One Month in LA!

Today marks our one month being in Los Angeles. It's strange to think that only four weeks ago, we were just arriving to our new home. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to have this experience, and while things can get hectic, I try my best to appreciate where I am and who I'm with at this point in my life.

When I think about living here in Los Angeles, here are a few things that come to mind.

1. I think about what I see on the street- there is some amazing graffiti here. When I say graffiti, I really mean any type of street art; this can be murals or just street tags, but there are some that are pretty spectacular. I talked about ads before, but they're still interesting for me to look at. There are some older buildings, especially in our area, that are just beautiful. I like the old architecture you see from time to time. Also, I would never walk barefoot here. Ever. The sidewalks are so gross with God knows what on them. Even if my shoes fell apart, I would MacGyver something so I wouldn't be walking on that cement.
   
   
   

   

   
   

    This is the Fox Theater in Westwood. Apparently, film premieres are held here (it only shows one film at a time). Some of my cohort members have seen Selema Gomez and Ethan Hawke here. The premiere for Elysium with Matt Damon was held here--blocked traffic for one afternoon when I was trying to get home!

   

    I'm not sure if this is a hotel or a apartment building, but it's called the Hollywood Tower, and I couldn't get the greatest photo of it, but it's one of my favorite buildings to look at. It looks like some old grand hotel where old Hollywood stars would go.

   

   There are deer in Los Angeles?! What?! I did see a roadkill possum in Beverly Hills one morning that baffled me. I really wasn't expecting to see critters in this part of the woods.

   

   I'd really like to explore downtown LA a little more, though I'm not sure where to start. When we were at the downtown flea market, there were some lovely buildings around.

   
   

   

   This is a mural for the 1984 Olympics. It was huge and lovely, but there was no way I could get it all in one picture. I just loved that it was on one whole side of a building.

   
   

   

   This was an all-in-one building for matrimony, divorce, tux rentals, immigration, and taxes, I believe. That's one stop shopping.

   

   Here's one the Kick-Ass 2 billboards I mentioned in my last post.

   
   

   

   I'm not sure what this was for, but I thought it was neat!

2. I think about how it's expensive to just explore. We went to the Downtown Flea market on Sunday (mostly due to the lure of food trucks)-- $5 to park (which we thought was a great steal), $10 for the two of us to get in, and then however much food cost us. I've been in the market for a local print of Los Angeles and was hoping a vendor at the flea market would have one. I did find a local print shop's booth, no Los Angeles print. Brooklyn, NY and San Francisco, CA, yes. 
    Here are some photos of the food trucks (of course that's what I snap photos of) from the Flea Market.

   

   We ate at the Currywurst Truck. Delicious!

   

   Cameron enjoying the delights of the Currywurst Truck. We're planning on finding it again.

   
   

   
   
   
   
   

   

   This was a shaved ice truck, but it really felt like snow rather than a usual sno-cone. Wouldn't mind trying this one again!

   
   

   

   We dove right in; super tasty and not to mention great for a hot day.

3. The food is is absolutely fantastic here. We've eaten out a few times at regular restaurants and food trucks, and nothing has been disappointing. I wish it was cheaper! Though the prices aren't astronomically high, just simply going out between the two of us starts to rack up. 

   

   Cameron wanted to try a burger place near where we live. Super tasty burgers and they had a lot of craft beers that Cameron liked. A lot of places have patio seating, so it's fun to look around and people watch while eating.

4. I love, love, love the weather out here. It does get hot during midday-- around 80 or so degrees-- but there is often a nice breeze that goes through and no humidity! The nights and early mornings are often chilly- maybe to the low 60s. Many mornings it's overcast, and I kept thinking, "surely the smog isn't that bad." I asked a few of my cohort members who are from this area, and they said it was the ocean weather and that is usually burns off by mid-morning. So true! A huge plus is the sunshine here; I love that the weather is always sunny.

Cameron sent me this photo one day when I was in class. It brightened my day!