leaning in

Ah, the quintessential Southern California sunset.

A few weeks ago, Dane & I decided to have a little happy hour in Venice Beach at a place called the Waterfront Cafe. The cafe's patio sits right on the boardwalk, across from the ocean. Great for both the ocean views and the people watching (Venice has to be the USA's premiere people watching location).  Also, the Waterfront Cafe has the most amazing giant hot pretzels served with homemade sweet mustard. I couldn't even snap a photo because we gobbled it up so quickly.

I've been reading the popular book Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg recently (she's the COO of Facebook and also worked at Google and for the US Treasury). I wasn't so sure about it at first--as an Anthropology major, I had extensively studied the topic of gender roles in multiple areas of the world, and the idea that girls and boys are raised differently and accept societal roles differently didn't seem groundbreaking to me-- but I'm about halfway through now and can say that she definitely has some great observations about pursuing a career as a woman. My workplace is having a mini-bookclub to discuss Lean In after we're all finished reading it, and I'm excited to share all of my opinions and hear others opinions.

If you think that this book is only applicable to the woman pursing a career in business or technology, I would say that you are dead wrong. I am already applying her lessons not only in my "day job" workplace, but also in my creative career. In fact (although I'm only halfway through Sheryl's book), I'd say that her writing is a great asset to a creative career since the "entry level" of this type of work is basically considered "trying to be a _____".  Although I have performed in many professional plays, I am still seen as "trying to be an actor" unless I continue to work my way up (or around, and Sheryl suggests). We have to lean in and find new ways to grow or our career seemingly doesn't exist.

It seems like everyone is reading the book anyway, but I would say that picking up a copy from the library or bookstore is a good idea, especially if you're a twenty-something like me trying to piece together a career path.

I don't think Lean In was on my mind during this gorgeous sunset, but I'm sure I'll be applying its lessons to both of my careers.

my memory is foggy

One of the perks of living in LA should be the proximity to the beach. So, on a day off when I finally have nothing pressing to do, of course I'm going to ask my beau to come to the beach with me. Especially when it's 86 and sunny, right?

Well, it was 86 and sunny at our place. And about ten blocks from the beach. But about eight blocks away, a thick fog had meandered in on an otherwise perfect day. Not the sunny, jump-in-the-water-to-escape-the-heat conditions I was hoping for.

But we stayed, because it wasn't crowded and the fog made the scenery quite beautiful. I felt like I was in a pastel painting of a shipwreck.

That's the farthest I would go into the icy water.

Luckily, the sky started to clear at around 3:30 and we had a good hour of hot, sweet sunshine to cap off our visit. But I can take plenty of pictures of a sunny beach-- the fog is a rarity!

P.S.--I loved that our fellow beach bum was reading Stephen Hawking (the black book in the bottom left had corner)!

view obscura

Last weekend we took a hike at Temescal Gateway Park and realized: Never go hiking in a popular place in the late morning on a weekend. The trails were a little more crowded than I would have liked (isn't the point of hiking to get away from the hectic-ness of the city?) and, to top it off, my camera battery died less than halfway into our hike. There was also fog hiding the ocean view that I was craving.

But enough of my whining--I'll share the photos I did capture in that first half hour or so. I really love this hike, so I'm sure I'll be back (it's actually pretty close to our home--just up Sunset Blvd.) so I can show you the real view and other pretty parts.

 The fog may have obscured our view of the ocean, but we could still see the multimillion dollar mansions of Pacific Palisades.

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

man vs. wild

LA has an amazing amount of green space for being the second largest city in the country. Most homes, and a large number of apartment complexes, have lawns or courtyards that are constantly being tended by gardeners, and I've mentioned before my surprise at the number of hiking trails smack dab in the middle of the city (like Runyon Canyon). I really enjoy the outdoor-mindedness of Los Angeles, and how remote areas can be situated so close to busy destinations (last week, Dane & I went for a walk on the secluded beach at Will Roger's State Beach, about a mile and a half north of the Santa Monica Pier).

There's a large orange tree growing in the middle of our courtyard (too bad I don't like oranges). In Chicago, the closest we could get to nature was probably Lincoln Park and the lakeshore--which I LOVED, don't get me wrong! But it's nice to have numerous hiking trails and beaches just a short drive away.

It also doesn't hurt to see so much green when 80% of your facebook friends are complaining about snow. :)

amoeba

Amoeba is a fairly well known music store in Los Angeles, and as a budding record collector it definitely warranted itself a visit.  My record collection is growing, but nowhere near rivals Dane's (in either quantity or quality. I'll admit it.). Amoeba is a massively huge warehouse-style store packed with records, cds, tapes, movies, and memorabilia.

I claimed the Bee Gee's "Odessa" in its velvet case as my own (and of course, Dane couldn't leave without a few records as well).

Amoeba is pretty cool place to spend a few hours browsing through records. I'd love to find a smaller record store, though, to frequent. Sometimes smaller places carry some true gems that are either considered worthless by larger stores like Amoeba. I also love the vibe of smaller record stores. If you have any local suggestions, send them my way!

a neighborhood walk with my new friend

I have a new friend. A Canon Powershot SX10 IS, to be exact. I am so, so excited to work on my photography skills with this excellent camera (but I know that I can't be lazy now and put up sub-par photos, blaming them on my point & shoot camera's limitations).

A lot of the plants in my neighborhood look like they belong in Jurassic Park.

Of course, I had to play with the settings and focus of my new friend.

And I had to get some shots of my favorite tree on the block--this spiny fellow:

Shall I end with a quintessential Southern California picture? I think I shall.

we're all made of stars

Paying for parking almost everywhere I go is one of the...joys...I've had to get used to in this city. There are a lot of free museums, galleries, events, etc. taking place BUT parking is often a hefty fee. Street parking is "always" available, provided that you can find any and risk getting a ticket for some sign you overlooked. However, if you do a little research (aka googling) you can find activities that are free WITH free parking--hooray!

The Griffith Observatory is free WITH free parking. And amazing. And has breathtaking views of the city, ocean, mountains, and Hollywood sign. The views are most famously seen in the movie "Rebel Without a Cause" starring James Dean. We parked on the road about 1/4-1/2 mile down from the observatory and walked up the hill, taking in the incredible views and commenting on how "Californian" it is to have snowy peaks on our left, the downtown skyline in front of us, and the glinting ocean to our right. Oh, and we weren't wearing coats of any kind. In January. Even the first ten minutes of our trip were exciting, and we hadn't even gotten up to the building!

The observatory was like a candy shop and I was a sugar addicted child. I have always been endlessly interested in space exploration and the universe, and even Dane was pretty impressed (I think) by the gorgeous building and vibrant displays. I think his favorite display was the giant Foucault's Pendulum in the entry way--a demonstration of the rotation of the earth on its axis.

The ball at the end of the pendulum knocks over a peg every seven minutes or so. The simple explanation of this setup is that the pendulum stays in a fixed swing and the earth rotates around it. We witnessed an exciting moment when the ball nudged a peg almost over, but then grew impatient waiting for it to knock it completely down and moved on.

I loved that the observatory was separated into two wings. The Hall of the Sky (lunar movement, stellar life)...

...and The Hall of the Eye. This wing explored the history of telescopes and observation of the cosmos.

 The lower level focuses on our solar system and our perspective of the galaxy.

Visitors are welcome to explore the roof of the building and its telescopes (not so much during daylight, unfortunately) and great views (excellent during daylight, fortunately).

I can't wait to come back--the plan is to visit in the morning to hike in Griffith Park, pack a picnic lunch, then visit the observatory again and stay for a live show at the planetarium!