California Part 2

Day 5, Wednesday:

On Wednesday we relaxed in the morning and then I met my blogger friend, Sarah, for lunch. Her office was conveniently only 3 minutes down the street from our motel! RJ drove me to meet her on his way to the library to print some documents.

We had a great lunch at this fun place called Lemonade. Again, full of healthy and inexpensive options and (surprise!) really great lemonades. I got a cucumber mint lemonade that was really good.

After lunch, we walked back to Sarah's office and the views of the ocean were incredible.

RJ came back by to pick me up and we went back to the motel to get changed and head to the beach. I took a long walk and RJ played guitar.

Darn Los Angeles and their crowded beaches!

This picture makes it look deserted and that wasn't the case. There were people there, just not the swarms of people you'd expect the way people talk about LA.

We stayed at the beach for awhile and watched the sunset there.

For dinner, we decided it was time we got some California Sushi! We found a place close to our motel and had some really good sushi.

Day 6, Thursday

On Thursday we decided to head to San Diego to check that area out! It's about 2 hours south of Los Angeles. We had done some research earlier in the week and decided we wanted to eat at the most authentic Lebanese restaurant we could find while we were out in the LA area.

We found a place in Anaheim called "The Olive Tree" that, according to reviews online, had the best, most authentic Lebanese. We have a Lebanese restaurant here in Akron that is one of my favorites.

Think hummus, falafel, pita bread, tabouli, baba ganoush.. all that good stuff.

We decided to hit The Olive Tree on our way to San Diego so got all packed up and checked out. We told the motel we were going to leave for the night and be back Friday, and they were really cool about refunding the one night and crediting our account. To give you an idea of how inexpensive it is to stay out there (at non-peak season anyway) - our hotel in Manhattan Beach, LA was $79/night and we stayed at a Motel 6 downtown San Diego for $62 Thursday night. I'm not saying it was fancy or anything but we had everything we needed and a good, clean bed and bathroom. The Crimson in Manhattan beach even had a pool, hottub, continental breakfast, shampoo and a hairdryer for that $79 - and a 5 minute drive to the beach. Right up our alley!

Anyway, we checked out and headed toward San Diego and found The Olive Tree. I'm so glad we did - we loved it! They had all these beautiful plants set up around the patio and of course we sat outside. Thursday and Friday were the nicest days of our trip (coaxing us not to leave on Saturday..) and it was 75 and sunny.

The food was absolutely delicious - definitely the best Lebanese I've ever had! It was so authentic that we were the only non-Lebanese patrons! I can't wait to go back someday.

We got to San Diego around 3:30pm and went straight to Torrey Pines State Park. We parked at the top of the hill, changed into tennis shoes and did a nice, long hike down to the beach. The scenery was beautiful and I was jealous of the "locals" on the trail that didn't feel the need to be snapping pictures, because they see it all the time.

After the hike, we headed toward Downtown San Diego, where we were staying the night. We knew at some point during our San Diego stay we wanted to get some authentic Mexican, but that night we were both craving Italian. We found little Italy on the map and headed off in that direction on foot. It was fun to see downtown San Diego at night. There were a lot of Italian options in Little Italy (of course) and we chose a little mom & pop place called 'Felipi's' and had some delicious pasta.

We walked around a little bit and called it a night.

Day 7, Friday

Friday was our last full day in California, which was sad. I have another blogger friend who lives out in San Diego, Audrey, and we were able to meet her for lunch in La Jolla. It was really cool to meet her in person and eat at a little cafe, outside of course. After lunch, RJ hung out on the beach while we walked around the little shops in La Jolla.

When Audrey had to get back to work, I moseyed back down to the beach to find RJ, window shopping the whole way down, of course. We sat for a little while and started hearing seal noises (I'm dead serious). I thought it was fake, it was so loud. We decided to walk around and find where it was coming from. I had no idea this was even there, but apparently in La Jolla there is a Sea Lion overlook in this beautiful place called "The Cove" where the Sea Lions all hang out on the rocks.

After watching the Sea Lions for awhile, we decided to move on to one of the next things we wanted to see in San Diego. We walked along Mission Beach and then drove around the Gaslamp District (the historic, downtown area with the old gaslamps - see more by clicking here if you're curious) and then headed to Balboa Park. We parked and did a mini-hike around Balboa Park and saw some beautiful vegetation and cacti.

 I really loved all the trees and plant life in California. Many of them we dubbed: "Dr. Seuss Plants" because they were unlike anything we'd ever seen before.

