They arrived late Sunday night (or early Monday morning). Bags rented a car, dropped Dustin off at his hotel in San Diego, and then came up to Oceanside. She and I both worked Monday and Tuesday.
Wednesday morning we dropped Bags's rental car off at the San Diego airport and then squeezed in a 15-minute meet-and-greet with Dustin at the Starbucks across from the Convention Center before heading up to Orange County to the home of an LDS lady who sells wedding dresses. Most of the dresses were hideous (because apparently people who design and buy modest dresses have the sickest taste imaginable), but she had a couple really pretty lace dresses. (Bags and I had already been dreaming independently about lace.) It was fun to be able to shop with little Bags and give my very strong opinions. We found one dress that was almost perfect but refrained from pulling the trigger because of the price tag.
Thursday we went to a little wedding dress boutique in La Jolla that was recommended to me by my mentor at work, Stacey. She said they had a range of dresses - with and without sleeves - and that they were mid-range as far as price goes. In fact, although they had some great dresses, they were all strapless and very expensive (to us). It's really awkward shopping for wedding dresses with no-Mos (aka people not of our faith) who don't understand the modesty requirements. They keep thinking that if you add a two-inch, sheer piece over your shoulder, you'll be good to go. I find it surprising and extremely frustrating that nobody in the world wants a dress with a top and sleeves. I mean, people get married when it's cold, and lots of people don't look good in strapless dresses (but I guess they don't know that). No wonder Mormons are shelling out thousands of dollars for custom-made dresses!
Thursday afternoon Bags went down to watch Dustin give his final presentation, and then they had dinner with Bags' friend Kara and her husband in San Diego. They got home around 10, and we introduced Jim and Dustin and chatted as long as we could stay awake.
Friday was our only day with Dustin. The itinerary revolved pretty much entirely around food. We went to breakfast at the Beachbreak Café and then to La Jolla to check out the seals. Dolly got her Hollywood on in the car:
At Children's Beach in La Jolla, this little guy was the first seal we saw:
I made a comment about how he was missing arms and looked weird. I was ridiculed and told that seals don't have arms. Later he popped out his arms (flippers?), and I was vindicated.
Dolly just kept point to the water and saying, "Otter [water] in," over and over:
She was pleased when Jim threatened to throw her over:
Jim couldn't resist Dolly's pleas, so he took her in the "otter" for a few minutes:
We walked along the coast a bit and observed the segregation of seal v. bird on this giant rock:
I'd take the stool-free seal side, myself.
Bags and I were into this really dilapidated old building (the picture doesn't do it justice), which appeared at first to be abandoned. The resident upstairs didn't like when Bags took a picture:
After La Jolla, we went back up to Oceanside to JR's Hawaiian Shave Ice (owned by a guy who used to be in our ward). I don't remember having the fancy shaved ice (finely-shaved, with ice cream in the bottom) growing up. It's pretty delicious. Jim goes through periods of obsession and wanted to introduce the Dunster.
Mikayla babysat that evening so we could go to dinner at the Flying Pig, which had been highly recommended. I liked my food, but Jim was really not a fan of his. We won't be returning. We walked from the restaurant down to Coldstone by the pier. Dustin had never been to Coldstone, and the worker gave us incredibly skimpy portions of melty ice cream. It was a big disappointment, and Jim and I will also not be returning to that particular Coldstone. You win some; you lose some. Then we walked down the pier, and I made Bags and Dun pose:
As we started heading back to the car, Jim decided he felt like some refreshing frozen yogurt. So Dustin stepped it up and had a second dessert with my crazy husband. After we got home, we taught Dustin vicious gin. He's gotta be down with vicious if he's gonna be a Hastings.
Dustin flew out Saturday morning, after we introduced him to chocolate and almond croissants from Trader Joe's. (Again, food-obsessed much?) Our friends the Davises, who live just a cul-de-sac up from us, had a garage sale Saturday, so I ran up there while Bag Lady took Dustin to the airport. I got Dolly a few toys and these Mardi Gras-style necklaces:
One of the toys I got is this set of wooden fruit and bread in pieces that Velcro together so kids can "cut" them apart with a fake wooden knife. Dolly played a little bit with it. Then she got in the box and got sad:
Saturday afternoon Bags and I had a most awful shopping experience at David's Bridal, where the workers were at a complete loss but tried to pretend they might have something modest enough to work. (The biggest wedding dress chain in the world, and not a one.) Jim and I had to make a very brief appearance at a birthday thing Saturday evening, and Cornyee graciously babysat Dolly. We made brownies to take with us to the party. To my knowledge, Dolly had never had a brownie before, but boy did she know she needed one. She was in heaven:
Dolly also did some vacuuming while holding her "chapper" (that's what we call Chapstick, so that's what she calls it):
Sunday we went to church and just hung out until Bags left that night. Somewhere along, Bags photographed Ever showing off her toe-sucking skills:
Around this time, Dolly got this weird idea of putting her foot on her tray, putting her head down on her foot, and saying "night night." She started doing it all the time - fake sleeping on her foot. Silly girl.
It was wonderful to meet Dustin before the wedding and get a little involved in the wedding planning. I'm so glad Bag Lady has met somebody wonderful and worthy of her. While she was here, we were talking about wedding stuff, and Jim got choked up talking about how proud he is of her and wants her to have everything she wants, etc. Made Bags and me cry. All is well in Zion.
P.S. I should add that it's been weeks now since this visit from Coco and Dun Dun, and Everdeen is still talking about them. "Dun Dun, buh-bye. Coco, buh-bye." I told her they'll come back. So she also says, "Dun Dun, back," "Dun Dun, home," etc. She apparently thinks that some man shoes under the stairs are Dustin's (they either belong to Jim or Bret Davis, who is currently staying with us). When we go by them, she says, "Dun Dun dirty shoes."
2 comments:
So nice Court & Dustin could visit. November will be hear before we know it.
That conference couldn't have been timed better. Thanks for hosting, it's always fun at San Deego's house. Dun and I are both pleased that Ev hasn't forgotten us yet. Can't wait for November!
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