California Dreaming...

So I'm sitting at the dealership waiting for my car's headlight to be replaced, and my daughter is across from me humming Katy Perry's "California Girls" while playing with some toys. I'm not a huge Katy Perry fan, but it is a catchy song, and it got me thinking about the year I spent in San Diego, and how obvious it is that my daughter is such a West Coast kind of girl (she loves surfing, laying out on the beach, smoothies with wheat germ...at ten years old...but that's another post for another time).

Initially I dreaded being in California...I didn't know anyone, I didn't have a job, I had to use my rudimentary Spanish to order a burger at In-and-Out, and I wasn't able to find Texas Pete or grits anywhere I went (if Nana hadn't sent them to me, I'm not sure I would've survived). But then something happened...I don't know if it was the lack of humidity or people that greeted me with "yoo-hoo" (and what is the appropriate response to "yoo-hoo" anyway?), but I started to enjoy the fish tacos, the amazing Thai food, and living so close to a Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles.

I'm not sure if my nostagia is coming from missing 72 degree days and wearing flip flops to work, or the lack of creme brulee french toast at the Whole Foods here, but either way, I'm seriously missing it, and here are a few songs that defined my time there, and reminds me of what I was listening to while driving up I-5.

Hollaback Girl, Gwen Stefani




Did this song usher in the short fad of using marching band brass sections, or did Trick Daddy's "Shut Up" come first? Either way, this shit is bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

It's Like That, Mariah Carey




Has Mariah written a better lyric than "Them chickens is ash and I'm lotion"? I think not. And it also reminds me that I need to have a wind machine on standby while I'm getting ready to go out.

Dont Cha, Pussycat Dolls




I will admit to being thoroughly surprised when I saw the video for this song...I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't the former lead singer from Eden's Crush (does anyone remember them....anyone...?) This video also stresses the importance of a wind machine while singing.