What a Great Day.

Boy, Oh boy is this going to be a long post. Do you ever have those days where you look back and think "How is it possible that all of this amazingness happened in one day?!" Well, if you haven't, I'm sorry. But perhaps use this blog post as a template so that you, too, will be able to sit on your couch at 11:38PM and gleefully recall the wonder's of the last 24 hours of your life. So, put your big girl panties on, strap on your seat belts and prepare to read about one of the most awesomely perfect days in a while. It involves food, coffee drinks, people I love and multiple outfit changes.

Ok. Let's back up real fast and let me explain to you the week I've had.

Reader's Digest version: Got home from school on Sunday... Spent Monday and Tuesday moving into my house and seeing people I've missed very much... Started work at the amazing Studio Suzan on Wednesday... Came home feeling very overwhelmed and out of sorts... Got to spend time with two great friends (Kelly O'Connor and Maggie Magner) who were able to distract me from my sorrows with chocolate chip cookies and Gypsy Weddings... Went to work on Thursday... Went to work on Friday... Still feeling mostly overwhelmed and out of sorts... Went to dinner on Friday night with the fam... Got a surprise call from the beautiful Lauren Wess (finally home from University of Oregon)... Spent the rest of Friday night with said Lauren spending money on clothes I don't need, drinking sugary coffee drinks (Grande Caramel Macchiatto, Pleeeease) and a cup full of cinnamon sugar pretzel bites. Yum.

Alright. That brings us to this morning. Lauren and I were graciously invited by Kaitlin to join her and Kaytee Drake to explore the Mart Mix and the new SoCo district with them. "SoCo say what?" Well, let me explain this to you you; SoCo (short for Southern Costa Mesa) is an old furniture mall recently transformed into a farmer's market and local vendor marketplace located off the 405. Within the SoCo area, a venue called the Mart Mix is home to dozens of Orange County's local vendors. Am I making any sense at all? If you see me in person, I could probably explain it better.

Well, one of the Mart Mix's vendors is Portola Coffee Lab. Portola is home to only the most high tech coffee you will ever drink. We started off there to grab something warm and holy cow, these people take their coffee seriously. The man behind the counter wearing a science lab coat explained to me that their espresso comes from a machine called "The Slayer" and said that "By the look of you, you'd probably enjoy our mocha made with our homemade ganache." BINGO. He was right.

It. was. so. good.

Kaitlin and Lauren both got Latte's and I think the smiles on their faces convey their mutual satisfaction with their drinks.

Kaytee got some sort of pink tea. She too looks pleased.

Caffeine low on the plush couches of the Mart Mix.

We then explored some more of the vendors in the Mart (everything from clothing, stationary and paper goods, bridal accessories) and Kaitlin showed us to my favorite-- Macalistaire 1850-- a vintage store with some awesome finds. It should come as no surprise to anyone that I am a sucker for vintage stores. I justify just about any purchase in shopping situations already, but when it comes to vintage, there is no controlling the beast.

I was in hog heaven.

Come on now. This dress was literally 1 of 76 things that I wanted to buy, but stopped myself from going through with it. Partly because I was being responsible, but mostly because I didn't have the cash on me. Curses.

After being pulled away from the most beautiful collection of costume vintage costume jewelry at Macalistaire 1850 (If you're listening, Ivory Bangle, I'm coming back for you), we made our way outside to the farmer's market/food truck area that takes place on Saturday mornings. Look at how happy I already am-- and it's only like 11:00AM at this point!

This is SoCo.

Foooooood truuuuuuucksssss.....

Ok, if you've been living under a rock for the past 5 years and have missed the whole memo about food making a huge comeback, let me break this down for you:

"Foodies"- People of any generation who have a deep interest in the food they eat including where it came from, how it is prepared, the culture of food etc.

"Slow Foods Movement"- promotes an alternative to fast food and seeks to preserve traditional and regional cuisine through encouraging plants, seeds and livestock characteristic of the local ecosystem (thank you, wikipedia)

"Food Trucks"- The love child of those two ideas, food trucks are forming their own cult like sub-culture following of foodies and supporters of the slow foods movement. They set up shop in parking lots and sell delicious gourmet food to-go.

Behold: the Beef and Bleu. I can't for the life of me remember what food truck this wonderfulness came off of, but lets break this down. Garlicky french fries topped with BBQ steak, Bleu cheese and a spicy sauce? You had me at "Hello."

Jujie happy.

We took our delicious delights over to some picnic tables that were set up by this lovely band, The Originalites, playing live their new single "Can't Rewind." They're on iTunes. Check it out. They were pretty good. And pretty cool.

Kaytee having her way with a chicken sandy while lead singer of the Originalites gets his groove on.

We laughed at Kaitlin's face in this picture for a solid 5 minutes. And that concluded the Morning portion of our day.

We got rid of Kaitlin and Kaytee so Lauren and I could head over the OCC race track to join our Alma Mater, OCMCHS (R.I.P.) on the Relay for Life. Half fundraiser, half reunion we walked around the track and chatted with old class mates for a couple hours to work off those french fries. So much fun to see my favorite Middle College gals, Haylie, Sam and Lauren. Can you believe it's already been a year since graduation? And made evident by this picture, yes, I am 6 months along and I couldn't be happier to be expecting a healthy baby girl in the fall. Big shout of to the wind for helping me out on that one.

Went home, took a nap, a woke up to this amazing meal prepared by my talented sister and mother! I think the recipe was called something like "Greek Pasta" and it contained, chicken, spinach, feta, kalamata olives and pine nuts. So good!

THEN, as if the day could get any better, I got to finish the night off by hanging out with Kelly and Megan at Alta while enjoying a fatty piece of chocolate cake!

At this little catch-up sesh, it was revealed that dear Megan Spicer is follower of this very blog. What!? Who knew?! This is too good to be true!!!!!!

Well, for those of you still reading, in case you lost count, that's 3 amazing meals, 2 coffee drinks, 9 people I love, and 4 outfit changes (including the pj's I'm in right now) ALL IN ONE DAY! I still don't quite believe it myself. Good thing I've got the pictures to prove it in case I wake up tomorrow and realize it was all just some summer dream.

I'm going to bed now. Sleep tight, little lambs. I hope your day was as fulfilling as mine was.

Disclaimer: If after reading this post, you are concerned for the well being of my blood-sugar, do not fret, for I have a master plan. Coming home from school, I gave myself a week grace period to give into whatever craving my little, OC food starved heart desired. On Monday morning, June 13th, my diet will go back to it's regularly scheduled programming of being a moderately healthy eater and frequent gym go-er. That's it.