Happy Valentine's Day!

I love love and I love holidays (including the made-up versions) so, naturally, I'm a fan of Valentine's Day. It's not the commercialized version I like as much as just the extra excuse to party and celebrate love. Since Matt and I don't play into the Hallmark side of the holiday, we typically don't even celebrate it on Feb. 14th. This time, we commemorated another year of love two weeks early with a romantic picnic at our favorite beach.

We indulged in mouthwatering Nadia cupcakes and sipped sparkling cider as we watched the sun dip into the ocean. Matt even surprised me with a few new songs he'd learned on the guitar. It was perfect, really.

Once it was good and dark, we headed out to a nice mall in the area. After all, what says "love" like shopping? I kid, I kid. But instead of buying each other gifts this year, we had decided to pick out one new pair of shoes each. I'm in love with my new Toms! (Matt went with Sanuks. We have to fit in here in California, you know.) Then we enjoyed a very late dinner at Cheesecake Factory, which just never gets old.

Due to work schedules, it was impossible to do anything tonight, so instead Matt and I got up early and made a big breakfast together. We ate delicious waffles with cool whip and fresh strawberries, and had eggs and bacon on the side. It was amazing! I think we have a new favorite Valentine's Day tradition.

I hope you've all had a wonderful holiday with the ones you love!


*Also, an update: Remember that one time our bumper randomly flew off the back of our car on the freeway? That was on our way to our romantic Valentine's date. And remember how I said it was going to cost an arm and a leg to repair? Yeah, we got quotes upwards of $900. And remember how Matt is the best husband ever? He got creative and fixed it to the tune of $4.95. Hooray!

Date night at Disneyland

Last Friday, Matt and I headed to the Happiest Place on Earth for a little date night. You really can't go wrong with a date at Disneyland! We had a lovely time, as usual. Highlights this time around included the carousel, the World of Color (again), delicious Disney treats and two of our favorite rides--Midway Mania and Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters. Of course, the night was over far too quickly and we can't wait to go back again!

The Lion King in Vegas

The last of my parents' memory-making Christmas gifts to my family was tickets to see The Lion King in Las Vegas over Martin Luther King Day weekend. I was particularly excited for this one, because The Lion King was the first musical I saw on Broadway in NYC years and years ago. It was amazing and I couldn't wait for my family to fall in love with it like I did. Luckily, the Vegas version didn't disappoint! But really, you can't go wrong with that music and those costumes.

Since no trip to Las Vegas is complete without seeing the Bellagio fountains, we headed north on Vegas Boulevard after The Lion King to catch a few songs. It was the babies' first time seeing the water show and they loved it! (Especially when the fog rolled in during the theme song from Titanic.)

What a fun and memorable Christmas. Thanks so much, Mom and Dad! We love you!

Tears and tacos

We love Brian Regan. I mean, who doesn't? The man is hilarious. I've seen him in person before but Matt had never been to a performance, so when he came to LA a few weeks ago we were all over it! We spent a night out at the Wiltern with the Rozsas and had such a great time! Brian Regan had me laughing so hard I was crying. Multiple times.

After the concert, the Rozsas treated us to an amazingly delicious dinner at El Cholo. It was the best Mexican food I've had in a long time, and the best guacamole I ever expect to eat in my life. We're itching to go back already!

60 mph with 3 wheels and a sail

We live by a bunch of dry lake beds, which are actually quite wet and beautiful in the wintertime (proof here). The summer, however, is an entirely different story! Luckily, the dry versions provide for a few fun activities, including land sailing. Yeah, I had no idea what it was either but it sounded like fun, so Matt and I decided to give it a try last summer.

It's like a tricycle hammock with a sail, and you steer it much like you would a sailboat. If you catch the winds right, you can go upwards of 60 mph, and you better believe we did! At first, I was nervous about tipping over, but then I did and realized it's no big deal, so we were free to drive as wild and crazy as we wanted to. That's my kind of activity, for sure. Check it out:

Untitled from Christian on Vimeo.

That video was put together by my brother Christian, of course. And for the picture version:

We went all the way out to the crashed plane site and felt a little bit like we were on LOST.

It was such a blast!