beaches, biergartens, birthdays

Last Sunday I spent the day in Malibu with Sarah and her family, who was visiting. The house they were renting was pretty far up PCH, way past the Malibu beaches that we have already visited this summer. We trekked down the hillside to the nearest beach, La Piedra, and lounged in the sun for a few hours. Luckily the rental house came with an umbrella, so my paleness was protected. Although the breeze was a little too chilly for my taste, it was a beautiful and not too crowed beach. Later Sarah’s mom made a delicious dinner with ingredients she picked up at the Malibu farmer’s market. It was so nice to have a home-cooked meal and the perfect end to a great day.

Katie and I grabbed lunch at the rooftop biergarten at The Standard downtown. It was the last day of DineLA so we wanted to take advantage of the meal deal. We each got sausages, a salad, choice of pretzel or strudel, and a beer sampler. Hot dogs/sausages (this one was bacon-wrapped) are my favorite food, so I was in heaven and the view wasn’t too bad either. Sarah got Sarah Jackson and me tickets to The Producers at the Hollywood Bowl because she works for the L.A. Philharmonic. I had never been to the Bowl, so it was fun to bring dinner and hang out before the show, which was star-studded and hilarious.

Leanna is interning at Fox this summer and she invited me to see a screening of The Watch on the Fox lot on Saturday. The movie was surprisingly hilarious for a plot involving an alien invasion, neighborhood watch, and Costco. That night Sarah had a backyard birthday party, which was a lot of fun.

The next morning a few of us went out to Leanna’s house in Calabasas to hang out by the pool and watch some Olympics. A frog hopped into the pool and we named him Lochte in honor of the American swimmer. Later that night a few of us went to see The Dark Knight Rises, which was amazing. If you haven’t seen it you must go as soon as possible. The movie was great, but I was shocked the parents sitting next to us brought their 2-year-old daughter and 5-year-old sons to a very violent film that ended at 12:30 a.m. I have more interning, working and birthdays to look forward to this week!            

movies and reunions

I love going to see a movie during the summer. It’s an easy way to escape the heat and kill some free time that everyone seems to have more of during these months, and there are usually tons of seemingly good ones to choose from. Recently I’ve seen both Savages and Magic Mike. Okay let’s be honest I wasn’t looking for Oscar-worthy work in Magic Mike. It was pretty mindless with no good acting (only dancing), but highly entertaining nonetheless. I was expecting something more from Savages. It was alright, but I don’t know if it was worth the $10. It was a visually beautiful movie, but some aspects were pretty unbelievable and I really don’t like Blake Lively. Magic Mike probably wasn’t worth it either, but who knows when I’ll get another chance to see Channing Tatum strip on the big screen. Had to take advantage of that opportunity.

On a more positive note, Lydia, Susan, and I had a London reunion dinner at Bacaro Monday night. The last time I saw Susan was in London, so it was great to see her and catch up. After dinner we spent a good amount of time at Lydia’s house attempting to make a stray cat love us, but she was playing hard-to-get. October, I will snuggle with you in the near future!

This summer has gone by so fast, it is troubling to think that I have to return to writing papers and studying (something I haven’t done much of in half a year) in about a month. It makes me want to go out and maximize the time I have left. Let the planning begin! 

a weekend of food trucks

Lydia, Sarah and I kicked off the weekend with vintage shopping at Shareen, which is tucked away in an industrial warehouse close to downtown. We each scored a dress, and mine is a psychedelic floral print and fits like a glove. It was a really cool spot and I’m glad they let me tag along.

Later Friday night the three of us met up again to go to First Fridays on Abbot Kinney. Tons of food trucks line the famous street in Venice Beach and stores extend their hours for late-night shopping. The sidewalks were packed, so we had a great time people watching.

After a quick change at home, Sarah and I met up with some guy friends to go out downtown. We decided to head to a whiskey bar USC students frequent called Seven Grand. That place is great. There are pool tables, mounted deer heads, an outdoor patio, and delicious whiskey cocktails—what more could you want?

The beach tour continued on Saturday when Sarah and I lounged at Malibu Lagoon. Lots of (attractive) surfers provided aquatic entertainment, and it was such a clear day that we could see down the entire coast. I was locked in an epic battle all day with a pestering bee that Sarah eventually smashed, but that was the only negative. Well and my sunburn.

That night Katy, Katie, Sarah, Sarah (yup, my friends all have the same names) and I went to the Hester Street Fair in Hollywood. There were more delicious food trucks and cool clothing and jewellery vendors. It was fun peeking around at all the unique stuff before heading to Leanna’s house. We also had a celebrity sighting: Bryan Greenberg of One Tree Hill was with Jamie Chung who was the bride in The Hangover 2.

I had a lazy Sunday hanging out in Sarah’s backyard reading and ran a few errands. It was a fun weekend, but it’s back to work today!