In my experience, the 4th of July is one of those holidays that is generally better when you aren’t living in a big city thousands of miles away from your family. Because I grew up celebrating the Fourth on a remote beach on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, being a 20-something in an apartment just hasn’t proved effective for having a fantastic summer bash centered around lighting food & explosives on fire. Especially in LA, where the beaches and parks are crazy busy, you aren’t allowed to grill most places, and the fireworks shows are busy (and sometimes pretty cheesy), so unless you happen to have a friend or family member with a backyard and a pool (or you go out of town), your options for celebrating Independence Day are limited.
Mostly, I haven’t even attempted to celebrate since I moved to LA five years ago. It just doesn’t feel right to me unless we are shucking corn with dogs running around, kids with sparklers on the roof of the beach house, Dads breaking out illegal fireworks, and fireflies buzzing all around us. (J’s family also has a enormous annual bash at a local park – complete with REAL fireworks – it’s kinda his Grandpa’s thing.) This 4th of July, however, I was determined. As of 10am on the 4th of July, that is (as I mentioned before, J and I didn’t make a single plan beforehand. But I woke up determined.) For starters, we’ve been a little busy with preparing to move, preparing for family visits, and preparing for a new dog (more on that soon). We couldn’t go out of town because of our busy-ness (though we had an invitation to go tubing in Palm Springs – would’ve been amaaaaazing), so an LA 4th of July was as good as it was gonna get. Usually, that involves watching movies all day and driving around at dusk hoping to see some sort of a firework. But seeing as we’re about to move into a house that would remedy the no-pool-no-backyard syndrome, we decided to make it count as our last non-house, lazy LA 4th of July. Kinda bittersweet in a way, it feels like I’m becoming a ‘real adult,’ whatever that is. This was the 4th of July we wouldn’t have a cocoon to nestle into and pretend we don’t live in Los Angeles.
So we looked for plans. As luck would have it, Hall & Oates was pulling a double header 4th of July Spectacular at the Hollywood Bowl, and tickets just happened to still be available for not outrageous prices. So we bought a couple. But that didn’t start til 7:30pm, and we had the entire day to kill. And it was hot. And we don’t have AC (yet). We must have been feeling a little insane, because we decided to hop in the car and drive all the way to the luxurious Paradise Cove in Malibu (for non-LA readers, this is not a close beach – nor a cheap one.)
We had it all mapped out – 4 hours at the beach, just enough time to come home, shower, and get ready for the Hollywood Bowl. But then we got to Malibu and noticed we weren’t the only ones who made plans to go to the beach today. Whowouldathunkit? After driving up & down the PCH for longer than I would like to admit, we finally finagled our way into a parking spot at Paradise Cove – which we only paid $3 for, thanks to validation after eating a meal of questionable quality. The beach was packed of course – the worst kind of packed, too – frat boy packed. Plus, we had all the double nipple piercings, Swarovski crystal-embossed bikinis, and full back tattoos we could handle. Instead of searching for a spot to lay on the hot sand, we splurged & rented a couple chairs & an umbrella thinking it’d allow us some degree of relaxation. And it was nice – that beach is gorgeous, after all – and had it not been for the constant grunts & howling from our rowdy neighbors screaming “Party fouuuuuul!” over spilled buckets of calamari, I think it would have been quite perfect. After 2 hours of driving, 1 hour of eating, and 2 hours of reading & sleeping (& me applying layer after layer of SPF50), we decided we’d had enough holiday beach time, and headed back to civilization. It wasn’t quite the beach excursion we had in mind, but hey, we tried.
The second half of our 4th of July plans were even better. Despite horrendous traffic (partially due to the police arresting Paris Hilton’s stalker/intruder outside her Malibu house on the way home – ahhh, life in LA), we made it back & began the trek up to the Hollywood Bowl with time to spare. The show was packed, but even our cheap seats were good seats (one of the reasons the Bowl is amazing), and it was so much fun. I’ve never had a desire to see Hall & Oates live, but I can say this – I’ve had “You Make My Dreams Come True” stuck in my head ever since we left. I also finally got to hear that song that older folks sing when they meet me (imagine going through life having people sing you a mysterious song whenever you say your name… it’s kinda weird!) Additionally, both of our mothers were extremely jealous and went all squealy on us when they heard our plans (apparently Daryl Hall was quite the dreamboat in his day?)
