Finals are over with at Stanford, friends graduating this year just passed, and good things seem to be happening around me right now. I’m in a state of bliss which was all but forgotten for a while due to the amount of items stacked high on my table and the stress that it has put me through. After all has been said and done I’m taking on this summer and hoping to do a few things along the way. I decided that if I was going to make this summer epic at all I had to start writing down a list of things I wanted to get done, so that I could make sure to enjoy it to the fullest:

1.) Get a tan.
2.) Take a vacation – and not just one, at least two or three.
3.)  Make a trip back to Monterey and home again.
4.) Take the camera everywhere it can possibly go to record such information. Pictures are worth a gazillion words.
5.) Start a new project and complete it.
6.) Find time to catch up with old friends and make new ones.
7.)  Have at least one epic road trip.
8.)  Throw a party.
9.) Remember to have fun at all times.
10.) Repeat number nine continuously. <3

Obviously this list isn’t at all complete, but a rough draft doesn’t hurt. Here’s to having an amazing summer and hoping yours is too!

Those of you that know me, trying new places is always on the top of my list. Especially in Los Angeles, because the county is so huge that there isn’t anything you ever have to try twice unless it is too awesome to pass up the second time around. Although now my life has turned around to get to know San Francisco as well.

I get a lot of crap for being from the Los Angeles area when I am in the Bay Area. There is apparently this “rival” between San Francisco and Los Angeles that I had never heard of until talking to some of the Bay Area inhabitants. I for one think they have just not experienced Los Angeles like I have, while I also expect myself not to understand how they feel about their city. Growing up in Los Angeles could never really be explained in words unless you happen to have lived there your whole life. The city can only speak for itself upon your own experiences. I am still to this day experiencing new things in the Los Angeles area, because there are so many things to do there. Whether it be a drive up Sunset or time spent traveling down Pacific Coast Highway to one of the many beaches I love to surf and visit. Sure LA has its bad moments which consist of the shitty smog, occasional fires, or bad traffic, but every city has its faults. It still doesn’t change how much I love the familiarity of where I grew up. The amount of culture and diversity is as vast as San Francisco’s, but I can name some of my favorite places that have so many of my own personal memories. My memories consist of nights I drove through WeHo, Sunset, or Melrose for the first time. Or when I was driving back home, looked up at the Foothills, and noticed that the snow on top of the mountains glistened clearly while you were driving up North 605 toward 210. UCLA has been a campus I haven’t even begun to experience after having attended only a year, but the Westwood area is beautiful. I could go on forever, but that would be a book in itself.

Of course I love Los Angeles, but San Francisco made me fall in love after my first trip. Driving 5, 152, and 101 for the first time up to the Bay Area was of course different than any other place I had been in Southern California. It was quite possibly the most boring drive of my life. The car pool lanes were completely different and dashed with white instead of the double solid yellow I was used to. The people were different to me and the look was almost too peaceful compared to the hustle of LA. As I drove into the city though, I knew it was where I wanted to be. The weather was crisp and cool, just the way I liked it. The architecture was completely different than LA and the access to every area by means of public transportation was completely logical and seemed easy. It was a Saturday and of course Embarcadero would be busy as fuck, but a drive to Dolores Park and then on over to the Golden Gate Bridge made it all worth it. I loved that people were jogging, biking, and seemed to generally be enjoying themselves. My flight from LAX to SFO for the first time was also beautiful. Flying up the coast with a window seat is something I could do over and over again, because seeing where ocean and land come together is breathtaking.

Here is where the problem comes in… I love both areas and I will always miss LA, but I have obviously already chose the Bay Area to go to school and will live here until further notice. Dealing with friends from both areas is sometimes a little difficult, because both like to bash the opposites of my amazing homes. The appreciation that it takes to come from both sides is obviously hard, because most of my Bay Area friends have never lived 20+ years in LA. As most of my LA friends have never lived in SF. I can safely say that I love each equally and always miss both when I go visit the other. I can also say I hate things in LA as much as I hate certain things in SF, but I have never felt at home as much as I have in both areas. The problem being that I am always at a stand still when it comes to where I want to be at that moment in time. That will probably never change, but hopefully I’ll be able to cope with being so homesick for each while I’m away.

