Denmark in Cali? What?!

This past weekend I went camping for my birthday with my friends Robert and Shauna up in Santa Barbara County. On our way to our second choice campsite (a separate, long story) we drove through this little town on the CA-246 - Solvang, CA. Being a Northern California girl and spending a lot of time in Sonoma and Napa counties, I'm used to driving through adorable little towns in wine country, like St. Helena, CA.

But Solvang has a little twist...it literally looks and feels like you're in Denmark! Every building is cute, cookie-cutter Danish houses, full of adorable side streets with old fashioned street signs, windmills every way you look and even the restaurants' waitresses dress the part.

Now besides the fact we were a bit hungover from the night before, we still did manage to enjoy the quaintness of the little town...after an amazing breakfast at Paula's Pancake House.

If you're ever in the area stop by this cute little town. According to Wikipedia, every third weekend in September they throw a big festival. And next year will mark the 100th anniversary of the town's founding. Robert, Shauna and I are in for that!

Every year I get older, but it gets clearer

With my birthday just last week I started to reflect on the past year. And what a hellish year it has been! On August 19, 2009, I went through the hardest and most painful (physically and emotionally) experience of my life. It was a challenge that I thought I'd easily be able to overcome with the vast support system I had...or so I thought I had. What should have been a private struggle was all of a sudden made public by "acquaintances" and on top of it I lost part of the support system I thought I had.

But looking back it seems to have been a blessing. Because my family is still by side just as much today as they were August 19th. My best friends home in San Francisco, they're still there the same way they were a year ago. And the people who do matter are still by my side, just holding up that support system with a few less pairs of hands.

It's getting clearer every year why when we're 20 we have so many great/best friends. So many that you have a different group of friends to do something with for every night of the week or more. But when you get closer to 30 you look at the people you've surrounded yourself with and it's a much smaller number. The people who you'd throw a punch for in a bar even if you've never raised a fist your entire life. The people who you don't have to say anything to for them to understand. The people you can sit in a room with in complete silence and conversation isn't necessary because you already get each other.

I'm so grateful for the people I have in my life on August 19, 2010 because they, in essence, complete me.

Love to that "family"...you know who you are.

Hit the nail on the head

I can sum up myself in three words...I'm a Leo. I'm not sure if it's the same for other astrological signs, say Libras or Scorpios. But I will tell you that everything about being a Leo describes me to a tee!

My former coworker Tiah really got me into horoscopes and believing that the sun and moon and their orbits truly affect our everyday lives. I never read my horoscope to predict how my week or month is going to be. I always refer to it after a specific day or week has passed to see if anything makes sense. It always makes sense!

So after some recent happenings, I went to my trusty horoscope website and looked up yesterday. Here's what I got:

Fri Aug 13: Talkathon

With the Moon in your third house of communication blending well with Mars and Venus, you are likely to engage in a talkathon tonight. Go ahead and get everything out on the table... this is your best chance to avoid sticky situations later in the month. Be honest about your hopes and fears if you want relationships to run smoothly. Are you superstitious? Read up on Friday 13! Lively colours are avocado green and banana yellow. Lucky numbers are 14 and 32.

Umm...spot on! I'm still processing this.

Home is where the heart is

Anyone who has met me knows that I'm a proud, born and raised San Franciscan. Grew up in the city and could never think of any other place better in the world. I grew up sailing on the bay, went to high school in the old Flood Mansion in Pacific Heights, and loved biking through Crissy Field and the Marina Greens every weekend.

For the past six years since my mom moved the the suburbs, every time I would drive into the city I would get this excitement that would run through my entire body knowing that I was headed to "my city". Fogged in or on a clear day, it was like a kid going to Disneyland.

But yesterday when I drove into San Francisco, the first time since Christmas, no such feeling came over me. It was just an emptiness. It's such a depressing feeling to realize I've lost that. Now it just seems to be a city I used to live in.

But LA definitely doesn't feel like home either. They say "home is where the heart is"…well apparently my heart doesn't reside in San Francisco anymore. Not really sure where home is now.

It took a Canadian for me to see LA

Last week I had a very special guest come to LA for a week’s visit. Planning ahead of time, I took two days off work to spend with him and show him part of LA as he’s never been here before. What’s amazing is that most of what we saw in LA was the first time for me, too.

Yamashiro

Set on the top of a hill in Hollywood, Yamashiro not only has great food but an amazing view. A table for two overlooking LA as the sun went down…well you can’t beat that. It’s only a 5 minute drive from my apartment and I had never been there…shame on me. Then again I haven't had anyone to have a romantic dinner with in a while.



The Getty Villa

I had been to the Getty Center before, which I loved, but had always wanted to visit the Getty Villa in Malibu to see the architecture – which is absolutely beautiful! While some may go for the art the Villa houses, I strictly went for the columns, alcoves, gardens and views. A secret love affair with ancient Rome and Greece all my life, this place was perfect! The only thing I was disappointed with is that I thought we'd be able to tour the home itself. Not the case. I was only able to admire from afar.



Griffith Observatory (at night)

You know how some people never cross east or west of the 405? Well I seem to never cross east of Vine, where lies Los Feliz, Silverlake and the famous Griffith Observatory. Nothing against it, I just always feel my life pulls me west. But I was excited to see it finally. You literally can see from Pasadena, to downtown, and all the way to Century City. It's quite incredible. I also was a total nerd heading up there a night because it still reminds me of "The Rocketeer". Chad made fun of me but come on…one of the best movies ever! :) I definitely need to go back during the day, see more of the views and go on a hike.

LA Galaxy Game

Chad is from Canada which means he loves hockey. But apparently they love soccer…I mean football…up there, too. So on Sunday we took the 1 hour trip down to the Home Depot Center in Carson to see the LA Galaxy play Chicago...which sadly they lost. I love soccer, played it as a kid, and used to go to the USA Women’s National Team games at Stanford all the time. But I know why even Beckham couldn’t improve the attendance…it’s too damn far from the hub of Los Angeles. If they moved the team up closer to downtown, I, and I'm sure many others, would definitely go to more games. But if you are going to make me sit in horrendous LA traffic and you can’t offer tailgating…well then I’m not signing up.


The end result...I guess I need to give this city a little more credit. There are some hidden gems all around. I just haven't found most of them yet, or I just didn't have the right person to share them with.