I got a fever and the only prescription is Cali!!

Hey yall! I got back last night and had to be back at work today. It was a quick few days away but its exactly what was needed. In fact, I do believe I am starting a tradition from now on and I MUST head there every January!! That way i'll have something to look forward to since January's suck so badly for me.
We flew in Monday  and didn't land until after 2pm and picked up rental car. Our hotel happened to be a little over an hour away east in the valley. We stayed at Harrah's which is in Funner. A "fun fact" about Funner, David Hasselhoff is the Mayor.  yup, true story.  The roads were very winding and 2 lanes only .  Once we got to hotel and settled in, I didn't want to have go back into the city and then the drive back to hotel.  That would be hours just on the road and I was tired from 3 hr flight.  I ended up eating at Smashburger in the casino and I gambled a little. I lost 25$ and then called it quits for the night. I went back to room and read my book. Todd had first night of conference so he came back to room after his dinner meeting.
Tuesday was a day of me going down memory lane. I started off driving to Imperial Beach . That's where I lived in junior high and last place I lived before moving back to Texas. First I found our taco stand that has been there forever and Mom and I ate there every week. I was SO excited to see them still open and that it was just as tasty as ever. Then, I headed to the beach to walk along the water and found some pretty rocks. I like to bring home a few of my faves and put them in a jar of water in my bathroom.  I went by my old apartment but it was gated so I couldn't go by and see my favorite boulder and view of ocean I had.  I was Ok with that though, I have the memories in my head.
After driving around IB, I went to Coronado. I saw my old church and school that I went to and then parked to walk around. I walked to Hotel Del Coronado and went to inside café to get iced coffee and yummy pastries. Then walked along the beach there to take some pics. Another fun fact, Todd's great aunt used to a be a seamstress for Hotel Del many years ago.  I ate dinner there at little café while traffic wasn't at extreme rush hour and then drove back to hotel.
Wednesday was spent with a girlfriend Laura that I've known for several years in Dallas. She and her husband are currently living in a camper and driving across the US.  They get to work from wherever they are so it really works for them. I was lucky that I happened to catch them while they're still in San Diego.  She and I went straight to La Jolla which is where I wanted to spend my last day by the  beach. We ate tacos at a yummy taco stand and then walked along the coast with the seals. I thought my heart would burst from happiness!! The seals were everywhere and its pup season with baby seals everywhere. We literally got to walk among them . I didn't touch any of them though and some of the mama seals were pretty protective and barked at others who got too close.  I got a few souvenirs and stopped at a Harley shop for tshirts. Dropped her off at camper and then drove back to hotel and got packed.  So really only 2 full days to play but it was perfect!!
I am about to overload yall with pictures so there is your warning.  Believe me when I tell you that these pics are just a small percentage of all I took!!

surfer on waves

navy seals doing drills over the ocean

seals on the rocks

those are seals not rocks behind me

look closely in the rocks- seals among them

look closely for the baby about to swim out of water

It was hard to come back to the cold because it was so nice there but I really missed my bed and my dogs. Oh and you know get back to my job that helps pay for my souvenirs. :)

Have a great weekend yall!!  Hugs

Meeting me in 3's

Hey there,

My friend Laura at We Really Got This (www.wereallygotthis.com) posted on her blog a fun idea. Its getting to know each other in Three’s.

What the heck.  I welcome any idea on posts since my brain is not cooperating with me lately.

THREE NAMES I GO BY

1.       HolliAnn

2.       Holli-girl

3.       My bestie calls me Hollikins. Lol

THREE PLACES I’VE LIVED

1.       California

2.       Florida

3.       Texas

THREE PLACES I HAVE WORKED

1.       Wal-mart( my first job in high school)

2.       Harley Davidson ( my fave job ever)

3.       Hooters ( all through college and 2 years after)

THREE THINGS I LOVE TO WATCH

1.       Waves or water ripples ( I zone out when I’m at bodies of water)

2.       Todd playing drums at church

3.       Jax and Lila playing

THREE PLACES I HAVE BEEN

1.       Canada ( all over from Vancouver to Quebec)

2.       Mexico ( Tijuana, Juarez, and Playa De Carmen)

3.       New York City

THREE THINGS I LOVE TO EAT

1.       Mexican Food ( seriously I could eat tacos everyday)

2.       Cheese

3.       French fries

THREE THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO

1.       Having the week after Christmas off from work

2.       Hopefully getting Mom in from Montana during February

3.       My head and heart to be evened out

You can reply in comments with your lists or you can do your own post but let me know so I can visit.

