the past week was one of the most eventful weeks ever! so much fun stuff. so I will do little typing, and just have a lot of pictures. lets go back to last monday. I flew into long beach pretty early, and my friend jess whose an intern from usu as well picked me up. we weren't thrilled with the idea of driving back to west hollywood in morning traffic so we opted to stay downtown. my wonderful friend kenley is kind enough to let me use her pool. which I have already talked about. its so rad. so jess and I camped out there for the day. I needed to ease my way back into work mode.
after some sun, we headed to frank gherys disney concert hall for some architectural site seeing. its amazing. if you're ever in LA, its worth stopping off at.
we had a great time, and ended the day with some In-N-Out. it was fantastic.
the next day jess still had work off so she came over to my part of town to see kellys office and we opted for a new place for lunch. the farm of beverly hills. we went to the one at the grove, and it was fantastic. kinda on the pricier side, but I was pleased with the portion size. I got the maple glazed salmon salad. it was a winner.
again, if your in LA, go for lunch.
the next day was one of the best days of my internship thus far. I have been dying to go on a site visit, and see one of our projects first hand. finally after weeks and weeks at trying for opportunities, they decided I could pick up everyones lunch that was up at the photoshoot and see the house. I know they all knew how badly I wanted to go. Kelly is kinda weird about having people at one of her projects, especially when its a photoshoot. also, both the other interns told me not to get my hopes up about actually going to a project-ever. "kelly doesnt allow it". so they were kinda ticked when I got to go. suckas. really though, I felt lucky. so I headed over to Joans on Third to snag their lunch, apparently a local celeb hot spot. I saw king peter from narnia while I grabbed the $300 dollar lunch for six people. ridonk.
this is their nine year old boys room
and the twelve year old girls bathroom
half of their kitchen...
the family room and library
the little boys toy room. mostly for his legos.
the living room. probably my favorite room. sans the couch. the walls though are so rad.
her closet. and bathroom. its crazy. so crazy.
naturally most people have a fur throw on their couch in their closet.
the other half of the kitchen. I LOVED the kitchen.
the house was so so cool. I loved every second of it. I had some great one on one time with Kelly. it was great to actually be in one of her spaces and understand how her brain works. she's brilliant. so brilliant.
after work on Thursday I drove down to pasenia, ca to stay with my cousin zach who goes to law school down there. we hit up a local diner for breakfast, hung out at his pool for a bit, then went to huntington beach to spend the day. it was such a great day. swam, football, read, napped, people watched...everything I love about the beach.
it was my first time at ruby's and I wasnt disappointed.
super ruby burger on sourdough with an 'oreo fantasy' milkshake.
and it was delish. seriously though, the shake was the best part.
after we ate, the sun was setting and it was getting slightly chilly, so we opted to hit up the Hilton resort across from the beach for their heated swimming pool followed by a dip in the hot tube; which was far too small, so we snuck in next door at the Hyatt. we were much more pleased with our options there. three different pools, with fires. which we liked...
I spent that night at zachs and the following morning drove back to west hollywood and loaded up my stuff for the rest of the weekend. I had talked to my long time family friend megan, who nannys for her aunt in phoenix, az and she is spending the next month at her aunts beach house on coronado. and they so generously allowed me to celebrate the fourth with them. I was thrilled to just spend it with a family and get a mini vacation in. I didnt know how amazing it would end up being. on my way down to san diego I stopped in san clemente to snag me some rainbow sandals. all I have heard while I have been here is they are a must have. best sandals in the world and they last forever. they are made in san clemente and at their factory store you can get them for $33 (about half off what they normally are) I have been wearing mine non stop since I got them and I am already sold.
megan reassured me it was a wise decision, as she has previously own a pair.
so she also placed an order for some red ones. I opted for the gray leather because its a
unique change to all the brown and tan ones I see. and I love mine.
after my long, LONG drive to san clemente (should normally have taken an hour and half but I chose to travel on the saturday afternoon before the 4th of july so it took over three) I chose to stop in oceanside, one of my favorite beach cities for an afternoon at the beach. I served some of my mission in oceanside, so it was fun to return.
