SoCalScapades4Less

Guys, I am so sorry it’s been such a long time since I’ve posted a blog. This whole grad school thing has literally taken over my life (why did no one warn me?!). I don’t know how often I will be able to keep up with this wonderful creation of writing but I shall aim for every couple months (this is not a binding contract!). Now that that disclosure is out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff.

Five months ago I embarked on a life-changing experience. I moved mountains and swam oceans to uproot my life to the vast, mystical land that is Southern California (from the far-off land that is Northern California). Even though I have ventured to the tanning capitol of the world many times before there are still countless sunny, sand-filled experiences I have yet to revel in. Because I don’t want to be a lonely duckling embarking on these adventures, I have forced my family and friends to come visit me. When they visit me I get to impress them with my newfound SoCal street smarts and it gives me an excuse to show off my deal guru ways (when my face isn’t glued to textbooks and word documents).

One of my very good friends came to visit me for Halloween, my mom visited me the following weekend, and my best sister/friend visited me right after finals. With them visiting me, we got to experience hydrobikes, the Queen Mary, a fashion show, the San Diego Safari Park, bottomless mimosa brunches, an Irish pub, whale watching, and a food tour. Sounds like a bank breaker amount of fun right?! WRONG!!! If you don’t believe me then see my handy dandy chart below to see what I paid vs. what Hollywood stars pay!

	What I Paid	Hollywood Stars Pay
Hydrobikes	$10	$20
Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor	$12	$24
Brunch (for 2) w/ bottomless mimosas @ The Green House	$22	$44
F.A.C.E. fashion show	$18	$34
San Diego Safari Park	$21	$46
Shenanigans food & drinks	$13	$30
Queen Mary’s historical tour	$16	$33
Marina Del Rey whale Watching	$29	$60
Brunch (for 2) w/ bottomless mimosas @ Alegria Cocina	$25	$50
Old Towne Orange Walking Food Tour	$34.50	$69
TOTAL	$200.50	$410

That was back-to-back weekends and a much needed grad school free weekend of non-stop SoCalscapades (bad or good name merge?) for less than half off!!  Living in SoCal may be expensive but having fun doesn’t have to be!!!

Riding hydrobikes was pretty interesting. It required a lot more leg work than I had anticipated and I left with some jelly-filled calves the rest of the day. But that makes it even better. Having fun and working out = SCORE!!!! And for half off the normal price? Even better!!!

 

 

Later that day my friend and I went to the Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor for some spooktacular scarefest Halloween fun. And even though it literally rained on our parade, we had a blast. Anytime someone creepy comes crawling at me I can’t help but laugh/scream at the same time! Plus we totally got to like rock out in our totally awesome 80s wear!! Jealous much?!

 

The next day we got to enjoy a delicious bottomless mimosa filled brunch (BOTTOMLESS MIMOSAS)!!!!

 

Plus they had pictures on the wall of the restaurant like this:

Who wouldn’t love this place?!

Then we went to a “fashion” show in downtown LA which was more of a “please take your shirt off super-hot buff guy, that outfit looks ridiculous” kind of show. (I’m certainly not complaining) Not a bad way to spend a Saturday night if I do say so myself. It was definitely a weekend full of sunny SoCal (except pouring rain) fun. Thanks for visiting me Okerra!!!!!

 

After all that crazy and wild life in my 20s kind of fun I got to spend the next weekend with my mom. She came to visit me for 4 whole days and we got to have a much more relaxing while still adventurous fun in the sun kind of weekend. Tigers, cheetahs, dolphins oh my!! From the San Diego Safari Park to whale watching we saw all kinds of scarily captured and ocean roaming creatures.

Going to the San Diego Safari Park was definitely a fun way to spend the day if it weren’t for the unnecessary 90+ degree weather in November!!! For crying out loud SoCal have some seasonal decency!!! Even the tigers weren’t a fan of the ridiculously hot sun!!

 

Seriously though SoCal? Pouring rain one weekend and 90+ degrees the next weekend? I do not approve!!!!

As for the whale watching, even though we only got to see a couple of dolphins and one whale, it was still a relaxing, hypnotic ride out to the deep blue sea. Truth be told though, we didn’t get to see the whale in full form; all we got see was the water coming out of her blowhole and I’m pretty sure that was her way of giving us the finger. But it was still fun to see everyone running over each other from one end of the boat to the other for that potential glimpse of Shamu.

