I Love Lance, but I Hate Dirty Hippies

Lancer and I have been happily hitched for 7 years now. Tomorrow is our anniversary, and like most things this year, we're playing it rather low-key. We are some seriously tired peeps. Le Bebe and The Startup have poached every last ounce of energy we have, and we're just too tired to put on a big to-do.

In honor of us, I am posting my fave wedding picture. Ta-da! Hope you like it.

2 weeks ago, we decided to celebrate our anniversary early and do a long weekend in Mendocino. We had never been there before, and we were excited to get out of dodge. I found this cushy spa and resort that looked amazing--an eco-friendly lodge in the mountains with kayaks, organic gardens, etc. The selling point was the huge indoor atrium with a nice, heated pool and hot tub.

Our "amazing" eco-resort.

We started out Friday afternoon, and made our way up north. We hit some traffic along the way, and decided to stop in at the outlet malls. I tricked Lancer into going into Coach just to look--which I promise was my actual intention. I already had a new bag, so I didn't need anything else, besides a diaper bag. And it's not like they have a diaper bag line there.

But, wait! They do, and they're cute. Did anyone else know this? But not as cute as the totally adorable cream purse that I bought to use as my diaper bag instead!

It was 70% off, and that's practically free. I also snatched up a cute madras plaid hat, and Lancer got some belts. Success! We moved on.

Our freeway quickly turned into a tiny, dark, winding road. Soon it was almost 9, and we were hungry. I called ahead to order some food before the kitchen closed. That's when the lady informed me that the menu wasn't vegetarian--it was vegan. "But I saw sushi on the menu," I protested. "Oh, that's not real sushi. It's made with bean curd." Gag-o-rama. Lance relented and ordered the lentils, and I got a pile of roasted veggies on polenta. For $60. We checked in, and we not-so-pleasantly surprised to be innandated with a booklet containing a million reasons we should be vegan. Pass.

On the plus side, the room was cozy, and the bed was super comfy. It had a little fireplace, and balcony overlooking the ocean.

The organic gardens

I'll spare you the details on why the rest of the trip was a bust, but let's just say that we figured out a few things.

1. "Eco-friendly" in Mendo really means vegan propoganda, terrible food, dirty hippies, pricey meditation seminars, and signs in the bathroom strongly advising you to ration the water. Um, I'm on vacation. I should be able to use the entire water tank up if I want to. The Ritz would let me!

2. Mendo is in the heart of pot-growing country, and everyone is high. Everyone--including your servers. So when they forget your order twice and outright refuse to bring the sauce for your sandwich because you tried to order a Diet Coke (scoff!!!!) you will know why.

3. Kayaking/canoeing would only be fun when you don't have to battle a strong current to head back upstream to return said canoe/kayak.

4. Freezing cold water sure makes an indoor pool less appealing.

On the plus side of things, Mendo is a very quaint and charming town. The ocean views are really cool, because the water is surrounded by lush forests, and gorgeous redwoods.



This may look familiar--it's where they filmed Murder She Wrote. Ironic, since I would have killed for some red meat and an icy Diet Coke, and the locals would have killed me for trying. Solve that one Jessica Fletcher!


I was trying to do a fancy list about all of the reasons I love Lancer, and why I'm happy we're married. But it really comes down to this: I made roast tonight, and we both put gravy on the potatoes, but ketchup on the roast. We're so obviously meant to be. Always have been, always will be. Maybe one day I will post the whole, long, convoluted story about how we met--but for now, you will have to settle for the ketchup bit.

Happy 7th baby--I love you! And I'm excited for Mini Mostess to come on down and join our little California family! We just won't take her to Mendo.