All Points Towards California: August 2009

The Biggest Dance Party EVER

Posted on Sunday, August 30, 2009 | 2 comments

Street Scene is an annual concert-festival extravaganza held in downtown San Diego. A short walk from the baseball stadium (PETCO Park), I was about to embark on a concert like I had never seen before. Sure, I saw Coldplay last year, but I have actually never experienced a festival concert with multiple stages, a beer garden, and so many people. Totally worth it? Yes, absolutely. Here are some highlights:

Band of Horses. I had never really listened to them, but we were so close, and I totally thank Amy for introducing me to their music.

The twinkle lights; no street lamps here.

After an amazing set from BOH, we ventured around the beer garden, grabbed some Blue Moon's (who would pick a MGD over Blue Moon for the same price?!?), and overheard that Connor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band was just starting. Again, St. Scene is an incredible venue that lets the concertgoers get super close to the bands, but there is enough free space to move, shake, rattle, and roll and more importantly, dance to the music. The entire night Amy and I busted some serious moves and made friends with strangers who wanted to rock out too (but were clearly not comfortable dancing by themselves; ergo, our crazy dancing gave them an outlet to rock out).

For my dear friend Kate, these pictures are just for you:

Connor Oberst, super super wonderful.

and special guest Jenny Lewis (from Rilo Kiley)

After making new dancing friends, we knew that we needed some serious dancing to cap off the night. We headed over to another stage where Chromeo was just about to finish their set. Really Good stuff, I highly recommend checking them out. Everyone loves a little electronic music now and then, right?

The real reason I was super pumped about Street Scene was that one of my favorite artists, GirlTalk was playing. I have always wanted to see him, not only because of his uncanny ability to mash up songs you would never consider to work together, but also because of his notorious stage antics (from dancing with the crowd to bringing people up on stage to insane visual effects). As expected, Amy and I danced our assess off, channeling our inner 80s workout instructors in the best way possible. We were near the stage, however no one else was really dancing up a storm like us (we actually talked to a couple people who informed us that GirlTalk isn't that big on the west coast; yeah, whatever, west coast you are missing out. check him out here.)

Mashing up something amazing, of course

Yeah Greg!

The craziest thing was that the entire time we were dancing (after we had found some free space), random people would join in with us and yell out, "You girls are crazy!" or "Look at them go! Yeahh". The weirdest thing though was that people were taking pictures of us dancing and then one girl even videotaped us!! That has never happened to either of us before so we start to flip out as GirlTalk finished. Our goal is to search the 'net for said elusive photos/video, hopefully it will be found!

A workout in itself, Street Scene was an unforgettable experience that I know for sure will the first of mine to come. Saturday for me was spent relaxing at the beach, so I will leave you with a couple nice shots from the day. Hope everyone's doing well back home. Peace out, cub scout.

i live here??

MAGIC MOUNTAIN and part of LA

Posted on Wednesday, August 26, 2009 | 0 comments

So because amy and i studied super hard on sunday, we decided to reward ourselves by trekking up to Six Flags Magic Mountain!! It's just north of LA, and its main focus is not rides, but THRILLS. Amy's boyfriend had visited the park earlier in August and had a blast, so he emailed us his top picks for the roller coasters. Little did he mention that none of the roller coasters let you bring back packs on the rides or even have areas to store stuff when not on the ride. So, forced into renting a locker for the day, we embarked on the numerous coasters sans backpacks, cell phones, etc. Truly and utterly without any sort of identification or monetary funds, I throughly enjoyed the park actually more than Kings Dominion or Busch Gardens. For one thing, the views from the tops of the roller coasters showed the desolate desert mountains of california. Really neat stuff. And because of the "no items" on the rides (ahem, i mean thrills), I was unable to take any pictures. But thanks to google (so great!), i can show you some neat stuff. My two favorites from the day were the X2 coaster (click on it for pics/review from a "coaster critic") and the Goliath. Yes, Goliath is an insane 25 story drop (roughly 270 feet!) right into a tunnel and then whips you around for a crazy g-force pressure ride. phew.

Driving up to Magic Mountain, we go to pass through the glorious but insanely crowded city of Los Angeles. And more importantly, Hollywood (well, not exactly, but we saw the signs:

Now I feel very Californian...so cheezy but true; i realize it's not "the" sign but close enough. There's always room for another visit up there. After being "thrilled-out" from Magic Mountain, we got to explore Valencia, CA, where Amy's parents lived for a short while when her older sister was growing up. It was a great experience for her, so I am glad she got to see it.

In other news, tomorrow and Saturday is San Diego's annual music festival, Street Scene. Some of our favorite bands are playing including Girltalk, Modest Mouse, Band of Horses, Cake (jealous?? check out the full lineup for friday). Amy did some expert craigslist surfing and found us cheap tickets, so I am super pumped. It's going to be my first concert since Coldplay last summer (also amazing). Will have updates about the concert and the weekend on sunday.

