Well as you may have surmised, we're moving again. We kind of just up and left LA, really. Because (as Jon's job goes) we got news very last minute about his next assignment. Maybe it's not so fair to say we just up and left, but seriously, our move-out date snuck up on us big time. So the day before our contract was up, Jon and I had a conversation that went something like this: "Uh. We have to be out of here tomorrow. Where are we going?!" "Hm. Maybe we should just take a road trip to the Northwest and hope for the best." "When are we going to pack?" "Tomorrow morning, probably." Yeah, that's really how we deal with major life events. So that was our plan, until the night before we were leaving, when Jon got an interview with a hospital in Seattle and they offered him the job on the spot. And he took it! So we're headed up to Seattle folks (with a quick pitstop in SL). We couldn't be happier! We really will miss LA though, and here's an update on our last few weeks there according to my phone photos. ^^ Images from our street. (I told Jon that we'd probably never live on such an adorable street again in our lives.) ^^ Date night to see Grand Budapest Hotel with gelato and espresso. ^^ Dodger's game Before we moved to LA, I made this list of things I was excited about. So I guess I'll do it again, Seattle style. Here are 10 things about Seattle (in no particular order) that have me grinning right now: 1. Seafood.
2. Good coffee. (Let's be honest, these first two are in particular order!) 3. Rain! I know that one day, I will probably regret saying that. But for now, it's true. It never rained in LA. 4. Going on hikes. Because the landscape there is incredible. 5. The beach. It will be quite different from Socal beaches, I imagine, but still pretty awesome. 6. Getting a job. More accurately, not being limited in my job search to temporary positions. You have no idea how much I've missed working. 7. Being near the Canadian border. If you knew me as a 13 year old this will make sense. Eh! 8. Living in a more health-conscious city. Gluten-free, organic, and vegan restaurants galore... 9. Bainbridge Island. Because it looks freaking beautiful. 10. Exploring yet another new city with the love of my life. :)
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After spending a week in Salt Lake, my mother in law flew back to LA with me for a little spring break trip. It was tons of fun! We went to the farmer's market, Laguna Beach, Olvera Street, and China Town. Oh, and we shopped our little hearts out. She grew up in LA and it was fun to see all of her favorite places. She sure is a sweetheart! ^^Succulents at the farmer's market! Doretta even bought me my own to take home :)
Yes, it was a very odd day. Bizarre, creepy, sketchy- call it what you will. This is why: On our way home from Joshua Tree we went to Bombay Beach, a little "town" on the Saltan Sea. We had considered camping there the night before when all the campsites in Joshua Tree seemed to be full, but alas, we found a spot at the last site in the park, so we did not. Anyway, I digress. As we're getting close to Bombay Beach, I keep telling Jon how I want to go swimming, and he tells me that it's too salty, and I say so what. He explains that it started as some resort town in the 20's, but is now totally abandoned. He can't remember the story exactly. Look it up, he says. So, as I'm still dabbling with the idea of going for a swim, I find an article about the place. Then I stumble on this line: " so salty and polluted that by 2030 no fish will be able to survive in it" and then this: "That's not sand, by the way- it's the pulverized bones of millions of fish." So I decide to definitely not swim. We pull up to the shore, passing a bunch of abandoned trailers and shacks on our way. And then there's this family there! Like, they're having family beach day or something. They're all smiling and the kids have their floaties on. They're so excited. But the water is literally filled with dead fish! I mean the sand for goodness sake is crumbled fish bones! Why are they swimming, and why are they happy in this place? I can tell they are residents of the town. It's a strange, strange feeling- I can't really describe it. We drive around from one torn-up house to the next, getting out to snap a few photos, and so on. I am totally freaking myself out, but to be fair, this place does not making it hard for me. At one point, I'm even convinced that we're being followed. Weird vibes, man. And also sad vibes. Think apocalypse meets great depression. Maybe I'll just let the photos speak for themselves. (If you want the real experience, turn on A Silver Mt. Zion while you look through them. Because that's what Jon played the whole time we were there.) (Update: I HIGHLY recommend watching the documentary Bombay Beach. It is beautiful.) On our way out, as I was commanding Jon to "drive, drive, drive!" we were feeling off. Driving past 100 military vehicles didn't help the situation, and neither did nasty border patrol. But then, we made it to God Rock (at least that's what I call it because I can never remember the name) which is a whole different kind of odd. See below.
