The Marx Brothers Home

When we first moved into our apartment, our landlord told us of the haunted forest just up the road. She told us her scary story but then also told us its a pretty cool place to visit and hike.

It took us a while to get there but one afternoon we finally drove up there. 

There was a great big driveway and gate but of course an opening so we could get in and hike. We found out that there was a house up here that had burned down. We weren't sure which path to take so we just followed the drive way. 

The road came to a fork in the road and we decided to turn left. It took us way up to this small water reserve place, not super interesting but was uphill a lot so it gave us a good exercise. We didn't see the house though so when we came back to the fork we took the right way.

And then we found the stairs! We could kind of imagine where the house was but it looks like the fire took most of it.

I really wish that I could have seen it in its glory days. The driveway was already super cool and long so I can imagine the house was grand hidden in the trees and back in the mountains.

I looked up the house after and found out that the Marx Brothers owned the house at one point. There were a few other people who owned it as well but I didn't recognize their names. I tried to look up a picture of the home, but the home had burned down so long ago there wasn't a very decent picture. 

I love finding historical places in California. There is always a story to tell. 

July 26, 2015

Six Flags

Kaleb has wanted to go to six flags for the longest time. We were going to go on his birthday, but had found out that it is super crazy during the winter months because they are only open on the weekends.

We decided to go Fourth of July weekend since we both had Monday off.

The drive wasn't too bad, we got there in 45 minutes or so. That's the beauty of living in LA and having everything so close.

The only type of amusement park that I have been to that was at all close to Six Flags is Lagoon, and sorry to say... but Six Flags is a billion times better! The roller coasters are insane!!

We got to the park as early as we could before the real crowds got there, and got our exercise in before we even got to the park! The parking lot was pretty far away.

The wait times weren't terribly bad... I think the longest we waited was 45 minutes. Usually we could stay entertained by people watching or eating a snack.

Goliath ride looked so cool! We took our pictures and then went to walk in and realized the ride was closed. We were so sad, but at least happy we got a cool picture!

Kaleb plays a game called Monster Hunter and they had a display of one of the animals, beasts, dragon.... not sure what it was, but super cool they had it.

To hide his head from the sun, Kaleb had taken his hat. Right before every ride started he would take it off and sit on it. I would have to remind him every time, and every time he said it would be fine but eventually take it off. On one of the last roller coasters we rode I told him to take it off but he insisted it would be fine. Sure enough half way through the ride, his hat flew off. I still give him a hard time about it to this day.

I didn't take many pictures because we were in lines a lot. It was a pretty fun day and I didn't even get sick! We keep talking about going again once the weather cools down, its like a fun adult amusement park!

July 6, 2015

America's Birthday

For the Fourth of July we decided we would go to the Rose Bowl! We only live a couple miles away so we decided that we would just walk instead of deal with parking and traffic after the show. Plus parking was a little pricey and the fresh air was definitely needed.

Once we got there we were extremely grateful that we did walk. There were so many cars and traffic was way backed up. We probably would have had to park 2 miles away anyways.

They had a little area off to the side to purchase food. It reminded me of the Idaho State Fair. Funnel cakes, caramel apples, cotton candy. It was hard for us to choose. 

Chick Fil A had a stand set up and a few people dressed as their cow mascot. They were pretty cute!

While we were standing in line for food. There was a huge rumble, it kind of scared us but then we realized it was a huge airplane (I'm not sure of the technical name of the plane). The picture doesn't give it justice. 

For dessert we went with funnel cake!! It was amazing! 

We had gotten there early so we could scout out good seats, and we really didn't know what to expect. We picked a spot right in front of the Rose Bowl. You could purchase tickets for seating inside the stadium and they had a showing of Despicable Me after the fireworks. Since we had walked we didn't want to head back too late so we opted for outside seating just for the firework show. We were actually offered tickets from two families so we could have gotten in free. It was super nice of them. We definitely know where to sit the next year if we want tickets.

