It's hard to believe our almost 3 week vaca to Las Vegas and New Jersey is almost over. We left L.A. for Las Vegas on the 2nd, flew to NJ on the 8th, and will be leaving tomorrow afternoon. F was busy in Vegas visiting my mom so she didn't come with us to NJ. I don't think either of us realized how much we would miss each other during the almost 2 weeks apart. She made me promise to bring her next time we go. I should mention that while in Vegas at the beginning of our trip, M and I managed to stay strong and not buy a timeshare. We did however get to stay 2 nights in a new 1 bedroom suite and receive $50 in Bass Pro gift cards for attending the presentation. I also took F to see the lions at MGM and we visited Lake Las Vegas for the first time. It was pretty, but like a ghost town because of the crashing real estate market.
Because I'm pregnant, it hasn't been quite the same as our usual visits to the east coast, although my east coast sleep pattern hasn't changed much. It's kinda ghetto to be hanging out in bars around smoke and stuff in my condition, so I opted to stay in. Normally, M and I go out until the early morning (drinking, smoking, late night eating), sleep from about 6am to noon/1ish, hang out in Jersey only to do the same thing all over again. This time I was actually able to do some things during the day time. M was still doing his thing at night and I have a hard time sleeping when I know M's out (the worrier in me) so I was still sleeping pretty late, too, but we managed to get out and about by early afternoon on most days.
We spent an afternoon on the upper west side and central park last Friday. I was able to go to the Shake Shack (which was sooooo yummy) and pay homage to Magnolia Bakery (which started the cupcake trend back in the 90's, although the cupcakes left much to be desired). M said that in all of the years that he's lived here, he's never really hung out in central park. It was beautiful and the perfect day to be there. Apparently, most of June was plagued with rain, so we were lucky to bring our dry weather, albeit on the humid side, with us.
I also attended my first annual bbq at the Capios' home in Westchester, NY. I don't know how long they've been doing this, but it was the first time I was in town to go. We got to see a lot of the family at one event, so it was nice.
I also visited Washington, DC for the first time. The guys (JV, JJ, and M) were troopers as they went to a Roots show the night before so they were going on a few hours of sleep when we left NJ at 8 in the morning. First stop, Ben's Chili Bowl, a DC staple for the past 50 years. The rest of the afternoon was spent at the Smithsonian(aerospace, American history, and art) museums, White House, Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, Reflection Pool, Lincoln Memorial (view from the top is beautiful), and Vietnam Memorial. On our way back, we stopped at a hidden crab restaurant in Annapolis, MD that coincidentally I had googled the night before and JV had eaten at in May. It was fun watching them hammering out whole crabs and eating with their hands. A nice ending to all of the activity. It was a really busy day, but I'm glad we did it.
I guess the rest of the time in NJ was spent hanging out with family and friends, eating lots of good food (Strawberry's Pizza, Oakwood, White Castle, grease trucks, A1 Deli, Mario's Italian in Union, Portuguese Manor in Perth Amboy, random restaurants with mom and dad Capio, etc), and resting. It's M's last vacation before he officially starts his career in dentistry so it was important that he have this time to rest and reconnect with old friends and spend time with the NJ people in his life. It also gave us a chance to spend some time together before the baby comes in November.
Although I still love it here on the east, and honestly would not mind moving here, this trip made me appreciate our life in California a little more. I've always been the type to want to move to NYC and kind of mock the CA lifestyle (all about the effin weather, nothing else!), I do like how really relaxed we are over there. I like the life M and I have started and will be starting and have a greater respect for how calm our lives really are. It probably comes with age, too, as now that we have a baby on the way, there's not much more that I need than a healthy family and the company of good friends and it helps that my friends on the west are all moving on to the next step in life also. Sunday brunch get-togethers take the place of late nights out, birthdays are celebrated at city parks instead of the newest hotspot. And having experienced humidity and random rain on an otherwise perfect day, I definitely plan on enjoying my almost perfect temperatures year round by the Pacific Ocean than I have in the past. There's much to be appreciated about both coasts, but for now the west coast is where we call home.
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