Winter in LA

The thermostat in my office has been broken the last couple days, so we've been freezing all day at work while we're waiting for someone to come fix it.  Not that I expect much sympathy, but in my defense, does anyone in the colder regions of the world actually work all day inside with the thermostat set at 55?  I actually was blowing on my hands to stay warm.  I got a cup of hot water from the coffee machine (seriously, how do people drink stuff that hot?) and just held it in my hands until all the heat from the water had seeped out of the cup and into my hands - and I was still cold.  With all this in mind, I've been inspired to talk about other things I've done this winter, besides freeze in my office...

I've gone running at sunset at the beach.  In short sleeves.  Every weekend.



I've gone to Disneyland and (FINALLY) California Adventure with Sarah-Dawn for her birthday.

I highly recommend CA Adventure.  I've been wanting to go there for a long time, but I only venture down that way when visitors are here, and visitors always seem to favor Disneyland.  Give it a chance, people.  I'm just saying.

Maybe it's just because everything was so new to me and Disneyland is full of things I've done lots of times already, but I loved everything about it.  There are plenty of exciting rides and some really amazing themed streets modeled after various parts of California, and if you know how to work the Fast Passes, the lines are totally manageable.  You get to see all the Pixar characters, and the fountain show at the end of the night is like the Bellagio show on steroids.  With color.

AND, as if this place weren't already cool enough, there is a Mad T Party every night after dark, which is basically a giant dance party, complete with your DJ, the White Rabbit. (You'd think that after a full day of wandering around the Magic Kingdom, one wouldn't have any energy for dancing.  But if the music is good enough - which it was - you'd be wrong.)

I even loved the Tower of Terror, which I was 100% positive I would hate.


We got to do lunch at the Blue Bayou restaurant - something I've also never done because it requires advance planning and I needed S-D to make that one happen.  This is the restaurant that you see from inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.  The ambiance is amazing. And to complete the mood, you can top off your meal with - wait for it - glow-in-the-dark mint juleps.


This pretty much sums up how the whole day went for us:


Also this winter, we took the train downtown with the Thiots (first time I've used the train since we moved here - made me nostalgic for my old DC metro commute) to catch a quality show.  We almost missed the whole thing because we left half of the tickets at home, but that's another story for another day.  Suffice it to say, we entered the venue at the exact perfect time: just as Muse took the stage.

I'm borrowing a vid from a different concert to show you one of the more surprising (yet very cool!) parts of the night with the band...

Thank you, Muse.  I'm always in awe of your musical talent.  And you sure know how to put on a killer show!

Q4 2012

I hadn't really been feeling like I'd done much worth blogging about lately, but then I started flipping through some pictures and realized that there have been one or two things going on around here. So, without further delay (I suppose there's been enough of that already), I give you...my life. Chapter Q4 2012.

Segment 1: The Endeavour 

Our friend Pierce seriously loves everything NASA. Seriously. He went to space camp when he was a kid and everything.

















So of COURSE, we couldn’t miss the chance to see the space shuttle Endeavour meander at a snail’s pace through the streets of LA en route to its final resting place at the Science Museum…even though it meant getting up at about 5am to do it.

I’m told they had to cut down something like 400 trees along the route so the shuttle could fit down the streets. True story. Here’s proof that David was there…
And here’s proof that I was there!

Segment 2: Appreciating our Surroundings

So sometimes in the hubbub of life we forget that we live in a really cool place with really cool things to see/do. However, we do try to squeeze in some cool local experiences as often as possible. David found a nice place just 20 minutes from our house to get his photography fix and also to feel cultured. It’s called the Getty, maybe you’ve heard of it?

We also managed to see a basketball game for LA’s #1 team this season – and those of you who even kind of follow basketball know that I’m not talking about the Lakers…

We got to see lots of in-between performances by their Spirit Dance Team (you know I love the dancing), and I decided that their favorite move is to duck their head down and then whip their hair back. It’s pretty impressive. I’ve been working on it. 

Segment 3: Celebrating the Holidays

Thanksgiving this year was spent with the Tustin Chipmans (and Emily!). We pretty much gorged ourselves on good food and company and pie.
And then I taught everyone how to play Ripple. They’re definitely hooked. At least some of them.

Since both sets of parents live in relatively close proximity to each other, we found a way to visit everyone for Christmas – over the whole entire 4-day break we had.

It was jam-packed family goodness between Pocatello and Salt Lake, and if you want more documentation than this…go ask David. ☺ (Thanks to Crystal for the awesome group shot, since I only took one picture the whole time I was there!)

And, I got my snow fix.


















Segment 4: New Years 

This holiday deserves its own segment. David took me to see Cake for NYE.  The band specifically requested no cameras during the show, so this is all I've got:
The theater was littered with new years hats and noisemakers, and the ceiling was packed with balloons that dropped on the crowd at midnight.

And the music was actually pretty awesome, too. ☺

And finally, there was the LA New Years Nighttime Half Marathon. We signed up for this as consolation for the fact that we couldn’t run the glow-in-the-dark dance party 5K in DC. And to make it feel more like we were running the GITDDP5K, we dressed up like skeletons. I borrowed some proofs from marathonfoto.com, to give you a taste of the evening.  We tried to do something cool every time we saw a photographer, to increase the odds of getting our picture taken.  Our favorite was probably when we got caught doing Gangnam Style inside Dodger Stadium.



Oh yeah.

The route was interesting – we started in downtown LA and ran past Disney Hall and some other major landmarks, then up to Dodger Stadium, circled around in the parking lot many many many many times (they must have been struggling to fit in the full 13.1, so they just crammed the bulk into that parking lot).  Our reward for all our laps around the parking lot was a seriously spectacular view of downtown LA, and a lap through the stadium itself.  After that, it was back downtown. It was the hilliest half I’ve ever done, but it felt better than any other ones I’ve done.  I'm blaming that on the cooler temperature...and the sea level...and the fact that we didn't care (as much as usual) about time, so we walked whenever we felt like it.  Turns out, I really like running at night.  And hey, free hoodie!

Happy 2013!!