Take this one, for example:

After walking around Balboa, we decided it was time to have some authentic, San Diego, Mexican food. We found a little hole in the wall taco shop and stopped there. It was definitely authentic - like what you would get in actual Mexico authentic! It was good - but I still prefer El Campesino's or Monterrey. However, the chips we got were probably the best I'd ever had. Each order of chips was made-to-order, so they were steaming hot and extra delicious.

After dinner we headed back to Los Angeles. We stayed at the same hotel we'd been staying at earlier in the week.

Day 8, Saturday

Unfortunately, our flight on Saturday was at 11am, so we had to get up and go straight to the airport to return our rent-a-car and get through security.

One funny thing that happened when we got to the airport was that somehow, they got the idea that we worked there. I didn't understand that until after it was all said and done or I may have blown our cover. All I knew was that after printing our boarding passes, one of the guys who worked there was ushering us to the front of the security line and we went right through, no questions asked. I played it cool because RJ was, and after we went through I asked him what that was all about. He said that at some point, the guy said to him: "Well you guys work here, so you know how it works" or something like that. He didn't know what he meant but didn't ask any questions and that's why we were able to get ushered to the front of the line. 

It was pretty funny. We were hoping we might get bumped up to first class, being employees and all, but no one else got the memo that we were somehow special. Oh well.

We had direct flights on the way there and going home, which was a blessing.

The pets did great with the pet sitter. We were in touch with her throughout the week so we knew they were ok.

We are happy to be home but I know I left a piece of my heart in California.

I know we belong in Akron for now (and I do love Akron), but I know I'll be back for it someday.

Maybe next winter!

Love,
Rachel

California part 1

Note: This is long and wordy so RJ and I can remember our first time exploring Southern California.The paragraphs in red are the important parts that you should read as to not be too surprised when we live here or at least try to "winter here".. someday :)

Note 2: I mention our expenditures quite a bit and it's not that we're preoccupied with money and how much we're spending. We are just amazed at how affordable it is out here because so much of what you hear is about how things are more expensive here.

The first thing you're probably wondering is 'How is the weather?'. Well, it's fantastic. It's winter, so it's chilly when the sun isn't out. During the day it's usually around 68 and sunny. It can get chilly in the shade or when it's breezy, so you just carry a light sweater or jacket that you can put on if necessary. We wanted to be tourists this week and not just beach bums so it's really perfect for that.

The nex thing you may be wondering about is our pets. We have a local college student (studying to be a Vet Tech.) staying at our house with them. We met her beforehand and had a good feeling about her and it seems to be working out well. We've been texting with her a lot and recently she said: "Grace is a little wild.. Harvey is perfect :)" With the smiley face. Glad at least one of them is behaving!

The beginning of the trip...

We landed at LAX on Friday night around 7:00 California time (10pm our time) - <big thanks to Chelsey for letting us keep RJ's car parked at their house in Cleveland and taking us to the airport!> We got our rental car (a peppy little Mazda) and headed off to Manhattan Beach where out motel is. We got all checked in by 8ish California time but of course our bodies were still on Ohio time. We tried to stay up so we could get acclimated to California time, but didn't make it late enough and we were up at 6:45am (local time) Saturday morning. 

Day 1, Saturday:

We decided we may as well get up and hit the continental breakfast. We did that and then decided to enjoy the motel's hot tub. I'm sure the staff was wondering why we were out by the pool at 7:30am. Especially since it's their "winter" and before 9 it's only in the mid 50's. The shine was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, so it still feels a million times warmer than Ohio does at the same temperature. The hot tub kept us warm though and it was actually a great way to start the day and discuss all the fun things we wanted to do on our trip. 

After a lazy morning hanging out in the hot tub and taking our time getting ready, we headed out about 11 to explore a little bit and get something to eat. We had lunch here in Manhattan Beach and then headed off toward Santa Monica. 

The first thing you notice about California when coming from an Ohio winter is the colors. I felt a little bit like Dorothy in a Wizard of Oz when it goes from black & white to color. Even in the winter, the skies are blue, the trees are bright green and the flowers are blooming. In Ohio this time of year, you can go days without seeing anything but grey. As true nature lovers, this can really ware on us. 

Another thing I noticed right away was the hills. I never really pictured Los Angeles being mountainous at all but driving around you see beautiful hills and mountains. 

