Kelocity.com

A runner with an appetite for adventure!

Don’t Ever Fly Spirit Airlines On Your Birthday! August 18, 2011

Filed under: Travel — Kelocity @ 7:00 am
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Ok, remember last week when I wrote about how I was nervous about flying Spirit Airlines again? Well, let’s just say that my instincts were right. Although I had no problems on my flight TO Chicago, the seats are disgusting, they don’t clean the planes in between flights and it’s just plain gross in there. Also, I think since the prices are “low”, they attract a clientele that you don’t usually see on other carriers. (I know that is judgmental, but seriously, some of those people looked homeless.)

When I was checking in with TSA, the guy made some comment about how their boarding passes actually don’t comply with FAA standards, but they continue to print them that way. The information is hard to read on them and the agents hate them. (Way to piss off your airports, Spirit!)

My flight back to LA had a scheduled three hour layover in Las Vegas. I wasn’t happy about this, but at least I got a good deal on it, so I made the most of it. I get to Las Vegas, have a nice dinner by myself and read a bit of “The Help” in the terminal. They had slot machines there since it was Vegas, but I wasn’t feeling very lucky.

Yep. Not lucky indeed. Right when the flight was supposed to be boarding, they quietly announced that the flight was delayed for TWO hours! Now my 3 hour layover had turned into FIVE hours! I could have driven home to LA in less time than that. Ugh! And right after they made that announcement, their counters looked like this…
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Yep. No staff. No one to ask your questions to or anything. And now I wouldn’t be getting back to LA until 1:45am. I called Irving, we chatted for a bit and then I read more of my book.
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So 12:30a rolls around and they announce that the flight had been cancelled since the crew couldn’t work that many hours. Whhhaaattt??? Didn’t know you know that would have been the case, oh, I don’t know, FIVE HOURS AGO?! The way they announced it was almost like WE were an inconvenience to THEM. Ugh!

So many people at the gate were drunk (they’d been drinking for five hours in the airport bars for crying out loud!) I was already annoyed that I had to listen to them screaming and laughing way louder than anyone should in the middle of the night. I was the first one in line and they gave me a hotel and meal voucher and a ticket on an 8am flight the next day. They said they had nothing any earlier.

I asked if they could put me on another airline so I’d make it to work on time, but they guy laughed and said “oh, no other airline will accept our vouchers”. HAHA Seriously? That alone speaks volumes.

Want a few other reasons why Spirit is the worst? They charge for Carry On bags and water during the flight. (PS… water in the airport was cheaper than the water on board!)

So I called Irving and asked if he could find me any other flights leaving earlier, and Southwest had one leaving at 6am. He booked it for me and I got BACK in line and waited another 40 minutes or so to talk to the agent. When I got up there I said rather loudly I wanted a refund because Southwest was better, cheaper and more convenient. The agreed to give me my money back, but I had to surrender my hotel voucher first. I laughed and told him no. He argued with me for a few minutes but I won. Thank you very much. Jerk.

And since it was past midnight, it is now officially my birthday. Guess I can’t say that I never celebrated my birthday in Vegas, huh?

So the good news is that it is now 1:30am and I have a place to stay for the night.
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But the bad news is that it is 1:30am and I have to get up at 3:30a to make my Southwest Flight.
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And to top it off, I missed the hotel shuttle and had to wait 15 more minutes for it to come back. In the meantime, Mr. Vegas Drunk from the airport terminal decides that now is a good time to strike up a conversation and “get to know each other”. Ew, gross. I tried to ignore him.

When the bus finally came, he SAT NEXT TO ME. ugh! He was wearing a bathing suit and a wife beater and had zero luggage. I’m pretty sure he was so drunk that he lost it somewhere. He was all sweaty and gross and practically sitting on me naming off reasons why we should be get rooms next to each other and eat out of the mini bar.

When we got to the hotel, I told the guy to give me a room as far away from that creep as possible.

After a 1.5 hour “nap” in the hotel, I made it back to the airport and had an uneventful 42 minute flight home. Yep. After all that, the flight was only 42 minutes.

