Off to Orange County...

Last week I got to go down to Santa Ana CA for a work conference! My boss was going to put me on a plane, but then said I could drive if I wanted to and he'd pay my whole way.. I am blessed to have a great mother who can go with  her children on little adventures whenever she wants.. and so I got to drag her along! I would have never drove to CA by myself.. and I probably wouldn't have flown either, I'm such a baby!  We left Tuesday afternoon and it was pouring rain! That was the day of the floods.. Anyway, my mom has what is called meneres (don't mind my spelling) and so she gets really dizzy and nauseous sometimes and asked me to drive us. So me and the Lexus and pouring rain and California traffic.. good thing my mom is such a sweetheart.. This girl is only use to a 2 lane freeway not 6 lanes.. thank you.

We got down to Orange County around 6 that night and just happened to be staying a few blocks away from one of the largest, if not the largest mall in OC called South Coast Plaza, that place needs at least a few days! Unfortunately I only had the one night but I did get to stop in Forever 21 and Victoria Secret.. two of my favorites. We also ate at a really pretty place within the mall called ..'something'.. Southwestern grill. It was outside and so pretty and had yummy food! The best corn bread I think I've ever had! It was also a beautiful night in Orange County and I wished I had more time to hang out there.

When we were done shopping and eating we decided to find some ice cream somewhere and then head back to our hotel. While I was looking my mom wanted to run into RiteAid for something and she saw this inside... 

Now to me it doesn't have much meaning.. but I guess when she was first married and living in CA and Las Vegas her and my dad would always go get ice cream here because it was like a quarter for a couple scoops! We ended up just buying a few of their containers and it was delicious! (& cheap of course)

My conference was at the Marriott, where we were staying so it was really nice not to have to stress about driving anywhere in the morning. The Marriott was also super nice and had a beautiful and huge lobby where my mom was able to hang out after we checked out. 

The conference was really good. It was put on by a company back East that we deal with very often that handles most of our investment accounts. I didn't learn a ton, since I've been dealing with them for over 3 years but it was still helpful to go! And it didn't hurt that I got 2 days paid and just a fun little trip with my mom!

We didn't get back into St. George until almost midnight so it was a really long day. We, of course, hit California traffic which I have decided is my nightmare and I don't think I can ever live there. We also hit a lot of road construction which was such a pain! I hate it! I was sad to get back to regular work but happy to be in my own bed! Thanks Mom for being a trooper and tagging along with me!