Westside Wedding Story

recapping my trip to San Diego and Las Vegas

Wed July 28
-BabyGirl and myself were really excited as it was our first trip together
-arrived in San Diego around 7 local time
-dad told me that everyone was stressed preparing for my sis, Princess' wedding
-arriving at Princess' place, it felt like I'd never left, boy how time flies
-realized how much I missed her dog Mason, who I had a present for, a stuffed basketball
-my cousins from Phoenix, AVAD and Zona, were there too
-myself and Zona had a good laugh about the 6-Pack competition and our Facebook trash talk
-went to In and Out Burgers for dinner, haven't had them since 2003 in Phoenix, let the unhealthy eating begin
-my parents, AVAD, BabyGirl and myself stayed at my aunt's house, whom I haven't seen since 1993 (talk about old school)
-they made some major renovations to their home, expanded it, felt like we were staying at a resort


Thurs July 29
-early morning start
-went to Princess' place to help with the rehearsal and dinner for later
-took a walk around the area with BabyGirl, to check out the Best Buy and Mission Valley Mall
-nearly got into a fight with some white dude that got mouthy with BabyGirl, I was positioning myself to shove him, but luckily my conscience kicked in after seeing his 5 year old kid with him
-went to Maggie Moo's Ice Cream and got BabyGirl her first taste of cinnamon ice cream, she loved it
-after lunch, Romeo (brother-in-law to be) drove myself and BabyGirl to San Diego Zoo
-this was something I've been waiting for, my first chance to see a live panda
-San Diego's Zoo destroys Toronto's, it's not even close
-gave BabyGirl her first sample of churros, loved them too, I haven't had them since '93
-after much walking I finally got my look at a baby panda, sleeping in a tree, but no complaints from me
-there was this long-a$ lineup to see the other pandas, so we didn't bother
-we got tired of walking so we ended up taking the tourbus for the last hour
-the beauty of San Diego Zoo is that it's situated in the same park (Balboa Park) as where the wedding and reception would be held on Saturday, just on the other side, so after we were done at the zoo, it was a 5 minute walk across the park to the location of the rehearsal
-when we got to the location in the park, Prado, we ran into my other family from Toronto
-again how time flies, 8 months before I was scouting this location with my Princess, now the day was almost here
-rehearsals went off smoothly without a hitch
-the dinner was a nice little intimate event back at Princess' appartment complex
-played pool and got into a surprising convo wit my sis' friend's fiancee, a white dude who's a big time hip hop fan, who goes way back further than me, he's also a throwback basketball fan and boxing fan, it's like him and myself were cut from the same cloth, proof positive that you never know who you're gonna meet, people just catch you by surprise sometimes

Fri July 30
-this was left as a free/open day to relax
-went back to Princess' appartment complex, while my uncles from Phoenix, The Philippines and Toronto just arrived in San Diego, introduced them to BabyGirl
-took BabyGirl, AVAD and Zona for ice cream, BabyGirl needed her second helping of cinnamon ice cream LOL
-SIX-PACK CHALLENGE
-myself, Princess, Young Flash and a few others went outside and walked around to find 5 random people/votes to settle this
-Young Flash took the first vote, Princess took the next two, Young Flashed bounced back with the fourth vote
-It all came down to the final vote, I got it on film too, Princess escaped with the victory
-SIX-PACK CHALLENGE RESULTS: 1st) Princess, 2nd) Young Flash, 3rd) J-Smooth
-my familia from Phoenix along with BabyGirl and myself decided to do some shopping that afternoon in San Ysidro, an outlet mall right on the U.S./Mexican border, great deals as always
-went to Jollibee for dinner WOOOOOO