As the temperature approached 90 degrees around here, Jon and I planned a day trip to Leo Carrillo State Beach. We almost didn't end up going because I really messed up my shoulder the day before (still not sure what's wrong with it, but I can't move my arm, so that can't be good.) But Jon insisted, as he does, so we went anyway, despite my complaining. I'm so glad we did, because we had the most perfect day. Really. I am in love with that day. (These first few photos were from earlier in the week, when I ate some steak tacos (gasp!) and when we stumbled into a farmer's market on our Saturday afternoon bike ride.) And oh yeah, I was awakened by an earthquake this morning!!! It's an understatement to say I'm obsessed with sea urchins. They're like sea succulents! Adorable, right?
The first month we were in LA, we didn't have any visitors. Not a one. And then randomly, it was like every person we knew decided to come to LA for the weekend. I swear they planned it or something. It made for a super busy, but super fun weekend. We started the weekend off with some friends from Salt Lake, who were traveling through on tour. We met up with them on Saturday evening, so see Nick's show. He was dressed as a beetle, and he was great. Then we had a night full of drive-thru shenanigans and catching up. On Sunday, we all went to the Getty, and then on and I got to seem him play for the second night in a row! I even got my hair cut on a street corner after the show! On Monday, I was able to visit with a dear friend from Maryland, who helped guide me through my years of teenage angst. Props to her! Later that night I met up with the family I used to nanny for, and we had a lovely dinner at disneyland! I sure do miss those kids... Then to top it off, I went to visit my mom and aunts and grandma who were girls trippin it up in Newport Beach. We had tons of fun doing pilates on the beach, chatting, and shopping. Isn't my grandma the cutest? And thennnnn, Jon and I moved into a new apartment in Los Feliz (which, let me tell you, is pronounced los fee-liss, though I refuse to say it like that). Our move out day rolled around and of course it was a torrential downpour. So yay! We got to move out of one 2nd story place in the rain and into another 2nd story place in the rain. But wait, it gets better. Because as Jon was going to pull the car up, and I was inside packing, I got a phone call. "I have some bad news," Jon said, the bad news pertaining to our car being broken into. No worries that we had a backseat full of glass and a portal into our car, that was seeming to say "Hey rain! Come on in, and soak all our stuff." This was followed by a million hours of hectic running around. We needed to vacuum the glass out of the car before we could load all our stuff into it, but we didn't have time to vacuum because we had a meeting scheduled for 2:00 with the housekeeper to get the keys to our new place, so we got the keys and headed to the car vacuum place, but then as luck would have it, we got a call from our old roommates letting us know that someone was moving into our room any minute, so we had to rush back to the old place and get all of our stuff out of the room, but we needed to get to the window fixing place before it closed for the weekend, so we just dumped our stuff in the living room and drove back to exactly where we just were, got the window fixed, vacuumed out the glass, and then drove back to exactly where we just were before, got our stuff out of the living room and loaded it into our car (in the pouring rain), and then drove again back to exactly where we just were to unload the stuff into our new place (again, in the pouring rain). Luckily, the next day was so much better. I mean, in comparison, anything was really better. And luckily, nothing was stolen from our car (despite the fact that we had a VALET KEY in there, and they could've stolen the car itself). As far as thieves go, this one was pretty considerate I guess. Didn't take the car. Didn't take anything out of the car. Broke the smallest window possible. And most importantly, didn't take Jon's rocks. Phew. Here's our new place! Sweet building, no? I think everyone could use a good denim raincoat, really. Though let's be clear, it most certainly does not do its job. In fact, It retains water probably better than anything else I own.
Every February, I am reminded how annoyed I am about being born right before Valentines Day. No one really wants to clump their birthday in with another holiday, am I right? (Christmas babies, I feel even worse for you.) But then every year, after my birthday turns out amazing and I am feeling so loved, I decide that it's fine and I don't really care about Valentines anyway. So after Jon got me feeling all love-struck on my birthday, I decided to try and make the day extra special for him, despite the fact that he is not a "holiday person" and doesn't care much for Valentines day. But he does care for whales! So I planned a little whale watching cruise, which I had to wake up at 5:00 for, and if that doesn't prove my love, nothing does. Then we had a nice relaxing holiday which involved an Always Sunny marathon and tacos. I'm pretty sure he was not sad about the whale watching. And below, we have the world's happiest couple. Since I'm allergic to flowers, Jon got me some Valentines succulents. Kid in a candy shop, over here. According to the instructions that came with my plant, the succulent is going to have "babies"! So excited, and so don't know what that even means. And seriously, all photos below were taken with my iphone. After succulent shopping, we went to the arboretum where we saw more lovely things. And there you have it. A beautiful nature-filled weekend. Not even a single food picture. Can you believe it?
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ELLEfeminist. linguist. traveller. foodie. crafter. ARCHIVES
January 2018
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All photos are the property of Elizabeth Cheney and may not be used without permission.
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