No more vacations

I'm back from San Francisco and am now prepared to be 'holed up' in Santa Barbara until probably Christmas. But my trip was awesome!! I got to see my mom, I got to be spoiled rotten, and I got to see a really beautiful city.

As always with family, my mom and I bickered a lot of the time, but it was all in good fun. That's what happens when you travel with someone that you know really well, right? I've always thought that that will be the best test of whether I can marry someone - if we can survive a road trip somewhere far away and not kill each other by the end.

I did so much, it's hard to break it down. And my camera is officially broken, so the pics on my mom's won't get to me until about 2 weeks from now. I did all the touristy stuff: ride a cable car, drive down Lombard St., walk the Golden Gate Bridge, see the view of the city from different vistas, and go to Chinatown. All of those were really fun esp. hanging out on the cable car going down a really steep street.

I also was an immense dork and went to the Williams-Sonoma store in Union Square. Folks, this is the mecca for W-S employees. It's 4 stories tall and has everything you can possibly imagine. There are cash registers on each floor, two kitchens, and so much space it's not even funny. Okay I'm done with my dorkiness, but my co-workers back in Charlotte will be so proud. I also rode a glass elevator in the Westin hotel, but it's not open to the public, so my mom and I had to be sneaky sneaky and act like we were staying there. It was actually really hard to find, but completely worth it since it went really fast and went about 32 stories into the air with nothing around you but glass. It was SWEET.

I love travelling and I love driving and I got to do a lot this past week, so I'm a happy girl. And I got to see my mom, so that was fun.

On another note, Grey's Anatomy starts this evening and I plan on being there with bells on. Or something. I think if you're a fan of the show, you will understand how exciting it is that my cousin (the 9 year old that lives in Santa Monica) goes to school with Isaiah Washington's son and they're in the same grade. I asked Alex if he knew him and he sorta shrugged his shoulders and was like, "oh, _____ (I forget his name, K something) sure! do you like him?" I told him I didn't know him, but Alex apparently is good friends with him. I need to hook that up.

In a related story, my aunt and uncle have a signed copy of a fold-out in People of the cast of Grey's Anatomy and everyone has signed it. If anyone wants it and wants to suggest a price they would pay for it, I will relay the message.


OH
I forgot the most important thing. San Francisco Conservatory. It's amazing and now my #1 school. There's nothing wrong with it. Most schools have at least one minus, but this one doesn't. The location is in the heart of downtown right next to Symphony Hall, the city is amazing, the weather is great, the people are nice, it's a small school, there are plenty of performance opportunities, they don't have a wind ensemble, and one small tiny detail: they just built an $80 million facility that has just opened this year. It's spectacular.

Okay, so there is one minus. San Francisco is very expensive to live in, but hopefully they'll love me enough to give me almost a full ride :)