Summer '12 California Trip

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A few weeks ago, the boyfriend and I hopped on the plane en route to Orange County, California. Joe had been to California once before, but I told him that trip didn't count since it was for work and he was only in LA area for 24 hours. 
Not only did my parents want to see me (at least) once during my summer vacation from classes, but they wanted to meet Joe, and I was craving a break from the Texas weather. What better way to beat the heat than to leave the kitchen--am I right?!
Now, how do you show someone ALL of your hometown in just three days? Especially when your hometown is in the beautiful state of California? I decided it was time to get my tourist gear on and show Joe the landmark sites and attractions that make my home-state a great place to visit. From Newport Beach to the Huntington Beach disc golf course, from Old Towne Orange to Main St. in Huntington Beach, from Disneyland to UC Irvine area, I gave my man the glorious, drawn out tour of California, making sure he saw everything from the beautiful beaches to the hole-in-the-wall diners and bars.

Pictured: Myself in front of the Newport Beach shore line. We went to the beautiful shores of Newport Beach so Joe could get the full effect of California Beach scenery. Isn't this panoramic feature cool?! Joe downloaded the PhotoSynth app on his iPhone to be able to capture beautiful panoramic scenes while we were on vacation.

Pictured: Joe and myself at Taco Mesa in Costa Mesa. I made sure to show Joe the difference between Tex-Mex and Surf-n-Turf (California) Mex. We enjoyed some beach-style Mexican seafood at Taco Mesa with complimenting Sangria.

Pictured: Joe posing with Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse. What So-Cal vacation would be complete without a trip to Disneyland? Because I worked at the Disneyland Resort for a few years, I had been gifted several complimentary tickets seasonally to use with family and friends. I took advantage of these tickets and shared "The Happiest Place on Earth" with Joe for a full day. We're talkin' 10 AM to 11 PM with no stops in between!

Pictured: Joe and myself in front of the Hollywood Blvd. mural in California Adventure. I made sure to take advantage of every photo-op available, like this surprisingly realistic mural in California Adventure.

Pictured: the World of Color lake in California Adventure. I thought California Adventure was the perfect "sample" to show Joe different highlights of my hometown state. Just look at the mix of sunlight, lake, and palm trees pictured!

Pictured: Joe and myself in front of the brand new Cars Land. Cars Land was merely an idea when I moved to Texas last year. I had heard the rumors and seen the walls being blocked off for where they considered putting the new attractions, but I never got to see the final product in all its glory. It was great to experience a Disney "first" with Joe.

Pictured: myself in front of the Cars Land scenery. Doesn't it look like I'm actually on the side of the Grand Canyon or some place of the sort?! Loved the realistic details in Cars Land. 

Pictured: The outside building of the Hollywood Tower of Terror ride. This is by far one of my FAVORITE rides in Disneyland as a whole. I was so happy when I saw they wait was a mere 7 minutes for this one! I grabbed Joe's hand and dragged him through the spooky hotel, and giggled as he screamed on all the drops! Hee hee.

Pictured: Minnie Mouse on Main St. in Disneyland. After we were done enjoying all that California Adventure had to offer, we headed across to the world-famous Disneyland and began to take on all the popular rides at the resort.

Pictured: Joe and I on the Space Mountain ride. It was near the end of the day; Joe and I were exhausted. We had gone on over 15 rides, saw several parades and shows, watched the fireworks, and walked around for hours. But I couldn't let him leave the park without riding on my absolute FAVORITE ride in Disneyland--Space Mountain. He was a little hesitant to go wait in the 15-minute line, but once we sat front row for the last roller coaster of the day, he enjoyed every moment of the ride, and thanked me after for making him go on it :-) 

Pictured: Joe and myself in our California shirts. What summer trip would be complete without a souvenir? At the end of our Disneyland trip, during our walk back to the car through Downtown Disney, I stopped and picked up this shirts as a conclusion to our trip. I figured they were convenient and something we'd actually wear and recall our fun trip with each time we use them :-)

So that, in total, was our fun California trip. Joe concurred that he got to see most of California, and that he had a wonderful time. My family loved meeting him, and it was great to be back on my stomping grounds... even for just a few short days.
How many of you went on fun trips this summer? Maybe even vacationed in a different town than your own? Link those posts up, I would love to see! :-)

Photography Link Up: Sunday Snaps Week 6

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Hey everyone! I hope you had a great week with the start of September and the return to classes. Pumpkin Spice Lattes are out at Starbucks, and Fall is not too far away! Now, if this Texas weather could get on board with the upcoming season change, everything would be fine and dandy ;-)
Here are some of the top highlights from the previous link up week:
Photo by Life's a Beach
Photo by Finding My Way in Texas
Photo by The Grant Life
LOVE every single one of the above photos! Great framing, great job capturing the moment, beautiful focus, and beautful lighting! Good work, ladies! :-)
If you were featured, please don't forget to grab a button and brag about it on your page!

