Adventures in Hollywood

Alright, so I haven't actually made it in to Hollywood quite yet, but I feel like it's close enough.

I arrived in Orange County on Tuesday, and it's certainly been an interesting few days. We relaxed mostly around the apartment and pool for the rest of the day Tues, and I got acquainted with the apartment. Wednesday was a beach day, and we went to Laguna to lay out in the sun and do a little small-scale shopping. I'm looking forward to being able to go to the beach whenever I want and just lay out with a good book. I got a little bit toasted, but I didn't have my preferred type of sunscreen, so I'm not too worried.

Now, yesterday was the crazy day. We dropped Ant off at the airport for the Formula Student Germany (FSG) competition around noon, then headed off for an LA tour. Unfortunately, I don't have a small camera that's easy to carry along (probably one of my first purchases when I have a little extra cash), so I don't have any photos to acompany this blog. Plenty of stories, though.

It all started off with a visit to Venice Beach. I don't think it was anything like Donna was expecting. She was a little nervous with the neighborhood and crowds, and kept commenting on how different it was from when she visited 30 years ago. I found it rather interesting, though not exactly how I'd expected it, either. The beach was absolutely gorgeous, but we didn't really spend any time out on the sand. We explored the boardwalk and shops a little bit, walking down one way and the returning back past the entrance the other way. There were TONS of little bracelet vendors, and Chris got 6 for her friends back home. I did find a couple of artists I would consider purchasing from, and a couple more stores I found interesting and somewhat less kitchy or ghetto, so I think it would be worth returning to with Anthony. I want to go back to some of the clothing/dress stores; I feel like I don't have any casual dresses, and I'd like to start wearing them more. There was also a Native American shop (mostly Navajo, I think) that threw me for a loop, and I'd like to show Ant that, too. We also explored the community center area a bit (although I think this was Donna's most nervous area) with its basketball courts and even the famous Muscle Beach weight area.

After Venice, we ventured up to Rodeo Drive. It was beautiful and very interesting to see so many designers in one area. I think the only store I really looked much at and found interesting was the Lladro showroom with all their incredible porcelain figures. I'd never really looked much at them - they have some really incredible pieces, and a surprisingly wide variety in collections and styles. Everything from clowns to family sets to geishas and angels and ballerinas. I especially loved their bird pieces; they were so striking with their dimension and color. They'd make great alcove pieces in a nice house. They had a few beautiful horse statues as well, and an adoable 'Penguin Love' that I would love to collect.

Probably the most incredible of their pieces are the scenes. They had anything from tea time in a garden to Cinderella and her pumpkin carriage. The most expensive piece was an Egyptian queen with servants on a long boat. It was $150,000!!! It had it's own room for display. Actually, the whole shop itself was pretty awesome, too. Very open and well styled, with a huge split staircase leading up to their second floor. They had an incredible chandellier in the center of the wrapping stairway, with all these little pixie fairies strung down on fiberoptic lines. It didn't give off a lot of light mid-day, but would certainly be quite stunning at night.

We did have two celebrity sightings. Gabe said he saw Carmello Anthony from the Denver Nuggets, and Ant's dad said he saw J Lo as he went to check on our parking meter. She was getting out of her car to 'meet friends for drinks' at a hotel, and he heard the vallets address her as Ms. Lopez. So that's exciting.

After we'd had our fill of feeling poor (or maybe not quite enough), we took a drive down Sunset Blvd through Beverly Hills and Bell Air to look at all the incredible houses. I gotta say, they were pretty incredible. Or at least what we could see behind the 30ft hedges out front. We kept on Sunset all the way to the Pacific Coast Highway and then took that north to Malibu for dinner. We'd made reservations for a sunset dinner overlooking the ocean, but traffic made us miss our reservation.

We finally made it to the restaurant a little after 8, with some light left in the sky, and got a table on their patio. Actually, all the tables were on the patio; the only part of the restaurant indoors was the bar, kitchen and bathrooms. It had a PHENOMENAL view of the ocean, and we listened to it crash on the shore through dinner. The food was aboslutely incredible, albeit a bit on the pricey side. Worth every penny, though. I'd been feeling a bit sick all day, so I just ordered a chicken caesar salad, but it was perfect. I'd gotten a California riesling (from Santa Clara, I think?), and was a bit disappointed they didn't have a German one on the menu. It was very good, though, and got even better with the salad. It was basically just a perfect dinner. Their web address is www.geoffreysmalibu.com if you're intersted in checking them out. They'd make an incredibly romantic sunset dinner, or a fantastic Sunday brunch.

Anway, dinner ended after 10, and we just came home from there ready to pass out. It has certainly been an adventurous start to my time in California, and I look forward to all the rest.

A Long, Busy July

Wow... I just looked back and realized my last post was almost three weeks ago. I suppose that shouldn't be too surprising, considering the month has been unexpectedly busy. That said, it's time for a bit of an update.

Anthony came for his first visit the first week of July. I can't even describe how good it felt for him to come out. Originally, we had planned that the only time we'd see each other was when he drove through with his sister heading to Cali, but he was good enough to come stay with my family for an extra week earlier in the month.

