SoCal Rocks My World!

I know, I know. I didn't blog even one day last week. And that means I didn't even make it to day 13 with blog-free weekends!! It's embarrassing, really. I had every intention. Every. One. But then I went to SoCal and every intention for all-things-ambitious fled. Swiftly. And with reckless abandon.

I am blaming this on the ocean air. It intoxicates me. I can't help it.

So I surrendered and packed away my computer (and blogging!) in exchange for sunny skies, crashing waves, and time with my best traveling Gal Pal. And See's Candies. Lots of See's Candies.

You should know that SoCal rocks my world! And so I am going to blog about it. Because I'm sure you're dying to know... :-)

We'll start simple. A picture and a story.

Here is a picture of me at the beach.

I am not actually IN the picture of me at the beach. But I am taking the picture...at the beach.


And here is a story. I will call it "Unfortunate Cookies".

Unfortunate Cookies

I like Chinese food and find fortune cookies to be an especially fortunate little treat. They are just the right amount sweet and crunchy, making them the perfect postlude to a deliciously fried and saucy Chinese concoction. And it gets even better because they have those fun little papers inside that tell you how beautiful you are, or how great your life is, or how prosperous you are about to be, and what super-de-duper fun adventures lie ahead for you. What could be more exciting, right?

Well, lately I've had a streak of Unfortunate Cookies. I call them this because there is nothing fortunate about them. And frankly, they are disappointing. Very disappointing. On all kinds of levels. Lately my fortunate cookies have said things like...

"Ask Your Mom"

Really. Does that have anything to do with anything?

And...

"Accept The Next Proposition That Comes Your Way".

I don't get it. What does that even mean? And why? But believe me, The Little Man understood it perfectly and jumped all over it! It went like this:

"Hey, Mom! I have a proposition for you. Tonight I will give you $20 and in the morning you can give me $125!"

(Is that really the best he could come up with?)

I have three thoughts here:

1. The Little Man is quick...but seriously. He needs to set his sights a little higher.
2. Whoever wrote that fortune (and I am using the term loosely here...) doesn't live with a teenager.
3. Or maybe, whoever wrote that fortune IS a teenager!

So next comes one of the most absurd EVER...

"Learn To Set Reasonable Expectations"

I am not making this up. Isn't the whole point of fortune cookies to encourage us to set wildly UN-reasonable expectations? This whole fortune did nothing but confuse me.

Still confused. Months later.

So you would think I would be able to escape this Unfortunate Cookie streak in SoCal, right? Not so much. My first meal there, Lettuce Wraps. Yummy! And an exciting little crispy cookie filled with potential. I chose mine carefully, certain that the winds of change were headed my way. And what did I get? Nothing about how beautiful I am. Nothing about how great my life is, or how prosperous I'm about to be. Nothing about what super-de-duper fun adventures lie ahead. Nope. I got this...

"Time Heals All Wounds. Keep Your Chin Up. It's Getting Better"

Picture my mind swimming. In a very big body of water. I really had no idea if this one was good or bad. No matter how hard I tried.

But you know what? I didn't even care! Not even a teeny, tiny bit. I am blaming this on the ocean air.

Here are more pictures of me at the beach. Oh, and I'm still not actually IN them...

:-)