Chrissy (RJ's cousin) and her boyfriend Matt (who lived in LA at one point) let us know we definitely had to check out Santa Monica. I'm glad they did because it's fantastic! We loved it so much we went back the next day too. It's only about a 25 minute drive from where we're staying. 

There is a great shopping/restaurant street about a block from the beach and we really enjoyed walking around there. There are so many healthy restaurants and juice/smoothie places out here - I would really fit in in that capacity. 

We also walked on the beach for awhile. There is a great (and really wide) path that goes along the beach where people roller blade, jog, walk dogs and ride bikes. It only costs $1/hour or $8/day to park so that is really reasonable.

One thing we really wanted to do while we were out here was check out some live, local music. RJ did some research online and on Saturday night we ended up at this place called Molly Malone's where a few bands were playing and there was only a $10 cover. Before doing that, we got thai food at a place by our hotel. (We got some rice paper veggie rolls as an appetizer and I liked them so much we got them for lunch the next day!)

We really liked the music of one band we saw and in the other band, the bassist used to be the bassist for Incubus, so that was actually really cool. RJ said he was definitely the best bass player he had ever seen play live.

Day 2, Sunday:

We slept in after staying out on Saturday night. We missed the continental breakfast that day, so RJ ran out to the Starbucks down the street to get some coffee, fruit and muffins. We took our time in the morning and then headed out around 11:30 to do more exploring.

I really wanted a fresh, light lunch to take in the car so we got some more fresh spring rolls from the same Thai restaurant we went to the night before. Something about being out here - I don't know if it's having loads more healthy options or if it's the sunshine but for some reason, we've been craving light, healthy foods. When you're walking around, every coffee shop also has healthy smoothies and juice-bars, which we love.

We spent the whole day exploring more of Santa Monica (we went two days in a row, can you tell we love it there?). We walked on the beach, walked all up and down the main shopping street, walked down the residential streets and checked out the pretty houses and our favorite, walked around the community garden. 

It was so beautiful. As you can imagine, many people who live in Santa Monica love to garden but don't have the yard space to enjoy it. In this large plot of land, gardeners can rent a garden space and community members (and annoying tourists like us) can wander around the gardens and take pictures. This is a main plot of land in the heart of SM, so they could easily put a McDonald's or shopping center there and make a bunch of money.. but it's a garden that brightens the city. 

Did I mention people randomly have orange, lemon and grapefruit trees in their yards and their garden plots? So beautiful. 

Anyway, we spent all day walking around then went back to the hotel, rested and got some indian food (our favorite). In Akron, there is one option for Indian food and it happens to be kinda pricy and upscale, so we only enjoy it about once a month. There is so many more people here (who have eclectic taste in food like us) that they have a ton of options that are way cheaper and you get more food.

Who said eating in LA was more expensive? It's definitely not. If you go to the fancy places downtown, then yeah. But there are so many more customers, options and competition that they have to keep their prices legit to keep patrons. 

On Sunday night we watched the Oscars, of course! We thought about driving down there but knew it would just be craziness.

Day 3, Monday:

On Sunday night we got back on a good schedule, went to bed early-ish and were up at 7:30. We got breakfast, hung out and then headed out to one of my favorite stores. Goodwill!

I was really excited to see what the thrifting was like here in LA. Would movie stars drop off their designer clothes and jewelry for the likes Day 3, of cheap folks like myself (to sell on Ebay..)?

The items were nicer than other Goodwill's I've been in (you didn't have to sift as much) but the prices were a little on the high end for re-sale. I spent $5.50 on one top for myself but as far as re-sale items go, you want to get them for more like $1 - $2.

After hitting the Goodwill - we headed into Hollywood!

We paid $12 to park all-day in Hollywood (ON SUNSET BLVD!), and as we were walking down Sunset, there was another garage for $5/day. Again, it's much more affordable to visit, eat and park in LA than people think.

We decided to get some quick, take-out style lunch and sit outside to eat. RJ got a Chipotle Burrito bowl (same prices as they are at home) and I got some sushi from Walgreens. Yep.. Walgreens!

The Walgreens on Sunset Blvd. had a huge selection of vegetables, fruit cups (the veggie or fruit cups were under $2), fresh sushi (there was a sushi chef making sushi at Walgreens), sandwiches, wraps and salads. I got 12 pieces of fresh, brown rice sushi (with fresh ginger and wasabi) for under $6.  The variety of quick, healthy and expensive food options in California blows my mind a little bit. 

