It's finally happening!!!!!

Wow! I can't believe it's been months since I updated.  So much has happened and I wish I had written more.  Since July, I've went home to Boston, got semi promoted and got ENGAGED!!!!

I know I know, you're all rolling your eyes and skipping this entry but I want to write it down so I can remember it!  

I've been dating my fiancé, K, for 12 1/2 years.  He is not a very romantic person so I had always hoped that when it was finally going to happen, it would be a moment I would never forget.  

As I've said before my fiancé and I decided to move over here on a whim.  He surprised me when he told me he was job searching in CA.  Talking about it was one thing but when we actually flew out to CA to interview, we started to get cold feet.  We came for just the weekend so he could interview and see his sister before we headed home.  My fiancé and I were very indecisive about whether we wanted to move or stay and right before we went to the airport, his sister took us to Pacifica.  

K and I are not outdoorsey people but his sister took us on a short hike up one of the hills to see the most amazing view I had ever seen.  As I was standing there looking out into the most beautiful place I had ever seen in real life, I thought to myself, why am I even considering not moving to this?!  Because of this, Pacifica has always been really special to me.  

Fast forward to September, out of no where one Saturday K said he wanted to go eat at this cute little Vietnamese place in Pacifica.  I was like sure, I never miss a chance to visit that place.

It was kind of raining so I thought after eating, K would want to go home but instead we drove to the entrance and went up the hill.  We got to the edge and looked around and took some photos.  We even played patty cakes which I thought was weird but I was like okay....

After a really long time (he waited until everyone was out of sight) he got down on one knee.  I don't really remember exactly what he said but he told me that he's brought me on a journey to the end of the world, now would I join him in his journey to the rest of his life?

I cried a little and he slipped on the engagement ring.  He tried to pick me up but since we were on a cliff, we started losing balance.

Later on I asked him why he picked Pacifica.  He said cause it's special to me because that's where we made one of the biggest decisions of our lives.  I was so taken aback because I often feel like he never remembers what I tell him and he gives off the sense like nothing fazes him so I was so surprised he felt the same way about Pacifica as me.

Every girl dreams about her wedding day and I'm no exception but the reality of it is a lot more stressful!  We finally booked a venue and things are starting to come together but oh man, this is going to get crazy!

Until next time :)

Carmel & Monterey

I was researching a couple of weeks ago for places to visit in California.  Carmel and Monterey popped up on our search and since we were going to be by ourselves over July 4th weekend, I thought it would be a quick getaway for my boyfriend and I.  I booked just one night at an Airbnb place that included the Monterey Aqurarium passes for free.  We decided to drive down Saturday morning and come back Sunday afternoon.  

In Carmel we went to the visitor's center and they gave us a map locating the gingerbread houses.  An architect created houses that are scattered around Carmel to look like fairytale cottages.  We didn't get to see all of them but we walked around a neighborhood that had a few.  People actually live in these houses so a lot of them are behind gates but we poked around and still got to see them.  

For dinner we went down to the Old Fisherman'is Wharf for some seafood.  We went to Old Fisherman's Grotto.  We had chowder, pasta and a Fisherman's platter.  It's a little more expensive and it wasn't the most amazing seafood but it is in a tourist place so it was nice to eat by the water.  Just like the Fisherman's Wharf in SF, there's a dock for the sea lions,  It was nice to walk by after dinner.

The next day we went to the Monterey Aquarium.  My boyfriend and I have been to a lot of aquariums recently so we usually finish them within an hour so we weren't really that excited to visit.  But we were pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed ourselves.  

We went to the deep sea live show and saw some really cool deep sea fishes.  My favorite is the sea otters and there is a 2 floor tank for them.  There are a couple of huge fish tanks that are 2 levels that housed some incredibly large fishes.  When we were there, there was an exhibit on jelly fishes and octopuses.  We had so much fun and we were probably there for over 2 1/2 hours.  The price for admission is a little more then normal but it definitely is a must see.

The acquairum is located on Cannery row so we walked around for a bit.  I never read the book that the street is based on but we took a nice stroll.  

I'm so glad we decided to go to Monterey and Carmel.  It's so beautiful and a definite must visit!

Things happen for a reason....

There's a Chinese saying - how much you eat, how much you wear is already pre determined.  I think about that saying a lot.  Things happen for a reason.  

When I was younger, I promised myself that I would buy myself a Gucci purse when I got my first "grown up" job.  When I got my first paycheck at my first "real" job out of college, it wasn't my first priority so I decided that I would wait until later on in my life to splurge on myself.  

