From guest blogger Marsha Takeda-Morrison of Sweatpantsmom
When I was asked to write about ideas for a three-day weekend, I panicked since we are a notoriously last-minute kind of family; planning ahead means calling the hotel from the parking lot to see if they have any vacancies.
So I decided to check the paper to see what everyone else was doing, and judging by the endless ads and inserts it was obvious how 99% of America would be spending their holiday – shopping. This was a great idea that involved minimum forethought, and another excellent way to help our economy! My husband wouldn’t be too thrilled, but neither was I when he made me camp in the rain that time, either. Besides, I get just as much joy from bringing home a new purse as I would from lugging back a piece of driftwood.
We’ll start off our weekend by heading out to the mother of all shopping malls, the South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. Supposedly they have something like five million stores in there – I’ve heard that the owners don’t even know how many and when they’re done counting their bags of money at night they just go right back and build another store in the morning.
But first we’d have to eat, so we’ll stop at Coco Noche in Manhattan Beach, a wine and chocolate restaurant that serves excellent tapas dishes. We’d order the Korean beef served with lettuce leaves and their chicken sandwiches. My husband would still be fuming over the whole shopping thing, and would just down a couple of beers. Afterwards we would sample some chocolate – they have exotic ones like chili pepper and cinnamon.
When we got to the mall we’d first have to appease our two tween girls so our first stop would be Hot Topic. I would limit them to 30 minutes because to be perfectly honest that place scares the hell out of me – I’m always afraid I’ll come out of there and realize I’d gotten my tongue pierced and a skull tattooed on my stomach.
Next I would go to Bloomingdales and not come out for three hours.
After hours of spending my husband’s hard-earned cash we’d need to eat again and luckily food was nearby. I truly believe that next to stretch jeans, man’s greatest invention has got to be the Mall Food Court, where a family of four can eat tacos, baguettes and pizza all at the same meal. Next we’d head to our hotel, which I had just reserved three minutes earlier.
The next morning I’d be feeling sorry for my husband, so we’d head across the street to one of our favorite places in the city, Isamu Noguchi’s California Scenario. You wouldn’t expect to find a sculpture garden created by a world-class artist wedged between a Chili’s and FedEx office, but there it is. We’d wander around the cactuses and rocks and listen to the amazing silence in the middle of the city. I’d try to enjoy it and not think too much about that fajita pan I put on hold at Crate and Barrel.
On our way home we’d stop by Huntington Beach and sit out on the sand for awhile to count our receipts enjoy the sound of the waves. We’d all agree that it had been a great weekend – and while we were coming home poorer, we could all rest in easy in the thought that we looked stunning in our new clothes.
What are some ways you spend a three-day weekend? Are you a plan-ahead or a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of person?
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2 Responses
I have always been more of a last-minute planner. However, lately I have tried planning out a trip or two, way ahead of time. It can be fun–the planning stage is as fun as the actual trip. However, I have found that your expectations get pretty high…sometimes too high! So, I tend to prefer the surprising and unexpected pleasures of the last-minute trip.
Allison - I know what you mean, sometimes the planning is half the adventure. But I’m such a last minute person that doing anything ahead of time just isn’t in my nature. I didn’t even want to plan my honeymoon ahead of time.