San Diego, Mexico, and too many food pictures

Dan and I just got back from a little adventure out west. We spent the majority of our time in San Diego, but we started off with a quick trip to Disneyland. Dan had never been, and I had been seriously wanting some Dole Whip ever since I had it in Hawaii, so we thought, why not go? 10 ounces of frozen pineapple is totally worth a $400 plane ticket, right?

Excited to be on the plane. Slightly less excited that Spirit charges for literally everything, including water.

We were only in the LA area for the day, but it was definitely long enough to feel like kids again at Disney. We had such a blast (this despite only sleeping three hours the night before due to our late-night flight and waiting in line to pick up our rental car for over an hour)!

We mean business with laser guns.

We found Disneyland to be quite vegan-friendly, too, which was awesome. Not only did we get said Dole Whip, but we also had vegan jambalaya (in a mouse ears bread bowl, of course) and pizza.

Ah, the Dole Whip!

The next day, we headed down to San Diego. We stopped in Laguna Beach, where we walked the beach and ate overpriced chocolate candies and gelato (so worth it).



We also hit up Veggie Grill! P.S. What trip to California would be complete without it? It's one of my 'must stop' places whenever I'm there.



The next day, we checked out Old Town San Diego and La Jolla (which, I had to practice saying correctly).

Some shots from Old Town:

Of course I had to be a legal nerd and get a shot of this.

Selecting the finest in fake fruit.

I requested some NKOTB, but was, sadly, turned down.

La Jolla, while completely packed, was gorgeous! Plus, I couldn't believe how close we could get to all of the seals! Note that my pictures do no justice to how close we actually were.

Feeling so much safer with him on duty.

One of the many seals soaking up the sun on the beach.

On our last day, we headed to Tijuana. Neither Dan nor I had ever been there, and we figured, it was 20 minutes away from where we were staying, so why not?

Crossing the border was really easy. We just took a shuttle bus, exited the shuttle bus so the Mexican border agents could review our passports, and then transferred to a mini-van to drop us off downtown in the tourist area. The tourist area was definitely that! It seemed that every shop was a souvenir shop, and they all sold pretty much the exact same things. Although, I will say some of their sales pitches were better than others. My favorite one was "c'mon in, buy some things you don't need."

I almost did.



We forgot that it was a Monday, so all of the museums were closed. Sadly, we found this out the hard way after walking all around to find them. Doh.



Thankfully, we did find a vegan restaurant to try. It was really good!

If you ever find yourself in Tijuana, check out Tury's. 

A cool theater we walked by.

On the border. Taken before we spotted the "no photography" signs...and the border guards with gigantic machine guns.

Getting back to the U.S. was a lot more challenging. I think we spent more time waiting at the border than we actually did in Tijuana. I've crossed the Canadian border several times, but I've always traveled via car. Apparently, unless you're in your own vehicle at the Mexico border, you must cross on foot. So, we waited in line for several hours before we could talk to a border agent and get let back in.

It was quite an interesting process, and I found it even more interesting that when you enter the U.S., you're immediately dumped into the parking lot of an outlet mall. Nothing like saying, "Welcome to America. Want to buy some irregular jeans?" I was just happy it had a Dollar Tree.

On our way back to our hotel, we stopped by San Diego's Little Italy. I didn't even know it had one! We went to a restaurant called Civico 1845, which was out of this world. Beware of more food pictures, but the vegan calamari, ravioli boscailoa, and fettuccine alla bolognese were definitely photo-worthy. Not pictured: the tiramisu made from my dreams.




We were in quite the food coma by the end of the day, so we sluggishly went back to our hotel and passed out. Hello, carb drunk!

I'm pretty sure I gained seven pounds on this trip. So very worth it though!

Vacation in Chicago!

Dan and I took a quick trip to Chicago this weekend. I've been to Chicago several times, but I've never done the quintessential tourist things that the city offers. So, when I heard the New Kids on the Block were playing in the city, we piled in the car and decided to make a weekend out of it.

Of course, we had to listen to them the whole ride there.

 

I hadn't seen the New Kids since they toured two years ago, and I was more than eager to get back to my loves! This time, they were on tour with Paula Abdul and Boyz II Men. Unfortunately, Paula got injured a few days prior and wasn't able to play the show with them. But, Boyz II Men, who became the opening act, were fantastic! They did their old standards, including their cover of "In the Still of the Night," which I've always loved. At one point, they strapped on guitars and did a Lenny Kravitz medley.

