california!!!!!!!!!

pics: me and jason asuncion
kayla and her man steve
ryan and kate


we drove up to MD on thursday night to drop the kids off at my folks. we woke up early friday morning, pulled out of my parent's driveway crying like a baby leaving my babies behind waving at the front door. our flight left at 10:30am and we had a direct flight to san diego. we landed at 1pm (although 4 pm to us!). we rented a convertible!!!!

we rushed over so i could get my hair cut by kayla at salon tonic. now kayla (kelly) is one of my sister's best friends and used to cut hair at her salon before she moved over here. my hair has not been cut in exactly one year. it was nasty. melanie is a busy gal and my visits home were never when she was doing hair, so time just passed and passed. it was so nice to have my haircut by kayla!!!! i have some long bangs again, more layers in time for summer when i generally wear my hair wavy. i went to pay for my cut and the girl at the front desk told me i had been paid for in full. by who?????? they said my sister melanie called that morning and paid for my $65 cut. of course, i looked like a fool because i started crying. my sister is always SO generous to me. she blesses me more than she will ever know.

we then ate at jack and the box. there was one down in charlotte when we lived there, but there are none in the triangle. so of course we had their tacos! we LOVE them. we bought and had lunch with our new homeless friend chris. he was so kind and he loves the tarheels, so he and brian had lots to chat about.

from little italy we headed down to my relative's house in chula vista. we found the house, said hello, and dropped off our luggage. their house is GORGEOUS! it was so great to see the kids-it has been 11 years since i have been to san diego and saw them!!!! we then got dressed and headed to kate and ryan's rehearsal dinner at paradise point at pacific beach. it was such a lovely evening! it was wonderful to see kate and her preggo belly!!!!! it was awesome to meet ryan for the first time as well. we had the pleasure of sitting with his dad and his family at the table. they were a very nice bunch of people who made the evening very enjoyable. they all hail from MD as well, so we talked about that a lot.

after rehearsal dinner, we drove 3 minutes down the road to kayla (who did my hair) and steve's house. walked in the door and there was my old friend jason asuncion!!!! he is an old pal from home too and he took us dancing at club jade in downtown. he spins there so we were able to get in for free to see dj heather from chicago spin.

it has been a long time since i have been to a club with good house music. i mostly go to hip hop/top 40 places, and this was such a breath of fresh air. these people come out to dance. just like i feel the lord puts a melody in everyone, i feel he gives everyone a signature dance move. this place was so diverse, the bass was so deep my napkin was ruffling up with each note, and no one cared what you looked like or how you danced. you go strictly to be one with the music. i was in heaven (especially since i got to spend time with people i have not seen in so long).

brian and i were so tired though....we left at 12:15am...they were like, "it's only midnight!"....we reminded them that it was 3:15am to us! it was a long but super fun first day in california!!!!!