<div align="center"> <a href="http://www.sarahbtexas.blogspot.com" title="Sarah B Texas @ City Girl Gone Country"><img src="http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg634/SarahBTexas/Snap%20Shot%20Sunday%20Stuff/wasfeaturedSSbutton.jpg" alt="Sarah B Texas @ City Girl Gone Country" style="border:none;" /></a></div>
And now it's time for the beloved, weekly photograph link up you all know and love! I can't wait to see what y'all have in store this week! Be sure to tell your friends so they can join in on the fun, too :-) (Remember you have until late Friday night to link up ANY post from this week containing a picture!)
Rules:

• Please follow both of your hosts! (Myself and Jules)
• You MUST provide the party button somewhere in your post in order to link back to this party (available to the right on my sidebar). Failure to do so may result in your link-up being removed.
• Link up to specific posts, not just your blog.
• Please only link up to three blog posts each week. 
• HAVE FUN! And follow some of your fellow link-up bloggers while you're at it! ;-)

A little more sneak-peek to my Vaca-time

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I know, I know. I'm behind... REALLY behind. I've been on two trips and have nothing to show in the blogging world for it except an extremely overdue post up on Sunday Snaps and a bunch of emails asking what corner I ran to hide in. 
Rest assured, I'm alive! I stupidly bravely planned a four-day trip with my sweetheart to visit his family in Michigan and take in his hometown. What makes this so brave? The fact that the minute I would touch back down on Texas soil I'd be hitting the ground running with the Fall semester. Who likes playing catch up? Not me.
SO, now that I've gotten my classes, books, and homework all taken care of and under control, I'll give you a little sneak peak into our Labor Day weekend MI trip. At some point, I will be posting a Summer Vacation wrap up with highlights from both our CA and MI trips, but for now, a few teasers will have to do ;-)

Joe and I were fortunate enough to be taken to the Frederik Meijer Botanical Gardens by his mother. It was breathtaking!

I took full advantage of the beautiful plants, flowers, waterfalls, and sculptures available at the gardens with my trusty Canon Rebel!

Joe's mother fired up the bonfire pit one of the nights we were there, and it was such a delight to sit by the fire as the sun went down and take in the lake's beauty.

We both had a great time. I enjoyed getting to see the Mister's hometown, and I think he enjoyed showing me the ins and outs of Michigan. I would LOVE to go back again sometime soon!
What did you do for the Labor Day weekend? Anything exciting or different? I'd love to see! If you're a college student like me, hang in there! I know the initial start back to classes is so hard!
Until next time...

My Sunday Snaps post: week 3

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This post had been put on the back burner, because the boyfriend (Joe) and I traveled to California EARLY Friday morning and have been on the go for the last few days. I am EXHAUSTED, but I think I was a perfect tour guide for the mister in my hometown :-) My "Sunday Snaps" post consists of a little sneak peek of our weekend together (a full post will come later on when I'm done vacationing!) Enjoy, and don't forget to go here and link up for this week's Sunday Snaps link party!

Joe and I enjoyed a round of disc-golf with my Dad in Huntington Beach this weekend. It was great to be able to play an outdoor sport without worrying about the Texas heat or those pesky mosquitos! 

"The Big Mouse" would be the reason for our energetic demise yesterday. Joe and I spent the WHOLE day at Disneyland, going on every ride we possibly could and seeing every show available. Needless to say, we were SO tired last night and are SO sore this morning!

It's these moments where I'm ashamed to say I used to be able to go on the Disney rides anytime I pleased while being a cast member... HOW does the newbie end up beating me on the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters' game?!

I have literally JUST gotten home after dropping Joe off at the airport, and am finally decompressing from the busy-but-fun past few days. Not pictured yet are the shots from the line-dancing bar I dragged him to on Friday to meet my friends, a day at the beach where we wrote our names in the sand, fun times on main street in Huntington Beach, and lunch/dinners with my family members at various locations. All in all, I think he had the ultimate California experience, complete with a souvenir shirt I bought him at the end :-) Hope y'all had great weekends, as well! Can't wait to see those pictures on this week's Sunday Snaps Link Up!

Sunday Snaps Week 2: 08/12

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Hey Everyone! Welcome to the second week of our photography link up: Sunday Snaps!  Here are my personal favorites from last week's link-up party (in no particular order):
Photo taken by Finding My Way In Texas
Photo taken by Sweet and Sassy Texan
Photo taken by View From the 512
Beautiful photos! Everyone did a great job, thanks for participating, blogging friends! Don't forget to grab a button if you were featured!

