Hey friends, It’s time for Friday Favourites! I’m starting with a trip recap (the first of many) because our family trip definitely tops my list of all-time favourite moments!
You know that feeling when a big day finally arrives, and you can’t believe it’s happening? That’s how I felt on the 7th of January, the day we were flying out. I’d been thinking about it, counting down the days, and looking forward to it for what felt like forever!
Time to Go!
Our flight didn’t leave until 4:30 pm, but we got to the airport around midday. We checked in early and headed to the lounge. My cousins fly a lot for work and holidays, so they have lounge access. We got to join them as guests. What a way to kick things off!
We raided the incredible buffet, which had everything from pasta, soup, nachos, sandwiches, sweets, coffee, and so many other delicious things I can’t even remember.
They also had a bar stocked with everything! But I only had a couple of glasses of sparkling wine because, you know….I needed a little liquid courage to get on the plane, hehe.
Before we knew it, it was time to board, and we took our first of many family pics. Here I’m smiling like this frightened emoji 😬
The Flight
The dreaded flight was thankfully okay. I mean, I didn’t love it, but it was bearable—I survived and even felt a bit braver for it! But it was a long 13-hour journey, and the plane was packed. My cousin’s family were all seated together behind me, but somehow, Steve, Sam, and I got separated. We managed to get two seats together on one side of the plane, while the third seat was one in from the aisle on the opposite side.
Both Sam and Steve offered to take the separate seat, but I insisted they stay together since they’re both over 6 feet tall and needed the extra room. They were a bit surprised I volunteered, knowing how nervous I was. But honestly, I’m glad I stuck to my decision. I was squashed the whole way, and I’m kind of small—Steve or Sam would have found it unbearable!
The girl sitting on the aisle next to me wasn’t the friendliest, but I won’t judge—she might’ve been terrified too. Her way of coping seemed to be covering herself, including her head, with a blanket for the entire flight. After a few hours, my bladder couldn’t take it anymore, so I finally had to ask if I could squeeze past. I needed to get my numb legs to the toilet—fast! She grudgingly obliged… ho-hum.
We landed in San Francisco and then raced to catch our connecting flight to L.A.
Los Angeles
After such a long flight to San Francisco, the flight to L.A. felt like a breeze. We were up, and then we landed, and I felt so relieved. But once we hit the tarmac, all the fire alarms inside the plane went off for about five seconds, and I thought, Whoa, that’s weird. Then I looked out the window (the only time I looked out during the entire two flights) and said to my husband, “Hey, look over there at all that smoke! In the distance, it looks like a fire.” I joked, “Nah, it’s probably just the pollution in the city.” Little did we know!
We grabbed our bags and headed to pick up the van my cousin S would drive us around in for the next two weeks. I remember Sam saying, “I want to hear people talking American; I can’t wait!” He was so excited too!
On the way to the car rental place, I called my aunt to let her know we had arrived, and she was excited. She also reminded us to be careful while driving because the winds were so strong. I thought it was sweet, just like my mum used to be—always looking out for our safety.
We got in the van, and as we drove around, I was in total awe. Here I was, in L.A. pinch me!! I started snapping photos of random things I had only seen on TV, like a school bus. (We don’t have those in Australia!)
I’m not sure why I took a pic of this street sign with a number on it. Maybe because we don’t number our streets like that back home. It’s more likely that I just was so excited that I wanted to capture every second. So I snapped away at the most random things!
And then I spotted a Lowes! A Lowes, people!! My family must have thought I was nuts.
We stopped for a snack at Wendy’s, and I had to video it because… WENDY’S! I was finally going to eat at Wendy’s!!!
Cousin Connect in Los Angeles!
After checking into the hotel, we quickly freshened up and drove straight to my cousin’s house.
On the way, we definitely felt those winds my aunt had warned us about! The van was swaying along the road, but we were on such a high, completely clueless about what was really going on. As we drove, we noticed power lines coming down and entire suburbs losing power. Still, we weren’t worried—just casually pointing out, Hey, look, another blackout! Duh!!
We finally made it to my cousin’s house, where my aunt and a whole bunch of other cousins were waiting. I had met most of them on previous trips when I was much younger, and my aunt and her son had even visited us in Australia when I was pregnant with my second son.
But my cousin J and her family—who we traveled with—had never met them before. So, having this family reunion after all these years was definitely a highlight!
When my cousin T opened the door, we screamed, hugged, laughed, and I almost cried—it was just pure joy! If I could freeze a moment in time, this would be it.
We ate pizza from my cousin’s well-known pizzeria in Highland Park and spent precious time together. And it all went by way too fast! We said bye, and we were all excited because we were going to catch up with them again later that week. But we had to get back to the hotel to get some sleep since we were off to Universal Studios the next day—or so we thought!
I’m going to wrap it up here for now and pick it up again on Monday. It feels so good to relive these moments—I’d been putting off starting this recap, but reflecting on these memories has really helped to get me going. I’m such a sentimental person, and this was exactly what I needed to kick things off.
Thank you so much for being here today, and I hope you drop by on Monday, where I will share about the next day that caught us totally off guard. You can plan for everything except for unexpected disasters!
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!
Linking up with Andrea and Erika
I love going trip recaps on the blog! You have those memories fresh and it’s great to get them down. Can’t wait for more. Happy Weekend!
Aw, so sweet to have that family time! I can’t imagine how excited everyone was! I love how you’re so thrilled at the “Americana” of it all, including the Lowes! Haha. That’s how I feel about a Target!
How wonderful to spend time in the airport lounge and good thinking with the liquid courage! I am glad the flights went well.
I love all the random, excited photos. I would have been the same, snapping everything.
What an amazing family reunion. x
Aw, that sounds like such a wonderful start to your trip (not the long flight but getting to attend a family reunion!).