We got some good time to relax and just enjoy Colorado. As much as I hate the word, it really was the epitome of a 'Staycation' for me. I managed to get Ant on the back of a horse, for the first time in his life (or real memory, at least). My good friend was kind enough to let us take her horse out and even ride double, since there was only really one horse available. We went to ride on the Air Force Academy grounds, which is an incredibly beautiful trip. The trail entrance is not far from the barn, so there's no trailering required to ride these miles and miles of trails.

It had been a while since I'd ridden the area, but it was right in the vacinity of my high school, and I remembered there was SOME way to get along to Ice Lake. It actually took a bit longer than I'd intended, and Ant was ready to be done, but we finally got to the edge of the lake. Of course, it was a good time to stop and stretch a bit (I think we'd been on for about an hour). When I saw how far he'd been riding off the back of the saddle blanket I just had to laugh. When we turned around to go back, we switched positions, with him 'driving the horse' as he so proudly put it. I think he was surprised how much more comfortable it was in the saddle rather than behind it.

I was very impressed (and happy) about how well the ride went. Anthony actually seemed very excited about it, and said that it was something he'd be willing to do again. Win! I even got him to help with brushing the horse.

The next day I finally introduced him to Garden of the Gods. Having been here once before, my local friends couldn't believe I'd never taken him in. We remedied that this trip, and did a pretty sweet hike from the main parking lot to the Siamese Twins. Again, it took a little longer than intended, but made for a very nice day.

Our luck with the weather was rather interesting. It started raining just as we pulled into the parking lot. Unsure of whether it would pick up or taper off, we waited a few minutes, then drove back to the Visitor Center to let it pass. It wound up dispersing not long afterwards, and we set off for the hike. It stayed absolutely beautiful for our trek, but started pouring just as we were pulling out of the parking lot again. Pretty much the perfect window for our hike!

The following day was all about rock climbing. We adventured out to a local indoor gym fantastic for top-roping. As RIT has an exclusively bouldering barn, Ant was a little surprised by what he saw. But we both had some time climbing our preferred methods, though - I prefer top-roping, while he enjoys bouldering. I just don't have the upper-body strength yet to boulder so much.

On our way home we stopped off at the Pro Rodeo Hall of fame, which is less than 5 minutes from home. Although it was closed, we did discover a very young fawn that seemed confused how to use camoflage. It was laying with legs tucked underneath and chin pressed to the ground, just like you'd expect for effective hiding. The only problem? It was laying in the middle of a parking spot and didn't blend so well with the asphalt. We were at first concerned it was sick or dead, but it eventually did jump up and bound off.

The end of the trip was pretty much just an introduction to my high school best friend's corgi puppy. I was so excited for Ant to meet both my friend and the pup, as we have both seriously considered having a corgi sometime in the future. Bella (the puppy) was as adorable and friendly as can be, and we both left the visit giddy and excited about her. It was also so nice to catch up with my friend, and her fiance, as well, who happened to show up about the same time we did.

I suppose that's a long enough update for today. I intend to add a couple more in the next few days about my Texas trip, as well as Ant's second visit with his sister. I know if I don't get those done before heading to California in a week, they'll likely never be written. So for now, cheers, and I'll see yall again soon.

Summer Travel and Moving

So, it's official, I'm moving to LA on July 28th. I booked the flight late last week, so it's happening for 100% certainty. I haven't had any luck finding a temp job here in Colorado Springs, and feel like I'm just wasting time and money the longer I'm here. The latter I have essentially run out of already (I still have the money I'd saved in Rochester for LA, but I REALLY don't want to spend that before, well, getting to LA).

I'm actually really excited about heading out. Anthony will be moving into his apartment starting July 22/23, and then going to Germany for competition for 2 weeks. So, I'm gonna chill out at his place, do some actual local job searching, get acquainted with the area, and search for my own place. The apartments he's picked out are absolutely GORGEOUS. Fairly new, high ceilings, lots of open space, a balcony/patio, fireplace, breakfast bar, all overlooking a canyon behind. Not to mention a beautiful outdoor pool/jacuzzi area. It's super close to shopping (about 2 blocks I think), including groceries and Aaron Bros (perhaps my favorite store), a movie theater, and has plenty of hiking and parks in the area, too. So I'm definitely looking forward to a new adventure.

In the meantime, however, I have completely given up on finding work here. With that said, I'm going to 'do my father a favor' and go visit my brother in Texas! We've acquired some furniture for his new place, and Dad was going to take time off to deliver it by trailer. However, seeing as I don't have a job, I might as well take that time instead. So, I'm going to leave early next week for the trip. I'll see family and friends in Amarillo, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston on the way down and returning, and get a couple days on the beach (I've never been to the Gulf before). Vacation time! Cuz, you know, I haven't had any of that at all... I'll return just in time for Anthony and his sister to arrive, and have another several days of adventure with them before they leave and I start settling things here to head out to Cali.

So... it looks like I have a rather exciting end of the summer ahead. Anthony is here now and leaves on Friday, so pretty much the entire month of July is keeping plenty busy.