The Room at Hollywood

A few weekends ago, a few of my cohort and I celebrated the birthday of a cohort member, Jenny. We had dinner at El Nopal, a Oxaquena restaurant close to campus that is owned by the husband of another cohort member. Originally, I was planning on just going to the dinner and then coming home to spend some time with Cameron after he got done with work. Halfway through dinner, Cameron texted that he had gotten off work early so we decided to go to the bar/lounge they had planned to go to.

This is where living in Hollywood became extremely convenient: our apartment was a 15 minute walk to the lounge. No parking hassle for us! Although lounges aren't necessarily where Cameron and I like to hang out, it was a lot of fun with my cohort and we got a taste of Hollywood night life!

Ok, so many clubs do bottle service, but you can also order individual drinks. Talk about sticker shock for a bottle!

The University of California at Los Angeles

At least once a week, I remind myself how incredibly lucky I am to be at UCLA (and Los Angeles for that matter) and how grateful I am for the opportunity I was provided all those months ago. For those of you who don't know how I made my decision to come to UCLA, it really starts with the Janss Steps. I came to UCLA desperately hoping that I would hate it. Seriously. The whole plane ride over, I wanted to hate it. I finished NC State's recruitment weekend and felt pretty positive about the school and the program. While secretly I wanted to go to UCLA and live in California, a big part of me had concerns mostly about the out of state price tag. But, I at least wanted to see how I felt about the program in person, and how I felt about the campus. When Cameron dropped me off on campus for the Preview Day, and I walked past the Janss Steps, I knew I was sold, and that the program would have to be terrible for me not to come to UCLA.

Ok, so confession I didn't take this photo and the credit goes to Wikipedia. I could never get a great shot of the Janss Steps and I felt like this once does some justice to what they look like in person.

So, the program itself turned out to be, I felt, a better fit for me. It's a one year program (most comparable programs are two years) and many of the people in the program were older and had a variety of experiences that gave this program a different vibe. Unfortunately in March, I didn't have the opportunity to get a tour of campus, though Cameron and I did walk around for an hour or so before we came back to NC (ironically Cameron took more pictures than I did then. I think I knew that I was going to come and had plenty of time for photos).

Thus, this post is dedicated to the school and my experiences thus far. I will say that I'm super excited to be here, and I think that is best expressed by the amount of stuff I've bought/accumulated and the events I've jumped at going to, especially when you compare it my prior college campus. Exhibit A: I have bought 6 UCLA shirts/gear in two months; at AppState, the same amount took about 6 years (and I'm not counting the stuff I got through my sorority or being an RA). Exhibit B: I have been to THREE football games; I went to maybe five at ASU.

A cool fact about UCLA I learned (maybe it's not true, but I like to think it is) is that UCLA has the highest student body population, but has the smallest acreage of any of the UC campuses (419 acres if I'm correct). My favorite part of campus is the main campus, especially the older buildings. The Janss Steps lead up to the four original buildings: Royce Hall, Powell Library, the Humanities Building, and Haines Hall. The architecture on campus is amazing. They really don't make buildings like this anymore. The details are breathtaking and I enjoy just looking at the buildings. Don't get me wrong, some of the more recent buildings are boring/ugly, but the majority of the buildings I see on a daily basis are lovely.

Similar view of the Janss Steps

The Humanities Building

Royce Hall

Atrium in Powell Library

Powell Library

Powell Library

I've been meaning to try and explore more of North campus (South is primarily STEM and medical buildings, which aren't attractive looking and are closer to Westwood Village). North campus houses more of the humanities buildings and a newly renovated research library. It's hard to find a study spot on main campus, especially when the Grad Study Lounge in Moore is full, so maybe I'll get lucky there!

Kerckhoff Hall- this used to be the old Student Union

 

 

 

Awesome detailing on Kerckhoff

Patio on Kerckhoff

Moore Hall

Detailing inside Moore Hall

Moore Hall

I've also been on "the Hill" a few times. The Hill is where UCLA has all it's undergraduate residence halls. Now, when I say it's on a hill, I mean that with all sincerity-- I did go to a school in the mountains. These residence halls are nothing like what I've experienced before- most are high risers and look more like apartments or hotels. The most impressive thing about them are their dining halls (separate post to come). Apparently, UCLA has won several awards for their dining hall food. I'm not sure if I really believe that or how true it is, but it's still pretty nice food, and definitely puts all other dining halls I've eaten at to shame, ASU or otherwise. I've eaten on the Hill several times when people who live there offer to swipe us in to the dining halls on their meal plans.

Residence Halls

At other campus restaurants- these are separate from the dining halls in that meal plans don't work and you have to use "real" money to eat there-- the food is pretty nice too. There's one place called Fusion, which is located in the "bomb shelter" in the Court of the Sciences, which I like to eat at a lot. First, the bomb shelter is actually a rennovated bomb shelter turned student center. There are a few eateries and a small store for students to get snacks or emergency supplies. Fusion mixes burritos, tacos, and sandwiches with other ethnic foods. They rotate between Korean, Argentine, Indian, Vietnamese, and Mediterrean throughout the week- I've had one of each and it's super tasty, and not to mention pretty affordable if you don't want to spend too much on campus. 

