LA/Cincinnati/Chicago

On Sunday morning, I woke up at 7:30, packed up all of my things and forced Jess out of bed to drive me to the airport. Going into LAX, we passed the famous sign. I love this photo even more than other ones I have seen, because this one has Jess's hula girl in it. 

I have never actually had a pleasant experience flying out of LAX (domestic, not international). People working there never seem to be organized, and the lines are always long. LAX is also several buildings, so it's a pain in the butt to go from one to the other. There is no tram to take you, and I always get harassed by homeless people when I walk. 

On Sunday, I only had one real annoyance. I lined up to check my bags at Delta and waited for a good five or so minutes before a man came up to me and told me that I couldn't check my bag without a boarding pass. I had to go to the kiosk first. I know it's not the biggest of all deals since I only waited five minutes, but it was still annoying that there was NO sign. Therefore, I had no way of knowing that I needed to print my boarding pass first. It's things like that that annoy me about LAX.

Security was also a pain. I haven't been through US security since last July, so I haven't experienced the full body scanner yet. It was different, to say the least. 

I was hungry when I got to my gate, so I ordered a breakfast burrito from a place called Creative Croissant. I naturally expected my burrito to be in a tortilla, but it turned out to be in a massive croissant! That's what I get for going to a place with "croissant" in the name, I guess. I still ate it, although I would have like something a little less buttery. It did taste pretty good. 

I also bought a banana from there, so it helped balance out my nutrients a little bit! How many jokes can you make about a banana in my purse?

The flight from LA to Cincinnati (I couldn't get a direct flight since I procrastinated on booking it and direct flights were outrageously expensive by then) was bliss. I sat next to a nice and chatty man. We managed to hold a conversation the entire four hours. I learned a lot about the Pacific northwest region of the country, and he learned a lot about Australia. 

I got a quick flight back to Chicago and arrived to a huge surprise! Another one of my besties, Irene, greeted me at the airport with my parents. This was a huge deal, because I haven't seen her in almost two years! She spent a year in Uruguay, and I missed her every time that I came back to visit. It was one of the best reunions I have had in a long time. Of course, I was happy to see my mom and dad, too. I just wasn't surprised to see them!

It was dinner time by the time I got my bag, so we all went out to Cooper's Hawk by our house. My parents love this place, because they make their own wine there. My dad loves any place that appreciates wine as much as he does, so they eat there frequently. This was my second time there with them.  

My dad bought a bottle of wine in the gift shop, and they put it in a decanter for us to drink. 

We toasted to a lot of things, and one of the toasts had to do with both me and Irene getting engaged since we last saw each other. She is engaged to a Brazilian boy, so we have a lot in common in the sense that we are marrying people from other countries (that are very far away). 

To eat, they gave us pretzel bread to start. It tastes exactly like a soft pretzel, but it's not covered in salt and oil. It's great bread. 

Australian restaurants do not usually have big salads for main meals like we do in America, so I knew I had to order one. I actually miss those a lot when I am down under. I ordered the BBQ Ranch Chopped Chicken Salad. Ready for a mouthful of ingredients? Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, rotisserie chicken, cheddar, cilantro, corn and black bean relish, crispy onion strings, tortilla strips and BBQ sauce. I got my ranch dressing on the side so that my meal wasn't smothered in it. So delicious. 

Then I came home to my puppies!