I went to the Getty Center a couple of weeks ago which is right by UCLA settled in the hills of Los Angeles off of 405. I couldn’t believe that after all of the time I had lived in LA, I had never been there. If you may have read in previous posts, I am a big fan of museums and art in general so the Getty seemed like the perfect place to go on a hot summer afternoon. It happened to be one of the first weeks of the summer too, so of course everyone was in summer dresses, shorts, and flip flops.

When my R and I arrived, we had to take a tram that takes you across the hills of LA that overlook the freeway. (The tram reminded me of the BART system in San Francisco which I don’t really use unless I am coming to or from the airport.) Right when you walk into the Getty Center you are immediately surrounded by art in the forms of sculptures and the scenery is absolutely amazing. There are multiple buildings that you can walk through to check out Western from the Middle Ages, all the way up to the present. There is beautiful handcrafted furniture, fountains, chandeliers, paintings, and sculptures as you walk through each area. The gardens are also decorated beautifully and a lot of students in the area happen to be laying across the lawn or sitting in the cafe tables enjoying their studying in the tranquil environment. I captured photos of the LA views with one of my cameras there, but I am probably going to have to go back some time for the lights at night. I enjoyed the peaceful time that I had at the Getty Center and I hope to visit the Getty Villa that is located in Malibu soon. Both are apparently very different when it comes to what art is in them. (The Getty Villa is full of Greek art.) Admission is free here, so it is not costly at all if you want to enjoy a peaceful Saturday afternoon like I did. It is also open until 9 PM. Parking has also recently decreased to free after 5 PM. I suggest taking a visit and hopefully soon I will be visiting the Getty Villa and blogging about that museum too.

I posted the rest of the photos from my visit to the Getty on my Flickr in case you want to check out some of the pictures I took. The only thing I wish I had was my other camera that has a better zoom for things like wide landscape views. I guess you can never really plan ahead for something as spontaneous as my trip to the Getty. I always happen to decide where my friends and I are going when we jump in the car and start driving. Hey, what can I say, that is part of my enjoyment of random adventures.

This week I have been working in San Mateo County (specifically Redwood City, San Mateo, and Burlingame) on one of my typical job assignments. I was actually really excited to be here, because I would be home for the whole week without having to go anywhere else. I have been going back and forth between the Bay Area to get ready for my start at Stanford in the fall and I am REALLY looking forward to it! Experiencing new things always makes me nervous, but so excited at the same time.

This time, I found myself actually familiarizing myself with San Mateo County which I haven’t really done before. Some might think that it is not so exciting getting to know the new place you will be living, but it has actually been a new adventure for me every single day. I am always discovering new places and trying them out to find out exactly what I like. I am so happy that nothing has disappointed me so far about the area, because this is where I plan to spend the next couple of years for medical school. The only thing that has bothered me is the commute into Redwood City. It gets a little packed around 92 and 101 as people are transitioning between each freeway. The commute that I will be doing from Burlingame (where my apartment is) to Stanford might be a drag, but I am looking forward to the new beginning there, that I really don’t mind as much as I would have in LA. And it is nowhere near the amount of traffic there is going anywhere in LA. I also find it to be very laid back compared to LA which is a very nice change of scenery for me.

Overall, I am very happy that it is finally feeling like home to me already. I’ll update you as soon as possible on the rest of my progress in school and life in general as soon as I can. I’ve been very bad about blogging which I should have included in my New Year’s Resolutions, but better late then never, so I’ll add that to my list right now. For now, I allow you to blame my busy life!

Originally, I was supposed to publish this entry after the last post, but couldn’t immediately. I ended up moving my blog to a different server and it took about two days to get everything handled. My friend was very helpful with the whole process and happened to move everything for me in a few minutes. I was especially amazed by his speed.

