Lost in Los Angeles: Hollywood Bowl

Ever since I moved down to southern California for college, I've been adding to my bucket list of things to do in LA. Every time I crossed something off my list, I intended to document it but never got around to it. Lost in Los Angeles will be a weekly post dedicated to my wanderings in LA and more importantly, for the purpose of pushing me to continue to cross things off my list and experience all that the City of Angels has to offer.

Last Tuesday, my friend and I spontaneously decided to go to a concert at the Hollywood Bowl. We'd been meaning to go and as it turns out, Tuesdays and Thursdays are when they hold their classical music series. The tickets were pretty reasonably priced (about 12 bucks a pop) considering we booked them the day of and apparently, they also usually offer one dollar tickets. The day we went was when pianist Yuja Wang and the Los Angeles Philharmonic were playing. We packed a picnic basket, took a Lyft to the venue, and settled in our seats by 8 pm. Some hilarity ensued because my friend forgot to bring a wine bottle opener and unearthed a whole rotisserie chicken from her picnic bag. We carved the chicken while listening to Yuja Wang finger dance on the keys.
Around 9 pm, Ms. Wang took her bow, stepped off the stage, and the concert was over. My friend and I commented on how it was so short and that we should come back again. We looked around to see a lot of the audience still milling around so we took some pictures, poured out the rest of our wine (we already spilled half during the concert), and thought to be smart and hurry out before the rest of the crowd decided to leave. As we were walking back to the parking lot, feeling bittersweet that it had ended so soon, we heard an employee call out, "4 minutes until intermission is over!" We looked at each other incredulously and burst out laughing since we had been so set on leaving. We hurried back into the amphitheater and sat for the next hour, squirming and waiting for it to be officially over. The night ended with fireworks that accompanied the philharmonic's finale piece and we walked back, satiated and feeling slightly cultured.

crackers, chips, and said rotisserie chicken 

stunning at night

fireworks to end the night

Recently I

x Pinterest

ate my glorious version of a Greek salad
ingredients: feta cheese, lettuce, pitted canned olives, mini bell peppers, carrots, and the highlight: one garlic and herbs sausage- sliced

watched A Coffee in Berlin
This made me want to visit Berlin. I was really struck by how similar the German language is to English. I wonder if it's easier for native German speakers to learn English as opposed to other language speakers.

continued on that Berlin kick and read (and still reading) Freunde von Freunden: an online publication that showcases creative people of different fields who live all over the world. There are so many independent print and online publications these days but this particular one seems especially authentic and inspiring, not to mention diverse.

also discovered this blog and found that the blogger is a contributing writer for Freunde von Freunden. I love the way she weaves her personal writing, pictures, and interests into a blog that seems so uniquely her own and not swayed by the exhaustingly pervasive blogging trend of posting fashionable outfits and frivolous wants.

was struck by the quote, "Eighty percent of success is showing up." That's always the hardest part isn't it? It is for me at least. Showing up. Making sure to wake up on time. Making sure to be prepared, mentally and physically. Making sure to push yourself to get out the door no matter how much you're hating life at the moment. I need to remember to show up.

Ho Hum

I've been in a rut lately, sartorially that is.
I've always been a jeans and t-shirt kinda girl. My wardrobe in college was chock full of oversized tees I could tuck into jeans, turn into a dress with a belt, and be ready in a moment's notice with just a pair of leggings. Fast forward to 2015. I am not by any means, ready to embrace the crop top trend (is it even still trending?) but one thing's for sure: I am so over this oversized business.
But moving beyond my whole conundrum with t shirts, I've been so stuck, period.
I open my closet and hem and haw until I reach for the same striped shirt/plain tank top/cardigan and decide to play it safe because I don't have time to take risks.
I veer from skirts (because I have cankles). I step away from maxi dresses (because I'll look even shorter and I'll have to wear heels and I hate wearing heels). I can't wear shorts (because, yet again, the cankle problem). Which leaves me with 3 pairs of jeans that have been in heavy rotation since forever.
With that in mind, here are some images I hope to use as inspiration for this week and hopefully the next as well.

I love Olivia's outfit and that of the girl behind her

Young Frankk SS15 line. That skirt is divine

I love her "just threw it on" vibe with a not-so-oversized tee

I say YES to this outfit in so many ways

How is her t shirt so perfectly cropped? And where can I get a skirt (and cat (!)) like that?

Shades, check. iPhone, check. Sneaks, check. Attitude, check.

Librarian meets goth meets prepster. Bam. 

This look is so LA and I love it

A perfect Sunday

On a perfect Sunday I take advantage of warm temperatures, drag a friend out of bed, and and make a spontaneous trek out to the beach. We venture to a bakery that's long been on my to-eat-at list, pick up a sandwich and soup to split, and take it to-go in a crisp white paper bag so we can eat by the waves. We drive around, not wanting to shell out fifteen bucks for parking, and happen upon the one open metered parking spot that's valid for two hours. We spread our two person towel on the sand, unwrap the sandwich and open the soup, and satiate our semi-hungry stomachs. The food does not disappoint. Post meal, we lie on our backs, watch airplanes go by, and talk about snorkeling. We yelp ice cream places because there's always room for dessert and leave because it's getting a little chilly. We walk to our car and spot a little canal surrounded by houses and decide to take a walk there. Can I say I fell in love? I've never been so mesmerized by real estate. There were rows and rows of little houses, some glass and modern, some cozy and adorned with greenery, and each complete with its own canoe. It starts to get dark and we drive to an ice cream shop on Abbot Kinney. We split a medium cup of watermelon sorbet, waffle cone crunch, and honey yogurt granola. We then drive home and finish off the evening with a marathon session of House of Cards. 

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing, (Thinking)

It's been over a year since I last posted.
A year.
For the past three or so years, I would look back on the year at the end of December and think, what have I done? I couldn't think of anything remarkable, anything I had accomplished, anything noteworthy. Another year of my life had just gone by and I had done nothing. I felt like I was wasting away my early twenties wandering in circles with my head down, uninterested, uninspired, unhappy.
This past year though, I feel like I've accomplished a little bit. I finally made the move out to LA and fulfilled a childhood dream of mine: living in a sprawling urban metropolis.
No longer would I have to trek 20+ miles to attend that event, go to that designer sample sale, or try that new restaurant. Everything was at my fingertips and within a 30 minute (without traffic) drive.
This year, I want to be different. I've come to realize more and more that my fatal flaw is perfectionism. I don't start things and end up never starting them because I want the end result to be perfect. Flawless. A masterpiece. Even as a child, I never completed coloring books because I was so afraid of coloring outside the lines and basically, in my mind, ruining the whole book.
But now I really need to start DOing. I can't just sit here waiting and wishing for things to happen.
I don't want to waste my ideas, resources, and my youth because I'm only getting older and I'm only going to have less free time once I start a full-time job, get married, etc. etc. etc.
I want to start creating. I've always been such a research-oriented person and made scrolling through blogs and newsfeeds, writing down quotes, and compiling to-do lists my one pastime.
I don't want to do that anymore. I want to create even if it sucks at first. Write even if it doesn't sound so right. Go out and see and travel and not be afraid of being alone while doing it.
Here's to a productive 2015.