Happy Friday, everyone! I missed you last week! My trip to SoCal definitely put the sparkle into the past week+, so let's see what I can remember despite post-trip delirium!

I guess the biggest thing we did was celebrate my birthday (Monday 8/28) at Disneyland!

This wasn't the reason we went to CA, but once we started looking at potential dates at the end of August, I was like, "If we're going to be there on my birthday, we're definitely going to Disney!" So we did! And I even got a birthday button!

I used to be crippled by birthday anxiety, but now, I just try to embrace the love and attention that comes with that one special day. Pops and I had a great time wandering around Disney and California Adventure, tracking down the Dole Whip, and going on a few tame rides. (I am so not a rides person.) Even though it was 90+ degrees and I legitimately got prickly heat, it was a wonderfully fun birthday!

While in Cali, I also treated myself to a manicure because my chipping nails were driving me nuts. Because I rarely get my nails done, I decided to go with SNS, aka Tif's nail polish of choice! It's so crazy that they use colored powder and it turns out like this:

Best of all, it hasn't chipped! It still looks the same, one week later! 💯

Pops and I got to spend two days at Crystal Cove, which is both a beach and a state park! Friday was grey and kind of chilly, so we just wandered around taking in the beautiful scenery.

We only encountered one cat in California but so.many.birds.

And then Anaheim entered a ridiculous heat wave (see prickly heat above), so we went back to the beach on Tuesday and actually took advantage of it! I finally got to sit on the beach with a trashy magazine, which is all I'd wanted to do all summer!

We also managed to squeeze in a Dodgers game, which was a blast, even though getting to Chavez Ravine was hell on earth. (Once we got close, it took roughly 30 minutes to crawl three miles.) Luckily, the game and "Friday Night Fireworks" (almost) made us forget about all that!