Weekend trip to LA!

Hello from LA!

We flew to California for a USC football game this weekend! This is Ellen's last year in the USC Trojan Marching Band and we wanted to see her in action! My mom and dad flew down from the Bay to meet us too. Just missing Sarah!

We got in late Friday night via Phoenix (due to a flight mishap).

But we got the cutest seat on the plane - right under the heart! :D

Once we touched down at LAX, Mom and Ellen picked us up. On Ellen's recommendation, our first stop was Sprinkles Cupcakes!

Although during the day this is a regular cupcake shop, after business hours, they open up the CUPCAKE ATM! 

That's what we used - it was the coolest late-night treat!! We split 2 cupcakes between the 4 of us. There was a long line to get to the "cupcake ATM" and now I understand why - delicious!

Next we drove down Rodeo Drive and took in the fancy sights. 

We also saw the L.A. Temple! (It's huuuuuuge!)

We got back the hotel early in the morning, happy and ready for sleep!

Saturday began with breakfast at a cute diner and then watching the marching band's pre-game show!

(Recently discovered my iPhone's 'panorama' feature. Ha! Love it!)

The band was amazing as usual and got us excited for the game by playing favorite USC songs, plus fun new ones like N*SYNC and Backstreet Boys! 

Afterword we got to hang out with Ellen for a few min before she left to perform at other functions.

Next we explored campus. It was super crowded with tailgaters, and high-energy!

We visited some of my sister's and dad's favorite places on campus (they both went / go there!).

Then we grabbed a quick lunch from the California Pizza Kitchen on campus:

And headed off to the game!

Ellen got us all tickets right next to her in the band section! (thanks Ellen!)

USC played the University of Utah - it's the same game we went to with my parents last year, in SLC!

The halftime show was put on by the band, and was great! They did more Backstreet Boys and N*SYNC songs, and the whole student section sang along! :D

USC's mascot horse, Traveler, also came out :)

We even got to meet the iconic drum major / mascot :)

USC beat the U by a landslide! Go Trojans!

After the game we got to watch Ellen perform at one more event - the post-game show!

Everyone who stayed to watch gathered in front of the band and watched a final set of songs. It was a fun way to prolong the gameday excitement!

By this point we were all ready for naps and showers, so we headed back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner. 

Not too long later, we were headed for Santa Monica and a night by the beach!

We ate at the adorable Blue Plate Taco across from the beach. While there, we saw REESE WITHERSPOON - she was eating at the same resturant as us! :D

We had to control ourselves from running over and telling her we're her biggest fans - Legally Blonde is Ellen's and my FAVORITE movie! But we observed from across the resturant :) She's just as beautiful in real life!

Anyway, haha, dinner was amazing. 

We had a big tray of chips and dips before digging into tacos for dinner.

After enjoying our meal we walked to the Santa Monica Peir!

The peir has rides and a ferris wheel, which we went on, of course!

All five of us fit into one ferris wheel bucket. From the ride we saw great views of LA and the coastline - It was lovely!

 The view looking down:

It was so good to be at the beach again :) After living near the coast all my life, I miss the ocean when living in Utah!

After leaving the peir we went window shopping at the 3rd Street Promenade.

And then we called it a night! 

It was such a fun, lovely day in LA with my family!

This morning (Sunday!) we woke up early to get breakfast with one of my best college friends - STACY! :D

It was SOOOO GOOD to see her!!

I've missed this lady and was so glad she could make the drive from Thousand Oaks to spend time together.  :) We grabbed breakfast with my parents and Ellen, chatted, and caught up for about an hour.

Although I wish we could have hung out for longer, soon it was time to go back to Provo!

We're now at the airport, waiting to board our flight directly to Provo - not Salt Lake!

Provo recently opened its own airport and we're trying it out today! We'll be back in time to go to a later sacrament meeting (church service). 

It was such a fun weekend. Wish it could have lasted longer! We're excited to see my family in February for our next advenute! :)

Earlier this week was pretty routine except for two highlights!

One, last Sunday afternoon Matt's parents (who were in town briefly) and brother came over for dinner at our place. We had a lovely lentil - squash - kale soup and enjoyed each others' company. It's always good to see the Neuffers! :)

And two, on Thursday night while  our husbands were busy with classes and miderms, Kristina and I went to a Women in Business dinner and speaker event!

The dinner was put on by the BYU Women in Business club and was SO inspiring! A very successful female graduate of the BYU business program was the keynote speaker. Her two main points were: 

1. Be the smart girl

2. Take the job you're not qualified for - if you are qualified for it, you already know how to do it, and where's the learning in that? :)

I'm so glad I go to go and soak up some of the goodness of BYU. One of the blessings of living near a university is events like these!

Well friends, our flight's about to board so it's time to sign off - have a great week! Can't wait to check in next week to share our Halloween adventure... we've been looking forward to it all month! :)