Hollywood was very cool. We saw the Los Angeles Film School, The walk of Fame, The Dolby and Chinese theaters and went on a two-hour tour of the city. It was so funny because when we were talking to the guy booking our tour, he said: "Ohio huh? I guess our winter doesn't feel too bad to you then!". We had to laugh because, to us this is not winter at all! The locals think 65 is freezing.

See what I mean by mountains and hills? It's just beautiful.

During the tour, we saw cool things like the Whiskey a-go-go (where the Doors started), The Laugh Factory and the Hollywood Sign on the hill. He also took us past multiple movie stars homes which was interesting but I also felt a little creepy parked outside Ben Affleck's house in a topless van. We gave him a big thumbs up for his Argo win.

We also saw the homes of: Jim Carrey, J.Lo, Tom Cruise, Ella Fitzjerald and Dr. Phil. I took a picture of the Doc's house for Grandma 'Lene:

The coolest part of our tour (and something really cool about LA) is that out of 4 couples/families - we were the only Americans! There was a family from Peru, two girls from Athens, Greece and a couple from Germany. So neat.

After the tour we walked around more and saw the Dolby and Chinese theater (where the movie stars put their hands in the cement).

It was really neat being in Hollywood the day after the Oscar's. Hollywood Blvd. (where the Dolby/Chinese theaters are) was still blocked off for cars but you could still walk around. It was neat to see them cleaning up after the big event.

Monday night we just went back to the motel, relaxed and ate leftover Indian because we'd been out all day. 

Day 4, Tuesday:

Tuesday we got up early again and took our time having breakfast and getting ready. We got our comfortable shoes on and headed out towards The Getty Museum! We decided we wanted to get lunch beforehand and RJ suggested we try a place he had heard of, The Veggie Grill, on our way to the museum.

The Veggie Grill is somewhat like a Panera. You wait in line and give your order, then take a number and they bring it to your table.

The prices are comparable ($8.95 for a combo meal instead of $7.99 at Panera) but at Veggie Grill:

-The food is a thousand times better and fresher and the selection is better.

-You don't have to bus your own dishes, someone comes around and takes your plates and also offers to refill your drink

-Everything is plant-based - no meat or dairy! We didn't even realize this, it tastes so good.

Here was my favorite thing about the Veggie Grill and I apologize in advance, Uncle David. 

They didn't sell pop.

You could get water, lemonade or fruit juice. 

And, unlike Panera where they give you a teeny-tiny water cup (so you'll buy a soft-drink instead), they give you an adult sized cup. 

Could they sign some deal with Coke or Pepsi and make a lot more money? Heck yes. 

Who cares?

<That's not to say no one should ever drink pop and no restaurants should have it. There's definitely a place for it. It was just interesting and encouraging that not everywhere has to and none of the Patrons seemed to mind at all. 

So after our lunch, which RJ said was perhaps the best lunch he's ever had, we headed to The Getty.

The Getty Museum (see more by clicking here and there is a neat video if you click here and scroll down) is world-renown Museum of Art and Research Center with some of the most beautiful gardens. 

Guess how much it cost to get in. 

Nothing!

Admission is free. Sure, we paid $15 to park all day, but we were expecting to pay some hefty admission fees as well. 

And, you knew this was coming.

It was absolutely beautiful - inside and outside of the museum.

It sits on top of a big hill so the view is absolutely incredible. You park on the ground and then have to take a little train up the hillside to get to the museum - so neat!

We saw the amazing gardens and a lot of beautiful artwork. My favorites were VanGogh - Irises, Monet - Sunrise and . You were allowed to take pictures of most of the art as long as you didn't use a flash.

On the way home from the Getty, we stopped again in Santa Monica. When we were there earlier in the week, we noticed signs for a Food Truck Festival on Tuesday nights. We thought that would be a neat thing to check out for an appetizer and we were right! There was about 5 big trucks all selling different foods. I got some really good Cilantro Lime Hummus and Pita and RJ got some great mini-tacos. Both snacks were only $5 and mine was actually free because they were doing some promotion where if you signed up for the mailing list you got 5 free bucks to spend.

The servings were decent portions and we actually weren't hungry again until 9pm that night! I would have just had snacks in our room, but when we were in the hot tub we saw another couple walk by with a pizza and RJ got a serious hankering. We got a small, New York style pizza from a place nearby for $6. It was really good and hit the spot perfectly.

So that's Friday night - Tuesday night for you.
As you can tell.. we love it.

More soon!

