DTLA

Friday afternoon Ross picked me up from work. Exhausted, I was excited because I knew I had a 4-day weekend upon me! But then the most beautiful thing happened.

ROSS TOLD ME HE HAD MONDAY OFF.

I think I choked. On my own breath. Maybe I zoned off into Lala Land of Impossibility. I don't know how long I was gone. But when I came to, I still didn't have many words. I tried to act cool.

"WANNA DO SOMETHING?!"

So we set some plans, mostly centered around Ross's recent hot dog craving. I personally crave two kinds of hot dogs. 1. LA hot dogs and 2. Jdawgs.

When you need a hot dog. You need a hot dog. So I got that boy a hot dog.

But not before stopping in downtown LA first. I've been to the flower market, and I've been to to classier part of downtown, lots of parts of it. Even the Skid Row part of it. But I never spent time in the fashion/garment district area.

It's all a bit overwhelming. Bloggers love to tell you their tips and tricks for fabric steals. But take it with a grain of salt because I felt like I was being bulldozed by 1,000 huge rolls of fabric on every corner.



How you grab said fabric out of the center of these rows, I do not know. No one is getting through this exit for a while.



But it was fun just walking around amongst it all. I kinda felt like I needed to leave some bread crumbs somewhere but luckily everything in DTLA is a grid and pretty easy to navigate even if it all starts looking the same after awhile.

The area isn't just for fabric though. This one shop (well, more than one) was dedicated to trimmings, ribbons, chains, jewels, rhinestones- almost floor to ceiling.

We also checked out Moskatel's, a huge warehouse style Michaels. They had huge Halloween displays including a haunted swamp shack surrounded by bubbling smoking water.



Craft items as far as the eye can see! Including probably 100 different floral arrangement cards!

Santee Alley ain't what it used to be, but you gotta walk down it just for the experience. $3 leggings and shoes and knock-off Mac make-up galore.



This Yelp review of Santee Alley, "Now I know what it's like to be sober in Tijuana. Guess i can check that off the bucket list of stuff I never wanted to do." Bahaha.



Last minute before we split for some hot dogs, we found a knock-off perfume shop. I always get a kick out of knock-off names (see proof here). So I was having the time of my life browsing.

U-GO BOOS.



I almost had tears rolling down my cheeks. I'm currently obsessed with Juicy Coture's Viva La Juicy. I found a sufficient knock-off and for $5 snatched it right up. This is perfect for me cos then I get to try out the scent without full monetary and day-long-effervescence commitment.

On our way back we cut through the Flower Market which was closing, but still fun to catch a glimpse of the busy-ness from earlier that morning.



Next we rolled over to the aforementioned Pink's hot dogs. An LA necessity.



I once saw it on a list of overrated things in LA. I was personally offended on both moral and emotional levels. Then I promptly lost offensive by drowning myself in a hot dog smothered in all sorts of guacamole and nacho cheese. Pink's hot dogs are my spirit animal. Or maybe the bacon on top of those fries.



I've been wanting to explore Los Angeles's beach communities a little more. For as long as I've been going to beaches here, I don't have much variety. Today seemed the perfect day to visit Manhattan beach.






It's the middle of October but still really hot.



We walked out on the pier but mostly just wanted to jump into the waves.



So we did the next best thing and visited a cute little ice cream and candy shop. They had pretty tasty looking cupcakes but our eyes were on the homemade ice cream sandwiches.



They were divine. Why can't every day be a day off?

UCLA v BYU Game

I'm not a football person. My BFF Brigette and I often commiserate how much we hate football. Her husband Aaron and his buddy always get tickets to the home UCLA games. Ross thought it would be fun to go to one (since they buy extra tickets). When he found out BYU was playing them he was pretty eager to see if we could be Aaron's +2. Even if it's football I will take any excuse to hang out with Brigette and her family, so we made it happen!

And before we knew it A big ol' group of us- 6 adults and one Asher were on our way down to LA for the game. As you might be considering, yes- Ross and I in BYU gear and every single other person in UCLA. That's friendship, no drama just a little rivalry. We did the whole tailgating experience, which was really fun. BYU doesn't really have anything quite like the depth and breadth of tailgating at this game. Aaron and Matt go to these games all season so they are seasoned professionals in the art. They have their ez-up, portable amp, grill, coolers, tables, chairs.



Matt's girlfriend made this awesome cornhole game. You gotta play cornhole while tailgating (says the person who hasn't done either). It was this day that I learned that Brigette and I are unsurpassable and unstoppable cornhole teammates. We were undefeated until Matt's parents came around and beat us out. That's fair.



The food was amazing. The main dish was carne asada tacos which was so delicious we just ended up eating pieces of carne asada. We also had fruit and stuff but tacos are kinda main dishes and appetizers and fruit and vegetables anyways.

I should mention that by the beginning of the game I knew more people in that stadium than any BYU home game I ever went to as an undergrad. It all kinda snowballed. Word got out about the game and then Ryan and Jen were driving from Arizona to come. Then Mom and Dad were on board. Then Ali was flying in from New York to join in as well! Also one of the people I work with is a UCLA alum and came to the game with his family. It was fun to be able to meet up with everyone at different points and say hi.



On the way to the stadium!



The game was incredible. Both teams were undefeated going into it. And for as great a team as UCLA is, BYU was really able to play well.



The game was so close and at the last minute- when for sure we thought sweet sweet victory was ours- we lost it. It was so heartbreaking to be so close! I've never invested myself so much in any sporting game. Even our UCLA friends felt sad for us and we didn't bother with banter afterwards.

