Serendipity.

Everyone likes candlelight, cocktails, & powerful women. Last night our local Boise chapter had our meeting at Red Feather Lounge downtown. Our discussion topic for the night was "signs of a good (or bad) relationship" and as always I was blown away by these wonderful ladies. Our conversation twisted & turned down many roads about our past & current relationships, consensual boundaries, & warnings signs about unhealthy relationships. 

Our chapter has continued to grow at a steady rate & we have had at least one new girl attend every meeting. I love meeting all of these new women. Throughout high-school I always had a few girlfriends, but never many. It's no secret that teenage girls can be catty & mean, but the caliber of girls who attend these meetings is unbelievable. It is amazing having an environment where we can be vulnerable & have real talks about things that matter. When we made the notes that we tied to the roses for the girls we included a slip of paper with the definition of serendipity on them. The reason that I chose this word is because I feel like I just fell into the I Am That Girl world and it has truly been one of the biggest blessings. 

It's not about the destination...

Happiness is a way of travel—not a destination. This is the most important thing to remember when you are on a road trip. Sitting next to somebody for 2,000+ miles would be very difficult otherwise. BUT HOLY COW do I love traveling. And I didn't even get sick of Joshua after all of those long driving days—I must really love him.

We drove throughout all of Southern California visiting family and site-seeing this past week and it was so fun! We hung out with lovely mémé Gisele, grandpa, daddy, & lots of aunts, uncles, & cousins in the Inland Empire for a couple days to start off our journey. I love family time, but I hate smog.

Daddy drove out to Newport with us next and we had lunch at the harbor facing Balboa Island at Harborside restaurant. Josh lost his fish taco virginity (who hasn't had a fish taco?!) and saw his first seal that wasn't in a zoo. My poor sheltered boyfriend. We also played with his nephews & niece on the beach in between Balboa & Newport piers. It was definitely a good day. 

Next we ventured closer to my hometown and spent the day in Los Angeles. Traffic was normal (horrible), but I had fun showing Josh around the city! We had delicious Vanilla Lattes at Urth Caffe, wandered through some of the art district, & of course I had to take him down to Hollywood Blvd. even though it is my least favorite place. 

• Highlight of LA for me: coffee/feeling at home. 
• Highlight of LA for Josh: coffee/Hollywood sign. 

Clearly the coffee is why we suffer through the traffic. 

 

BUT of course we are still children (yes 22 & 24 means child) and we had to go to Disneyland next. Troy (Joshua's daddy) went to Disneyland with us & Josh's sister. Thankfully I have the fast pass system practically memorized because we hit the 4 biggest rides before noon (impressive I know). We went on/looked at: Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, Star Tours, Space Mountain, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Haunted Mansion, Disneyland Monorail, Innoventions, The Disneyland Story, The Disney Gallery, Toontown, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and Splash Mountain. It was a full day to say the least & I couldn't feel my feet. I will always love Disneyland. 

 

THEN my favorite. Another beach day. But this one was a warm (no marine layer), lay in the sand, & play in the water kinda day. We went to Moonlight Beach in Encinitas for a day. We taught Joshua how to boogie board, jumped waves, dodged jelly fish, & lounged in the sand. I found a cool little coffee shop called Lofty Coffee Co. while we were there too. It was right off the 101 & my latte was delicious! They are locally owned, source local grown organic sustainable products, and their shop is a 5 minute walk from Moonlight Beach. Yeah I should probably get paid for my coffee shop endorsements.

 

Finally, we said our goodbyes & headed toward home on Saturday afternoon. We planned on staying in Vegas, but the prices sky rocketed because of the "back-to-school" crowd so we kept driving until we reached Ely, Nevada. We stayed in the historic Nevada Hotel in the itty-bitty little town. It was.. an experience. But then again, no road trip is complete without  a stay at a random historic hotel right? We had hot water, a bed, and a couple of free margaritas so definitely can't complain. Plus, our room was clean & the prices rocked! 

Now we are home & very thankful that there is no traffic in Idaho. Some Idahoans might argue that point, but I always tell them to try driving (or walking for that matter) in LA for a day & you'll change your mind. Not ready for the reality of a crazy busy week, but so excited for our NEXT road trip (wherever that might be).