 

While we didn’t enjoy any shirtless fashion shows, it was still just as enjoyable. Thanks for coming to visit mom, I love you!!!!

 

Then right after finals my best sister-friend visited me for some much needed escapism. We got our grub on at the Old Town Orange Walking Food Tour and an interesting brunch with bottomless mimosas at Alegria Cocina. Food and drinks: What more does a girl need in life after 4 months of slaving away through grad school hysteria?

 

 

So I know $200 seems like kind of a lot of money but when it's spread out over 3 different staycations with 3 different people, it's really not that much. Especially not when you consider doing all of those things would have cost me over $400 if I wasn't such a brilliantly cut-rate savant living that cheap grad student life!!

Stick with me folks, I'll take you places ;-)

Run4Fun

Let me start with saying I HATE running.  I do not like to run for exercise.  I am a very let's do this ish and get it done with kind of person and long-distance running just does not fit in to that category for me.  With that being said, I have come to appreciate the art of running (or in my case jogging/walking) when I have a desirable location to do it.  OR in the case of a fun 5k where there are more obstacles then actual running.  Eventually I would like to work my way up to doing the 12k tough mudder (who wants to do it with me?).

If you would have asked me 3 years ago if I would participate in a mud run, or any 5k race, I would have side stink-eyed and laughed at you.  Why would I want to willingly get dirty and smell like living bacon? Who does that sort of thing?  Well, apparently I do!!!  I love mud runs, obstacle courses, night runs (where I get to where my light up tutu!!), and any other "run" that lets me be silly and crazy.  BUT, these things can cost way too much money for my liking, especially now that I'm on that struggling grad student income!!

HOWEVER, that's why I love Groupon and Living Social so much (endorsements much?).  These sites almost always have a local run available for half off or even sometimes 3/4 the price.  Yes you do have to pay for these "runs" but if you are going to pay you might as well pay less than everyone else right?  Amirite?  Here's a list of all the runs I have done thanks to my fun run gurus Groupon and Living Social and what I paid versus what a professional athlete might pay:

                                           What I Paid                       Athletes Pay
Mud Factor                              $35                                     $75       
Run or Dye                               $19                                     $45
Rugged Maniac Mud Run      $26                                     $53
Color in Motion                       $25                                     $50 
Glow Run                                 $19                                     $28
ROC race                                 $61                                     $105    
TOTAL                                   $185                                    $366

SO not every run is as fun as the other but my faves are ones that include plenty of obstacles (and light on the actual running part).  Mud runs are infamous for this.  SO many obstacles and very little actual running.  AND you can get as dirty as you want.  No one will tell you not to play in the dirt!!  Isn't that a childhood fantasy come true?!  If you don't believe me that they are fun check out the pics below.  Also please note there would be a video of one of the mud runs but someone (cough cough Gabrielle cough cough) had the GoPro on upside down the entire race!!

  

Obstacle courses such as the ROC race are also life altering degrees of fun.  You get to jump around in bounce houses, swing from ropes Tarzan style and tightrope walk over water-filled blow-up pools.  What about that doesn't sound awesome?! AND I only hurt myself in one obstacle (damn old age!).  I do have to be honest thought because I didn't actually purchase this deal.  My really extremely great friend Gabrielle got this for me as moving away present because she is an awesomely amazing person like that (luv ya chica).  BUT because she has learned from me she purchased the race on groupon!!

 

Other 5k fun runs worth doing are color runs and night runs.  With the color runs you get to have dried paint thrown all over you as you "run" along a course.  The night runs are usually LED lit up courses where everyone dresses up in their best 80s/rave wear.  Anytime I get to wear my light up tutu is a Win-Win for me.  BUT the downside to these runs is there aren't any obstacles so you have to actually run or pretend you are injured (wink wink) and walk most of it.

 

There are all kinds of races all the time available on Groupon and Living Social.  Check them out and you will find the funnest things to do.  Especially with the holidays coming up there will be zombie runs and ugly Christmas sweater runs galore.  So don't give me any excuses about not trying it out!!  My next goal in life is to partake in a slime run!!  Who's with me?!  We can live out our nickelodeon fantasies together!!

