What a Difference a Year Can Make
A year ago this weekend I was at Hoag Hospital suffering from by far the worst sickness I've ever experienced in my 27 (almost 28) years of life, salmonella. That weekend Jenn had a ton of things planned including seeing a Shakespeare play being performed at a nearby park. More on that in a bit. What's even more important though is the difference a year can make from being in the hospital to having the great weekend that just transpired.
Saturday morning Jake came down at around noon. Which meant Jenn and I laid around the apartment being lazy and making plans for our newly re-booked Europe vacation. When Jake came down, him and I went to play golf at the Newport Beach Golf Course. The par 3 we normally play at. We played the back nine holes this time and it was a lot of fun, even if we had to go around a group of eight. Yes that's right they let a group of eight players on.
After golf we went to Blue C Sushi in Fashion Island while Jenn attended her best friend April's baby shower in Riverside. Jenn and I went to Blue C Sushi the week it opened and really enjoyed it. They have a revolving sushi belt and as the sushi comes by you grab the ones you want. They then count up the plates when your done to give you the bill. It's a pretty laid back setup and one that works perfectly with my new found love of sushi.
When Jenn got back from the baby shower we had Chipotle (our saturday ritual) and went down to Crystal Cove to watch the sunset. Jenn wanted to practice her new photography skills (from a class she took a couple weeks back) and Jake loves pictures of himself. It was a really nice way to take the sunset in. We got Starbucks on the way home and believe it or not watched a couple of episodes of The Wonder Years on Netflix before hitting the sack. The good news is that show totally holds up.
On Sunday we woke up and went hiking at our favorite spot in Crystal Cove. We brought the DSLR (camera), but that was a bad idea. It was hot and no one was really feeling taking pictures. We finished the 4 mile hike and picked up lunch. Jenn got Flame Broiler and Jake and I had Taco & Co.
Jake left for home and Jenn and I laid around the apartment. I even took an afternoon nap before we headed out to get some dinner (Five Guys) and pick up some snacks at Whole Foods for the play in the park. I remember sitting in the hospital promising Jenn that we would go and see it next year as we both were really excited about it. We went and saw A Midsummer Night's Dream at Bonita Canyon Park a mile or so from our apartment. We couldn't have asked for a nicer evening and I guess we weren't the only ones with the idea of attending. They estimated over 2,000 people attended the free performance. It was great. Although we did show up late and were pretty far away from the stage. Luckily both Jenn and I have seen the play many times before so we knew what was going on.
Going through what I did last year made this weekend even sweeter. This is one of those weekends I'll always look back and smile about.
