As we were driving back to the hotel, I suggested we decorate the van for Thanksgiving. This way, when we went to pick up his Dad and Susan, it would be festive. Everyone was on board so Megan (his sister), Tyler (M's boyfriend), Bryan and I headed to Walgreen's on Thanksgiving morning. I asked the lady if they had Thanksgiving decorations and she looked at me as if I were a turkey. Thankfully, we found a ton of Christmas decorations-even battery operated lights! We made "turkeys" by tracing our hands on construction paper and put them on the roof of the van. It was a huge success and we loved it! People were jealous of us. Oh yes, they were. Here are some pics of the van and the decorating of that piece of machinery that destroyed our backs and was super uncomfortable.
We thought about making it an Airport Shuttle to make some money for the holidays, but we passed on that idea. One morning I ran inside to get Bryan's coat. He pulled around to the front of the hotel and as he did that, a group of 3 men gathered their things and headed towards the door. I wondered if they thought we were the airport shuttle but they went to a car in the parking lot. Ahhh, good times with the van.
Besides decorating the van, we did several other things on our trip. On Wednesday we went to San Francisco with Bryan's Dad and Susan. I went on a trolley for the first time (I did not get a chance to do this during the trip I took with my sister and Ethan in July.) I absolutely love this picture:
On Thursday we went to Susan's sister's house for dinner. They had a great backyard and pool area. Of course I needed a picture but it turned out to be too bright. I made it black and white to help cut down on the brightness:
At 10 pm that night, Megan and I headed across the street to the outlet mall, not thinking anyone would be there. We were wrong. There was already a line at the Coach store, but we got in line anyway. There were rumors they would open before 12 a.m. so we waited, and waited and waited. You have to understand two things about me: 1.) Until I turned 33 I had never owned a Coach purse. Bryan got me one for my birthday and I adore the little red bag of heaven. Since then, I decided I needed a black one, a brown one and a few others. I have returned several of them, but I do have a total of 4 acquired in only 3 months. Nothing says "Good idea" like a Coach purse purchased by an unemployed gal. Now onto the second thing you need to understand: 2.) When I decide to do something, I prefer to follow through with it. When we got in line at 10, we thought OK, they will open before 12. They didn't. We said we would wait until 11:15 and then we were gone. 11:15 came and I thought well, if I have waited this long, I might as well wait another 45 minutes. You see, they were giving 20% off of the already reduced prices and had I left, I would have wondered if I had missed out on some incredible deals. I do not like to wonder what if, so we stuck it out. The line became INSANE. I took pictures but they are on my iPhone and I can't find my cord to upload them.
Megan and I got to the front of the line around 12:30 a.m. The place was a zoo so they were only letting a few people in at a time. Women were grabbing bags as if they were a dollar. As we waited for our turn to be let it, a news crew came and we are pretty sure we were on TV. Megan and I were let in, and then I became one of those women I was making fun of as we waited in line. I walked around with about 5 purses on each arm. Megan had a good point when she said grab what you like, and the decide later. At one time I looked down and had to laugh. EVERY purse I had was black. Thankfully Megan talked me out of many of them, and I got to the checkout counter with three purses and one wallet. I repeatedly asked if I could return the purses if I woke up with buyer's remorse. Thankfully, they said yes.
I bought a black patent leather purse that was love at first sight. When I got back to Colorado and went to put my things in it, I realized that nowhere on the bag does it say Coach. No tag, no C's anywhere, nothing. I am sorry, but if I am going to pay $175 or so for a bag, it better be clear it is Coach. I have decided to break up with this purse, as well as the other black one I purchased. They will be returning to the store in Castle Rock. I did keep a purple one that I never thought I would love, but I do love it and I have received several compliments on it. Bryan loves it too, so that helped seal the decision to keep it. Merry Christmas to me! Some people get ornaments, t-shirts or magnets from the places they visit. I went home with a Coach bag.
On Friday, we headed to Lake Tahoe to meet up with Bryan's grandparents who were visiting from New Jersey. It was so great to meet them! They made me feel so welcomed. When I offered to take a group shot of the family, Bryan's grandpa asked, "If you take it, how are you going to be in the picture?" I thought this was very sweet. It was wonderful to meet the parent's of Bryan's mother. Unfortunately, I will never be able to meet his mom, but I have a feeling we would have gotten along very well. She sounds like an amazing woman and it was so nice to meet her parents! Bryan has a wonderful family and I am so thankful they made me feel at home. Here is a photo of all of us in Tahoe:
On Saturday we headed to the Sacramento Train Museum. It was very cool and we had a good time! We had lunch at a restaurant on the river, and spent the day in Old Sacramento. Here are some pictures from that day:
this is awesome. i went on vacation and was mentioned in both yours and carrie's blogs! haha. yay anti facebook! looks like you had a good time on the trip!
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