and the Oscar goes to...

...les Mis, for everything! I mean, was there any doubt that anyone was more amazing than Anne Hathaway as best supporting actress, baldly dying on screen?

One-day weekend #2 of 3 is now over. Even though I hate waking up and going to work, thinking it's Monday all day, and having only one day off, my coming three-day weekend gives me something fun to look forward to :-) PLUS there are actually spots in the parking garage at work on Sundays - a miracle! AND it reminds me of my days at AAMC, which seems like the most luxurious hospital in America at this point...

This weekend, I made the short trek to Palm Springs with Phil, who is visiting for the next week or so from Maryland! Phil is possibly a friend I've known longer than any other person I stay in touch with... first grade! The weather was AWESOME and we had a fun day walking around downtown Palm Springs, eating some delish food (because there truly is no other food here in California), and taking the aerial tram up the mountain. We also happened to get there just in time for a "Black history month parade," which was the strangest parade I've ever seen. There was a car every 300 yards or so with someone waving, some pimped-out cars, and a bunch of people who looked like they just walked up and decided to join a parade that day. But there were some cute marching bands in the line-up, so I did enjoy the strangeness for those!

One view from the top, light adjusted with the camera to show
the desert in the distance

Another view from the top, now adjusted to show our
long path down the cables!

We also made a pit stop at Hadley's, basically just a little market store, but FULL of goodies you don't see many other places! They sell dried goods.. nuts, grains, fruits, veggies... we bought some dried cantaloupe (my new fave!), dried mango, dried okra (the only way I like it, apparently!), and much more. Seriously, much more. In less than 24 hours, I've already chowed my way through more than half my bag of butter toffee sunflower seeds, and I'm already craving another date-banana milkshake! 

Tourist time!

One of the fun parts of living in an area for only a short time is that I'm kind of a resident but kind of also a tourist! Jeff and Hillary were kind enough to invite me to spend another fun weekend with them in LA (thanks, guys, for not getting sick of me yet! :-) Friday night we hung out in Hollywood, had a delicious dinner from Osteria Momma (SO YUMMY), and then went to Milk for the best desserts ever! I mean, how can a place selling carrot cake ice cream NOT be amazing?! 

All the carb-loading the night before paid off for Saturday's trip to Disneyland/California Adventure; we spent 15 hours walking around the parks!! The weather was perfect: almost 80 degrees and sunny (hot!). Even though I've been to Disney World before, Disneyland was still a great time! It's a lot smaller (obviously only one park v. three in Florida), and everything is jammed into what small space they have. BUT Carsland was really cute, and the World of Color was a beautiful show to end the night! Space Mountain took the prize for best ride (and it's WAY better here than in FL!) Plus, since we're in California, there were churro stands every 10 feet in the park... Overall, a really fun day.

Sunday, we headed out to Universal Studios Hollywood, for day 2 of our theme park extravaganza. Like Disney, the park here is much smaller than the one in Orlando with a ton of stuff crammed into a small area. The studio tour was really interesting - it's pretty crazy to see where movies/shows you like are filmed, and realize how much goes on to make the scene in Hollywood turn into the scene that actually airs! Universal didn't have quite as much to offer as Disneyland, plus it was RIDICULOUSLY crowded, so we didn't close down the park today, but we did have a fun time! 

Now the perfect end to a fun-filled weekend would be to have Monday off for President's Day, but alas... healthcare breaks for no one, regardless of their role in US history! Happy President's Day friends!

"To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides"

WHEW! It has been a BUSY two weeks! It's great having friends only an hour or two away, and also to have friends come visit from 2600 miles away! 

I spent last weekend in LA with Jeff and Hillary, who were as hospitable as always, allowing me to stay with them in their loft and showing me a good time in Hollywood! We took another urban hike up Griffith Park, this time passing by the Observatory and heading up to the top of the hill. You can see the Observatory in the (high up) photo of the city, in the middle left. And that orangish layer atop the city is smog, not sunshine. Mmm, mmm, pollution. 

After our exhaustingly refreshing hike, some food, and showers, we drove out to Santa Monica. The pier marks the end of Route 66, which was pretty cool to see, since I've driven across quite of bit of it now! Santa Monica was a pretty (expensive) area and gifted us with a gorgeous sunset. We ended the night on Saturday with a UCB (Upright Citizens Brigade) comedy show... hilarious and fun.

Sunday, we obviously were SUPER PUMPED for the Super Bowl!!! There is a Ravens fan group in LA called the West Wing, so we joined them at the Parlor, which was 
basically a bar full of people from Maryland who all now live in LA. IT WAS AWESOME! Lots of purple, lots of excitement, and I felt like I was back home watching the game downtown! Someone in the group even bought two cakes from Charm City Cakes, and the bar served a special "Maryland menu" of old bay'ed everything. Yummo!

I went to see Thomas Rhett at the Brandin' Iron on Tuesday, which was in a questionable area (as is everything in San Bernadino county), which was a great show! One of the traveling nurses from work went with me. I'm hoping she'll still be around for Casey James on my birthday!!

This weekend brought me the early Valentine's Day gift of BFFs from Maryland! Liz, Ali, and Brian came to San Diego for the weekend. Thanks again to Beth for her VERY gracious hostessing! We did a little sightseeing in Coronado, took a pit stop for a picture in La Jolla, and spent some time in Old Town San Diego. And of course, I had to introduce everyone to best fish tacos in PB :-) Thanks for coming, guys! Hopefully y'all will take back the chilly weather to Maryland ;-)

This week, I have to give another shout out to the makers of video chatting... Got to see the DWYD crew on FaceTime :-) So thanks, technology! 

A happy Valentine's Day week to all! <3