nowhere to be

Today was so good. Refreshing and relaxing, fun and slow. Erin and I checked out Rock Harbor Long Beach for the first time this morning. It was in the upstairs lounge of a nightclub in downtown Long Beach. There weren't a whole lot of people there, but I think I enjoyed that. It's been too long since I've been to church and the people there made me feel really welcome. Growing up in such a HUGE church with thousands of members has always led me to feel a little more comfortable in big churches. But, I'm learning to enjoy the intimacy of fellowship in a smaller church.

Erin and I also decided to decorate our patio today. We browsed Target and IKEA to buy some things and we scored. Hello baby grill, hanging string lights, green plants and pretty candles. Welcome to our home.

And to celebrate our newly-decorated patio, we grilled some chicken and ate outside for the first time. We spent more time on our patio today than we have in the whole month and a half that we've lived here. Thanks to a beautiful day, it was perfect.

it's the little things

I can appreciate the simple things in life:

: the "undo" button in Microsoft Word

: music for every emotion, for every moment

: hats to hide bad hair days or just lazy days

: chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches and nerd ropes. aka sugar :)

: nail polish

: hand-written letters

: and all these other things...

comments on LA traffic

one
Let's just take a moment of silence and realize the wonder that is LA traffic.

two
Blinkers. They're not that hard to use.

three
In a weird way, LA traffic makes me feel connected to other people stuck forever on the freeways. Even though many people in LA like to be self-absorbed and in a hurry and annoyed with everyone else, we can all agree that we hate LA traffic. Sometimes I want to stick my head out the window to the person in the lane next to me and say, "This just sucks, doesn't it?" [But I don't because I also don't want to get shot. You never know what to expect from people, says the paranoid me.]

four
Everyone made sure to stay three cars behind this guy.

five
Music is my sanity when it takes me more than twice as long to get somewhere in Los Angeles than it should.

six
Today I was in Hollywood for a second interview. Seriously, SO many people. SO many tourists and cars and tourist buses and pedestrians. Hm, stressful much?

seven
My car likes to overheat in stop and go traffic.

eight
Don't you just love the speed demons that weave through traffic to get 15 feet ahead? Because we all know the risk of doing that is well worth the time it saves.

nine
At least we get a wonderful view of the LA smog while stuck in traffic for two hours.

ten
Okay, if I have to say one positive thing about traffic, it's that I enjoy being able to roll my windows down and save the AC. Fresh air [with a little smog mixed in to spice it up] is nice. And it helps my car not to overheat.

Aaah, the beauty of living in a big city.

words