BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY: HELLO LA

Touched down in LaLa Land last night!  My stepsister picked me up from the airport and we went and had an awesome dinner somewhere in Silver Lake (the name is escaping me at the moment); jalapeño mac & cheese, croque monsieurs and some good wine...

I didn't realize how big Los Angeles is.  I haven't been here for years, and the last time I was it was on the freeway booking it to Arizona with a jam-packed car full of my stuff.  It's very 'gridlock-looking,' especially flying in at night, but also so pretty - like coming down on a massive Christmas tree or something - everything sparkled.

Looks much different in the day now - woke up to 'wild parrots' (which literally scream; I didn't mind it - I'm used to the seagulls in the morning in Seattle so bird noises don't bother me) and palm trees.  I enjoy the scenery and environment much more than I anticipated, although I haven't had to experience any of the infamous traffic yet.  The hills dip up and down and have a city-jungle feel to them, with small, very narrow, winding roads, mexican-ish casas that still have a retro feel.  All the houses are packed together but not in a claustrophobic way because each one is different from the next...almost has a 'Capital Hill in LA' vibe to it.

Has anyone else ever been to LA or lived here?  I would love to get some insight on good restaurants, cool parks or fun things to do here!

Cheers,

K.

OFF TO LALA LAND!

I'm headed to LA this afternoon to visit my step-sister, see some friends and to do a few job interviews - so excited to get out of Seattle for a little while (as much as I love this city).  It'll be nice to - fingers crossed - wake up to some warm[er] weather for a change.

I've spent the last few days trying to get ahead in my online classes (doing school work when you're on vacation is never fun or as easy as you plan it to be), so I'm not feeling as overwhelmed leaving town.  I do still have homework and tests coming up this week considering midterms are already here (how did that happen so fast?!), so I'm planning on bringing my laptop and iPad.  I downloaded Your Life, Uploaded into my 'library' on my iPad, which I've been meaning to use more.  I also have the hard copy of the book (I still enjoy physically turning a page), but I'm actually enjoying reading some of the chapters on my iPad, at least more so than I anticipated.  It allows me to access certain features that the hard copy doesn't, like being able to search for specific terms or phrases.

I have the first version of the iPad, so unfortunately it doesn't have 3G or internet roaming capabilities, but it can at least latch on wherever wireless is available.  I always forget that this is accessible almost everywhere now, including airplanes!  Considering I've only been on one trip - that involved flying - since moving back to Seattle from Honduras (my parents took my brother and I to Las Vegas for his 21st birthday last year), I haven't had a chance to use my iPad for educational purposes while traveling - I'm looking forward to making my discussion posts, a few blog posts (especially seeing how capable it is with my fashion blog posts that require a lot of photo editing and specifics in order to make them perfect) and writing emails on it.

Also excited to report back on my experiences in LA; I've been to/drive through Los Angeles tons of times, but not since many of my friends moved down there/I've had a step-sister that lives there.  Especially anticipating the trip considering I'll be moving there by the end of the summer!  Oddly enough, job interviews sound challenging in a fun way...

Still need to pack up a few things - I've always been a procrastinator when it comes to that.  Time to get moving...

Cheers,

K.