Nurses, Weed and Killer Dolls

Sunday April 29th, 2012


Since Hollywood is apparently where you go when you want to become an actor/actress, it makes sense that LA would have a "theater row".  After all, a lot of people that are famous today probably did some sort of stage acting, probably in LA or NYC. So when a friend of mine from work invited me to go to a play I was excited. It was called Sukie and Sue. It was the tale of two nurses who smoked weed, had a doll that eventually came to life and (spoiler alert) ended up burning down their house and killing them. To be honest, it kind of sucked! It was a little too weird for me.

After the strange and horrible play my friend and I headed downtown for dinner, drinks and dessert! We had sushi at Starfish and then headed to Bottega Louie for macaroons. This place was heaven! It all looked so yummy that we got both macaroons and individual desserts. My dessert was good, but not as delicious as I though it would be. I can't really remember what it was called but it had vanilla, pistachios, and raspberries. 

The Grove

Saturday April 21st, 2012


Ahhhh....The Grove!! Love this place! This outdoor shopping/entertainment/farmer's market is located in West Hollywood, near Beverly Hills. It is the site where Entertainment Tonight films and is often a place for the occasional celebrity sighting. I made sure to keep my eyes open for any celebrities, but to my dismay I had no luck! :(

 

 My first visit to The Grove was with a new friend and fellow traveler Pam. We decided to meet for lunch and then do a little shopping. I have to say I was a little disappointed in the number and selection of stores. They did however have a Michael Kors store which I had been wanting to go to. I had been coveting a MK watch for a long time and decided to treat myself. I called it my "I've been living in LA for over a month and haven't bought myself anything expensive" present! Haha!

The best part of The Grove was the farmer's market located next to the shopping. It was a little cramped and filled with people, but it's still one of my favorite spots in LA so far! They have tons of stands and eateries filled with everything from fruits, veggies, sweets, nuts, pasta's, meats, etc. Pam and I decided to eat lunch at one of the eateries called The French Crepe Company. It was SO yummy!! Now, I've had crepes before, but I've only had them filled with fruits and sweet sauces. The French Crepe Company has tons of crepes filled with all kinds of lunch type stuff. I opted for the Marie Antoinette which you could customize to your liking. I decided on cheddar cheese, turkey, tomato, and avocado. 

You could literally spend all day at The Grove! They even have one of the nicest movie theater's I've ever been in. I almost decided to stay and see a movie, but I just went in and took a picture. 

It was a pretty fun and relaxing day! I can't wait to go back to The Grove and wander around the farmer's market and maybe even catch a glimpse of the filming of Entertainment tonight! 

Bucket List

So I've been kind of slow with exploring and checking things off my "Bucket List" lately. It seems all I've been doing is work, work, work! On my days off I've just been too tired to go out and do fun things or haven't wanted to spend the money to do them. So, to remedy this problem, I thought I should post my bucket list on my blog for inspiration. Everything on here is not strictly LA. It includes places in California in general that I'd like to visit, as well as a few places outside of California that are must see attractions. As I start to check off this list I'll be updating on this post. Feel free to make suggestions on things to do or see. Warning....this is a long list! ;)

Bucket List

1. Hollywood Sign
2. Hollywood sign hike
3. Runyon Canyon
4. Olvera Street
5. Union Station
6. Griffith Park Observatory
7. Santa Monica Pier
8. 3rd Street Promenade
9. Sunset Blvd
10. Hollywood Walk of Fame
11. Hollywood and Highland
12. Venice Beach
13. La Golondoria
14. Malibu
15. The Getty
16. Chinatown
17. Beverly Hills
18. Rodeo Drive
19. Tour of Stars Homes (cheesy I know, but don't care!)
20. LA Live
21. The Grove
22. Hollywood Bowl
23. Kodak Theater
24. Grauman's Chinese Theater
25. Madame Tussauds
26. Paramount Studios
27. Universal Studios
28. LA Zoo & Botanical Gardens
29. Downtown LA
30. Dodger's game
31. La Brea Tar Pits
32. Warner Brother's studio
33. TV show taping
34. Melrose
35. Pinkberry
36. Mullholland Drive
37. Philippe's 
38. Cole's
39. Laker's Game
40. Manhattan Beach
41. Marina Del Rey
42. Pink's Hot Dog Stand
43. In & Out Burger
44. Surf lesson
45. Knott's Berry Farm
46. Six Flags
47. Catalina Island
48. Disneyland
49. Long Beach
50. Newport Beach
51. Laguna Beach
52. Huntington Beach
53. Pasadena
54. Burbank
55. Big Sur
56. Palm Springs
57. San Diego Zoo
58. Seaworld
59. Santa Barbara
60. Napa Valley
61. San Francisco
62. Las Vegas
63. Grand Canyon (I realize this is not in CA..but I'm super close!)
64. Yosemite
65. Redwoods

While writing this post it occurred to me that maybe I should just call this my "West Coast Bucket List" What do you think??

