Dinner with Katie outdoors in La Jolla

This California trip recap preempts the weekly week in review post, as most of the week was in California. Plus, some packing and travel tips along the way.

View from Katie’s apartment balcony

Speaking of packing, this was my first experience ever of having my suitcase weigh more than the 50-pound limit and I had to be that annoying person opening her luggage at the check-in counter pulling things out and shoving them into my carry-on bag.
  • Tip One: weigh your luggage before leaving for the airport.
  • Tip Two: Bring a large enough carry-on bag to accommodate suitcase overflow if needed, i.e., if the airport scale is not the same as your home scale.
  • Tip Three: The next time you’re buying luggage, be mindful of the weight. I bought my suitcases shortly after separating from my ex-husband, over 20 years ago. Twenty years ago there WAS no weight limit on checked baggage! My large suitcase weighs 15 pounds empty. And plus size clothes are larger than straight-sized clothes so the same number of items weighs more AND takes up more room in the suitcase.

Balboa Park conservatory

I had such a busy day the day I left that I never got to have a meal and somehow I managed to not pack any airplane snacks and then it looked like they were not going to serve a meal and I panicked. Surely (DONT CALL ME SHIRLEY!), I would not survive a five-hour flight without food! In the end, they did serve a light meal, but I should have been better prepared with some good carry-on snacks.
  • Tip Four: ALWAYS bring snacks

Balboa Park

Plus, the flight out was FREEZING. And I’m NEVER cold. I’m usually hot on airplanes, with all those people crammed into a little space filled with artificial air. So I thought I’d outsmart it this time and dress in light layers and not end up overheated on the airplane. But that plan backfired! I even took one of the offered blankets, which I never do, but it wasn’t enough. Yet another lesson learned, bring something to cover up with or cuddle into like a hoodie even if you don’t think you’ll need it. My mother always used to say better to have an umbrella and not need it than to need it and not have it.
  • Tip Five: Bring/wear an extra layer or wrap or something to cuddle in on a cold plane

Sunset in La Jolla

When packing, I always put the things I’ll need first at the top. For example, this was an evening flight so I put my nightgown and slippers on the top so when I got there and was tired and wanted to go to bed I didn’t have to go digging through everything.
  • Tip Six: Keep the items you’re going to need first on top of the suitcase

Me and Katie waiting for a table for brunch in San Marino

Katie rented a car for us to drive up to Los Angeles for the weekend. One thing I always make sure to take is my car charger with multiple USB ports, so two people can be charging their cell phones at the same time. I also make sure my external backup charger is fully charged because I take a lot of pictures on outings and trips and blow through battery really quickly. I wouldn’t want to miss pictures because of a dead battery.
  • Tip Seven: Be prepared for any contingency with a variety of chargers – car chargers, external batteries, ac adaptors, etc.
  • Tip Eight: Any time you see an outlet, use an outlet.

Me trying an Aperol Spritz. Not a fan.

One thing I’d been looking forward to doing in Los Angeles was visiting a plus-size thrift store I’d heard about called The Plus Bus. It seemed like a plus-size blogger’s Mecca and I was not disappointed. Granted, I didn’t buy anything, but that was only because I wasn’t really looking for anything specific. It was just a pleasure to have such a range of plus size secondhand items.
After that we went to Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, which is a fun street filled with vintage shops, cute little boutiques and many coffee shops and cafés with outdoor seating. We sat outside and had lunch while enjoying the people watching, dog watching, and fashion watching. It was such a pleasure in February to be sitting outside in comfort. I think I actually enjoy it more in the winter than I do in the summer.

There’s something about the light at dusk in Southern California that’s just different than it is anywhere else.

This guy pretended to jump into the shot…

Dinner later with some of the rest of my family was wonderful. I wish I’d had more time than just the one evening to spend with them, but this was really a Katie trip.
Another issue I had, which I’m turning into a learning opportunity, was wearing tops that did not jive well with wearing a crossbody bag. I feel like I spent much of the week flashing my bra at people because my bag strap kept pulling wide necklines open and shoulders down. Most of the summery tops and dresses I brought were things that I wouldn’t normally wear for a day of walking. I normally wear them to work or to dinner out with friends. For walking outfits I usually wear crewneck tees or turtlenecks that don’t get pulled open. I don’t know if this is something that happens to everyone, but I thought it was worth a mention and I’ll keep it in mind next time I’m packing.
  • Tip Nine: Be sure the clothes you bring are going to work seamlessly with the activities you’ll be doing.
  • Tip Ten: Find out what activities you’ll be doing before packing 🙂
Speaking of walking, we did a LOT. I was averaging over 5000 steps a day, when my normal life only takes me about 500 steps a day. I was glad I had a couple of different pairs of sneakers and walking shoes so I could switch them up from day to day. But it was still hard for me to go day after day after day with so much walking and so little resting. It would be good to keep that in mind if you’re someone who doesn’t do a lot of walking on a regular basis, to try and plan a walking day and then resting or sitting day, maybe more riding in the car than walking, to give your legs and body a little rest before resuming walking the next day.
  • Tip Eleven: If possible, alternate high-activity days with low-activity days (riding in car, laying by pool, etc.

Huntington Gardens, San Marino

Oh, here’s a tip: don’t buy a refurbished laptop right before your trip and bring it with you thinking you’re going to be able to keep up with work and editing pictures while you’re away. This POC (Piece of Crap) laptop I bought that arrived just two days before I was leaving, and spent an entire evening getting set-up, getting all my programs downloaded onto it that I would need, etc., turned into such a source of aggravation. It was slower than the old laptop I was replacing, and editing just a few pictures took, literally, hours. It was unfortunate timing that I’d had two sponsored posts to get up the week I was away because technology was really failing me and I hate not being able to keep commitments. Lesson learned, try not to make commitments for while you’re on vacation and test out any technology or tools ahead of time you’re counting on being able to use while you’re away.
  • Tip Twelve: Vacation while on vacation
  • Tip Thirteen: Before leaving home, test out any electronics or tools you’re taking to be sure they will be helping you, not aggravating you.

On Monday we had to leave my niece, nephew, and great-niece and return to San Diego. My GN just adores Katie and has from the first second they met. The lesser adored Great Aunt Bettye has been relegated to the title of That Other Girl, but at least I finally have a name!
San Diego has a slightly more hippy-dippy vibe than LA. Katie’s apartment is downtown but unlike New York City with the sidewalk chaos of 4 million people walking to and from work, mostly all you see is young people walking their dogs. It all feels very clean and new. I sort of prefer the older, more layered feel of Los Angeles. But this is a good place for her right now.
The rest of the week was a wonderful blur of walking, sunshine, eating good food, and enjoying my daughter. I got to spend more time with Her Boy, which was nice. On my last night he made us a six (or 7 or 8, I lost count!) course tasting menu for dinner (he’s a chef) and everything was amazing.
Then it was time, sadly, to come home. I hate family goodbyes. All my family is so far away, I really miss being with them. And returning to NY in February, especially at night, is always a little depressing. It just seems so dark and dreary and quiet after the wonderful activity of LA and San Diego. I’ll go through my usual “I Hate Long Island” phase, driving my friends crazy, for about a month…til signs of spring start to appear and the days get a little longer and warmer. Then it will feel okay again.

Ocean Beach, San Diego

I Ubered to and from the airport at both ends of the trip. Did you know you can now schedule Uber rides? That was useful.

Old Town. San Diego

La Jolla

And now, sadly, it is back to Real Life. Hopefully, Katie will be back in NY in a few months for her brother’s high school graduation. Til then, it’s just you and me and the chickens. And That Cat.
xoxo