The game was so close and at the last minute- when for sure we thought sweet sweet victory was ours- we lost it. It was so heartbreaking to be so close! I've never invested myself so much in any sporting game. Even our UCLA friends felt sad for us and we didn't bother with banter afterwards.



Win or Lose- our spirit nails looked awesome. Top: Jen with BYU and the world's tiniest paw print. Middle: Ali with mixed art of her two alma maters and a variety of paw prints. Bottom: Me keeping things simple.



I wasn't expecting to have so much fun at the game but it was a really incredible experience and fun opportunity to spend time with friends (and eat tacos). Thanks Lucas family for the invite!

4th Anniversary

My favorite thing about my little blog is the ability to look back. This year I was reading the blog post I wrote from last year's anniversary celebrations and some reflections I had on marriage. Things change so quickly in a year. Now that we find ourselves in California, we were ready to have some fun in LA. Ross planned out a whole day for us. He included new places, old favorites, and some previously attempted and failed places.

We started with a trip to Donut Friend, "Donuts Done Differently." And differently in the best way possible.



You can build your own, but why fix something that ain't broke? Because the combos they had sounded pretty good to me. We got a half dozen only because we knew a dozen wouldn't keep in the car all day and we already had dinner reservations.



Me staring at "The Angry Samoa." Which was my favorite. It's hard to even describe it, but just imagine a donut + Samoa Girl Scout Cookie love child.

Then we headed over to The Hollyhock House, which we had tried to go to before, but it had been closed for renovations. It was fun to finally see inside. Ross is a big Frank Loyd Wright fan.



It has great views of the Los Angeles, the Hollywood sign, and the Griffith Observatory. None of which really existed when the house was built in 1920. It's a relatively small house, and unfortunately much of it is closed off. But we still enjoyed it. I love the interpretation of the hollyhock motif and also the creative architecture. For every inside area there is an equal and opposite outside area. Because of the sunny and beautiful weather in Southern California, the house was meant to be opened up, extending indoor spaces to the outside.



Two little lovebirds hanging around Barsndall Park. We took ample breaks between adventures to dig in to the donuts. Here is Ross enjoying the X-ray Speculoos donut, one of his favorites.

Donuts and Deloreans in the parking lot. Ross got weird when he saw it and insisted I take his picture. 

Then on to Amoeba Music! Always a favorite, and one of the places we went when he visited California before we were married. 

I love staring at the ska section. Wildly searching for any group I might have missed, and new songs to discover. I like playing ska roulette and picking one of the compilation CDs for around $5. I tend to go for the two-tone rocksteady albums for this game. 

After some fun and more donuts, we drove over to Redondo Beach. Good luck not getting lost with directions like this: 

Ross made us dinner reservations at a Brazilian churrasco. It's hard balance to know when to stop with the donuts so you can get your money's worth at an all you can eat meat fest churrasco.

We walked around the beach for a little bit, enjoying the fresh ocean air. I like this boat that was all dressed up like a pirate vessel. You can't see it well but there was a pirate climbing and skeleton bones too. 

All of a sudden we heard a band playing and a parade started! The Special Olympics are in Los Angeles and a couple of the nearby beach communities are hosting international teams. It was so cool to see all the athletes ready to compete. They had huge smiles over their faces and it was fun to cheer them on, give them high fives, and wish them the best of luck. 

Next up was dinner with amazing views as the sun set.

This place was a little different from your Utah Valley Tucanos because every half hour or so (ummm I kinda lose track of time with so much meat in my face) they carnival dancers would come out and shake and shimmy right by your table. It was crazy. I'm talking FULL BLOWN skimpy bikinis, feathers, head-dresses, and glitter. Oh the glitter! We got one of those awkward table photos, with the sun shinning on my face and food in my face. 

Complimentary photo with said sun shinning on my face. I am a human-plant hybrid and use sun and meat to produce energy. 

Green means go! 

On our way home with full bellies I thought about my anniversary post. Last year I mentioned "how much I hate medical school." And I'm pleased (and a bit surprised) that med school displeasure only crossed my mind about once all of today. This year things are a lot more certain. We aren't moving across states. We aren't packing. We aren't car-less. We have an apartment. I have a job! And yes, that will all come again in a year, but for all I care, life is amazing right now.

Since this post is all about love I can legitimately post two photos that are almost exactly the same.

Family Fun

After a full, busy, and fantastic week of wedding prep and celebrations it was fun to relax while everyone was still around!

One day, crepes for breakfast.



And watching the movie Inside Out, and chowing down on In-n-Out.



We ended the day with a fire and s'mores. We have been very much enjoying the recent backyard transformation.





Kyle helping string up the ball of fire, I mean, lights.

Another day we went to The Valley. Kyle has somehow never been to a Lego store. So we fixed that. We all had fun building our own minifigures. 

As you might surmise, the top right are mom and dad. The bottom right are Kyle and Ali. So clever. And since we were in the area, we had to stop at Cupid's for hot dogs, of course.

I love my mom's goofy face. Are you finally starting to see I get it from her and dad? 

Ali was being so dumb with Snapchat stickers. 

And if you don't get this one, that is okay. You just must hate Justin Timberlake and not have grown up in the AV. 

That evening we killed some time at the Promenade and for the first time wandered around this cool little park. I had recently seen it on a LA Instagram account I follow so it was fun to go.

It was a chill spot.

While we were all together we played this fun game Ali and I got for Dad for Father's Day. It's called Telestrations. It's a kind of mashup of Telephone and Pictionary. It was pretty hilarious.

Unfortunately all too soon everyone had to leave and return to normal life. But it's always fun to be together, no matter for how long.