Laguna Beach

This is one of my favorite pictures from my not so fantastic Laguna Beach vacation. 

This was the 5th day of vacation, the very first day in Laguna Beach. I had just arrived and bumped into this whole row of shops with art, jewelry, fancy pieces, etc. This shop stood out because she said, Toe Rings. I had been dying to get a Sterling Silver toe ring, one I was certain would not turn my poor toe green. And this lady specialized in them. She called herself a 'Toe-ologist" or some ish, I can't remember. 

This was the only item I nabbed for myself during the trip and I made sure to tell her that. I had been through several stores, seen some things I liked but nothing I couldn't do without but a toe ring I really wanted. So got it, I got 3 actually and stacked them. 

My trip to her store was also a very fun one. She had an accent and quickly noticed mine. She told me that she was from Ireland but grew up in New Zealand and has spent almost 20 years in America, so her accent was all over the place. I told her the trip was my birthday trip which I always try to take every year. She thought that was bold like most people do when I tell them I vacation alone. She was really nice and gave me another sparkly ring for my other foot. It turns out her birthday was the following week. Who woulda thunk it?

It was the start of what I hoped would be a good day. I left her shop and ending up spending the rest of the morning sipping some drinks while overlooking the ocean. It got so hot that I got a really bad tan, the sunburn formed a shape around my sunglasses. Hilarious, but the drinks and the view were just awesome, I didn't want to leave. It felt so good to just sit outside and watch the waves and just let time pass by, not being in a hurry to go anywhere, do anything, fulfill any chore. To just be and listen to the waves do the same. I was so excited I texted everyone to let them know where I was. "Hey you, guess what I'm doing this fine Saturday"...Aaahhh... I'd file this one under "The joys of being solo."

It was a pretty interesting day (at the start!).

Post birthday greetings

So I turned an age, a great one if you think of it. And I spent it in one of my favorite cities nursing the flu. I would like to say I did something momentous to mark the occasion but nah! that was not to be this year. No matter how hard I tried, that one thing that would have set this year's birthday apart, that extra jolt of fun just did not happen. 

It all started when my family said they would not vacation the same time as my birthday, meaning I had to go it alone. You would think this is good news since I am the queen of going it alone but then I had no idea what I wanted to do. I was broke from going to Las Vegas and New York back to back so I really had no business going anywhere. Then I thought, "It's my birthday, why spend it in Atlanta which I loathe, go somewhere you love, you deserve it." 

I chose LA. 3 days in Manhattan Beach and 4 days in Laguna Beach. With no car. That meant a lot of beach walking and not a lot of shopping, and just a lot of cold weather enveloping me through those beach walks. Plus, along came the flu and swept whatever little fun I would have had all away. 

Instead of dwelling on the bad: the flu, all the money spent, the lack of planning, the lack of spontaneous fun, the dreary weather in Laguna Beach, the lack of transportation, the suburban lodgings, instead of all that I shall recount the good. 

a) I got away from Atlanta for some much needed rest and some palm trees

b) Now, I can count Laguna Beach as one of my visited cities. (never to return, sorry)

c) I got an enviable tan

d) Spent some time in prayer, in church and reflecting on the way forward

e) Got to spend the birthday at the beach and that is just so...awesome. The tanned surfers were a nice touch too. But falling asleep on the beach and taking the long walk from Hermosa Beach to Manhattan Beach will forever remain the highlight for me. 

The fact of the matter is I think God was trying to stick it to me. I've been wanting to live in California since my first visit 2 years ago, so this was His not so gentle way of showing me that there are other parts of SoCal that are not so great. That are heard to maneuver without a car. That are expensive and just sparse, where their malls resemble those in Gwinnett County. That are just downright boring. Just like the suburbs in Atlanta. That the sun doesn't come out till 4pm and lasts for only 3 hours. That are just so blah! even though you'd think with the beach and the tanned men they would be awesome but no amount of tanned men make them okay. They contain about 1% African Americans in the population. Yes. God, I got the message. But I still like the idea of having the beach within a stone throw and oh, being 3 hours behind the rest of the world. It just gives you more day to get shit done. So I still want it. I made my informed decision, Laguna Beach notwithstanding.  

Blah Birthday Greetings

So I turned an age, a great one if you think of it. And I spent it in one of my favorite cities nursing the flu. I would like to say I did something momentous to mark the occasion but nah! that was not to be this year. No matter how hard I tried, that one thing that would have set this year's birthday apart, that extra jolt of fun just did not happen. 

It all started when my family said they would not vacation the same time as my birthday, meaning I had to go it alone. You would think this is good news since I am the queen of going it alone but then I had no idea what I wanted to do. I was broke from going to Las Vegas and New York back to back so I really had no business going anywhere. But then I thought, "It's my birthday, why spend it in Atlanta which I loathe, go somewhere you love, you deserve it." 

I chose LA. 3 days in Manhattan Beach and 4 days in Laguna Beach. With no car. That meant a lot of beach walking and not a lot of shopping, and just a lot of cold weather enveloping me through those beach walks. Plus, along came the flu and swept whatever little fun I would have had all away. 

I'm sitting here thinking how do I describe it to people who are hoping on me to have loads of fun. How do I embellish it, make it seem as if it were something more than it was. I don't know. I cannot really say. It was what it was. All I can say is, I suppose I deserve it because truly I had no business vacationing so soon after NY/Las Vegas, it was just very selfish and childish, plus I should have planned it better, not bought the plane tickets on a whim. Most importantly, I had started this "thing" with this guy so I should have really stayed in Atlanta and worked that shit out with him instead of vamoosing. For men, out of sight is out of mind, so stay put so you can drive them nuts. 

Instead of dwelling on the bad: the flu, all the money spent, the lack of planning, the lack of spontaneous fun, the dreary weather in Laguna Beach, the lack of transportation, the suburban lodgings, instead of all that I shall recount the good. 

a) I got away from Atlanta for some much needed rest and some palm trees

b) Hopefully, absence makes the heart grow fonder for me as opposed to "out of sight..."

c) Now, I can count Laguna Beach as one of my visited cities. (never to return, sorry :-()

d) I got an enviable tan

e) Spent some time in prayer, in church and reflecting on the way forward.

f) Got to spend the birthday at the beach and that is just so...awesome. The tanned surfers were a nice touch too.

The fact of the matter is sometimes single people don't have all the fun. Sometimes, we just exist. We, the brave few go on vacations by ourselves and just sit there imbibing, partaking, absorbing, eavesdropping, just patiently being ignored, and just, existing. It's not so much fun for us, but it's a part of our lives. And sometimes, on few occasions, every so once in a while, we have fun. Unfortunately for me this wasn't one of those times, but I'll get 'em next time.