And we were happy to be together.
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Special thanks to Jeff for taking most of these photos!
An old friend in a new place
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Tag Archives: los angeles
got my rubber sandals (got my straw hat)
Summer’s here! Despite the fact that it is sixty-two here and cloudy, I know that June Gloom is on its way out and soon the morning will start seventy-five and sunny.
To celebrate, I took the day off. (Well no, not really. My friend Brandon is in town, and I took the day off to hang out with him. I figured since I haven’t really seen him for more than a few hours in like five years, we could have a day together.)
Once this marine layer burns off, Brandon, Jeff, and I will hit the town, seeing the Hollywood sign, seeing if our feet match Will Smith’s, and posing in front of the Beverly Hills sign. Or you know, eating tacos from a truck and then going to Diddy Reese’s. Or seeing the ocean and walking Santa Monica pier. Who knows. Lots of options to be had.
In the larger picture, last night at book club Rebecca said, “Did you know that July fourth is next weekend?”
“No, it’s not. It’s…next weekend!? What? What are we doing?” I proclaimed.
“Dockweiler? Beach day? It’s the third.” Chaos ensued, but not before we got it hammered out that we’d be headed to the beach for the day. Like always. I love a good summer tradition to get things started off right.
Circa 2009. Look at all that American love.
2010. I love this photograph because I’m pretty sure they were only partially aware it was being taken.
What are all of you doing for the summer?
Flowers on the way home from yoga.
Until the sun comes up over Santa Monica Boulevard
Well, last night I went for my first 5k-training run outside. And it went fine, surprisingly, all things considered. Here’s my path:
As you can see, this is more than three miles, something I did not remember. I had made another path, but this almost-square was easier to follow. I couldn’t remember where the two mile and three mile markers were, which probably slowed me down because I didn’t really have mile-goals so I didn’t know how I was doing. Somewhere around Gower and Santa Monica, Sheryl Crow was just stuck in my head, on repeat, as I jogged down Santa Monica in sunglasses, sun setting over the Hollywood Hills.
I probably finished around 40 minutes. The run from Santa Monica to Sunset is entirely uphill, which I knew, but I didn’t know any other way to stay below Sunset. I thought that Sunset and Sycamore was the three mile marker, and at that point I was at 43:08, so I am guess I was around 40-41 at the actual three mile marker.
I did try to run the entire first mile, which did not happen. I blame this on my foot, which has been hurting on the arch, on my left shin, and on my two-week lapse. Nikki seems to think I can run a mile before slowing down to walk. I disagree. I work in short bursts. We’ll see…
Before I left for my run, Jeff made a comment about getting one of those running lanyards that you can put around your arm, so you don’t have to, you know, tie your key to your shoe. “Well, after this weekend, I don’t think I am going to be doing much running,” I said as I tried to finagle my key onto my lace.
“What? But…you can’t stop running! You’ve inspired me! You’re my hero!” he said. Now, everyone that knows Jeff can imagine the voice he was using — his half serious, half in jest voice, that usually ends up in him speaking in an accent (Spanish, Indian, etc.) But I could tell he was (somewhat) serious.
So maybe after this 5k, I’ll keep running. Or maybe I’ll take a break and do some serious swimming. I know my Dad is starting his 5K training, so it looks like I’ll need to at least keep it up to run one with him in the fall. We’ll see.
All I know is last night I had a cookie after dinner, and I didn’t feel a little bit bad. So maybe running isn’t the worst thing that’s happened (or been forced) into my life.
I love LA, OR: Why I don’t take the highway home…
Last night after being at J, B, and E’s for a bit, I took Santa Monica Blvd home. This way goes through a lot of LA neighborhoods, and thus I saw, in no particular order:
a building (an entire 12 story-plus building) wrapped like a Christmas tree; an city block of Beverly Hills decorated with scenes of Christmas; a building lighted to look like it was snowing; the whole of West Hollywood decked to the nines, including a hopping Wednesday-night party scene, and glowing neon lights at every block; more than five burger restaurants (not fast food ones, either); a woman putting her eye-liner on while waiting at a light; a crashed car lit up with a sign saying “Do Not Drive Drunk” above it in front of the West Hollywood Police Department; a myriad of houses with Christmas trees shining through their front windows.
Happy Christmas, LA.
Building wrapped as a present…