south meets west, in the best possible way

you may have thought to yourself over the last week "where the heck is hayley??".....or, you haven't even missed me at all.

either way, my absence has been fully warranted.....first off, i was completely and totally preoccupied with my thursday plans.

see, a week ago today i was up at the crack of down so the hubs could drive me to the airport, and i could hop on a plane with this gorgeous lady.

cuz for the last 2 months, she and i have been planning a trip to california to see the other half of our threesome (other third? other piece? whatevs)....ONLY SHE DIDN'T KNOW WE WERE COMING!!!

so i was basically living in a constant state of paranoia that i would somehow let something slip and ruin our surprise.

but i totally didn't, and technically could have blogged this monday....but i slept for 12 hours, and then spent the next 2 days fighting off some airplane plague i'm sure can only be blamed on the hoard of sketchy old businessmen that ended up on our flight home when their plan to minnesota got delayed. or so i gathered from my incessant eavesdropping.


anyhoo, back to my trip....we arrive in the lovely city of sacramento about 11am local time....BUT we aren't supposed to meet our friend until noon.

sooooo......

we  might have spent a little time hiding all of her left shoes in two empty drawers below her linen closet. and she might not have noticed at all until friday morning when she started packing for the rest of our weekend. IT. WAS. AWESOME.

needless to say, that gorgeous brunette on the right (HI AMANDA!!! i know you read this in secret, because you simply cannot get enough of me....NOT THAT I BLAME YOU!!) was completely and totally surprised when we showed up at a little cafe on a thursday in california.

and yes, i cried. but only because she started it. and because i'm a total wuss.

and don't worry....there will be LOTS more pictures in the next few days....because i am basically now in love with the bay area. i'm already plotting a return trip with the hubs.

but today? today i leave you with arguably the best part of my trip....minus seeing my besties of course.

that my friends, is my new favorite thing. it's called a tusk, from grange.

basically....all you need to know it is has bourbon in it. and some fancy liquer they make from bacon fat and booze and other fanciness. AND A PIECE OF CANDIED BACON THAT I WILL DREAM ABOUT FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.

omg. this southern girl was in HEAVEN....and it seemed like a pretty fitting welcome to the west coast, don't you think??