Schindler House

I paid a visit here tonight with my friend from church who is in architecture school.  It was a cool place to visit.

All photos taken while driving

Love your city

I've driven past this mural a few times . . . it always puts a smile on my face.  I took a picture of it today and noticed there was tagging on the bottom right corner.  I also noticed that it was painted by lovebrand.com which after researching online, found out that it's a men's bathing suit company.  Maybe I didn't read it correctly.  I need to go back and check again.

I don't blame the tagger though--it's hard to love your city if your city's not loving you back.

Day trips!

I was in Pasadena this past weekend for a friend's baby shower taking place at a restaurant on Colorado Blvd.  I decided to walk around a bit after the shower since Colorado Blvd. is so pedestrian friendly. 

One of my highlights was running into some ladies from the Walter Hoving Home, and chatting a bit about their awesome organization.  They asked me for my name so they could pray for me!

The other highlights were taking in pretty sights, and discovering a (new to me) museum: The Pasadena Museum of California Art.

I also came up with a fun day trip itinerary (I've heard other people say this, and I agree--I think So Cal is most enjoyed by taking in a small part of a neighborhood at a time).

So, if I could take a day trip to Pasadena (more specifically Colorado Blvd.), it would include:
1. A fresh and healthy meal at Tender Greens (thanks to my sister-in-law who got me hooked).
2. Browsing at Vroman's (an independent bookstore--love this place!).
3. Admiring the fancy rugs that I will never be able to afford at the fancy rug store.
4. Exploring the Pasadena Museum of CA Art and the Pacific Asia Museum (you can get 1/2 off admission on one if you show proof you visited the other).
5. And if I had the time and energy left, stopping by Target.  That is one posh Target on Colorado Blvd . . . even on a Saturday afternoon it felt leisurely and calm, and no one was breathing down my neck as I was picking out deodorant.

Lastly, I felt triumphant as I dodged crazy LA gridlock (there were both USC and UCLA home games happening that day) by getting off the freeway early and taking side streets to get home in about 30 minutes.  Something like this is a nice sign that I'm finding my place in this sprawling city.

Those shoes

Yesterday I saw a young girl (maybe 19 or 20) wearing shoes like these and carrying a 2 year old, waiting to jaywalk past a very wide street.  She was pretty and stylish, but stylish in way where the clothes and shoes she was wearing seemed to belong to a woman of an older age . . . so that they didn't seem to fit her quite right.  It was so hot yesterday on the streets of LA and I couldn't help wondering who this girl was, if the child was her daughter, and where she was headed next.  Sometimes the scenes in this city can break your heart.

Homegirl Cafe

This pretty picture is from the Homegirl Cafe Facebook page.  I have yet to visit the cafe but I love all their photos, and the food always looks so delicious and fresh.  I get so many 'food styling' ideas from their photos :) 

I also love their blog (beautiful photography).  Is there anything more beautiful than a transformed life?

Summer 2012

Beautiful

1. Trensa 2 by Pola Lopez
2. She Plays the Jarana Jarocho by Sonia Romero

Good things happening at Ave. 50 Studio in Highland Park.

At work

Here are some pics from my office which I had a chance to redecorate.  Some of it's my stuff from home, some thrift store finds, and some are my boss' things.

"Mission Impossible" with Korean Subs

Not sandwiches.

My parents/roommates and I went out to the movies the other night and watched the new "Mission Impossible" at the relatively new Madang Courtyard mini-mall in Ktown.  The design of this place is based off traditional Korean design elements so I had fun taking pictures.  We watched the movie at the sleek CGV Cinema which is a South Korean theater chain now in L.A.  What's cool about this theater is that it screens Korean movies and American blockbusters with Korean subtitles.  Hence, I watched MI with Korean subtitles . . . but Korean subs would have been yum.

A Weekend of Observing

Rainy LA day

Today was a nice, restful day.  I went to church in the morning, and came home to enjoy a cup of hot tea and Cranford on Masterpiece Theater.  It was the best.   

How did you spend your Sunday?