Lamar and Caleisha do California

During the first week of July, Lamar and I went to California for our friend Sheree's wedding.  We arrived the morning of the first and stayed until the 7th.  Our flight out was scheduled for 7:40 am and I was sooo stressed that something was going to go wrong all the way until we were in our seats on the plane, lol. ^.^  I discovered that travel is def an anxiety trigger, and that sucks because I love traveling!

This was truly the trip of Snapchat for me lol!  I used the heck out of that app and between the photos and video, I had more than 400 files ^.^ and they are still not organized... sigh...

After we arrived in LA, we went to In-n-Out Burger and I ordered cheese fries... which came to me with a cheese slice on top. >.< #fail  We stayed in a hotel out in Whittier which turned out to be WAY too far from everything we wanted to do lol (we'll do better with hotel choice next time we go anywhere).

Breakfast for day two was at Heavenly Pancake somewhere in San Fernando. The food was great & I bought a mug ^.^ After eating we spent hours running around looking for a pair of nude flats for Sheree's wedding.  I'd asked her if her service was going to be long and she told me to expect an hour and a half... heels were not going to work!  Later that afternoon we went to Sheree and Justin's rehearsal dinner which was really nice.

Wedding Day!  Sheree and Justin got married on July 3rd.  It was quite a nice outdoor service, although all the bridesmaids were in direct sun lol.  We were saved by Lamar when he brought us fans.  I love that guy!  He and I spent cocktail hour and reception running around making sure things were going smoothly.  At one point, Sheree's dad pulled me aside to thank us for all our hard work *.*  Lamar and I kept saying to each other that we should start a wedding day of coordination company.

The 4th of July was spent with family!  We started the day with brunch at a little diner called Mimo's Cafe and it was delicious.  Then we went to my Uncle Choppy's house for BBQ and fun!

July 5th was our "do everything we want in LA" day.  We went to the Griffith Observatory to see the Hollywood sign, but to be completely honest, I was WAY more excited about the Observatory itself.  I think I actually lost my breath a couple times lol.  

After the Observatory, we went down to the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  We took lots of photos, bought souvenirs, I got trapped in an awkward conversation with Sonic the Hedgehog, and we saw the skinniest Superman ever to walk the planet!

We ended the day in the best way possible (in my opinion)... with a trip to Da Poetry Lounge!  Shihan (one of my favorite poets from college) was taking money at the door and I almost squealed.  Literally.  Lamar wasn't even phased lol!  He shared a photo on snapchat with the caption "wife geeking out because Shihan took our money to get in Da Poetry Lounge."  I'm so glad he understands lol!!  The open mic was pretty awesome and reeeeally made me want to get back into writing.  I know it'll come back around.

We spent the 6th at Knott's Berry Farms.  We rode almost all of the roller coasters and played an underwater laser gun game.  Lamar absolutely WHOOPED me!  In my defense, I was looking at the target for the wrong gun... come to think of it, that is a horrible defense lol!  Anyway, we had a great time.

One thing that I wanted to do no matter what, was see a west coast sunset.  So after leaving Knott's Berry Farms, we navigated to the nearest beach which was aptly named, Sunset Beach.  We got there in time to set up our cameras for photos and a nice time-lapse of the sunset (video at the end of this post).

IT. WAS. SO. FLIPPING. COLD!!! What's up with thaaat?  Well, despite the frigid temp, it was a beautiful sunset.

Our last day in California was July 7th and we stuffed that day full of activities too :)  We left the hotel in the morning and went to Downtown LA.  Lamar planned the whole day's activities.  We would start at the Last Bookstore, then go to the LA Museum of the Holocaust, and finish up with a trip to Venice Beach before heading to the airport.

The Last Bookstore was uh-MAZE-ing!!! And the fact that Gathered yarn shop upstairs made it even better!  I didn't buy any yarn, although I kinda wish I had in hindsight.  Oh well.  The LA Museum of the Holocaust was so heavy.  I kept thinking, while walking through the exhibits, "who made you god?"  ...sigh...

Lunch was served at Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles.  Lamar got Obama's Special and loved it!  I got side orders of mac & cheese and cornbread.  I was not prepared for the thickness of the cornbread... I need to get that recipe because that cornbread... THAT cornbread... THAT CORNBREAD!!! ::falls out in the floor::  Was delicious.

Venice Beach was fun. We saw some street performers and a couple guys who should just stop lifting weights... I mean y'all win.  Just stop now lol.  And, I was prepared for the beach breeze with a hoodie!  We stayed at the beach for a touch too long and ended up having to rush to the airport.