If you’re counting, I think I got 9 total hours of sleep in three nights. Somehow I made it through the workday, but when I got home at 5:15, I had just enough energy to open my birthday presents! But I was asleep by 5:30pm!

I am NEVER flying Spirit Again! When I called today to ask about my refund, they had the gall to ask me if I’d like to apply for their credit card. I thought they were kidding! NEVER EVER EVER.

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In other news, BIRTHDAY PRESENTS!!!!
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I was in love with Irving’s super awesome “girls rule” wrapping paper.
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I got some really fun gifts including the LA Noire Game for the xbox!! It should be arriving this week and I can’t wait!!!
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I’m pretty sure Irving has been waiting for 10 years to be able to buy me a video game. Can’t wait to play it! Thanks, love!

So I’m officially 28 years old now. People keep telling me that 28 is a great year. I’m sure it will be. Looking forward to it!

 

All Birthdays Should End with Gelato June 16, 2011

Filed under: Dining Out,Family,Food,Happy — Kelocity @ 7:45 am
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Last night, for Irving’s Birthday, we took the celebration outside and headed out on a walk. There was some gorgeous evening sun, and it was nice to get some fresh air (I nixed my walk from work today in lieu of getting home sooner for his Birthday!)

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It was nice to catch up and chit-chat. And find cute things like this to entertain us.IMG_5959

Eventually, we ended up at our destination: Ca Del Sole. It’s an Italian restaurant that I’ve been dying to eat at for quite a while. I love Italian food!
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The menu was pretty authentic. You won’t find Buca Di Beppo quantities of pasta, but you will find really great, fresh, homemade food that you can’t find anywhere else. This menu made me really miss speaking Italian!
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We started with some crusty bread, served with an olive tapenade.  IMG_5963

I could have dined on the bread alone. Delicious!IMG_5966IMG_5967

We were seated in a cabana style section, it was really cozy and fun. And nice to sit outside!
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Irving ordered the short ribs risotto and also the veal tortellini!
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And I ordered the Pumpkin Ravioli. It came out, and I remember thinking to myself “I’ll snap a picture of it once the waiter adds the fresh Parmesan cheese on top… and once he did, I started eating. It was too good. So this is the only picture of it that I got:
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But the meal wasn’t over yet! There was still dessert yet to come! You can’t have a Birthday without dessert!!! Irving didn’t want me to tell the waitress that it was his birthday, but I couldn’t help it! It’s a very special day!

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So our dessert came with a birthday candle. It was only appropriate!
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Make a wish!
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Nicely done. Hope all your dreams come true this year!IMG_5978

It was hazelnut gelato with an Italian pastry, drizzled with chocolate. Mmmm! IMG_5980

Date nights are fun!
IMG_5981A Happy Birthday Indeed

Happy Birthday, Irving!!!

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PS… check out my guest post about how I accidentally got to visit London on Two Boos Who Eat‘s blog today!!

 

To my Husband… June 15, 2011

Filed under: Love — Kelocity @ 8:00 am
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But wait! We’re not over with the birthdays yet!!
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It’s also my Husband’s Birthday! I’m so excited that this is the TENTH birthday I get to celebrate with him! (Gosh, I can hardly believe we’ve known each other for almost TEN years!) He’s a lucky guy….. wait, I mean I’m a lucky lady!

I mean, who wouldn’t want to be married to this fella!
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So for every year I’ve known him, I present to you 10 reasons why he’s the greatest:

  1. He travels the world with me. And even let’s me choose the destinations most of the time!
  2. He makes the bed every. single. day.
  3. His flat-paneled computer monitor died this week and he TOOK IT APART and soldered new capacitors onto the motherboard and FIXED it! Whaaat?? (I know, those were some big words, I impressed even myself).
  4. He can eat a whole sleeve of cookies like nobody’s business. I know. He’s amazing.
  5. He tells me I am beautiful every day. And he holds my hand when we walk.
  6. He reads my blog. And my twitter.
  7. He’s coming with me to the BlogHer conference!!!!
  8. He loves soccer, golf and frisbee. Yea, we should go play frisbee outside this weekend!
  9. He thinks nothing of jumping in the car and driving eight hours to explore a new city.
  10. He laughs so heartily while watching the Norm MacDonald show on Comedy Central. That show is pretty funny actually.

