Look to the right and I see the Hollywood sign

It is a causal Sunday morning... what to do, what to do?
Oh how about a hike with views of downtown LA, the Hollywood sign, the very very expensive villas in the hills, the smog?

Los Angeles is kind of a beast. You have to kind of know where to go, where not to go, what's hoppin' and what's just not that great. It is really hard just to wander into someplace cool here because it is just so spread out, and as Allison and I found out the other day, sometimes just wandering will lead you into areas you don't want to explore.

That's why I think tapping the local network can be sooo beneficial in this city. I met my friend Tom at the Fund for American Studies program I did at Georgetown two summers ago. He was born and raised in LA, went to USC for undergrad - and he introduced Allison and me to a very cool park for a Sunday morning hike today.

We went up to Runyon Canyon, this 130 acre park right outside of Hollywood.


Such a cool trail. We took a casual pace but it was still a good workout with a few challenging hills. (We made sure to take photo breaks when we were panting). The view of the city was a little clouded... you could CLEARLY see the smog. There are white puffy clouds, blue skies and then as you get closer to the skyscrapers, a dense gray haze. The skyscrapers are barely even visible in the photos because of the smog. Gross. So glad I'll be living in the beach communities, so I'll get a little coastal, ocean air and I'm not breathing that in EVERY DAY.



Tried to get a pictures of the Hollywood sign in the haze of the hills. I don't think I've ever been able to get a clear picture of it - even when my mom and I or Marie and I were in LA before - it has always been smoggy.


Otherwise, though, the trail was BEAUTIFUL.

Tom made the comment as we came in the park "it is like this sky is painted, like it is a movie set" and it definitely could have been. Such good sights. So many super cute dogs. I don't even know how some of those little pooches made it on those trails. These little dachshunds with three inch legs are scaling cliffs with a happy little pant, tugging the leashes - or if they aren't on leashes, they are barreling by 20 feet ahead of their owners, leading the way. And my legs are 10 times longer than theirs, and I'm barely surviving the incline. My justification for this is the fact that those dogs and their owners probably come to Runyon all the time, and they are properly trained and conditioned for that walk. (I know, in truth, I'm just out of shape, but let me believe otherwise.)

We did one trail at Runyon, but there are apparently others as well. We might have to work our way up to those. I'm excited to go back again though. Tom also recommended a place for lunch to refuel after our hike - a build-your-own burger place called Counter in El Segundo. I'll admit - it was delicious, and I can't imagine the infinite number of possible combinations. You pick your meat, your cheese, up to four toppings (cool toppings too - not just lettuce and tomato), specialty items (like bacon or ham), what type of bun and what type of sauce. The menu is here: http://www.thecounterburger.com/menu. Plus, Allison and I saw a guy there wearing a Columbus Crew shirt. Didn't get to catch him before he left, but it made us feel a connection to home. :)

I spend my free time stalking Neil Patrick Harris

I now have a countdown to August 8. 15 days...
Why August 8th you ask?
Because I just booked tickets to see RENT at the Hollywood Bowl that evening!!!

I couldn't be more excited. I went to New York for the first time last December and was so disappointed that Rent was no longer on Broadway (though I saw Bye Bye Birdie with John Stamos - Uncle Jesse from Full House - and it was awesome). Anyway, I love the music from Rent but have never seen it performed live! I will officially see it in two weeks - for a steal - only $35 a ticket. And the best part? It is directed by NEIL PATRICK HARRIS. I'm admittedly a little unnaturally obsessed with NPH, especially since he stars in one of my favorite shows, How I Met Your Mother. But how cool is that? He once performed in it, now he is directing it. Other notable names: Nicole Scherzinger from the Pussy Cat Dolls as Maureen, Wayne Brady as Collins and Vanessa Hudgens as Mimi. I'll be seeing the show with Allison (my roommate) and my mum who will be there to help move us in to our apartment that weekend!