We made it onto our plane and settled in for a 3 hour overnight flight to Ohio, a 3 hour layover, and then a short flight back to Orlando.  Lamar slept through the whole thing.  I, on the other hand, couldn't probably because of a combo of trip anxiety and turbulence.  At one point, I looked out the window to see the sun rising and I was soo confused at what time it was.  Jet lag is real lol!

We got home the morning of the 8th and it felt so good to be back.  Our week in California was so packed full of activities that I felt (and still feel) like I need another vacation to recover ^.^  So yeah!  Cali was great.  We got lots of souvenirs.  I'm so glad that Lamar and I were able to have that experience together.

December Date Nights

Lamar and I use to be really good about keeping to our Wednesday date night 'schedule' but we've gotten away from it in the busy-ness of work life.  So to remedy this, I set the December have at least 2 date nights.

Since I was planning to do December Daily, I knew I would want to do photographable things for our dates.  Enter the Downtown Apopka Christmas lights installation!  We had his & hers hot chocolates (mint for him and oatmeal cookie for me) and we went to walk through the park.

It was so much fun!  We took lots of pictures, including a few long exposures... because we're photo nerds after all ^.^  We even recorded ourselves singing carols and sent the video to my parents (who got quite a kick out of our silliness).

I love having simple dates like this, where we go out, while still spending one-on-one time together.  Lamar said that's something he loves about me is that I come up with these simple little ideas that turn out to be so much fun.

The next 2 date nights were stay at home movie nights.  One night we watched Insurgent and the other we watched Jurassic World.  Both movies were really good.  Movie nights are always a great goto ideas because you don't really have to plan anything.  Just pick a movie, grab some snacks and get cozy!

The last "date night" we had wasn't an intentional "date night."  Lamar's dad left his Chinese checkers game set after Thanksgiving and one evening I asked Lamar if he wanted to play.  We played two games, both of which I lost... evidently I'm terrible at strategy games! Just terrible!!  Anyway, it was fun to take a spontaneous moment for us to hang out together.

I'm glad I set that date night goal for us.  It definitely stayed in the front of my mind throughout the month.  Now I just need to get on the ball this month as we're more than halfway in and haven't had a date night yet.  Lemme get on this!

What are your goto date night ideas??

Calamari Dates: I-Drive 360 Experience

A couple weeks ago was Veteran's Day and since Lamar had the day off we were able to have a date day! Huzzah!

We went to I-Drive 360.  That's the area where the Orlando Eye, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, and the Orlando Sea Life Aquarium are located.  It's actually quite a cool setup with all three attractions being housed in one building.  Plus free parking ^.^

First, we went to Madame Tussauds.  We took a picture with President Obama and MLK.  I put my foot next to Shaq's and I'm pretty sure his foot is the same length as my whole shin!  Lamar's hands are the same size as Serena Williams' o.O and he danced with Michael Jackson and I'm a hair taller than Beyonce' lol.  Being in there was a little creepy mainly because I kept expecting them to move. Ugh... that thought gives me chills!

Next we went to the Sea Life Aquarium.  I felt like a little kid squealing about the tiy jellyfish and itty bitty Nemos.  We also saw Dory (Regal Blue Tang) and a huge Gil (Moorish Idolfish).  Towards the end, they had a rock pool area where we could touch everything in it.  So. Many. Weird. Textures!  But I touched everything except the fish because it was too fast.  I think my favorite things to touch were the sea cucumber and the anemone.  The sea cucumber was weird because I couldn't feel it, but I saw that I touched it... does that make sense?  It was like sticking your finger into a bubble.  The anemone closed up and tried to sting my finger but couldn't because my skin was too thick.

Lastly, we rode the Orlando Eye.  It was really pretty to see the city from so high up at night.  I took a time lapse video and it came out pretty cool.


To end our date day, we got a few souvenirs: a ridiculously huge mug for Lamar and a bunch of pressed pennies and a shopping tote for me.  Then we ate french fries at Shake Shack while watching a group of people play petanque.  Of course Lamar started quoting the Cosby scene. ^.^  I definitely want to go back and play.

All in all the day was really good.  We don't get to spend many non-Sabbath days together because of our work schedules.  So that Wednesday was a welcomed change in pace.  We took lots of pictures and I kept pretty much every piece of paper for scrapbooking :)

What was the last excursion you went on?  Have you and your significant other had a particularly awesome date day/night recently?  What are your go to date ideas? Leave a comment, I want to plan more date nights with Lamar.  I've definitely learned that you have to make time to spend with the people you love.

Have a great weekend!