SHOWmetheMONEY!!!

I don't mean that in the literal sense (unless you want to give me some money which I'm all for!!).  I mean that in the figurative going to a show and saving money while doing so kind of sense.

Personally, I absolutely love going to shows.  Comedy shows, concerts, plays, magic shows, variety shows, drag shows, etc.  Any time someone is putting themselves on stage to be ridiculed for my comical benefit should definitely be seen!! 

I have seen all kinds of shows thanks to the wondrous inventions Groupon and Living Social.  Everything from comedy shows, Broadway plays, Backstreet Boys (don’t judge me!!), dinner shows and much more are all life changing events I have experienced in recent years.  Seriously, I would not have a life at all if it weren’t these magical online deal-guru sites!!  Here’s a list of some of the shows I have seen and what I paid versus what a show snob would pay:

	What I Paid	Show Snobs Pay
Latin Comedy Jam in Sacramento	$12	$25
Backstreet Boys in Sacramento	$20	$35
Rock of Ages on Broadway in New York	$60	$129
The Perfect Crime off Broadway in New York	$30	$68
Lipstick & Lashes Dinner & Drag Show in Santa Ana	$21	$45
Pirate Dinner Show in Buena Park	$33	$66
Dinner Detective Show for 2 people in Sacramento	$101	$160
TOTAL	$277	$528

 Yes folks you read that correctly.  I paid $277 for $528 worth of shows.  That’s $251 in savings!!  Am I good or am I good? (Trick questions, there’s only 1 right answer)  Now I know I have mentioned some of these events in other posts but they are relevant again so I’m repeating myself (you’ll live if you read it again!!). 

The Latin comedy jam didn’t have many big name comedians but the performers were pretty funny and it was a fun time for only $12. 

I wasn’t completely excited to see the Backstreet Boys (I was more of an N’Sync girl) but I was absolutely surprised how good the show was.  They put on a great performance for a band that’s been together for 20 years and they didn’t look half bad (check out Brian) for nearly 40 years old (40 = over the hill right?).  Not to mention a friend of a friend was very punctual and scored us closer seats than our purchased lawn seats!  Plus I was very proud of my friend Cherita for not crying (she cries at every concert)!! Love you Cherita!!! BACKSTREET’S BACK ALRIGHT!!



 

Now Rock of Ages is a show I was entirely ecstatic to see.  I’m an 80s soul at heart (I took a facebook quiz that told me this and you know those quizzes are completely VALID).  I saw the movie first and thought it was pretty good so I wanted to see the musical too.  A little piece of advice: SEE THE MUSICAL.  It’s absolutely hilarious and enjoyable.  Where else can you sing 80s music at the top of your lungs and not get sideways stink eyed? LOVE IT!!  Travelzoo and Living Social have deals on Broadway shows all the time so there really isn’t any excuse to pay full price (just saying)!

The Perfect Crime was an interesting and quirky show.  I don’t know if I would want to see it again but if you are into plays but not a fan of musicals then this would be a good show to see.  It’s played by a very small cast but is pretty engaging and keeps you guessing throughout the whole show.  Something different at the very least.

I’ve mentioned Lipsticks and Lashes before but I must repeat myself.  GO SEE IT!!!  If you aren’t shy and like to see scantily-clad womenly-dressed men twerking and lip-synching, then GO SEE IT!!  It’s hilarious, fun and they provide food.  What more do I need to say?

 

The Pirate Dinner Show is another one I have mentioned before. This is a great show for all ages.  It’s an engaging show that has it all: singing, dancing, acting and food! Again, what more do I need to say.  AND this show has been put back up on Living Social so you have NO EXCUSES!!

The Dinner Detective Show in Sacramento is almost always on Groupon so if you are interested in trying it out I definitely recommend it and I absolutely recommend paying less than full price (catching a theme?).  This is another really fun engaging show where food is involved so obviously I was doing it!!  You get to interact with everyone at the show and mixed in are actors pretending they have no idea what’s going on (i.e. "acting").  Throughout the show people “die” and you have to guess who the killer is. The person who guesses correctly gets free tickets to another show a few months out.  So if you’re a regular Sherlock Holmes you can win and get 2 shows for the price of half of one.  WIN-WIN right there!!

 SO have you booked a show yet?