28 on the 28th!

On September 28th I turned 28!!!  I ended up going on a solo mini vacay for the weekend and it was awesome!  Since my birthday was on a Friday, I took the day off of work and booked a room in Buellton, which is right by Solvang.  Right after work on Thursday, I threw my bags in my car and took off.  

I stayed here:

It's a nice little place, nothin' fancy, but it was comfortable and, most importantly, it had a windmill.  When you go to Solvang, you have to stay someplace with a windmill; it's the LAW!

Before I left, I Googled a bunch of cool stuff in the area and looked up addresses for all of the essentials (Target, a grocery store, Target...ya know...the basics), but once I got there I decided to narrow down what I was going to do.  So, I spent Thursday evening finalizing my plans for the next day and then gave myself a mani/pedi, so that I would wake up with fabulous nails on my birthday and not feel like an old lady.  HA!  ; )

On Friday morning, I was up around 9, which meant that I could make it to breakfast at the motel, which was not too shabby.  Then, I went to this awesome place I found online, called Quicksilver Ranch, which is just outside of the tourist-y part of Solvang.  It's not someplace you would want to spend hours, but definitely worth 15-20 minutes.  It's a ranch with mini-horses!!!  I repeat, mini-horses.  NOT ponies.  They were about waist-high and packed with awesomeness. They were SO cute!  My pictures can't even do them justice, but I'll post them anyways.

 How cute are they!?!

I'd also like to report that I followed the rules and left with the same number of fingers I arrived with.

Another cool thing about this place it that it's free!  It was cool enough that I would've been willing to pay a few bucks for it, but I didn't have to!  Yay!  So, if you're in the area and have a little time, go here; it's awesome and kid friendly!  : )

Afterwards, I headed back toward Solvang and stopped at the Santa Ines Mission.  I had been there a few years back and discovered that there wasn't much to see, so I didn't spend much time there, but just walked around and looked at the pretty landscapes.  I would just like to give a little shout-out to strangers that are willing to take pictures for people.  Since I was there alone, I was wholly dependent on the kindness of others to get pictures of me on my birthday adventure and I must say that every time I wanted a picture, a good Samaritan would come along and help me out!  

At the Mission!

After the Mission, I drove to Solvang and went straight to the most amazing store ever.  It's called Jule Hus (Christmas House) and it is magical. It's Christmas there all-year-round.  I went to Solvang for the first time a few years ago on a mother-daughter road trip and fell in love with this store, but didn't really buy anything.  Since then, I have started a new tradition; I collect a Christmas ornament from everywhere I go and I have racked up quite a collection of the cutest ornaments!  I'm way proud of them and can't wait to put them up on my own Christmas tree in my own house some day!  : )  Anyhow, I have been dying to go back to this store and pick out a few gems for my future tree and that is exactly what I did!  I ended up spending lots of time in there, going through all the ornaments and decorations, making sure I got just the right ones.  I was pleased with my final selection and now I can die a happy woman...in about 60 years, that is.  ; )

Then, it was on to the rest of the cute Danish village!

I, of course, had to go to Mortensen's Bakery and get something delicious!

I did a ton of window shopping, went through a couple of museums, including the Hans Christian Andersen museum, and took a picture with one of Solvang's big windmills.

I spent several hours wandering around at my leisure and then decided to throw out my trip itinerary and go back to visit a pumpkin patch I had seen on my way to Quicksilver Ranch.  I have visited pumpkin patches before, but had never actually gotten a pumpkin from one.  Since it was on my bucket list, and it was my birthday, I decided that the day had come!  Here I am with my very first pumpkin patch pumpkin!!!  

Just down the road from the pumpkin patch, there was an apple orchard, which was perfect because apple picking was also on my bucket list!  So, I pulled over and picked some apples!

I was totally giddy and the man that worked there was extremely amused by that and humored me by taking a picture for me!  : )

After that, I decided to go back to my motel room and relax for a little bit before dinner.  I had decided beforehand that I would go to Andersen's Split Pea Soup Restaurant for my birthday dinner, so when I got hungry, I headed across the street for dinner.  On Andersen's website, I had seen that they have a Christmas store year-round and I was excited to check it out.  I was definitely not disappointed!  It was SO cute!  Just like a winter wonderland!  I apologize, by the way, for my extreme usage of exclamation points.  I tend to get very excited and when you're typing, exclamation points are pretty much as good as it gets!!!  Don't judge me!   ; )   

After spending an inordinate amount of time in the Christmas Shoppe, I ventured into the dining room where, I was determined to try some split pea soup.  I was getting up the nerve to order some, when I saw someone else delving into a bowl of it, and it kinda looked...absolutely disgusting.  I asked the waitress what it tasted like (creamy, bitter, pea-ish, etc.) and she brought me a tiny dish to sample.  Ummmm...YUCK!  Well, it wasn't terrible, but I only had one bite of the sample and did  not order any with my dinner.  Other than that, it was pretty good.

Next, I went to Albertson's and bought a mini-cake, which was delicious, but so rich that I could only tolerate a few bites, some candles, and a little thing of ice cream.  

I finally learned to use my camera's timer and was able to get a decent shot with my birthday cake!

The next morning, I took a beautiful drive down the coast, past some of THE most beautiful beaches, to Santa Barbara!  I toured the Santa Barbara Mission, which is super pretty!

I don't typically include grave markers in my blog, but I thought it was kind of cool to see the burial of the girl from Island of the Blue Dolphins.  She's buried in the churchyard inside the Mission.

After the Mission, I went to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, which was small, but worth the stop.

Before heading home, I went to a little restaurant in Santa Barbara, called Jane, and had lunch and tried a piece of their delicious coconut cake!  Yum!  Something bizarre happened there, however, that I will include here for your amusement.  There was an older couple sitting at the table next to me and I could hear them discussing the coconut cake.  She wanted some, he didn't.  Then, she looks at me and asks, "Is that pretty good?"  I responded that it was. So, she asks me for a bite.  WHAT!?!?!  A stranger just asked me for a bite of my cake!  I looked around to see if I was being punked or something, but, no.  She really just wanted a bite.  lol  It was a pretty big slice, so I cut off a piece from the edge I hadn't eaten off of yet and put it on the bread plate on her table.  It wasn't a big deal, but it was definitely out of the ordinary.  ; )  

The drive home was pretty easy and I enjoyed my trip alot!  It gave me the solitude that I had been craving, but was short enough that I didn't feel lonely.  Certainly a win-win situation!  

On Monday, October 1st, my whole family (those in California, anyways) went to dinner at North Woods Inn in Covina!!  I love that place!  Here we are:

And I got a birthday sherbet!

Overall, it was a very happy birthday!