Anyway, my first time in Las Vegas at a legal age was absolutely awesome. When we arrived we checked into our hotel at Treasure Island, we sat around in the room for a bit and settled in. Then we immediately set out for the casino floor. With so many places to choose from to blow my money, I sat at a blackjack table and immediately was asked if I wanted a drink. This began my first time being carded in Vegas, which everyone laughed about. I stuck to the blackjack and roulette tables, but wandered around some slots as well. Thankfully, I was very lucky in the gambling department. Not losing, but hitting the jackpot numerous times. Eventually we ended up wandering around Vegas and went to the Hard Rock Hotel as I had mentioned in the previous post. Hard Rock after 8 PM has a dress code, because that is basically when all the partying starts. I guess it was a good thing that I was dressed to go the club later, so I didn’t feel left out in my black dress and high heels. Almost everyone there was in their twenties and met up at the center bar which is so amazingly packed that it is hard to make your way up for a drink. Among the hot Go-Go dancers entertaining the blackjack tables, the Rock Star Lounge, the Poker rooms, and the loud music playing while you gamble, it is pretty much a non-stop party. The next day we wandered around Treasure Island (referred to as TI now) for the whole day while we ate tons of food, had a lot of drinks, gambled, and enjoyed the rest of our time before we headed on over to the Venetian and Mirage later that evening.

As a kid I remember coming to Vegas and having nothing to do, but sit by the pool or in the hotel.  I always thought Vegas was a boring place and I could never understand why adults spent their time there. Obviously, when you’re of age, you realize there is so much to do it is ridiculous and time goes by very fast when you’re having fun. Las Vegas is obviously the city that never sleeps with it basically being an open bar and giving you tons of offers to spend your money in more places. And no, I still have not lost my “beerginity”, even though there are plenty of you who are plotting different ways to successfully get me to have my first beer. (Seriously, there are bets going on about this.) Of course, I’m definitely coming back to Vegas, so who is up for the next trip with me?

I have been traveling for the past two weeks and busy with so much work that I have been away from my blog for a while. One of my trips was to Las Vegas which was awesome. I am already twenty-two and never got around to going when I was twenty-one, so you could see what an exciting trip it must have been, but before I get into the whole “Vegas” blog post, I’ll start with this one restaurant that I am craving right now.

Our first night out on the strip a few friends and I left our hotel to head on over to the Hard Rock Hotel. Those of you that haven’t been to the Hard Rock at night are in for a really big surprise. Most people there are in their twenties and it totally has a switch of atmosphere when the sun goes down (this will be in a later post). After a few hours of gambling, we found ourselves starving and looking around for something in the casino that was more appetizer like and not so much a big meal. There were already friends in Mr. Lucky’s and I really liked the description of their dishes, so I decided to plant myself at a table in the restaurant. Immediately we were greeted by a girl who had tattoos up and down her arms with a uniform that gave off a 50s vibe. She handed me a menu adorned with a hot chick, which was actually pretty hilarious, but to me obviously had the Las Vegas appeal. With the amount of different things there were on the menu, I decided on the Margherita Pizza (yes, it is spelled that way) which was a basic mozzerella cheese pizza with tomato and basil. I am actually not a fan of tomato, but for some reason I happen to enjoy it on my pizzas with basil. We also ordered this nacho plate that was basically a heart attack waiting to happen. It was covered in about three different cheese, guacamole, sour cream, chicken, etc. I pointed out that the massive red chili sitting on the side of the plate looked like it would burn the hell out of my mouth and the a server replied that it wasn’t that hot. I asked him to try it in front of us, but he explained that he would, but it was a health code violation and he didn’t want to get fired. (I have to say that it is always nice having someone wait on you that has a good personality and can laugh with you for a bit.) The vibe of the place was overall pretty chill and still made me feel like I was in Las Vegas, but let me enjoy some good eats in the meantime. I was also very pleased with the prices, because everyone knows when you are in a place like Vegas or any other tourist area, the prices seem to inflate immediately. I was also impressed with the fact that for being a restaurant inside of a casino it was very tasty and I wouldn’t mind finding myself back here on my next visit.