snagged a jumbo limeaid, popped in my headphones and I was asleep for a few hours.
also saw this bust go down about ten feet from me. homeboy brought booze to the beach.
that afternoon I got a phone call from my good friend heather green who had seen my facebook check in at oceanside beach and informed her family was minutes away from the beach house they were staying at. how perfect. I love the green's so much. they are like family to me and I was thrilled to spend time with them after an entire day being by myself. I had an amazing dinner with them and then we walked to the beach to catch a rad sunset.
the quaint casa
heth and I. we go way back.
heather, her sister heidi and I then hit up the carlsbad premium outlets, a favorite, for some 50% off at banana. the girls went crazy. we then went to a YSA bon fire that felt more awkward then a bad highschool party and we bounced. went back to the casa and watched a beautiful mind that was 10x longer and stranger then I remembered and I sleep on their extra mattress on the floor. such a great evening. the next morning I left early to get down to san diego to meet megan and the gang for church. naturally I forgot church cloths so I looked like an investigator. the elders jumped all over it. church was grand, with all 32 family members that are staying at the beach house in coronado. I didnt know I was crashin in on a family reunion but it ended up being one of the most fun weekends I have ever had. after church we broke the fast in style, with einsteins sandwiches and jambas for all. we ate them at balboa park and let the 20 grand kids (ranging from a few months old to 14) roam the park.
afternoon organ concert, why not.
the botanical garden were super cool. a lot of really neat plants. included the carnivorous ones.
good shot of all the kiddies checkin out the koi
we then headed back to coronado to finally arrive at the beach house aka, the seahaven.
yes it was fantastic. I loved every single minute spent there.
incredible food, amazing views...it was everything you could want a patriotic weekend to be filled with.
the day of the 4th was so much fun. I had been telling them how its been years since I have had a fun fourth of july. last summer I was in arizona, bleh. the summer before that I was in Rome, eventful but not that patriotic. and the summer before that I was on my mission. so its been awhile. they must have felt the pressure, cause it was amazing. we started it off with a family fun run. megan and I dubbed it the 'run for freedom, run'. that was followed by bagels and fruit, which was then followed by the parade...
these girlies made over $100 buck last year sellin' otter pops. shoot.
I want him
this little duder was my favorite in the parade
loving the p-rade with all the kiddies in their matchin dresses
asian obiwan was also a favorite
this one was just way cool. those poor guys that had to stand like that the whole route though...
after the parade everyone had lunch, took naps, then loaded up for the beach.
it was great. more football, boogie boarding, being buried by four little girls, reading and napping. we then went to the pool at the del hotel cause the family is club members. and I am glad they are. i loved the pool.
the evening was filled with another amazing dinner (that I wish I had a picture of) followed by fireworks on the beach! some of the best ever.
we could see these ones from the del, the ones down the coast at imperial beach, sea worlds, then the four synchronized platforms around the bay shooting off. it was so cool. I loved everything about the day. I spent it with such nice people, in a gorgeous place, filled with fun activities, amazing food and a lot of laughing. easily goes in the top 3 best 4th o July's I've ever had. so that leads us to today, which was also great. I opted to stay another day cause I really just didnt want to leave. so this morning megan, a bunch of the married and I went over to the del for a spin class which was so good. great workout, then had breakfast, then went back to the del's pool for the afternoon and had lunch poolside.
It was such a fun five days living out of my trunk and sleeping on people's couches. it worked out all too well. I feel incredibly blessed to know and have amazing friends and relatives that let me crash with them last minute. they are all such amazing people. and the week just keeps getting better because my family gets here tomorrow! I cant wait. we are spending tomorrow night at my place then the next two days in anaheim at the parks, then the beach on saturday and back to my place. it will be so great to have them here. pretty much life is bumpin at the moment. I feel so lucky to live in such a gorgeous place, having such amazing experiences. its good in the hood.
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