E and C Visit

The past 5 days have been awesome.  Casey and Elizabeth came for a visit and I couldn't have been more thrilled.  It was a blast.  The four of us did some typical "Californian" things, and it was great!  They got here Friday and we took them to our favorite Mexican restaurant.  We were debating the merits of two particular Mexican restaurants, both of which we like.  However, our experience Friday evening was amazing and the food was so unbelievably tasty.  After thinking about it, I knew (without trying the other place again) my favorite Mexican restaurant was Coco Renos.  Then we grabbed a drink at a local microbrewery.

Saturday we went to the beach.  And it was amazing.  We grabbed water, blankets, towels, sunscreen, threw it in bags, and jumped on the bus down to a beautiful beach.  We jumped in the waves, laid in the sun, and then went and ate a really tasty burger.  That evening we went to the Yard house, a bar near the water, and hung out while drinking tasty beverages.  Sunday we relaxed in the morning and then went to Los Angeles in the afternoon for sushi and gourmet desserts.  That evening we went to a dueling piano bar- and it was loads of fun, requesting songs and singing quite loudly.  It was busier than normal, but entertaining.  Monday we went wine tasting and that was a great day of doing "California" type things.  It was unlike anything I have ever done- I am not a big fan of wine.  But I discovered that even I can think chocolate wines are too rich.  I really enjoyed the champagnes we tasted.  It was interesting to watch the other three determine what they thought of the wine and why.  Monday night we went out to the other Mexican restaurant and had a subpar experience, so there was really no contest between the two restaurants.

Yesterday (Tuesday) Casey and Elizabeth got a nail in their car tire and we realized the guys may have had fleas.  So they fixed their car, John did 7 loads of laundry, I had to go to school to put up fliers and take care of some administrative stuff, and then we bug blasted the apartment (and vacuumed many times).  We went to a local coffee shop and played bridge.  When the coffee place closed, we came back to our apartment, drank wine, ate ice cream and chips, and played more bridge.  It was indulgent and huge amounts of fun. I was partners with John most of the time, but we switched and I was partners with Elizabeth.  We crushed the guys, but we also had really great cards.  It was nice to be able to talk about bridge as we were going since we are all still learning.

This morning Elizabeth and Casey left, and I jumped into school stuff.  But more on that later.