I have come to realize that after writing multiple blog posts about food and complimenting the environment, that I am a huge food nut. You can never go wrong with a good place to eat! Excuse me for pictures that might be blurry due to my iPhone tagging along with me constantly. I am looking into purchasing a camera that has all the qualities of my old camera, but is easier to carry around and bring out whenever I need it. Right now I have a bulky camera that takes awesome pictures, but technology has changed and made them slimmer. I just need to stop being lazy and get on that already.

I recently took a trip down the coast to San Diego for personal reasons. Leaving around ten in the morning was great, because I managed to avoid all the traffic. The weather was also absolutely gorgeous on the way up. It was exactly how you’d want to spend a short trip to a beach area. Surprisingly I haven’t been there in about seven years, so everything looked completely different to me. Typically we would spend our time down in Mission Bay, but my hotel was on Hotel Circle, less than ten minutes outside of downtown San Diego. To me, it is always funny to see the “downtown” of any city in California, because they never compare to L.A. or San Francisco. (Except that San Diego apparently has a pirate ship in their downtown bay area. See picture.) The only thing I wasn’t too pleased about in San Diego was the lack of good restaurants. If you have been to San Diego or live in the area and know of any good restaurants let me know. I’ll actually be going back for work next month for two weeks. This will give me an even better chance to actually take the time and see many other things. It does offer a lot of tourist attractions, such as Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, Wild Animal Park, and the House of Blues down there, but I am obviously not going to find myself at those places during the work week. Luckily, I do have friends living there to keep me company during my next stay. Feel free to add any recommendations in the sight seeing department.

Side note: my favorite part about traveling is not only being able to explore a new place and being completely out of my element, but actually sleeping in a hotel. This might be funny to most people, but I actually get better sleep when I’m not in my own bed. I’ve actually contemplated emailing Marriott hotels or wherever else I stay to ask them what kind of matresses they use. Yes, I know this is completely odd, but getting around 5-6 hours of sleep during the week, my sleep is very important to me.

In other news, I feel like I am doing pretty well in school. The winter quarter ends sooner than I thought, but I have managed to keep up to date with all the work which is a very good thing. I am getting worried about how soon I will have to take the MCAT and how much of my time will be spent studying for it. I am already preparing myself for a non-existent social life, so we’ll see how that goes. As you can tell, I also put up a new blog design which I am still in the process of working on and will probably take me some time to work out all of the kinks, but I am loving it. Let me know what you think.

For the past four days it has been raining off and on in the Los Angeles area. (Check the few seconds of video below if you don’t believe me.) Even though nothing has been able to dry itself off, I am finding myself able to stay inside and out of the wet weather. Most people hate the rain, but I actually enjoy the cozy warmth of the house and the soothing sound of rain coming down on my roof. Being able to work in this environment happens to allow me to get a lot of work done. Including a rising stack of homework that has begun to pile itself on me for the last two weeks. I have promised myself to get a lot of it done, but I will see how that works out. I usually get sidetracked if I have a lot of other things on the to-do list.

This time I took the bare minimum of twelve units so that I could actually travel for work while going to school. (They are all online classes. The invention of the internet is awesome.) Every winter and spring quarter propose a bit of a challenge for me, because this happens to be our busy months for work, but I still need to work on my degrees. The journey to medical school does not come easy and neither does continuing to have a life while making everything happen at the same time. The one thing I hope to accomplish this quarter is the same as it always is. Staying organized and keeping on top of things. Organization is something I constantly crave and something I am continuously working on. I have taken organizational skills classes before that I hoped to carry on with me, but I am beginning to believe that my “style” of organization is as chaotic as the weather that L.A. has been having. I still manage to tough it out through all my procrastination and get everything done though, so that must be a good thing.

