LA Trip, Pt. 2

Driving around downtown Los Angeles yesterday morning was marvelous. Although I would have been confused with all the one-way roads, every turn and hilltop was an even more glorious view than the one before. "Well not every turn," Corey mentioned. "Have you been down Homeless Lane?" Indeed we had - around the Arts District where we were looking at industrial lofts online. Being in the back seat, I was unable to get any good pictures, even with my phone. Michael isn't too excited to go back to that busy area, so I'm not sure if I can give a better illustration this week. It was just a beautiful mixture of tall, colorful, sculptural buildings and full green trees lining every street. Perfect for any landscape architect who is scheduled to finish Grad School next year!!

The closest area to where we will be living in North Hollywood does not possess the same full trees and skyscrapers, but I don't think I will get tired of always seeing the high mountains far off in the distance. And although I originally griped about finding parallel parking, it is now one of my favorite things. It gives Michael and I a chance to hold hands and walk a few blocks to where we need to go! For example: Porto's Bakery for breakfast today. It was another place his friend, Banks, recommended. And now we would also recommend it!

We both ordered the ham and egg omelet on a croissant. I don't know if there was a thick layer of warm butter on the bread, but it was heavenly. Very melt-in-your-mouth! They had a lunch menu as well, but we are saving that for next time. Since there was no more "quickly find a place to live" frustration, Michael got excited to visit the make up stores that they only have in LA. Usually Michael buys his items from those stores online. Today he did get three new brushes and a pack of powder puffs.

We went to Nigel's and Frend's. I saw a girl who looked and sounded a lot like actress, Jessy Schram, who played Cinderella in Once Upon A Time. But I couldn't be sure and I didn't ask. Michael then suggested we go to a store called "It's A Wrap". Last night Lacey had told me about it - a thrift store for clothes that are used in TV shows and movies. Probably mostly worn by extras, but still interesting. She said she got a jacket for $15, but every shirt I looked at was over $100!!

We walked to a few stores around there, passing a handful of other thrift shops. I found one store (Michael thinks it was called "Mindfulness"?) that was very cool. The art was amazing - ranging from cards, magnets, necklaces, robots made from nails, a wallet made from tires, and little sewn monster dolls. They were all very creative items, but unfortunately I couldn't "Support Local Artists" because they were asking so much for each piece. I really liked one gold necklace in the shape of California with a small heart punched out and said LA next to it, but I think it was $80?

Although we had heard that Hollywood Boulevard (where the stars and names are along the sidewalk) was dirty, we wanted to check it out! The sidewalks were very crowded and we plan on going back tomorrow, but drove up to see the huge (164 feet tall & 500 feet wide) Hollywood sign instead. The GPS in our rental car took us though a beautiful "neighborhood". The roads were narrow with many turns, up and down steep hills, which made me think of how it might be driving through Italy. When we finally got to the scenic stop, we were surprised with how quiet it was. You couldn't even hear the wind blowing. It was hot and very sunny, but wonderful.

The main road (Canyon Lake) was fine, but I definitely let out a loud "Whooaa!" when I looked down and saw we were basically on a cliff. We were told that the house with aqua colored windows, which you can kind of see in the photo, was Madonna's house. All the land was great to see though and there was a cute dog park below. There was a convertible tour bus with a small group of people who didn't speak English. All of them were taking turns standing on thick rocks to make it look like they were holding the Hollywood sign. I wanted to be silly and did the same, but liked this photo much better!

We have been sitting in the hotel for the past couple of hours, enjoy a bit of down time. Michael can be found snuggled under the sheets, laughing a bunch as he watches Total Blackout while I update my blog. Soon we will head out again to meet his make up friend, Sarah, at Zach's Cafe for some Italian food. Maybe pizza? What a great trip this has been so far. I'm very glad we have another three full days after this. Not including the next however many years, once January rolls around!!