on the bus someone sings a mexican lovesong way out of tune, toda la via

notes from LA.
i've been off galivanting around southern cali with mi familia, soaking up the sunshine and balmy clime.
mikie showed us around his hang-outs.
here's where he works on hollywood blvd, the crazy-fancy W hotel.
despite the fact that it's a big sprawling concrete city and the pace is frantic and the traffic sucks and rampant superficiality and numerous other complaints and suffocating aspects, there are things i actually love about LA.

like...
all my favorite colors springing up all over the place.
the mix of tropical and desert blooms:
great taquerias and fish tacos, like here at senor fish in eagle rock:
old fashioned locations and signs:
flowers flowers flowers blooming like persephone's own garden:

views from the surrounding hills:
strange and interesting shops like this: 


taking public transportation everywhere: bus, train, metro.
(no matter how "ghetto" people say it is,
it seemed fine to us and actually super fun.)


walking for miles around los feliz and hollywood under the full moon breathing in that sweet night-blooming jasmine and orange blossoms.

other plusses:
spanish spoken everywhere
bum communities looking out for each other's well-being
show-offs
bougainvillea
real record shops
old theaters
tiled rooftops, fountains, plazas, adobe and stucco
food food food food food



best of all, it never rained.
and i actually had to buy a pair of flip flops!

but my number one reason for loving LA is that this guy lives there:
mikie makes everything lively, to say the least.

oh and my family is super dorky and crazy. traveling together is NOT RELAXING.
but we love each other way too much to resist.
next up, another road trip to visit my other brother matt.
wooo hooooo!

and by the way, happy april fool's day. wish i had a good trick for you. here was mine: i got home at 3:30 in the morning to find a dead birdie on the floor in my room that somehow darin had not noticed. (?) matted feathers and finch guts everywhere, made me want to vomit/cry/faint all at once. my proud little girly kitty's first kill to welcome me home. ugh. i guess that's life in the wild for you.

now off to check out life in blog world!

Comments

Kaylie said…
Looks like a lot of fun! Hooray for sunshine! I'm starting to really hate having to stay inside these lovely spring days for school... Seems so unatural. Thankfully, this week we have a three-day weekend. So, life is good!
Andrea said…
awww... i've never really had a desire to visit L.A., but your post gives me hope that its probably not so bad :) and you are the cutest and so is your adorable family!
Teeny said…
Wow! Thanks for sharing, I wanna be there.
Missa said…
It sounds like you an your family have so much fun together, that's so cool. I've actually never been to LA other than being stranded at a hotel near LAX for the night after missing a connecting flight to Ireland. Lucas and myself and our friend Joey were put up in a hotel that just happened to have a gamer convention going on (as in comic books and video games) which turned out to be endlessly amusing... geeks galore!

Regarding your question, yes, I have gotten quite picky over the years about what I bring home from the thrift store as far as home stuff is concerned. Probably as much to avoid conflict with Lucas as anything else ;) I've gotten lots better about it with clothes recently too, largely due to lack of funds and closet space.

Finally, I wanted to let you know that after reading your post about Ceremony I went to check our bookshelves because I thought I remembered Lucas reading it years ago and it turns out we do have a copy, so it is now in my stack of books to read. He loves that book and I've never read it, so thanks for the reminder and for thinking of me for your extra copy! I'm totally looking forward to reading it now :)
Unknown said…
you know i love this post! there are some great things about LA inspite some other things. We love going there, it's actually one of Rick's favorite places to go. We usually go to Griffith Park and the Observatory. We like to peruse a couple of independent book shops and places like Canters to eat. There are a ton of great little quaint places and old buildings and houses.
I know if we could live there, Rick would gladly move. He loves the SilverLake district and other 'hip' spots too.
looks like you all had so much fun!

p.s. as always, love the braids in your hair and the rocking outfits! ;)
Milla said…
What a post! I love that you're part of a beautiful tight-knit family that travels together.

When I went to LA I loved it and hated it too. It was such a wild crazy energy, but utterly suffocating as well. I wish I could have seen it from the ground up, like a local, rather than as a tourist, I think it would have been very different...

I'm glad you seem to have had fun. It helps to take your amazing family with you.

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