Speaking of visiting, I have just down right sucked at visiting any of your blogs . I have stopped by a few sporadically here and there but not like I used to.  I have also read many but didn’t have energy to comment.  Sorry.  

Just as cool in person

Happy Tuesday yall! I mentioned in a post last week that I was going to meet a blogger Laura at
 We Really Got This in person.  It was so much fun!! We met last Thursday at Houlihan's at 6 pm and yall, we didn't leave until 9:00.  She lives about 5 towns over from me so we met somewhat halfway between us both.  I had an idea of what Laura looked like from some pictures on her blog.  When I walked in I saw her and I smiled but then she was talking to the lady next to her so I thought maybe she's with her.  I was talking to the hostess but I kept staring at Laura and she said Are you Holli?  That's how friendly she is just chatting up the person next to her. So something I would do. I get asked by my friends often why I talk to strangers. hahaha!
I can tell you that it was just so easy to talk to her and I didn't feel awkward in the very least.  I was a little nervous because I always have a little fear of " what of she thinks I'm a big goober and we don't have anything to talk about".  It was seamless!  We have so much in common from our age, neither one of us have kids but our dogs,  to our taste in music, down to the exact favorite Mexican restaurant that is not the most popular around Dallas.  Fun! Fun !
I'm glad we put it out there and really set a time and date and had our meeting. I have had excellent luck in meeting my blogger friends around my community. In fact, Julie from A Beautiful Day is a very close family friend of ours now. She helped with my wedding and I don't know what I would have done without her then.  We used to live closer so I miss doing as much as we used to together but we always stay in touch.  Thank goodness for social media too!
If you end up realizing you have some close by bloggers- I encourage you to meet them! Yall are a blessing and we already have the whole blogger thang as a connection.  When I met Deb from Just Keepin It Real Folks in person a few months ago while I was visiting North Carolina- it was the highlight of my week! It made traveling and working away from home so much easier and she was a doll.
I understand that some of yall may be shy and prefer the safety of being behind your computer. That's OK too. I am very social and not a shy bone in me.  For those of you who don't know, I'm a corporate trainer so I have to get up and speak in front of large crowds or via the web almost daily.  So I get very excited to meet people.

Pardon the blurry but my camera was dirty I think.  Anywho you get the jest...

Did I mention that I'm going out of town this week? Todd and I are going to Ohio for the weekend. He has several friends and family there and went to high school for a while somewhere close to Toledo.  Todd is a drummer which I've mentioned a few times and he's playing in a reunion band get together at the Bunker Bar in Holland, Ohio this Saturday.  If you're close by, come meet me and rock out with the band.  We come home Sunday which happens to be my birthday.  Very busy weekend coming up for sure!


Have a great day!

Two Good reads- I was tagged

Happy Monday y'all!!  How was your weekend? Mine was really nice. Not too crazy busy and got to see some family so always a plus.
 
 One of my new blogger friends Pamela who I met through the A to Z challenge tagged me on a blog link-up last Friday. She blogs at The Lady of the House Speaking.
 I told her I would participate today so I'm going to tag 2 blogs that I want to introduce you to.  (actually 3 because I just tagged Pam).


First I want to introduce you to Laura over at We Really Got This. I found Laura's blog a think over a year ago. She also lives in Texas and might have met her through the Texas Bloggers group. Not sure.   Either way I really enjoy her. We have so much in common from our age,  love to our dogs to a lot of the same music tastes.  Matter of fact, we realized through blogging that we don't live too far from each other and we are going to meet for dinner this week.  I am so excited.
Laura is a school teacher and is engaged to her love of her life.  She is such a trooper because she continued doing the A to Z challenge and midway through her Mom passed away. I seriously don't know how she did it.  I really like her funny sense of humor and she keeps it real.  Her blog is much like mine in that its a lifestyle blog with no particular theme.  If you stop by, tell her I sent you.


The second blog I want to introduce you to is Cherdo at Cherdo on the Flipside.  I came across her blog from the giant list of participants and I'm so glad I did!!  First of all, y'all know I'm crazy obsessed with music and her challenge theme was all about music. I died and went to Heaven by reading all her posts. She posted about the history of the performers and not just songs. I learned a lot about some bands that I didn't know before. Her sense of humor is awesome and she's very witty.  What I really enjoyed was the commentary from her followers. Boy, she has some very educated music fans and they are funny! Then as I was reading some of the comments on one of her posts, I saw a comment from one of my friends Chris at Tilting at Windmills who we follow each others blogs.  Small world!!   Cherdo has a great blog and I think you'll enjoy her posts.


So , in all I actually mentioned 4 blogs that I follow. If you want to meet some new bloggers, hope you enjoy my post today.