Best of all were the fireworks, which were truly spectacular when backed up by the LA Philharmonic Orchestra… somehow they timed it all perfectly and the fireworks went off on the right beats of the Star Spangled Banner & other patriotic tunes. They were probably the best fireworks I’ve seen in my whole life and I’m not ashamed to say I teared up a little bit when they lit up the cheesy backdrop that said “America” and had a picture of an eagle, the Statue of Liberty, and some other patriotic icon that I can’t quite remember at this moment. To top off the night, we even made it home in time to watch an episode of House Hunters. We are a couple of party animals.
All in all, a perfect little last non-house Fourth of July. And I normally don’t do recap posts on here with play-by-plays of our daily life (who wants to read that anyway?) but I felt compelled to document this for some reason. It would have been easy to do the usual lazy LA 4th of July, and I’m proud of us for making some kind of effort to celebrate a holiday just the two of us. Perhaps it’s just a reminder to myself that just because you live an entire country away from your family, it doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate holidays the way you would have celebrated them back home. Sometimes you just have to put in a little effort!
Except next year. When we’ll be sitting by the pool eating grilled corn & (turkey) burgers. With a dog.
Fresh white corn, carrots, green beans, potatoes, summer squash, red onion, lettuce, nectarines, black plums, peaches, and lavender.
Just an example of what we got in this week’s box from AHO. All organic, all local. All harvested just a couple days ago, and more delicious than anything I’ve ever bought in a grocery store. Sometimes living in an agriculture-friendly state like California is really, really great. And did I mention all this cost a mere $21.80? That’s for a small bin. Large bin is $36.80. Every week the contents change, for example, last week we got the most incredible honeydew. If you live in a place that offers a CSA like this, you are a fool if you don’t take advantage!
Sorry, no pictures of this week’s booty, but trust me, it looks fantastic (with the exception of the cosmetically-challenged peaches – what are ya gonna do?)…
Yesterday, we did a little something that isn’t usually a part of our normal LA-lifestyle agenda. While the rest of the (American) world was watching the Oscars, we went horseback riding! My gorgeous girlfriend Kara invited us go to up to Sunset Ranch for her birthday and do a little evening dinner ride across the Hollywood Hills, and to me, that beats sitting on a couch and watching someone else win a prestigious award any day. Yay, horsies!
I’ve been riding a few times before, but not in years, so as far as expertise goes, I’m still very much in the “beginner” category. Julian’s had a bit of experience as well, since his grandfather has a farm with horses (!!). We both loved being on and around the horses. There is really nothing quite like it!
The ranch was adorable and the folks working there were very friendly. They had around 100 or so horses, a handful of adorable ranch dogs (including one, Sadie, with only three legs! Bless her heart), and various other farm animals – roosters, goats/kids (which sounded like actual kids), even an albino peacock.
Once everyone was mounted (I rode the fantastically well-behaved and kind-hearted Ra and Julian rode Tanto), our guides led us up past a tiny faux-version of the Hollywood sign, then past the real Hollywood sign, and through the beautiful mountains, over into Burbank, where we had dinner at a little Mexican restaurant. It was delightful! A little bit on the cold side…. it took me about 30 minutes to defrost once inside, but still, amazing. The waiters even gave us carrots to feed to the horses.
On the way back, it was darker, colder, and all the riders in our party were a lot more silent. Riding through the mountains on Ra, looking up at the stars above, freezing my butt off, and thinking about who won Best Picture, I definitely had a few moments where I pretended I was in True Grit and had the sudden urge to call my horse Little Blackie. But then I realized just how freaking cold I was and snapped back to reality. For all of you who think life is one big beach party in LA, think again. This is still the desert, after all, and after the sun goes down, it gets cold.
Sidenote here: I loved my horse. I think we are alike in that we both like to be first, because he kept butting in front of anyone who tried to ride up past him, and would trot up to the front if he got too far back in the pack. That might have been my favorite part.
I’ve never been so happy to get in a warm car in all my life. The cold was in my bones by that point and I had to sleep in my Hot Chillys (which are… the best – look it up!) All in all, we had a fabulous time and if you’re in the market for horseriding in LA (beginners-style, of course), definitely check out Sunset Ranch!
Today, my butt is entire too sore for my liking, considering we are leaving today for Big Bear to go snowboarding. And everyone knows snowboarding is entirely synonymous with sore. FANTASTIC. Remind me not to lump this many snow + sore activities in the same week again. At least I’ll be getting plenty of fresh air! My brother will approve of that.