Sat July 31
-Wedding Day!!!!!!!
-got up early to get ready
-BabyGirl and myself looked fresh in our wedding attire
-arrival at Prado in Balboa Park, of course pix were being taken everywhere we walked
-it was nice seeing familia that I haven't seen in years, some even more than a decade
-before the ceremony I was taking some video
-there was already talk about myself being the next one, whoa whoa whoa, my response "can we just enjoy this one first?" LOL
-ceremony went off without a hitch either, no major delays, the most beautiful ceremony I've been to and I'm not being biased
-during the ceremony, I have to confess I wasn't really paying much attention, I was taking in the atmosphere, the scenery, the crowd, my parents' reactions, the emotion on the faces of the bride and groom
-I'd be lying if I said I didn't tear up a little, good thing I kept my GQ shades on LOL
-the only annoying part of the day was the photo-taking, doing various poses, but I expected that
-myself and BabyGirl wanted to catch a nap before the reception, but we were forced to hang out at the hotel where most of the familia was staying
-uncle joked that when we got to Vegas, he'd take BabyGirl and myself to the drive-in wedding chapel LOL
-the reception was beautiful too
-everyone congregated outside the reception hall for drinks and appetizers, this is where the best photo-ops were, made me feel like a Hollywood star with all the cameras going off at all angles, a simple pose with Princess had 6-8 cameras going off at a time, but J-Smooth is always accommodating to his fans LOL
-Open Bar!!! ... 2 glasses of wine, 6 beers and 3 shots, final count for the night and still not tipsy, super high tolerance, and that's after staying clean for more than a year, no rest and being hungry
-best reception I've been to as well, no long drawn out speeches, no long boring program, everything worked like clockwork, dinner started at 7 dance floor was opened up by quarter to 9
-the food was by far the best I've ever had at a wedding, had the steak and fillet mignon, oh man, heaven!, steak was tender and juicy, perfection!!!
-best wedding cake I've ever had too, apparently the bakers are the best in San Diego according to Princess
-only critique I can make is the DJ, played good songs but didn't run proper sets, but it certainly didn't take away because for the most part people were dancing
-Best Wedding EVER!!! hands down



Sun Aug 1
-departure date from San Diego
-said our goodbyes to my aunt and uncle, and said our thank yous for their above-and-beyond hospitality, hopefully it's not another 17 years until I see them again
-before leaving BabyGirl and myself made a pitstop to Mission Beach, too bad we didn't have enough time to go swimming
-last pitstop was to Princess and Romeo's apartment to say goodbye to them and Mason, I love you all


-VIVA LAS VEGAS!!!
-took the freeway, which was a straight shot from San Diego to Vegas
-on the way we were 5 seconds away from being killed, (my parents, BabyGirl and myself), a pickup truck swerved across all the lanes ahead, went into the ditch, hit the guardrail/fence and flipped over, if we'd been 5 seconds earlier we would've been T-boned, luckily we didn't get hit then or when the pickup bounced off the fence, someone up there is watching over us I'm telling you
-arrived at my uncle's house in Vegas, beautiful house, HUGE! pool and ping pong table in the game room upstairs!
-AVAD and BabyGirl were sleeping on an air-mattress on one side of the game room while Zona and myself were on the floor on the opposite side, Prank Time!
-I crawled on the floor then snuck up from behind the two girls to scare them LOL, which then sparked a late-night pillow battle, "way to act your age J" LOL



Mon Aug 2
-photo-ops at Red Rock canyon, a place I liken to Sedona in Arizona
-the Nevada heat was crazy, I estimate +40C
-got in more shopping at the outlet malls in Vegas, even more deals
-we were supposed to stay at the MGM Grand that night, but plans fell through, boooo
-at night, took the long walk on the strip with BabyGirl, AVAD and Zona
-plenty of photos taken
-my legs were killing me by the end of it all

Tues Aug 3
-swimming at MGM Grand pool
-said goodbye to AVAD who was flying out that night
-walked around some more to the M&M Factory, had the best ice cream cookie sandwich ever!
-at the end of the night, played Wii with Zona, won some, lost some and set a record which I dare AVAD to match
-packed to go home

Wed Aug 4
-6AM flight home, ughhhhh!!!
-tired as hell and didn't want to go back

This trip wasn't long enough at all, but by far the best one I've ever been on ... pretty much confirms that the States is where I want to settle down ...

~J-Smooth~