Two weeks ago, I happen to check out the Gucci website and there was a sale.  The purse I have had my eye on was on sale.  I decided to go to the store with my friend to pick it up since it's rare such a classic bag goes on sale.  Before we went, I called the store to see if they have it. They said they only had one and someone was coming in to pick it up.  They recommended me to call other stores since it was sold out online.  I called multiple locations and no one had the bag in the brown trim that I wanted.  I chalked it up to faith that it wasn't meant to be.

I told myself that this was better for my bank account and forgot about it.  Couple days later I thought to myself that I would check one more time and know for sure it wasn't meant to be.  I went online and checked the sale page.  The same bag was on sale but a new color trimming, beige/gold, was added to the sale!  I love this color better then the original brown I had my eye on!  I called the store again to see if they had it but they said no but since it was online, I immediately ordered it.  

This might not seem like a big deal to people but I am in awe every time I think about it.  I would have been happy with the brown trim but the gold trim has always been my thing!  This might not seem like a big deal to some but this just reminds me all over again that things happen for a reason.  If something is meant to happen, it will happen.  My boss reminds me all the time I am here because I was meant to be here in this moment of time.  I didn't get the bag this first time because I was meant to get the one I would really love.  It amazes me all over again how fate works....

Seattle!

Last weekend, my boyfriend and I decided to visit Seattle since he was going to be up there for a conference.  At first I didnt want to go because it was kind of expensive but then we figured if we didnt go this time we would never go since it's not on the list of places we want to visit so we impulsively booked a ticket for me and decided to go.

For the first time in my life I flew on an airplane by myself.  My bf had left earlier in the week to go for work so I had to not only live by myself for 2 days but to actually then fly to meet him.  We decided to air bnb instead of staying at a hotel since it was cheaper and the lady said that it would be easy to take the light rail (their version of a train) to downtown Seattle then take a bus that stops in front of her place.  I was like that sounds easy enough so at 9:30 pm I hopped on the light rail and headed to downtown.  When I got there, I decided to pick up some dinner before heading to the airbnb since it was late so I started looking around for somewhere to eat.  I walked past a guy and when I looked up from my phone he had stoppped and stared at me.  So I quickly backtracked and huddled near a couple of people that were lingering on the street.  The guy followed me and stared until he realized I wasnt going to leave the other people so he then eventually left.  I dont think I've ever been so scared but that's okay, thats a lesson learned.....dont walk around like a tourist at 10pm at night.  

Besides that, the trip was amazing.  Seattle has really amazing food!  Being from New England, the one thing I miss from home is the chowder.  For some reason, Californians dont know how to make some proper New England clam chowder :(  So when we went to Seattle, we went to the Pike Chowder Place.  There is two but I heard the one in the Alley was better so we went twice so I could get my chowder fix!  The clam chower was only okay but the other ones were so yummy!  There's always a wait but it is totally worth it!

When we go on trips I always like to do a lot of the touristy things so this time I purchased the city pass.  It was $64 a person but it included admissions to mostly all the exhibits we wanted to go to (http://www.citypass.com/seattle).  We chose to go to the EMP museum which is a must visit when in Seattle.  It's a music museum and when we went they had an exhibit for horror movies and fantasy/sci-fi so we got to see some neat props from well known movies.  

The trip was a lot of fun and really glad we went.  When I graduated college, I worked in a restaurant for a couple of years and I never took a vacation so I feel like now I’m trying to make up for all those years of slaving away.  I once read on buzzfeed that something people in their twentys should do is travel and that’s so true.  I look back on those years I wasted at the restaurant and wish that I had taken the time to enjoy myself and explore.  Now whenever we get the chance, we want to go and explore!

Hello!!!!

Thanks for reading my blog :)  

I'm so excited to finally start having a place to write about my crazy adventure.  I'm a 27 year old girl that just decided on a whim with her boyfriend to pick up our lives and move across the country in 3 months time!  For some people, this might seem normal but for us, it is against everything we were.  We have always been a creature of habit and my boyfriend joined me in my craziness and moved to sunny beautiful California.  

I'm sure this blog will consist of mostly all the food we eat because I feel like that is pretty much all we do when we have free time but it's also a place I hope to share my thoughts.  I feel like every day I'm changing, not just in size (since my waist line keeps expanding) but also how I want to live my life.  Please come back and visit often!