In other news, I had quite the relaxing afternoon at the beach. Went in for a planning session for work this morning, so I just wanted to unwind a little this afternoon and headed down to Redondo. I'm not much for just laying out (I get impossibly bored just sun tanning) so I walked along the water and let the waves hit me. Took a few pics along the way for your viewing pleasure. (Have to post them on my blog so my mom - who doesn't have facebook - can properly stalk me).


I swear this bird wants to be a model. As soon as I took out my camera he started strutting, turning his head this way, then that. Quite the little poser.


Love the Redondo Beach pier. There were a lot of live bands playing there as I walked through this afternoon.



I made it from the pier to the end of the beach. It was just so relaxing to walk. I have no idea how far it is - probably at least a mile or so each way. Chatted on my bluetooth to Sarah (little kids were very confused at who I was talking to), then listened to Jack Johnson on my Zune all the way back. I must say, I love my bluetooth. I got it because I talk on the phone ALL THE TIME while driving, and in California, it is only legal if it is hands-less (and I figured it'd be worth it with all the traffic I'd be sitting in - yes the rumors are true, LA's roads are jammed all the time not just during rush hour). However, I get strange looks from people who think I'm talking to them - or they respond as if I was talking to them. The other day, I excitedly exclaimed to Sarah that Target had 60 calorie chocolate mousse on sale and this guy walking by said, "That sounds great! You should get some!"



So hard to believe this is home. It feels more like a vacation - with 40+ hours of work of course. But soaking my feet in the ocean is a nice way to de-stress!

New Adventure #1: Learning how to stand up

As I have previously mentioned, I will be updating my blog periodically with the four "adventures" I have had earlier in the year per my New Year's Resolution (to see 10 new places and/or do new things this year). I will start with my new adventure #1.

Learning how to stand up? You may think my "new adventure" is not really that novel. Yes, I know I conquered this life event previously (probably early 1989), but I did not have a large board strapped to my feet. Yes, my friends, I went snowboarding for the first time.

I thought the hardest skill to master was standing up with the board! (I should probably note here that I didn't really master many other skills. Could I get down the hill by the end of the day? Yes. Could I turn voluntarily? No. Could I stop myself? Not really. But honestly, those skills are really mostly for style. My version of stopping and turning? When something is coming up that you need to stop for or turn to miss, hurl yourself onto the ground. Does it look pretty? No... but it is effective.)


Anyway, standing up with a snowboard for the first time is potentially one of the more humiliating things in life. You are laying flat on your back at the top of the bunny hill, flopping like a fish, trying to get in an upright position. I am pretty sure the first time took me about 10 minutes. And then I was too far away from the incline so I had to get back on the ground, awkwardly crawl closer to the hill, and spend another eight minutes flopping back up.

I eventually got off the bunny hill onto a real one. The humiliation really didn't stop at the standing up part. Every now and then I would veer off towards the edge of the slopes... to where there was a slight incline down to what can be best described as a wide ditch that separates the slopes from the forest. If you start to slide down that incline, its a slippery slope (pun intended). Essentially I would have to get down on all fours and try to bunny hop my way back up to a flat part of the course. I can only imagine how absurd I looked to my fellow skiers and snowboarders.

Life lesson: the established rivalry between snowboarders and skiers starts the first time you put one or the other on your feet. I had no personal allegiance to either side until that day, but I instantly understood. The skiers had their scary poles and their "I'm better than you attitude." One guy is standing in the middle of where two paths intersect... just standing there waiting on his girlfriend to come down the hill, and he sees me wildly barreling down the hill uncontrollably - coming straight to where he is planted. He has obvious control over himself, and the effort that it would have taken him to politely move over two feet and let me pass peacefully was apparently too much to ask - even with me frantically yelling at him - and I have to throw myself on the ground to stop only inches away from his skis. He looks at me in disgust and skis away. If it wasn't against his country club etiquette, I'm pretty sure he would have spit on me. Ok, I'm kidding about hating skiers, but I must say I was pretty irritated at this dude.

