California

What a weekend. Last Friday I took a very quick adventure to California to attend my brother’s wedding. No, not my little brother, but my “new” big brother. It’s a very long story as to how he is a “new” brother so let’s see if I can give you a very quick summary.

My dad was married and had two children, it didn’t work out… he married my mom and had me and my other 2 siblings. We never had any contact with our other siblings. Very sadly, my sister Heather passed away several years ago, before I ever had the opportunity to meet her… but September of last year my brother, Joe, contacted us! Thank God for Myspace. Since then we arranged a visit and got to know him and his fiancée (who came along for the trip) and it’s been wonderful getting to know him. It’s something I’ve always wanted and it’s so nice to have something on my list of things to do before I die checked off. :)

Ok. So. My parents and brother and sister all flew to California for his wedding! I left here on Friday at 4:00pm and arrived in LA on Friday at 9:30am. Try to wrap your head around that time change. I arrived before I left and the confusion of it all proves that time traveling is rather difficult. Once at LAX I had to go through customs and security, get my bags and go back through security before I could board my flight to San Francisco. This took 2.5 hours. I couldn’t believe how difficult it was! AND THERE WAS NO BATHROOM anywhere from the time I exited the plane to the time I had re-checked my luggage. I couldn’t believe it. On a funnier note… There was a drug dog who kept sniffing a Japanese woman standing near me because she had an apple in her bag. When he would find it he would get a treat. I think that dog knew he would get a treat, even if finding the same lady. OR that lady had drugs in her bag that the guard didn’t find because he kept assuming it was the apple. Either way, that dog got several treats.

So I made it through security and found an American Starbucks and splurged for a Venti Pumpkin Spiced Latte. (AKA HEAVEN). Luckily my flight was delayed because I really needed that coffee. I made it to SFO and found my family, who had to wait for me because of my delayed flight (did I mention that I was doing all of this traveling with no cell phone or computer? Risky… huh) We drove down the coast to Santa Cruz, got checked into our hotel, planned to have dinner with brother Joe and went to the restaurant to meet him. We wound up at the wrong location but got to see some high school drama students dressed as zombies performing “Thriller” on the sidewalk, so I considered the restaurant mix-up ‘a win’ on our part. We made it to the restaurant, ate, met some of Joe’s childhood friends and family and had a great time. I was so exhausted and jet-lagged, (up for about 36 hours at that point… I think… the jet-lagged impaired my math skills even more than they’re normally hindered)… I fell right asleep when we got back to the hotel and slept through the night.
The next day was the day of the wedding! We got up early and went to the venue to help set up. We folded napkins, set the tables, helped with the centerpieces etc. They had some really neat ideas… check out the pictures.

All of us on the first night!



The ceremony was wonderful. Carissa, the bride was SO beautiful. She wore a dress that I believe belonged originally to her grandmother, and she looked amazing. My brother Joe was just as handsome as could be. The ceremony was picturesque, taking place under a pretty tree, and the aisle was lined with funky pumpkins and beautiful flower petals. Check it out.

The beautiful aisle!



Congratulations Joe and Carissa!


The reception was fun too… there was a great slide show, showcasing their childhood pictures, that made me cry… it was so neat to see pictures of Joe and Heather (my other sister). She was so beautiful. They served soup, had cake, some dancing and a bouquet toss (Alison caught it, making it bouquet #25 she’s caught… okay… I made that number up.) Any who, it was a great wedding, and it was really awesome to be there celebrating Joe’s marriage. They’re a great couple and I know they’ll be very happy!

All of us wedding guests from GA (and Japan)


The cool centerpieces.


We walked around the Santa Cruz boardwalk, saw a ton of sea lions and had dinner (more pizza) and hung out. It was fun to see my family! I hate living so far away from them; I really do love them so much! I wish they could all move to Japan!