 

So Happy Birthday, darling!
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Hope it’s a wonderful day for you!

 

Happy Birthday, Mikaela!

Filed under: Family,Happy,Sisters — Kelocity @ 5:00 am
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When I moved across the country almost seven years ago, I thought about how much I’d miss my friends, my town, my traditions and my family, but never really occurred to me just how much I’d miss my sisters. They were still in school when I left and I always felt “so much older” than them (there’s 3 years between me and Mikaela and 5 years between me and Laurie).
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Now that we’re all in our twenties, I miss them more and more. I wish I knew them better and had more inside jokes. I wish I could ask them for advice and bud into their lives and offer them mine. It’s definitely easier with cell phones, skype and facebook, but it’s not perfect. And with 3,000 miles between us, it never will be. All we can do is try our best to stay in touch (something my mom reminds me of c-o-n-s-t-a-n-t-l-y with her “did you call your sisters this week” texts).

Today is Mikaela’s 25th birthday!!!! Happy Birthday!!!!
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When I talked to her last night, she said “25 is soooo old!” Instead of brushing it off, I said, “That’s because we ARE old!” I’m a nice sister, promise!

In honor of her birthday, let’s share some facts, shall we?

FACT: Mikaela insisted on wearing dresses everywhere we went. Even outside to play in the sandbox. She’d ride bikes in her dress, and play in the woods in skirts. That girl loved ruffled socks and pretty bows.

FACT: Back in the day, when getting chicken pox was cool (“when I was your age, kids used to get Chicken Pox!”) we both had them at the same time. Better to put your parents through it as few times as possible I guess.
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FACT: While all her friends were obsessed with cabbage patch kids and barbies, all Mikaela wanted was “a boy doll”. I think she named him Bruce when she finally got one. [UPDATE: The “boy doll” was named BRIAN. It’s been confirmed!]

FACT: She was OBSESSED with dogs. She begged my parents for a puppy for years until they caved and brought home Nikki for her birthday one year!
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Now, she’s a proud mama to Gizmo!
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FACT: She rocked the bowl cut for the first seven years of her life. Heck yea she did! Mikaela, send me a good bowl cut pic so I can show everyone!! Come on, it’ll be fun!

Hope you have the BEST birthday ever!

PS. how cute is this picture of her and Laurie from this week?! LOVE!
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Cupcakes for Breakfast! August 15, 2010

Filed under: Happy — Kelocity @ 12:03 pm
Tags: ,

This morning, I convinced Irving to do a birthday walk with me with the Los Angeles Racers! I was so excited when he agreed. I love running or exercising on important days. (I even ran a few miles with my friends the morning of my wedding!)

It was a gorgeous morning to get outside!

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Lovely!
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After the walk, my friends brought CUPCAKES!!! Not just any cupcakes, those huge ones from Costco! (you know what i’m talking about!)
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Nothing beats a huge cupcake at 8 in the morning!
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There were FOUR LA RACERS Birthdays this month!!!

Happy Birthday, guys!

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Mmmm Frosting!

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Thanks guys! You all rock!
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When we got home, Irving declared it was FINALLY time to open the presents!!
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After all…. the countdown finally got to zero!
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Look at all my goodies!!!!!!
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I am pretty sure Irving had a field day in Fry’s Electronics last week. He’s probably SO excited that I’m finally as excited about computer parts as he is. lol

These are the final pieces I needed to finish off my computer! (I built myself a computer from scratch a few months ago, and these are the last odds and ends still left to install!!! YAY!)

Most importantly though, was the USB Hubman.
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Get it??? Hubman = hubby?
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Thank you so much, Irving!!!! And congratulations for finally making your wife as nerdy as you are. LOVE YOU!