I honestly had a blast. I know I've used humiliating to describe majority of this experience, but if nothing else I learned persistence and patience, which I think are applicable to a lot in life (ie: trying to work with the IT department to get my laptop and Blackberry set up for work). My only regret is waiting so long in the season to try it. It was February, I think, by the time we hit the slopes. Two weekends in a row when Marie and I tried going there was bad weather - once the slopes were too icy and once it was too warm (a freak 55 degrees). After the weekend went up, it pretty much warmed up and I didn't have the opportunity to go again. Everyone here in LA keeps telling me though "Cali is the perfect place - go snowboarding during the day and to the beach at night," so maybe I'll head out to the mountains here to go humiliate myself again.

How did you celebrate National Ice Cream day?

Anyone who knows me knows that I am always up for ice cream... but on National Ice Cream Day, it is an absolute must! According to Wikipedia (obviously a trusted source), the day was declared by President Ronald Reagan in 1984.

Allison and I decided to celebrate by substituting dinner with gelato from Paciugo at Hermosa Beach. I am concerned at how dangerously close this is to our apartment... but their milk-based gelato has 70 percent less fat than premium ice cream. Deal!
http://www.paciugo.com/html/locations/location_details.php?store=44

Watched the sunset off the pier. It was a crazy night down there because of this apparent "Sunday Fundays" where everyone packs the bar on Sunday nights. Strange. Doesn't everyone work tomorrow? Apparently the motto is "Don't let Monday ruin your Sunday?" It was also crazy at Hermosa tonight because the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball tourney ended there today. Great night - excited for my official second day of work tomorrow!

You can take the girl out of the Midwest, but you can't take the Midwest out of the girl

True story (as opposed - of course - to the false blog posts I will write):
My roommate has a friend from high school in Newport Beach who invited us down Friday evening. One of the stops was to Jane's Corndogs - an apparently well-known little stand which had admittedly quite tasty corndogs. While everyone ordered corndogs, cheese on a stick, and funnel cakes, I as a true born and raised Ohioan found it absolutely essential to order corn on the cob. Marie told me, "You can take the girl out of the Midwest but you can't take the Midwest out of the girl." I can't argue with that. Though I must say, Cali can't beat Ohio sweet corn.

When you live in paradise, every day is an adventure...

I originally created this blog to document my adventures during my study abroad program in London. However, I realized recently that just because I'm not attending Harry Potter movie premiers or riding the Tube does not mean my life is no longer interesting. I take the philosophy that "life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." And now that I've moved to Los Angeles, it truly seems every day will be a new adventure.

I've decided I need to bring my blog back to life - for two reasons. First, because as a communication major, I enjoy writing... even if that writing serves no purpose other than to entertain myself and document my life. Hopefully if we are still using the internet in 50 years, I'll look back on it as I sit in my rocking chair and remember how cool the things I've seen and done are. Second, I am jump starting* this blog per the request of my best friend Sarah Crowell who wants to be able to creepily stalk what I'm doing while I'm so far away from home. (just kidding). Seriously though, I think it is an outlet for friends and family who may not have time for a weekly phone update (for me to tell you when I try surfing for the first time or when I see Matthew Mcconaughey biking the strand - both goals while I'm here) to stay connected.

I am going to use this blog in two ways - to obviously give you an update of my current adventures... but also to keep track of my 2010 resolution. My 2010 New Year's resolution was to have 10 new "adventures"- either new places or new experiences. Things I've always wanted to try or places I've always dreamed of visiting - that's the goal for the start of the new decade. I'll probably (as time permits) update you on my progress on those (I've accomplished four so far). So I invite you to read and (hopefully) enjoy - and I'll try to have some cool pictures too for those of you who are more visual learners. (Knowing I have this blog will also force me to TAKE MORE PICTURES. I either take 200 or none at all and I'm always disappointed when I realize I have no documentation of something really cool I did.)

Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to go have lunch at Manhattan Beach.

*I need to check AP style to see if jump start is one word, two words or hyphenated... I'm going with two words for now. Probably only one of you reading this will care, but I think it is my internal perfectionist that feels I need to use proper AP style whenever possible. My writing here may be casual and flippant, but I will hyphenate words properly!