Look how perfect our seats were! It was magical!

We love the Fourth of July! The fireworks are always so cool! We are also so grateful for the soldiers who have risked and still risk their lives for our country. I'm so glad we can celebrate our freedom.

July 4, 2015

My Mom Came!

My mom works for a florist, named Mary, that is from California. Mary needed to make a trip here to California so my mom tagged along with her. I was so incredibly happy to have her come!

She got here on a Saturday morning, after a really long drive. I had to go to work for a few hours so I let her rest and watch some TV. When I got home I found her in the hammock! I hope she was enjoying it!

Saturday night we went to dinner and then headed over to Trader Joes. She had heard of it and wanted to check it out. That is the day I became addicted! We picked out a few treats and my mom bought me some flowers! She arranged them so nice for me!

We enjoyed our snacks while we watched a movie.

On Sunday we went and checked out the farmers market in Pasadena. It wasn't as good as Hollywood's so we hopped in the car, ran home to get our beach stuff and headed to Hollywood. It was just as good as I remembered it! We bought a whole case of delicious peaches! And also got some freshly squeezed orange juice. 

On our way to the car, we walked passed Amoeba record store, I had to take her in to show her all the records. We had to hurry fast because we left Kaleb outside with the peaches.

After that, we went on our way to the beach!! My favorite place!

Mom just sat on the shore while Kaleb and I enjoyed the waves. It was a super sunny day and the sun was shining bright!

You can tell that she enjoyed it too!

We went to lunch at Tender Greens, which was another nice discovery for Kaleb and I. And then headed home and enjoyed the night for we had to wake up very early the next morning.

Mary wanted to take us to the flower market... at 5;00 in the morning....

I thought she was crazy! But my mom really wanted to go, so I decided to toughen up!

It was a struggle at first running around behind Mary while she ran some errands. You could say that I was a little grumpy, Sorry Mom! 

But once we got to the flowers, it made it so much better! Just seeing them so happy with the flowers was fun! And they smelled AMAZING!! They were all so fresh! Mary HAD to buy flowers, so she bought me a small bouquet. My house smelled so good with all the flowers!

The fabric district is just around the corner so we headed over there to take a look at them. There were SO many fabrics it was ridiculous!! We picked out a few for Brittany and walked around before we headed out.

We ran a few more errands with Mary before we headed back to my place. They only stayed for a minute while Mary loaded the car. After that they had to take off.... 

It was such an enjoyable weekend showing my Mom where we live in Pasadena and we also showed her our Hollywood apartment. I was so sad to see her go and I can't wait for her, and hopefully my Dad, to come back! 

June 28, 2015

Pasadena Art Festival

Kaleb is really good about looking at google news and staying up to date with everything going on. Me, not so much. But for a short period of time, I really wanted to keep up with the news. I would read the headlines on the main google page and I also added Pasadena news so that I would know what is going on near us. 

I was doing this for a couple days, and one article came up about an art festival in Pasadena. I was so so excited for it! I have always wanted to see chalk art on the sidewalks. You always see it in the movies, like in Mary Poppins. I dated it in my calendar and after that, I don't think I looked at Google news again.... mostly because there was always some crime to report and it always scared me.

The weather, of course, was awesome! Perfect day to walk around outside!! They had the show in Downtown Pasadena at the mall. Parking, luckily, wasn't as bad as I thought it would be so we didn't have to walk as far.

There were so many awesome drawings! People have incredible skills!!

The also had a collection of older cars, they are always fun to see.

There were so many Disney themed drawings, I was not disappointed at all!

This one is from Game of Thrones, it is a 3D pictures. Obviously not 3D in this version but when you looked at it in person it popped out at you!

There were so many artists around! All working super hard at their drawings!

Since it was so hot, we decided to cool off with a nice slushy treat! It was divine!

After looking at all the art, we tried out a poke sushi bar. You get to make your own salad with different types of sushi on it. Kaleb wasn't a big fan at first and said he would just share with me. Once he tried mine, he got back and line for his own. 