This being my last month actually living in L.A., I hope that February will find some sympathy for me while I try to squish my personal trips, life, Valentine’s Day, and even more work trips into it. March does leave me to work in San Mateo County though, so I will be looking forward to living in my new place and only having to drive about five miles to work. It will be one of the nicest things that the Bay Area will have given me as a housewarming present. To be rid of L.A. traffic is going to be awesome! Stanford and Burlingame here I come!

The Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena has been something of interest to me for the past couple of years, because of the stories that are associated with it. This might be an eerie thing to post about, but up until recently after seeing something about it in the newspaper I decided to go ahead and research it myself.

A friend took me with her a few years ago while she was taking pictures for one of her photography classes and someone had mentioned it had been dubbed “Suicide Bridge.” I had seen the bridge plenty of times before during the day and thought the architecture of it was awesomely intact and the city had done a good job of keeping it nearly the same as when it had been built. I probably never would have known anything close to a suicide would have happened there if someone had not of mentioned it.

The bridge was built in 1913 and connects Pasadena with Glendale and Eagle Rock. It is officially known as an architectural landmark and is probably one of the sights you always see going down 210 late at night, because of the classic 1920 designed lampposts. During the day the bridge looks calm and peaceful, but at night some say it gives off more of a dark feeling. If you’re really from the area then you probably already know the scary stories they tell about the bridge being haunted by ghosts of those who committed suicide jumping off of it. Six years after construction had taken place in the 1900s the first suicide was recorded and since then hundreds after. Many of the suicides have been blamed on the Great Depression of the 1930s which left people with such little hope that they chose to end their lives. Whether or not supernatural forces are actually associated with the bridge, no one will ever know. Just like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Colorado bridge has been given more safety nets and extra things have been added onto it for safety precautions.

Colorado Street (known as Boulevard now) Bridge today is used in a lot of films that take place in Los Angeles County (recently Yes Man, 2008). It is also closed every summer for a festival called “A Celebration on the Colorado Street Bridge”. Locals come to celebrate the history of the bridge and its restoration with live music and antique cars.

One important thing first, I am happy to have witnessed history this month when Obama was inaugurated as the President of the United States. I look forward to seeing where he will take our country in the years to come.

I haven’t taken the time to write a new post in a while, so excuse my lack of keeping my readers informed on my recent whereabouts. January always seems to give me a lot more work to do before I can take some time to myself, because the previous year needs to be wrapped up before a new one is started.

This month I started off paying a ticket I aquired in Kern County that I had told you about in a previous post in November, when I took my trip to Monterey and San Francisco. A short recap: I was pulled over mainly for a “fix-it” ticket due to my two front tinted windows on one of my cars (CHP in Los Angeles thought a ticket for tint was ridiculous to give). I finally got around to taking the tint off which only cost me twenty bucks at the same place I had it put on. You should have seen my sad face as they peeled the tint off so quickly and sprayed some magic stuff on the windows to take off everything left behind. I am still questioning putting the tint back on due to my upcoming move to San Francisco. Right now I’m switching off between both of my cars, because I still can’t get used to not having any tint on this one. (Thankfully, this is not my main car, but the one that gets the good gas mileage. In other words it is my traveling car.) Some people may think this is funny, but it helps keep the most sun out on the side while I’m driving. (This picture is of the people at the tint shop in the process of taking the tint off.)

In other news, work has decided to send me traveling at the beginning of February to San Diego, so there will be more traveling posts. Work must have known I would be trying to move, because they have good timing that way. March will thankfully be in San Mateo, so I will be at home for that one, but exploring new places in SF! Stay tuned to your feeds for upcoming posts!

I’ve always been a girl on the go. Sprinting to my next destination like it is nobody’s business. I have also loved finding myself busy and doing new and interesting things frequently. This happens to be where my love for traveling comes into play. I can get in the car spontaneously with a suitcase full of clothes without exactly knowing what I am going to do when I get there. Usually I end up meeting up with friends or taking some with me. I decided recently to take one friend in particular with me on one of my trips for the day up the coast, so we could get away from the Los Angeles area for a day.