Life Lately

It's been awhile since I checked in and shared some pictures. We have been keeping busy:

-Playing music. RJ has 3 projects going now which is great. 

-Staying active at the Y (we got a gym membership and love it. I love the cardio machines and RJ loves to play basketball.) 

-Taking walks. Even when it's cold, Grace loves to go for walk-jogs or play at the dog park we have close by. Since she has such short hair, she gets cold easily so we got her a shnazzy little fur coat to help keep her warm (see below). 

-Hanging out with friends & family. Between band practices/hang outs, double dates, family outings and birthday celebrations it has been a great, full few weeks. 

-Working. RJ <luckily> hasn't had to travel more than a few days here and there and that's been really nice. I have been going into the office a lot which I really like. 

-Cooking. We've been "meal planning" where I pick a few new recipes to try at some point during the week and get the ingredients for. I recently tried these cauliflower "buffalo wings" and they were great!

Now for some pictures:

These don't even need a caption. We've been making a lot of pancakes:

We have discovered a winter activity we can do outdoors and actually enjoy - ice skating! A few weeks ago we went with some friends, Christine and Kevin, in downtown Akron. Perfect double date!

RJ showing the kids at the Y he's still got it:

I won't wait so long to check in next time.

Love,

Rachel 

The joys of being dog owners.

We love the puppies but we are definitely ready for them to find homes. When they're out and running around it's like having toddlers to chase after - everything ends up in their mouths and with pee on it!

Good thing they're cute.. <click the play button in the bottom left to play video>

Grace Snoring ...

You can hear RJ and Ryan's Super Mario Brother's game in the background (we kick it old-school style). 

In the next video, Grace performs her tricks! She already knew how to sit (kind of) and RJ taught her how to lie down. The only problem is most of the time she jumps the gun and goes ahead and lays down anytime we say sit. 

Harvey debuts his trick too - he can sit about half the time. Often times he just gets confused. 

Meet Grace!

On Tuesday morning I got an email from one of my friends from work (also named Rachel) about an abandoned dog family. Her parents own rental properties and her father found this mother and her two 4-week old puppies in one of their units. Apparently the tenant had left them there! And apparently they were on their own for awhile.. this poor mother is extremely malnourished. After I read their story and saw this picture she attached in the email (and showed RJ), 10 minutes later we were arranging a time to pick them up later that evening. 

Look at the poor thing, can you blame me?

So that evening we went to Rachel's to meet the family and take them home with us to be our new foster children. As soon as we met the dog we could tell what a sweetheart she was. She was wagging her tail and very happy to meet us. The whole way home she sat with me in the front seat and didn't make a peep. Now it's Thursday and I have still never heard her bark!

We decided on the name Grace because she was so sweet and forgiving to humans even though clearly she had been mistreated. Plus, it was by the grace of God that Rachel's father found them before they starved to death. 

She is very intelligent and very house trained! We thought she may have some accidents getting used to new food and a new routine... none yet. She can sit too and we're working on "stay". 

The puppies are still very little (only 4-weeks old!) and are still nursing which is so cute. We keep them upstairs in the spare room and Grace goes up to check on them every half an hour or so. They sleep together in the spare room at night.

Harvey likes having a new friend but we're making sure to give him extra attention so he doesn't get jealous. He's very curious about the puppies and likes to sniff them. Grace is ok with him sniffing them and us playing with them but she definitely stays close and supervises.

We tried not to keep the family apart from the other pets until they got checked out by our vet. Both of them were so curious about each other though.  RJ took the family to our vet yesterday to get them checked out. Of course we've got to get Grace fattened up but other than giving her some vitamins and antibiotics they all checked out ok! The puppies will be nursing for another week or so and then we have to transition them into watered down dry food. In about 4 weeks the puppies will be ready to go to  new homes. We already have a lot of people interested in adopting one! We will most likely be keeping Grace around, as long as she continues to get along well with Harvey and the cats.

Both Harvey and Grace are mild-mannered, calm dogs and Harvey appreciates that Grace isn't too hyper. She loves to lay around next to us, just like Harvey does.

She still loves people. RJ had his band-mates over to practice last night and she loved the extra attention from the guys.

I think RJ is her favorite. She is really curious about the cats and just wants to smell them.

We are definitely excited to have a "real dog" in addition to our cat-dog. Grace is the type of dog you can take on hikes and jogs (eventually..) and Harvey is still my favorite lap dog.

Welcome to the family, Grace!