SAN DIEGO TRIP: HIGHS & LOWS

Diving right in . . .

Low:  There's the extremely obvious low of the fact that baby Branch will only be with us a short time.

High:  Glenn and Kristin are about the most gracious and positive people imaginable.  This does not mean they are not sad, but they are so healthy and allow themselves space to grieve as necessary and be "happy" when possible.  Spending time with them was delightful, even in the midst of such tragedy.



High:  Every single thing I ate while I was there was AMAZING.  Kristin does food well (Hello!  Her blog title is KristinEats), and she took us to such great places.  I took a ton of food pictures, but I will spare you all of those.  I think I ate my weight in goat cheese, which is to be expected.  San Diego really does have great food.

High:  We did Mani/Pedis with some other mutual friends from CFA.  It was such a treat to see them and to have rocking nails.





Low:  I kept trying to order Diet Coke at dinner.  The part of San Diego where the Murdocks live is a little hippie, and two out of three nights, I got some major kick back.  The first night, our waiter actually said, "We do not serve any soda.  We do not like High Fructose Corn Syrup.  I do have Organic Lemonade."  It sounded a wee bit pretentious.  But, to be fair to that particular waiter, he did redeem himself when he came from the back carrying a Diet Coke.  He had been on a leave and didn't realize they had started serving it while he was gone, probably much to his disappointment.  However, he was gracious and sold it to me.  (I never even tried asking for Diet Dr. Pepper - that goodness was only available at CFA, which we did frequent twice!)

High:  Friday was low key, and we did a little shopping and cupcake eating.  The tiger dresses were a nice touch.

(Love how Kristin is rubbing baby Branch in that pic!)

High:  Anytime we went in the bathroom, which was pretty frequently, no one asked me, "How loud is the flush?"

High:  Saturday was the Day of Glamour.  It deserves special text treatment like that because of its sheer amazingness.  It could not have been farther from any of our normal lives.  The day started off at the Spa for massages.

After incredible massages, we lounged in the relaxing environment, enjoying the steam room (okay, I did not actually enjoy that tiny little part), the whirlpool outside and the fruit and cucumber infused water.

The Day of Glamour continued with a light lunch.  Scratch that, for lunch I had a grilled cheese sandwich (with several incredible cheeses), half a cinnamon roll and half a danish.  It wasn't exactly light, but it was good.  Then we headed to the Salon.  Kristin and Keri got their eyebrows done, and I got a quick haircut.

From there, we headed to a place called Blow Pop.  They wash and dry your hair and then style it for you.  Places like that can survive and thrive in SoCal.  So, I got my hair washed and dried for the second time in two hours.  But, then I got it curled.  We all felt very glam.  Especially in the gold chairs.


(Picture taken from the outside through the glass, hence the glares)

Day of Glamour then took us to Nordstrom's, where we got our makeup done.  It was divine.  They were all so nice to us and then loaded us down with sample goodies - not even knowing what was going on with Kristin.  It was a sweet treat!  Plus, we looked fabulous.

High:  After the Day of Glamour, Glenn took us all out to dinner at a swanky Italian place.  I won't even pretend that it was a light meal.



High:  Even after talking to each other almost non-stop for three days, we didn't run out of things to talk about.  Having good friends who are like-minded people is a real blessing.

High:  Keri and I hit the beach on Sunday morning - we could see it from our room and made a point to visit before we left.  It was so peaceful to have quiet times there before we headed back to our realities.

All in all, it could not have been a better trip, considering the circumstances.  Thanks for being amazing hosts, Glenn and Kristin!  We love you and Branch so very much.