I am, unfortunately, a fan of the white chocolate mochas at the on campus coffeehouses. And Kerckhoff Coffeehouse is right next to Moore... I was trying to give up my coffee addiction. That may have to wait now until I graduate. Ok, so I didn't mean for this huge tangent about food. 

I've realized one of the cons of a larger school is the bigger student body. It's sometimes hard to find a space to study on campus. And when I say that, I mean a place to sit comfortably for an extended period of time. I think I'm lucky that I can really study anywhere regardless of noise or distraction, but sometimes it's just hard to find a seat. I tried one Friday afternoon to sit in the super pretty Powell/College library and there wasn't a free seat. We joke in class that UCLA is full of overachieving undergrads... I guess that's true if they're all in the library on a Friday and it was only the second week of class.

In the past weeks, I've been able to explore a little more areas of campus, but not by much. Hopefully, I'll get to really see parts of campus I haven't yet by June!

Halloween in West Hollywood

Since we got here in July, we have been told that West Hollywood on Halloween was THE thing to check out. So naturally, we made plans to do so. Several members of my cohort (LA natives and not) were planning on going, so Cameron and I joined in on the fun.

1st: driving was awful. Several major streets were closed or blocked off, so we ended up snagging a parking place on a residential street (thank you, Mini Cooper for being so tiny and fitting in small spaces) and walked about a mile to get to the main event. About a mile and a half of Santa Monica Blvd was closed down so people could walk around in costume (or not) and do whatever it is they do there. There were some live bands, but for the most part, it seemed like a bunch of people walking around and looking at other costumes. If there were specific things to do, I didn't see them.

2nd: it was packed! There were so many people, but with that came some great costumes! It was hard to take a lot of pictures because we were constantly getting jostled, but I did manage to take a few. At one point, Cameron and I got separated from the group, but it was after 11pm at that point we were ready to throw in the towel and head home to sleep.

Here are a few of the fun costumes we saw:

This is Beverly from my cohort- she was dressed as a chicken, but it was for Chickering's Student Development Theory (one of the theories we are learning in class)

So many people!

This guy was dressed as a mermaid and was using the crutches to propel himself around, which shows some serious commitment to a costume. He had some pretty freaking face paint on though.

By far my favorite costume: she was a campfire that actually glowed! and he was a boyscout complete with a marshmallow on a stick.

I think he was supposed to be a character from the film Gravity.

These guys were dressed as pinatas and were handing out candy!

Another serious favorite-- this guy is Aladdin. He had a solo cup on his head, a monkey backpack and literally a carpet on his skateboard that he was riding around on. It was hard to get a clear photo of him, but it was great!

The Pope, who actually had someone in front of him shouting. "Make way for the Pope." For good measure, I'd like to add he was wearing a bathrobe.

Belle, Cinderella, and Aurora

The White Rabbit, Tweedle Dee, Alice, and Tweedle Dum

Mario Kart! These were incredibly done.

UCLA Day with the Dodgers!

The Sunday after classes started, there was UCLA Day with the Dodgers, which meant UCLA students, faculty and staff got discounted tickets to the All You Can Eat Pavilion at Dodgers Stadium. In the past two years, baseball has been a sport that has grown on me- partially due to the incredibly cheap minor league seats I could get with the Greensboro Hoppers. So, the opportunity to see a MLB game was not one I was going to pass by. A girl in my cohort is a huge Dodgers fan, so she organized getting the tickets and who was going; it ended up being three of us from the cohort and friends/significant others (Cameron unfortunately couldn't make it as he had to work)

The game was against the Colorado Rockies and, unfortunately, the Dodgers weren't fairing too well. It was cool experience, but it was super hot that day (90 some odd degrees) and we were sitting in full sun. I got a great farmer's tan within an hour of being there. I'd like to go to another game and see if cooler weather makes it more fun, but it's nice to have a MLB team right in our backyard! 

My embarrassing story of the game is I forgot to print out the ticket, so the people I was carpooling with were gracious enough to help find a Kinkos. I knew I was forgetting someting when I walked out the door! I felt terrible making us late to the game, but they assured me it was no problem. We did drive through Little Tokyo in downtown LA, which was a fun detour. I was told, "Arrive late and leave early, that's the LA way." I suppose that's true when trying to avoid traffic. 

A not so clear photo of the Welcome to Dodger Stadium sign

That's a full stadium!

