Things I Love Thursday Friday

Tofu bowls from Beachwood Cafe

'68 Comeback Special leather

Flowers at work

Daily hike sunsets

My Viva Las Vegas cupcakes from Duff's Cakemix



Things I Love Thursday

Finding cheap/used/amazing band shirts

Pictures of my beautiful mother

Watching my nephew enjoy some cake and ice cream (he's so big now, wahhh!)

Cool afternoons in Huntington Beach

The floral tunnel on my daily hike

Things I Love Thursday

Finding healthy new snack ideas

Sunset hikes

Spring flowers

Mad Men, Season 6 portraits by Frank W Ockenfels

Lunch options at work



LA Life - I Annoy Myself!

I have gotten back into bikram (hot yoga) again. I had taken some time off due to Buster, moving, the holidays, etc. I am thrilled to be practicing again and love how it makes me feel. This past Saturday I went to the 8AM class to start my day. It was one of the best sessions I had had in a long time. Afterward I hiked Runyon Canyon in Hollywood, which if you haven't heard is extremely popular with celebrity sightings. It is entirely too crowded but a decent hike. When I got home, I made a healthy smoothie to round out my morning. It was very vegan and consisted of :

2 tbsp peanut butter

1 whole ripe banana

1/2 cup silken tofu

1/4 cup almond milk

1/4 cup coconut water

2 tbsp chia seeds



I used my new-used blender from the private estate sale as well as an old mason jar. I was so sickened by feeling like the epitome of LA life, I read a couple chapters of Proverbs then drove down to my parent's house in Orange County. :)

Things I Love Thursday

I've decided to follow suit with awesome bloggers The Shoe Girl and Gala Darling by starting a weekly posting of:

Hiking

Practicing my ukulele at the beach

Danzig
Catching up with good friends and their babies

Petit cereal bowls w/ breakfast

Forever 21 sweater, vintage t-shirt

Hollywood Highs

I have really made an effort to be more productive on my time off, especially in the last couple months since I am limited with what I can purchase. I've had to change my mindset about where I can go such as the mall-I have no reason to go there anymore! Also, my priorities have changed over the years; I decided to stop drinking a year and a half ago and it has really shifted my focus for weekends. Before, I would plan them around parties, bar hopping and who I would be hanging out with. Normally it meant staying up too late and sleeping in the next day, followed by a lazy afternoon. Now I go to bed at a decent hour, get up earlier and head out to enjoy the beautiful Southern California weather.

Recently, I hiked up to the Hollywood sign. I was really looking forward to it since hadn't before and it was convenient since my main man Buster moved into a new place just down the road. Now I plan to hike there often! It was an easy course but took about 3 hours from start to finish so it definitely felt like a workout by the time I made it back to my car. The trail head is in a quiet neighborhood with plenty of street parking. The first 800m is covered with trees and there's a small park for children. Once you start climbing, you leave shade behind but the views open up. There was a lot of traffic but it's wide enough so it didn't feel congested. Unfortunately it takes you to the backside of the sign so you're not able to get a really good picture of it but it is an amazing landmark and very cool to be so close to it. The letters are much larger than I expected!

Take Canyon Dr toward the mountain from Franklin Ave

The next day, I hiked the sister trail to the Griffith Observatory. It starts down at the Greek Theater and has several different routes. Some are easy and others could really cause some damage if you were not skilled or prepared. This trail had a lot of traffic as well but again, they are wide enough to get around people.

Take Vermont toward the mountains, park near the Greek Theater

Vintage Harley Davidson shirt, Active pants, Keen boots, Forever 21 hat & glasses

The Observatory is so beautiful. I love the architecture and colors. There are always zillions of tourists but that is part of the fun. I heard people speaking French, Portuguese and Chinese. The view of the city is breathtaking on a clear day and the panoramic view allows you to see most of Los Angeles.



Speaking of views, I drove up to Mulholland Dr. at dusk recently. There's no hiking involved but it is a great spot to park and view the city. It reminds me of the viewpoint in Peyton Place, except we have a view of the city and they had a view of a lake. I guess it isn't that similar...



Boyfriend button up, Active pants, Forever 21 scarf & glasses, vintage Harley Davidson boots

(I've bought a lot of Forever 21 crap over the years. Disposable clothing as my mom says. Don't judge me!)