This Weekend at the Beach + Melanoma.

This was our view for the past weekend and I could not have enjoyed it MORE!

A couple of weeks ago when the temps hit about 117 degrees I told Joe that we HAD to get away.  Specifically…to the beach.  He didn’t disagree and so I got right onto Expedia, found us a hotel and booked us a room in Carlsbad, California.  We went for our first time to Carlsbad back in March and we sorta fell in love with it.  It’s such a cute little beach town and so we were all SUPER excited to return!!

We played in the sand and water…

And we even brought along my cute parents and nephew for some added fun!

We ate at LOTS of yummy new places.  Joe and I have a rule that when we travel out of town….we try not to eat anywhere that we could eat at home.  We LOVE trying new places!!  And when it comes to new places…I’ve discovered it’s ALL about getting recommendations from friends and Yelp.

We went to Oceanside the first night and had Ty’s burgers.  Their onion rings were some of the best I’ve EVER had!

We went to Encinitas one morning for breakfast and ate at the Potato Shack {thank you Shears}!

They served MANHOLE sized pancakes.  Seriously the BIGGEST I’ve ever seen.  SO yummy!

We ate at Board and Brew, Cafe Elysa’s and Knockout Pizza too….all which we LOVED!

Oh and we had Handel’s ice-cream 2 out of the 3 nights that we were there.

Always be sure to order only ONE scoop there.  Their servings are HUGE!!!

The day before we left for the beach…I got a call from my dermatologist saying that the mole that I had biopsied last week {that they told me was probably nothing}….was actually Melanoma.  {Cue Debbie Downer music}.  I was pretty shocked.  And sad.  And scared.  And mad at myself for doing SO. MUCH. TANNING. in my younger years. {Anyone else remember putting a butterfly sticker on your lower stomach before hopping into the ole tanning bed?} Seriously…why was I so dumb?

Anyways…I pretty much stayed covered up and under the umbrella for the entire weekend.  {Yet I STILL managed to get some sun…not even sure how?}

So now I go and see a surgeon next week to see what the next steps are for me. {I’ll definitely need surgery}. The good news is….my Melanoma is a size 0.4 which according to my doctor, is on the smaller size.  It’s also not incredibly deep.  SO….my fingers and toes are crossed that after the removal, that will be it. One and done.  I’ll need to be checked every 3 months for the next couple of years from my derm.  So….now I need to know….have YOU ever had Melanoma?  And did you turn out perfectly ok after it was taken out??  Please no horror stories.  I’m nervous enough.  May just need to up my Prozac for the next few weeks…kidding not kidding 😉