“It is a scientific fact that if you stay in California, you lose one point off your IQ every year.”
– Truman Capote
And on that note, I’m off to Nashville this weekend for the wedding of one of my favorite couples on the planet, Kayla and Tyler. So excited. And just a LITTLE bit excited about seeing my husband for the first time in nearly two weeks. YES.
Sometimes, you just have crappy days. Despite your best efforts to get enough sleep, dress nice, look pretty, eat well, channel productivity, be kind to others and make your day pleasant, things still don’t go your way. That’s kind of how I felt about today. Unexpected rain storms, thinking about bills, getting bad news, dealing with bad moods and just an overall irritated feeling sucked the joy right out of my day. Not even thinking about going home and zonking on my bed made me feel better.
And then, right when things felt super craptastic, there was a glimmer of hope. Literally. A rainbow.
Lauren called me to the window in our office kitchen to see the most brilliant, bright, thick and vibrant rainbow I have ever seen in my entire life. Almost instantly, my spirits were lifted and my jaw dropped in awe.
It was a full rainbow too, the kind that stretched clear across the sky beyond where the eye can see. The most amazing part, however, was the base, which appeared so close you could reach out and touch it, but was miles and miles away. This was not your average watercolor-esque rainbow, oh no, it looked like a cartoon – it was that bright. I half-expected Rainbow Brite or the Care Bears to come sliding down at any moment.
It’s times like these I wish I had a camera that actually zoomed, not my amateur-status iPhone. Really, these pictures do it no justice.
I ran down the stairs and into the drizzling rain (and nearly broke my neck in my yellow heels) to get a better shot of it, and immediately, it started fading away. By the time I took these photos below, the clouds had already smeared away the top of the rainbow. When I got back inside, the extraordinary colors we are oohing and ahhing over were already starting to bleed back into the dull gray sky.
The rainbow only lasted a couple of minutes, but that’s all we needed. I think we were all meant to see it. There is an important, poetic lesson in here somewhere, but I think for me, it just means to quit griping about all the garbage you think sucks in your life, because life is damn beautiful, just as it is, and even in the worst of situations, there is always something fantastically amazing just waiting for you around the corner.
How are you feeling today? Pretty good? Happy it’s Friday? Amped for the holiday season? Me too. I have a challenge for you – watch these videos – any of them, all of them – and tell me how you feel afterward.
So, what do you think? Still jonesing for that $500 handbag? Still thinking about which 5 star restaurant you’re going to dinner at this weekend? Dreaming about your next vacation or complaining about your job, when 10% of Americans are unemployed? I’ll tell you how I feel: I am humbled. I am in awe. I am shocked. I am ashamed. And I’m inspired. And I think I just discovered the purpose for me living in this city I loathe so much.
Thanks to Mark Horvath (@hardlynormal) for his incredible work with the homeless community in LA and around the country, I found these videos on his site, InvisiblePeople.tv. His story is quite an inspiring one, if you have a minute, read this. Or just watch this:
What you are seeing below is NOT a volcano, but rather, the smoke from the wildfires that have taken over Los Angeles for the past week. It breaks my heart to think of the thousands who have lost their homes and belongings, in addition to the two firemen who lost their lives attempting to control the blaze.
Brandon Riza captured some sped up footage of the smoke, and it makes me sick thinking that I am breathing that in every waking moment. Wildfires = suck.
This past weekend we went to the Hollywood Bowl to see The Decemberists perform with Philharmonic Orchestra. Andrew Bird opened. We brought food & drinks into the show, where we had incredible seats, like 15 rows back, box seats, omg.. amazing. Best show ever.
Tomorrow night we’re going to a free show at the Hammer Museum to see the Little Ones… very excite! Have any of you seen Flight of the Conchords? Very funny show on HBO! Also been doing my best to use my Mac at home and my PC at work – it’s going well but my router totally bites with mac so I need to get a new one. Also I can’t figure out how to get all my music and pictures off of my external HDD onto my mac – because I’m pretty sure it’s formatted for a PC. Maybe a firewire cable but UGH that’s a pain in the booty and I’d have to transfer ALL my pics back ONTO the PC to do it.
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Wonderful, you found my blog! I'm Sarah, a writer, runner, RVT student, believer, lover of pretty things (and cats.) I'm also a newlywed, which I'm finding quite enjoyable. To learn more about me, just click here. I hope my blog brings you a little bit (or a lotta bit) of happiness today.