And then, New Kids came out! They put on a phenomenal show...as they always do. Not only did they play a lot of their hits (and a few songs from their new album), but they also did a "best of" section that included songs from all of their albums that they don't usually play. They even played a couple of selections from "Face the Music" and their first album. I was in heaven.

Not sure if Dan was, but I think he still secretly liked it. 

The next day, we made our way into downtown. We ate at Native Foods for lunch, and it was absolutely delicious! We had the Thai chili Brussels sprouts, native chicken run ranch, and BBQ pulled jackfruit. And I had a lavender lemonade that was also quite refreshing.

And what would a blog post of mine be without some food pics? So, here ya go:

After filling our bellies, we headed to the Willis Tower to be tourists. The views of the city were lovely, and I (surprisingly) wasn't even that scared when I stopped on the glass observation deck.

Of course we had to hit up Millennium Park and the Bean (which, I learned is actually named Cloud Gate), too.



We were completely lame on Friday night, and instead of going out, we just had drinks at our hotel's bar (along with some killer bruschetta) before going to bed early. Are we old or what?

On Saturday, we woke up bright and early to hit up the outlet malls. I didn't take any pictures, but take my word for it, we got some steals! Though in an effort to make our new clothes not fit, we drove to the Chicago Diner for some food immediately after.

I had to get their chocolate chip cookie dough milkshake, which is one of my all-time favorites.

Totes worth the $7.

Another one to admire its beauty.

 Dan got the BLT, mac & cheese, and the peanut butter chocolate cookie dessert (sadly, no pictures of that).

Farewell, my friend. Parting is such sweet sorrow.

Since we hadn't shopped the entire day, we decided, "hey, why not hit up the biggest store we can think of that also happens to be like a maze and that guarantees we'll be in there for at least three hours?"

So, onto IKEA, we went!

No pictures there either (there's only so many creative ways one can pose with a Lack), but we totally cleaned up! New kitchen fixtures, picture frames, decorative plants, and some other odds and ends we've been needing for a while.

I'm pretty sure I gained five pounds this weekend alone, and my bank account might be hurting from the full day of shopping, but we had so much fun in Chicago. Until next time...

Well, it's official

I am now officially an attorney! After passing Michigan's February bar exam, I was sworn into the State Bar yesterday.

The ceremony was something I will remember for the rest of my life. In order to get sworn in, a licensed Michigan lawyer must make a motion in open court. I was so honored that one of my mentors (and also a dear friend) was able to motion on my behalf. I was also fortunate enough to have a family friend, who also sits as a Circuit Court judge, perform my ceremony. They both made it so personal, and at one point, I was brought to tears.

I've never worked harder for anything in my life. Going to law school full-time while also trying to be a full-time stand-up comic and working two other jobs did not leave a lot of time for sleep. It also made me pretty unpleasant to be around, so my apologies to anyone in my life who has actually had to deal with me over the last four years. After I graduated, I had to not only study for the bar exam, but also take the darn thing (a process that made sticking a fork in my own eye seem preferable).

But, today made it worth it! I truly believe the legal system is one of the best mechanisms we have for social change, and yesterday reaffirmed that commitment. I was so proud to take the oath, which includes the following provision:
"I will never reject, from any consideration personal to myself, the cause of the defenseless or oppressed, or delay any cause for lucre or malice."

I am also so incredibly thankful to my friends and family who supported me during my law school and bar exam journey. I certainly could not have done it alone!

Flying back to the US

Today was a long, long travel day! Note to self: if you can, try to avoid a 12 hour flight followed by an 8 hour lay-over, followed by two more flights.

A sign from the Auckland airport...wondering if they really want me to comment about my irritable bowel syndrome using emojis.

The first leg (Auckland to LA) wasn't terrible, although I was seated next to a woman who informed me that she had a hip injury and would need to be getting out of the aisle (requiring me to let her out) every hour. Luckily, she was quite nice. But, there was definitely no sleep to be had on that flight.

Once in the US, I got through customs rather quickly, although I'm pretty sure if I'm ever wanted for a crime, this is the photo that'll be blasted all over the news to show my guilt.



The lay-over in LA seemed to take forever, and then the flight from LA to Denver was sold-out. So, my hopes of having a row to myself to sleep were quickly crushed.

I met up with Keith again in Denver (we were on different flights for the previous two), and we slap-happily recalled many of the newly created memories from our trip. We alternated between falling asleep sitting up and maniacally giggling from the lack of sleep. For some reason, the jet-lag and inability to sleep seemed much worse on the way home than it did on the way there.

This trip was so very worth it though, and I already vowed to return one day!