The next day we drove back up the coast, had breakfast, took some really awesome pictures at a giant rock on the beach with the prettiest view, and the stinkiest stench (which we couldn’t decide if it was coming to the dead washed up sea lion or just from the stagnant water in the cove)… but it was neat. My parents were flying out that day so we parted ways with them, and drove to San Francisco. We checked into our hotel near Fisherman’s Wharf, had lunch at an In-and-Out burger, drove up to the Golden Gate Bridge (it was rainy), found a shopping district and got in some good retail therapy, watched the Giants lose to the Phillies (Boooo… Phillies suck!) And then took my brother back to the hotel so he could catch the shuttle to catch his flight back to GA.










That night my sister, her boyfriend and I went to an Irish pub to have a snack and a drink or two. There was a little bit of Karaoke going on… and I maybe(slash- did) sing a song or two. The first one went pretty well, I even got quite a bit of applause from the audience but then the DJ put on Taylor Swift’s, You Belong With Me… which I cannot sing because the key is so high… I got way less applause on the second song… but who am I kidding? I only pretend like I can actually sing anyway!
We headed home and passed one more Irish pub on the way back to the hotel where an amazing girl was singing “Stand by me” and I insisted we go in and listen. We met a group of ladies from Ireland who had come in to swim a mile in the SFO Bay for a charity. They were really entertaining and we had fun dancing!
The next day we drove back to the Golden Gate Bridge to take some additional pictures; these turned out much better because the weather was beautiful! Then we drove up to Sonoma to do a little wine tasting. California really is the prettiest state I’ve ever visited. They get the giant trees, the rolling hills, and a beautiful rocky coast; it truly is breathtaking. I think the view Californian’s experience makes up for the fact they’ll likely fall into the ocean someday and disappear. But hey, I’m in Japan and our Earthquakes are possibly equally as dangerous… so who am I to judge?






The wine was fabulous, it was fun to try new types of wine, and the experience did confirm I am a white wine drinker; the sweeter the better, I say! I napped on the way back to San-Fran so was refreshed for more wine in the hotel lobby and then dinner at an awesome Prime-Rib place. I haven’t had a good steak since I’ve lived here so it was a treat to eat such good food while in the states! I miss American food more than anything. I miss Chick-fil-a, Cherry Coke Zero, potatoes, pizza, curly fries, milkshakes, giant salads, Marble Slab… OMG the list could go on and on. Don’t get me wrong, Japanese food is good… but there’s nothing like the option to choose from any American restaurant I want. I hope you all savor the American food you’ll eat for dinner tonight, and think of me as you do! :)




Okay. So. We had dinner, then went back to the hotel for bed, and I had to be up to catch the shuttle to the airport at 7:30 the next morning, for a 9:40 flight to LAX. The shuttle stopped at 6, yes, SIX other hotels to pick up people and I checked in for my flight at 9:13am. I was SO panicked. I would have missed my flight had it not been for the incredibly kind elderly gentlemen in front of me in the priority security line. No, I did not have a priority ticket but thought I’d try it anyways since I was running so late and the security line was seriously the longest I’ve ever seen at any airport; I’m sure I would’ve waited for at half an hour, and since the flight was already boarding when I checked in, there was no time to spare!!! Oh. The kind elderly gentleman. When the ticket-checking-lady asked me if we were traveling together, I said no, and he said yes so I could get through the line cause I told her my flight was already boarding. Whew! I made it back to Japan a full 24 hours after I woke up for that original flight, a whole day and a half after I woke up. (And I say again, time travel is difficult…. I don’t envy Doc Brown).

I came home to a very happy-to-see-me-Cheyenne and a beautiful bouquet of flowers with a “welcome home” card from George. He’s so wonderful. It made leaving my family a little bit easier, which always bums me out for at least a little while. I caught a cold while in the states and am still fighting that, doing homework, and getting over the jet-lag. I think the 5 day trip was the perfect amount of time. I hope your weekends were less exhausting but equally exciting to mine. It was great to see family and good ole America. Love you guys.

Chelsea