<div align="center"> <a href="http://www.sarahbtexas.blogspot.com" title="Sarah B Texas @ City Girl Gone Country"><img src="http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg634/SarahBTexas/Snap%20Shot%20Sunday%20Stuff/wasfeaturedSSbutton.jpg" alt="Sarah B Texas @ City Girl Gone Country" style="border:none;" /></a></div>
And now, without further ado, here's today's link up (if you need an idea of what to link up, come check out my post this week HERE; I went with the theme "Here Comes the Sun" this week)! 
We've updated the rules a bit to give you some more freedom; take a look!
Rules:

• Please follow both of your hosts! (Myself and Jules)
• You MUST provide the party button somewhere in your post in order to link back to this party (available to the right on my sidebar). Failure to do so may result in your link-up being removed.
• Link up to specific posts, not just your blog.
• Please only link up to three blog posts each week. 
• HAVE FUN! And follow some of your fellow link-up bloggers while you're at it! ;-)

Sunday Snaps, Week 2: Here Comes the Sun

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Hey All! While Julie and I have decided to give you the leniency to make your OWN theme and link up whatever pictures you want for Sunday Snaps, I thought I would give myself the theme "Here Comes the Sun" as Julie had suggested to me beforehand. Check it out!

I thought this picture was very "summer"y and sun-shine-y enough for my theme. My friend Brooke on the left and I had a little mini photo shoot a few years back when laying out by the pool. Still some of my favorite pictures of us!

This is another picture from our mini photo sesson. I don't think I need to explain why this is "here comes the sun" appropriate! ;-)

I was fortunate enough to catch one of the last days of the Texas state fair last year. (I have a terrible tendency of missing fairs by being out of town.., I'm missing TWO this summer!)

What are your favorite "here comes the sun" themed pictures? If you think you've got some winners, I'd love to have you show them off at this week's Sunday Snaps! Post 'em and link 'em up! :-)

Happy Anniversary to ME!

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Hey y’all! I guest blogged today over at A Beautiful Day with Jules, and loved the content of my guest post so much that I thought I'd share it with y'all here today! :-)

I moved to Texas from California a year ago this week, and I thought it was only fitting that I create a blog post to commemorate my first anniversary here in the ‘ole hot state (since as I’ve mentioned in SEVERAL previous posts, I always like to celebrate the ‘little’ things)!

On August 6^th, 2011, I packed my bags and headed over to this glorious state. I had NO idea what I was in for, but managed to keep an excited smile planted on my face as I transferred my poor body from a cool 70 degrees to 100+ degrees in a matter of two days.

Since living here in Texas, I have learned and picked up so many things/habits I didn’t know in California. One of which is the oh-so-famous “y’all”! I am SO guilty of this one! It’s just so convenient. Why the conjoined word phrase hasn’t mozied its way on down to CA is beyond me!

I REALLY learned what football is all about here—especially college football! I could not believe how much fun it was getting to attend my university’s first game of the year… even if we didn’t win (anyone who knows about UNT knows we don’t have the best track record when it comes to winning football games).

I’ve learned about love and I’ve learned about heartache. I’ve learned the true meaning of friendship and how crazy but oh-so-fun it can be to live with 3 random girls. I’m still constantly learning things here in Texas (like how much mosquitoes love my sweet blood), but I’m so proud and so happy to call it my home for the time being. J So cheers to my first anniversary here in Texas, and cheers to the blogging community for enduring my mini-celebration! ;-)

It's been a great ride here at City Girl Gone Country. I'm still amazed when my DIY posts like my T-shirt to Tank Tutorial gets countless views each day (you like me, you really like me!). I can't wait to see what comes next, and look forward to sharing more crafty things in the future with y'all!

Sunday Snaps: "Personal Best"

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I would like to welcome y'all to participate in this NEW link-up: Sunday Snaps!

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.sarahbtexas.blogspot.com" title="Sunday Snaps with City Girl Gone Country"><img src="http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg634/SarahBTexas/Snap%20Shot%20Sunday%20Stuff/SSFinal2.png" alt="Sunday Snaps with City Girl Gone Country" style="border:none;" /></a></div>
A picture is worth a thousand words, but sometimes it's nice as a blogger to take a break from the wordy posts and let the photographs do the talking!

Three Cheers for the Red, White, and Blue!

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Hey, y'all! I hope you had a great 4th of July holiday. I know I did! Here's a snapshot overview of my Wednesday experience. I had the time of my life, and couldn't help but be proud to be an American on our Independence Day!

Sunglasses: Gucci, Shirt: Target (2011), Shorts: Wet Seal (2010), Bag: JustFab.com.