelly and Nick (and Polo of course!) but it should be a lot of fun and especially nice to host family on our first Thanksgiving as a married couple.

Oh and on another visitor note- the Petersons will be making their way out here in early February! Wahoo!

Pumpkin Carving!

With the weather holding steady at between 65-75 degrees and sunny every single day and the palm trees not changing the autumn colors that I'm used to seeing, I was worried that it may not feel like Fall/Halloween. I was wrong. People in California love some Halloween! All the store windows have decorations, some people go all out on their houses and I've heard advertisements for about 50 "haunted trails". On Friday, Mike and I decided to go to a local pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkin :0) The patch was small but had a lot of choices, hot apple cider and the carving knives needed to make a masterpiece.

See the results below...it's clear who we are rooting for this Sunday...

My side of the pumpkin- Go Giants!

Mike's side of the pumpkin- Go Yankees!

We had a fun time and after we made some pumpkin seeds to eat! Takes me back to my childhood days...YUM!

A perfect desert getaway!

One of the things Mike and I were most excited about when we moved to California was the opportunity to see so many areas we'd never seen before- in a part of the country we really hadn't spent ANY time in. Well we got our chance to experience a perfect little desert getaway when Kathleen and Martin invited us to join them in Palm Springs this past weekend. A Wiggins' family friend has a house there and was so kind to let us use it for the weekend.

It was an amazing time! The mountains really were breathtaking and I loved the (VERY!!) warm desert weather- about 100 degrees each day. We ate, drank (lots of wine), laughed, hiked, star gazed and just had a really relaxing time.

The set up. I know, ridiculous! Pool, hot tub, palm trees and a mountain backdrop that looks so beautiful, it almost looks fake!

The newlyweds.

The lovely Martin and Kat. They're so darn cute!

So, like I've been saying, I loved those mountains and wanted to experience a little hiking while we were there. After nagging the boys, Kat and I convinced them to come with us. It was gorgeous. I really enjoyed seeing the town of Palm Springs from above. I also realized that if I was ever stuck in the desert (like Survivor Man or Bear Grills) I would never survive. No chance.

One word of advice: don't go hiking in 100 degree weather in the desert after drinking multiple bottles of wine the night before. Just not really the best idea. Needless to say, the hike really wasn't that long!

Thank you again, Martin and Kathleen! It was a great weekend and we can't wait to go again sometime....maybe next time we'll get that smoothie ;)