UCLA Day at the LA Fair

When the LA fair was running, UCLA offered free admission and $10 for guests to attend the fair. Cameron had the night off last minute, and I was already going with some of my cohort, so we all hoofed out to Pomona, CA, which is about an hour drive away (we carpooled, which I try to do as much as possible). I wasn't sure what I was expecting when I got to the fair, maybe something different from the NC State fairs I usually go to every year or so. It really wasn't that much different.

They had this cool gondola ride to see the fair from above!

So many ribs!

There was a truck that pulled this trailer with a live band on it. Cool idea, not so good for traffic.

My favorite part of the fair was the petting zoo, though the book exhibit was a fun second. You know you're from the country when you hear someone say, "What is that? Is that a cow?" and you don't know how to react to that question (and yes, I did overhear that). I always like looking at the animals, and there were a bunch of piglets! No llamas though. I feel like every fair needs at least one llama.

Babies!

Snack time!

Their tails were a-wagging and it was definitely super cute!

The book exhibit wasn't really about physical books, more so about what kids thought when reading them. They had some cool displays around; I liked their Wizard of Oz one.

I loved this!

I left the fair sans funnel cake, a decision I still regret to this day. Always get a funnel cake! There were a few food trucks at the fair and Cam and I ate at one called Calbi- a Korean fusion truck. My tacos were ok, but I think Cameron liked his burrito a lot. You live and learn with these food trucks for sure!

UCLA vs. Cal

Y'all, I'm three for three on home games at UCLA. Talk about a monumental event. I originally was going to skip the Cal game to get ahead on some readings, but one of my cohort members mentioned that she was going and so we started to chat about it. So, I was under the impression that the Cal game was against a CSU or a smaller university. Apparently not. Cal, in Californian lingo, is what UC Berkeley is commonly known as. I didn't know that. Needless to say, I changed my mind about missing that game.

I was able to carpool with a girl from my cohort and her fiancé, which is nice to split the $25 parking fee. We tailgated a bit before moseying into the stadium. Holy cannoli were there a lot of people there. Usually, we get through the gate quite quickly and we can go straight into the student section. Not this time. We kept getting routed from the usual sections because there were so many people trying to find seats. While we should have gotten there by the start of the game, by the time we were able to sit down, it was the start of the second quarter. 

And, not going to lie, it was a bit chilly. Chilly as in what I was wearing (jeans and a hoodie) had to be supplemented by a fleece blanket that was in my friend's car. This desert weather can be tricky where it's quite warm in the day, but it gets rather brisk at night. Some people wore down jackets, which I thought was a little extreme, but Ugg boots and a warmer fleece jacket would probably not go amiss next time. 

Cameron had to work, so he's only been to the first game with me. Hopefully, he'll get a Saturday night off soon and we can see another one. I bought a ticket for the BIG UCLA vs. USC game over Thanksgiving Break-- think UNC vs Duke rivalry-- but I couldn't buy guest tickets so hopefully I can snag another so we can see this cross town rivalry!

This game was packed! 

Gambit & Manners

Ever since Cameron and I relocated, it has been an on-going battle with Gambit and walks. He has bad habits to say the least; he pulls, lunges at both people and other dogs, and sometimes acts out aggressively to dogs, which worried us quite a bit. For a few weeks, he was getting better with these behaviors, but that was short lived and actually got worse. My theory is he has become comfortable with our area and is getting a bit territorial. In the past few weeks, it's been rather difficult controlling him on walks, especially when another dog comes our way. Cameron and I talked about maybe getting a trainer involved, but ultimately decided trying out a gentle leader leash/collar before we went that route. When I had to order some books off Amazon, we decided to go ahead and get it one and also purchased a pheromone spray that helps deter bad behaviors.

We got the gentle leader and the spray yesterday, and holy crap, do they work well! After about four sprays, Gambit just has to see the bottle and he stops that behavior. In case you're worried, the spray isn't harmful to him (it smells like hairspray to me). You simply spray near him and it makes him stop dead in his tracks. The first time I sprayed it at him, he immediately stopped and gave me a look of "what was that? I don't like that at all." Cameron used it on his walk today and said that after he barked at a dog and was sprayed, he didn't bark again. On my walk with him this evening, he sat quietly while other dogs passed him on the sidewalk.

I can't express how night/day this change in behavior is, and I'm so grateful that it was a simple and relatively inexpensive solution. We're really hoping that the leader and spray will work and that Gamby's behavior will improve for the long haul. Maybe we'll start feeling more comfortable introducing him to other dogs and he can start making friends!

Since he had a very good walk, Gambit got a doggie ice cream treat (which he's a fan of, cardboard cup and all).

To continue the Gambit post, here are some other fun photos.

This is how I see him in the morning before I go to campus if he's in his chair: 

 

But, if he's not, this is usually how he looks: 

 He's a fan when I do this (foot bellyrubs):

We need to buy more Gambit-proof toys. I picked this football/raccoon thing up for him and an hour later...

It's like he know's he did that too quickly.

And even when we're just watching TV, he's got to be in the action too.

What a cutie!