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Founder of Gratefully Nourished, follower of Jesus, new mom and registered dietitian. I provide resources and coaching to women and moms who are looking to eat healthy without obsession–and without sacrificing their relationship with food.
I think one of the most valuable things disordered eating recovery has given me is the ability to be flexible and present with my life and the people in it. That doesn’t mean negative thoughts about my body never pop up, but I’m much more able to choose the live-giving experience rather than the activity (exercise, restriction, eating something I don’t truly want, etc) that might provide me a temporary false sense of security.
Last weekend I flew to California because Josh was competing at the IBJJF Worlds. He does every year and I had never been there (or to CA in general!) so I was excited to go. My dietetic internship roommate lives out there too, so I was able to see her for the first time since we graduated in June 2017. So fun!
If you’re headed to southern CA sometime, here’s a few things to see & eat.
I landed around 9:45am and took a lyft to the hotel. My friend Ysabel picked me up and we drove to Pacific City in Huntington Beach. We ate Pho and ice cream, drank cappuccinos, walked along the beach and boardwalk and visited a few clothing shops. Later that night, I went to the Worlds to watch the rest of the matches with Josh. We finished with IN n’ OUT and it was greater than I imagined it’d be.
Sunday morning Josh and I drove to get bagels and coffee. Then we hung out for a bit before going back to the Worlds to watch the black belts compete. In the afternoon, I met Ysabel at the South Coast Plaza, which is a huge, fancy mall in Costa Mesa. From there, Ysabel drove us to the “Anti-Mall” which was the most hip place I think I’ve ever been. It reminded me of Portland. We drank coffee, took pictures (lol) and visited shops. Then we drove to Newport Beach and walked the boardwalk/beach. We ended back at the fancy mall to window shop and shared pasta and a salad.
Monday we went to Disneyland (!!!). It was so great. I love Disney so much. We did all the things you’d imagine we’d do at Disney. I had a few minor, irrational negative thoughts about my body (#realtalk) that I reframed and moved past. We ate lots of (fairly mediocre – it is a theme park) food. Actually after about 10 hours we went to Downtown Disney, which (if you don’t know) is free to enter and has lots of shops. There we ate dumplings and bulgogi/rice from a food truck and it was SO good. Not sure if I thought it was good because I hate eh food all day or if it was really good, but I think it was the latter. We also got ice cream AND I finally got a baby groot stuffed animal.
Tuesday was our last day and we didn’t have a lot of plans. We decided to try out the Anaheim Packing District, which was a really cool food marketplace with lots of interesting restaurants. We hung out there for a few hours then headed closer to LA. We stopped at the Grove (and the Grove Farmer’s Market), which was really nice. Probably a little too upscale for my taste but fun to visit once. We ate lunch there and wandered around. Then we visited another fancy mall in Beverly Hills before we had to drive to the airport for our overnight flights.
Have you been to LA County or Orange County? What was your favorite part?
One Response
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