LA Missions Accomplished!

I was sent to a suburb in the northwestern part of LA to work on an aerospace and could not have been more excited to have an opportunity to catch up with friends in the area.  While I was there, my goals were to go on a hike, watch the sunset at Santa Monica, visit the Getty Villa and see my five closest LA friends.  I also wanted to discover the newest music because LA seems to get music about a month before Seattle does.  Despite my meager 8 days in town and working somewhat long hours, I still made it all happen!

Rather than work Saturday, I took advantage of the nice weather and went on what I thought was going to be a short morning hike.  I started on in Topanga Canyon State Park, a park somewhat close to my hotel and that features views of the valley and the coast.  I met some women who were part of a hiking club that invited me to join them, but I told them I wanted to do something shorter than their 3 hour trek.  I didn’t mean to, but basically I lied to them.  Once I started my journey, I couldn’t stop and it became my mission to make it to the end of the trail.   

A biker I met along the way was skeptical I could make it to the top of the trail with just my Coach wristlet in toe and no water, but she was wrong (or maybe I am just dumb for not being very prepared and taking the chance).  The panoramic views of downtown and the coast made the 8ish mile round trip journey totally worth it.

My friend Hang and I spent our evening walking around the Santa Monica Promenade, snacking on some amazing gelato and of course watching the romantic sunset over the pier.

 

Sunday, I met up with my friend Kim, her boyfriend and one of his friends to get enlightened on art and architecture at the coastal Getty Villa.  Of course LA doesn’t get much rain and basically the whole city shuts down and it just so happens I hit one of the days when there golf ball sized raindrops falling from the sky (I might be exaggerating a little bit).  There might have been a bromance happening under the boys' umbrella.

Regardless of the rain, Kim and I were dressed in our best pretty pretty princess outfits and there was no shortage of pictures taken during our visit.

During my stay, I was also able to share dinner with a college friend (Aaron!), stroll down the Hollywood Walk of Fame with my work buddy (Dani) and enjoy an early morning pre-work brunch with my favorite Armenian Datev.

As for music, this song made me stop in my tracks every time it came on the radio because it is so fresh.  I bet it is going to be huge…and the music video is absolutely superb.

 LA missions accomplished! 

Discoveries During the 6 Hour Drive

On my trip back up to Washington, I discovered some amazing things (or at least that were new to me!)

• A coffee shop in the middle of nowhere with a tree painted on the wall and adorable décor such as Mason jar lights and rosemary as centerpieces most certainly gives Starbucks a run for its money.   

• The University of Oregon campus is not THAT bad (as I found out through a tour from my friend Nicki).

• Getting lunch from a funky food truck in downtown Portland instantly improves your day and overall quality of life.

• Buildings with inflatable “art” make you look up and take in the surrounding scenery more.

• Malls that offer indoor ice skating rinks and tax-free shopping are better than those that do not.

 

• A city called Castle Rock would clearly be a great place to find a frosted smiling dragonfly cookie.
  

Shredding Up the Oregon Dunes

There is no doubt I love to travel and see new places.  When you travel for business, though, it is harder to fit everything in you might want to see in a city.  So for my two weeks in Oregon, my sole goal was to go ATVing in the Oregon Dunes.  Anything beyond that was frosting on the cake. 

 

Luckily, I just happened to be there a super sunny weekend, so I had the most awesome drive to the coast from Roseburg.  It was so amazing that I stopped along the way to admire the dappled lighting covering the roadway from the forest of trees lining the road along my picturesque drive.

 

 

My brother, his fiancée and I spent the night in a cute coastal town, nourished ourselves with an amazing brunch (at a place that clearly knew the way to my heart with the adorable stained glass decor and inspirational quotes on the wall) and decided to hit the dunes.

To say I was terrified at first would be an understatement.  I have no idea why my brother agreed to let me try my hand at working manual equipment he owned, but I got the hang of it fairly quickly.  Sort of…My brother especially loved my need to stop and take pictures all the time.  

...and then there were pictures of me tearing it up as I get the hang of everything.

 
...and then there were jumping pictures.

...and Dirty Dancing/failed yoga pose pictures (in my defense, I had to set the camera timer).

  
...and pictures of the scenery.

 
...and then even some pictures I took on my drive home.

 

Family and friends now know me as the girl who likes a good adventure.  “Was this a good adventure?” my brother asked at the end of the day.  Indeed it was...and with any luck, he will take me again despite my photo-taking obsession.