I had decided Santa Barbara at first, but ended up changing my mind when I picked them up at three. They had explained that they had never experienced a beach sunset before, had not been to the beach in about six years, and had never really been anywhere outside of their normal hangouts. It was definitely my mission to save this person from a life full of no sunsets! I chose Ventura, because it is a little less than a hundred miles away and I was positive we would make it there on time.

Ventura is a quiet area surrounded by farm and ocean, situated right along the Southern California coast. I first came here on business, expecting only to work and not have any fun during the week. Although I was completely wrong when I found myself enjoying the relaxing atmosphere, meeting up with co-workers for nice dinners, meeting up with a friend for sailing, and doing my normal excercises on the beach. It is completely different than the hustle that envelops Los Angeles and allows you to hear yourself think. Now when I drive up to Ventura it is usually for the surf. The beaches there actually allow you some room to yourself and you don’t have as many other surfers around you competing for the next wave.

When my friend and I arrived, we chose an area at the end of a row of houses to park that opened up to the beach. Most people (and their dogs) had the same idea we did and were sitting there enjoying the sunset and taking pictures. I was satisfied that my friend enjoyed their time on the beach and got to experience a little bit of Ventura with me. I’m sure that like me, this will not be the last time they will be experiencing a sunset or Ventura.

On random Saturday mornings when the weather is nice out and my little cousin is over, I like to take him on over to the Los Angeles Zoo to check out what new attractions they might have. It is right off of 134 on Zoo Drive across from the Autry National Center and the Griffith Observatory (which deserve their own blog posts, so I will get back to both of those places in the future). I was really happy taking my cousin this time, because all of the construction they have been doing there had finally been completed. Parking is free and tickets are cheap with the adult’s price only at 12 dollars and children at 7. Inside the zoo it is basically a huge botanical garden nestled in the hills of Los Angeles, where the plants come from almost every location in the world. My cousin could care less about all the pretty flowers and decor of the place, so we walked throughout the zoo looking at the vast amount of animals that it has to offer. You’d be surprised at how much time you can actually spend looking at every exhibit. Thankfully, the new Gorilla Reserve exhibit was finished which everyone flocked too. It is located directly in the heart of the zoo and is the home to six interesting gorillas. (There is a very short video below. Excuse the quality, I used the video on my digital camera.) There is also marine life, some marsupials, reptiles, birds, etc. The zoo is not only full of close up views of animals, but people happen to take advantage of the hilly terrain so there are always fellow Los Angeles residents coming to exercise their way up and down the hills while they look at the animals. The zoo has come a long way since my first visit years ago, and nearby residents should definitely stop by again to check out the big changes that have been occuring recently.

This post is ridiculously long overdue, but I have a very good reason which actually has to deal with the amount of time I have been studying before my finals. I allow you to blame it on my math class because I know I like to.

While I was in Monterey, one of the places I wanted to definitely stop and visit was the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I have always heard that it was one of the best aquariums to actually go to. I am a sucker when it comes anything to do with wildlife, so I thought this would not only cure my curiosity of the place itself, but it would be something I could enjoy. So my friends and I purchased tickets at the hotel where they had a two day pass for the price of one, which I thought was a pretty good idea, because it was almost three when we went and the place closed around six or so. In case we didn’t see anything we could easily come back the next day to rush through everything again.

