weekend in costa mesa wrap-up

This past weekend was simply amazing to no ends. I spent the weekend in Costa Mesa with Esther, John's sister Anne, and Esther at John's place, and we just explored his hometown. We visited the Irvine Spectrum, which was this beautiful outdoor shopping center. There, I coincidentally spotted an old friend from back home, who also happens to go to UC Irvine; so we had a quick catch-up in a random spot in H&M. On Friday night, John's parents took us out to eat pho, Vietnamese noodles. I haven't had pho in the longest time, so somehow it reminded me of home for the first time in a long time. I thought of the old times when my grandpa would come over to my house to pick me up and go to the pho restaurant nearby his house because he knew I only liked eating Vietnamese noodles at that exact restaurant. I thought of my grandpa on Friday night.

On Saturday morning, John's mom cooked delicious pasta with shrimp and I felt very fortunate to wake up to such a delicious plate of pasta for brunch. She also made fresh tea lemonade-something that I've been craving since summer ended. I liked Saturday morning a lot because it felt like a real family breakfast gathering with two new sisters, another mother, father, and brother. We hummed to the Taylor Swift song that was playing on the radio, ate our tasty pasta, and smiled a lot. The shopping center was neat because I purchased a a pair of maroon socks with bird patterns for myself and a Christmas patterned-like pair of socks for Jennifer. I miss Jennifer a lot. I cannot wait to visit her in Seattle. I have been putting a box of goodies for her for the past month, but I haven't made the time to send her everything yet because the box keeps growing with sample rice masks here, paintings and cards there, a mix cd, etc, etc, etc... On Saturday night, Esther, John, and I had a Neopolitan ice cream fest and fell asleep to Paranormal Activity 2.

Sunday morning was just rainbows and butterflies and sunshine. Well not so much sunshine, because it was gloomy, just the way I like my weather forecasts to be. John and his mom made us whole wheat banana pancakes, omelets with bits of red and green bell pepper, and Filipino sausages! We toasted bread and ate our pancakes while catching up with Modern Family episodes. We even slipped in an episode of Glee! I felt so cozy in his quaint home full of antiques, trinkets, tea cup sets, mugs, and vintage floral printed chairs. When I saw that John's house has wooden ceilings and sunroofs, it somehow reminded me of one of my favorite movies, Is Anybody There, because in the movie, 10-year-old Edward also lives in a cabin-like home where his parents run a business to take care of the elderlies. I think it is beyond sweet for John's family to take care of the elderlies on a daily basis with such passionate commitment. I'd like to do that myself someday. I admire the Rivera family's patience, kindness, and care towards others. Sunday afternoon was just spectacular because John took us to The Lab, which is basically an outdoor strip of boutiques and flamboyant stores. Everything about the Lab was just fantastical. I purchased a few goodies and took lots of great memorable shots. I just felt happy over the moon on Sunday night. John's mom prepared a bbq dinner for us in their backyard under their dreamy canopy. She made amazing butter corn and baked macaroni. We carried some fun conversations and ended the night in Costa Mesa studying upstairs. We went back to Long Beach three hours before midnight and I just unpacked while filling my roommate in with all the exciting adventures that happened over the weekend.

Costa Mesa was much needed and appreciated. John's family makes me want to try harder for my own. I love college.