First Hike

Saturday April 14th, 2012


One of the awesome things about LA...and California in general is that there is SO much to do! One day you can lay in the sand and listen to the waves as they roll in, and the next day you can go hiking and see some spectacular views of LA. So, when a new friend of mine from work, Virginia, asked if I wanted to go hiking I was stoked! Of course I did have my reservations. I was worried that since I was out of shape (and wasn't a very avid hiker) that I would fall behind and slow her down. I decided that I shouldn't let that stop me! After all, I hadn't made a whole lot of friends yet in LA and decided it would be a great way to get to know my new co-worker.


We met that morning and I followed Virginia to Griffith Park, which if you remember from an earlier post, is where the Hollywood sign and the observatory are located. There are a ton of different trails ranging from easy (yeah right) to difficult. Virginia's friend Adriana also met us there. They are both nurses and met in nursing school. Even though I thought I might die during the hike (true story), after we finished I was left wanting more! Was it hard? Extremely! Did I feel like I might throw up? Absolutely! Was I so sore I couldn't walk the next day? You better believe it! Would I do it again? No doubt!


I warned Virginia and Adriana that I was going to be a total tourist and have to take some pictures of the view. So here are a few from the hike...

By the time we got close to the top the feeling that I might die had thankfully passed! 

After the hike Virginia and I decided that we needed a reward! The kind of reward that would unfortunately undo the hard workout that the hike had given us. This reward came in the form of a cupcake from Sprinkles Bakery in Beverly Hills. 

I was pretty excited since #1 I love cupcakes, and #2 I had not been to Beverly Hills yet. Of course I wish I hadn't been all gross and sweaty after the hike...but who cares? There were cupcakes! 

We only went to Sprinkles, so I didn't really see too much of Beverly Hills. It's still something on my bucket list I've yet to complete! It was just cool knowing that Rodeo Drive was one block over and that somewhere there was probably a celebrity walking close by! But Sprinkles was a cute little place. It's been featured on Cupcake Wars and it also has a cupcake ATM! What is a cupcake ATM you might ask? Well, it's simple...instead of money that comes out you get a cute, yummy, and individually boxed cupcake of your choice, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week if you wish!

Cupcake ATM!

Virginia is excited about the cupcakes!

                          


I couldn't decide on just one...so I got four (which was cheaper than just 2)! My fav was the coconut! I also got Strawberry which ended up being a banana cupcake with strawberry icing (it's supposed to be strawberry and strawberry). My third choice was chocolate with peanut butter icing, which they also messed up and accidentally gave me vanilla chocolate chip with chocolate icing. And for my fourth choice I got dark chocolate which was delicious (and right)! Overall I wasn't super impressed with Sprinkles. They were good cupcakes, but I think it's more for the popularity of this particular store. 


All in all it was a fun day with a new friend! I'm definitely excited to go hiking again, and I definitely want to go back and explore Beverly Hills! But next time maybe not in the same day! ;)

SoCal Easter

Saturday April 7th, 2012


My first Easter away from my family was sad, but I was determined to find something fun to do and to make the best of it. A few weeks before Easter, while exploring Olvera street, I found out about a festival called the Blessing of the Animals. The centuries-old ceremony of Blessing of the Animals dates back to the fourth century. In those days, the people would take their animals to the priest to receive a blessing and ask for fertility and health. This year was the 80th annual celebration at Olvera Street. It was so much fun! 

I've never seen anything like it. People were dressed in their colorful mexican attire and there were animals of every kind! There was music and dancing, and of course excellent food to be eaten!

Yummy  taquitos in avocado sauce! Mmmmm!!

After lunch I headed out to the front of Olvera street so I could find a good spot for the procession of the animals. It started out being lead by the bull, and the Arch Bishop Jose Gomez followed. 

After the Arch Bishop took his spot on the podium, the animals followed in a very long procession. There were animals of every kind! I almost ran out of memory on my camera card.

Of course the Easter bunny was there!!

THE LLAMAS WERE MY FAV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just thought this little girl looked sweet!

I loved these little guys! Such good sports with their doggles!

The reptile man! 

As the animals approached the podium the Arch Bishop sprinkled them with water to bless them. This went on for over an hour because there were so many animals.

After taking it all in and snapping a ton of photos I finally got my custard filled churro and headed home!

Doing something fun and different helped distract me from the fact that I was away from my family during Easter. I definitely missed them and wished I could've been there with them. Easter just didn't feel the same...but then again....nothing does out here. That's the whole point though, right? ;)