We wandered throughout the vicinity that included tanks full of fish that they do not have at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach (I happen to visit that aquarium a lot). They do have a lot of the same aquatic life, but I do admit that Monterey has a few creatures I have never seen before. They also had four very cute River Otters, as well as a Seal and Sealion exhibit. I wished they had as big of a Seal and Sealion exhibit as Long Beach, because most people were crowded around it so I didn’t really get a chance to peek at what activities they were doing at the time. (Being short is not a plus when it comes to this.) I did notice though that we came at a perfect time because a lot of the marine life was getting fed at this hour, so they did come out to feed which made the exhibits a lot more fun to watch. There is a small aviary for birds that live near the ocean, which I was happy to read that they are rescued from the wild from injuries and nursed back to health before they are released back into the wild again. My friends and I also walked over to the touch pools where there are sea urchins, star fish, and sting rays to help your children interact with the sea life. We happened to help a mother juggling three kids and showed them the pool and touched the sea creatures with them, this was pretty cute. There were also some amazingly massive tanks filled with a good amount of different types of fish and included schools of the same kind. (The picture above is one of those tanks.) I did enjoy walking out onto the balconies and looking at the ocean which at this time of year, the sun is setting and it made the scenery look even more beautiful. Overall, the Monterey Bay Aquarium is a place I will visit again in the future. I do recommend you also visit if you are in the area. It has plenty to offer and I do not necessarily mean only to tourists.

Well, I hope to catch up on most of my pre-planned posts before this Thanksgiving week ends. If you are subscribed to my blog, expect your Google Reader or whatever other type of reader to have a few new things from me within the days to follow.

One of my favorite cities to hang around in is Pasadena located inside Los Angeles County. (The pictures are once again from the iPhone and they were taken while me and a friend were roaming around in the car and his car needed a wash. Sorry about that.) It happens to be only twenty minutes from where I live and has a lot to do, especially on Colorado Boulevard. Colorado Boulevard is basically a huge outdoor mall that also has an array of boutiques, restaurants, comedy houses, theaters, etc. I happen to have been hanging out here the last couple of weeks because of my Macbook and iPhone problems and this is where the nearest Apple store is located. I recently tried out a theater that plays nothing but independent films called Laemmle’s Playhouse, because nothing good was playing in the mainstream theaters. It was very nice and had very interesting films coming out, so I will definitely find myself here in the future. You typically find Pasadena as a place college students frequent, because there are a few colleges in the area, such as Pasadena City College, CalTech, the Rosebowl is right around the corner, and the Art Center College of Design. I have met a couple of friends hanging out in this area, so it is a great city to meet new people. There are also restaurants of every kind in from Indian, to Italian, to Thai, and back. I haven’t tried this Fondue restaurant that they have there, but I have been planning to go next week so I will get back to you on that one. Most of the restaurants actually have valet parking, so that is actually easier than the parking in the area. Which is one thing that I forgot to mention. It reminds me of a miniature Los Angeles, because you have to pay to park or do something in less than ninety minutes to get it free in some areas. The parking isn’t as expensive as downtown L.A. so it isn’t actually that bad. It also reminds me of it because there are a lot of one way streets. There are numerous other things that I could mention about this city, but then this blog post would probably be too long.

I’m proud of myself for actually making attempts to catch up on my blog posts, because I have so many things to do as always. To myself this means, that I am actually getting a lot done.

Sorry I haven’t updated in so long, I have had a Macbook mishap which has been fixed, thankfully. I don’t know what I would do without it. You should have seen my sad face as I walked away from the Apple Store. Anyway…back to my blog post.

Most people do not know this about me, but I happen to frequent museums a lot. I just love going to them as much as I can and visiting ones I have never been to. A friend of mine happened to have never visited the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, CA. It is an art museum located about twenty minutes from where I live on Colorado Boulevard and I promised we would go there as one of our daily activities. I included some pictures of the artwork inside which are from Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and Diego Rivera. (Excuse the crappy pictures, because they were taken from an iPhone and sometimes the lighting is not as great in some areas.) It is free for students and 8 dollars for adults. It isn’t a bad price for a few hours of walking around and looking at everything. It was fairly quiet as we walked in, but there were a lot of students sitting and writing notes, which I figured were college students because of the art school up the street. My friend ended up loving the place and we were both happy with our experience going there.

I will be writing another blog post related to this one about my past couple of days hanging out near Pasadena, so I do have a lot of blog catching up to do.