For a tasty treat, we got an macaroon ice cream sandwich!

Such a fun filled day! I love finding little adventures like this!

June 21, 2015

Late Night Snack

One night, Kaleb and I needed to get out of the house. Kaleb looked up a place for us to get a little snack. In Old Town Pasadena, where everything is, there is a little cafe that has desserts and also games you can play! It was perfect!

It was a nice quiet little shop called D'odoci (in Italian it means twelve, midday or midnight). Not a lot of options but the ones they had looked delicious!

We ordered a creme brulee and a cheesecake souffle. Super super delicious!

While we waited for our order, and while we ate, Kaleb taught me how to play chess. He won, and he was even being easy on me. I just am not skilled at chess I guess...

I could have eaten 12 of these!

After playing for a while and looking at the super cute chalk board menu, I decided that I wanted to get a hot chocolate. They made it so cute with a heart and everything! It, of course, tasted great!

I had forgotten the name of the souffle, when I looked up the cafe, it said it had closed. I am so bummed. Even though we only went once, it was still a super cute place to relax and enjoy the delicious desserts! I guess we will have to discover a new place!

June 13, 2015

New Apartment and Old Memories

Since Kaleb got a job, we decided it was time to find a new apartment. Living in Hollywood was fun and all, but our apartment was super small and we only had one parking spot. It was never fun for Kaleb to have to drive around look for a spot to park.

After looking all over trying to find the perfect location, a reasonable price and one with two parking spots... we finally found an apartment in Pasadena! It's a little farther away from Kaleb's job, but closer to mine. The apartment is actually called an "accessory" apartment or "in-law" apartment in the basement of a house. The landlord rents the upstairs bedrooms to other young adults. It still isn't a one bedroom but the living area is bigger and so is the kitchen.

This is our backyard. It is what sold me on the apartment. Lemon, avocado, aloe vera, manderines and lots of grapefruits!

We moved in Memorial weekend because we both had the day off. Moving to California, we only took two car load trips, but somehow moving this time, we had to take several more trips back and forth. It's crazy how much you accumulate over time.

Moving into a new apartment meant we could get a real bed!! We wouldn't have to sleep on an air mattress anymore!! It was such an exciting time for us! We also were able to buy couches and an entertainment center! Another plus of this apartment is it has a washer and dryer, so no more paying for laundry.

Here are some "good" memories of our Hollywood apartment:

Air drying all of our clothes to save $1.25, I kept track for a little while and for the first 8 months or so we saved $50+. The drying rack was only $25 so it was a good investment.

The super scary and unpredictable elevator. I had gotten stuck in it several times, it also shook and occasionally smelled like smoke.

Again, the air mattress... We had to buy a total of 3 while we were there. The last month we were there, we started getting large air bubbles in the mattress. Kaleb and I learned how to sleep very close to each other because we couldn't sleep on the air bubbles.

Events next door. There were always parties in the building next to us. It was some kind of event hall. This was always "fun" because they would sometimes play music way late into the night.

The even hall also brought filming. Every once in a while our road would be closed or we would get a notice that there would be gun shots on a certain day. It really wasn't too bad and we learned to work with it.

Hollywood Marathons. I never knew one was going on until I had to go to work. Many times I was late, sometimes even a couple hours late because there is no way to get around them.

Having everything within walking distance was very nice. I will always miss the Hollywood Farmers Market on Sunday! It is amazing! Kaleb will miss Taco Bell being a block away.

Just being able to say we live in Hollywood. It was always fun when we visited back home and people would ask where you were living. Their face when I told them Hollywood was always great!

There are so many things we will miss! But we were so ready to move on.
We love our Pasadena apartment and can't wait to see where we end up next. If anyone is wondering, we have no idea where we will be. It could be out of state or down the street. I'm still trying to convince Kaleb we should move to Scotland and herd sheep, he doesn't think it will be a stable job.

May 28, 2015