Shout out to polly for finally getting an apt in Chicago. and happy birthday to KDO (good luck with your move). Also, please support VASST at UVA-it's ski team and they rule, so check 'em out!!

Yup, we live here

Posted on Sunday, August 23, 2009 | 0 comments

Typical weekend. Go out, go to the beach, be outdoors, and be social. How could it get any better? Thanks to Amy's family connections, we had the amazing opportunity to go kayaking in La Jolla yesterday. There are these amazing natural caves there that all have names and interesting stories about each one. Unfortunately, because of what water does to electronics is super bad, I couldn't take any pictures but there's this thing called google images that works absolute wonders.

yup, we got to paddle in two of those...pretty sweet

Really neat stuff. The water temperature is perfect so the guides would stop us at certain times and tell us to dip our feet in or even jump out of the kayak. Another neat thing in La Jolla is that the beach their near the Scripps Pier is a protected ecological reserve. There are tons of birds (pelicans, segulls, etc) and sea lions. There were about 2 or 3 sea lions that were 4 feet from our kayak; it looked like they were waving, but it's actually (per our guide) how they "cool off" or thermoregulate. Super friendly creatures who just live the life in La Jolla.

Hi Sea lions!!

Following the tour, Amy and I had a little Baywatch moment where we ran from the kayak, yanking off our life vests and helmets and diving right into the ocean. I thought I had been to gorgeous beaches before, but La Jolla Shores is an amazing strip of sand with the perfect temperature and easy but fun waves. I think we must have said numerous times to each other yesterday, "Yup we live here". I think each day I see something completely more amazing than the next that is almost surreal. I live in SoCal?!? No wonder people say they never want to live (kidding mom and dad...well for now at least)

After lunch, we met up with some friends farther down the beach who had saved a bonfire pit since 430am. Really neat stuff. Earlier in the morning I had gone to Ralph's and purchased marshmallows, graham crackers, and hershey's bars to make s'mores. The only piece of the puzzle missing? Skewers/sticks to roast the mallows on. We were resourceful, made friends and managed to finagle a wire coat hanger to use. Nothing better than a burned to a crisp mallow on the beach as the sun sets.

Following our wonderful bbq/smores fest/gorgeous beach day, we met up with some more friends from the day at a SD suburb house party. Now, going to an all-girls private high school, I never really went to your typical high school party with kegs and crowded masses of people. College parties were similar, but I walked into this house and felt like I was on the set of She's All That or Can't Hardly Wait or Never Been Kissed; the cops came with a noise violation...but whatever. Amy and I had some hilarious conversations with all kinds of people about all kinds of things. Good times. Tomorrow, perhaps even more good times: we're going to Six Flags Magic Mountain cheeyeah for roller coasters. pictures to come soon. night.

new fast wireless is fabulous

Posted on Friday, August 21, 2009 | 0 comments

Take that, Time Warner, I'm all about the AT&T now.

Just installed minutes ago and it is wonderful-DVR and a router included and it's cheaper than previous (we are in a recession...so saving money on cable is super crucial right now). Now that I do have the wireless, I no longer have to patronize the numerous coffee shops in my neighborhood or reset TWC's internet box 124789 times before finally connected or even hijacking the public wi-fi "NATE LIKES MEN" (no joke on that one). Anyways, here are the beautiful pictures from OB and the farmer's market, as promised.

Amy's super pumped for local produce!

As we left OB, we encountered a killer sunset. I'll leave you with these photos, seeing as it's raining here today (what?!? when does that ever happen?) and I am furiously studying for my boards while alternating episodes of Degrassi and Rob & Big. Kayaking tomorrow in La Jolla Cove with Amy's cousin and hanging out in La Jolla shores beach--super pumped!

epically gorgeous

wonderful view from above OB

these two are my favorites.

catch ya later, gators. more about kayaking in the days to come and hopefully we'll make it up to encinitas too.

Ocean Beach Day

Posted on Thursday, August 20, 2009 | 1 comments

Yesterday, Amy and I ventured down to Ocean Beach to check out the surf, sand, and the weather. We were treated to bluebird skies with warm sun (but not east coast humidity) with a relaxed atmosphere. My past beach experiences in Bethany have prepared me to deal with loud and obnoxious beach goers who sit right on top of you; instead in OB, there was plenty of room and everyone is quietly relaxing and enjoying the glorious weather. Well, save for the two children whose genius of a parent who rewarded them with whistle lollipops. Think nails on a chalkboard annoying as I was attempting to soak up the California sun. Anyways, I finally swam in the Pacific for the first time since 2006. Water was cold, but I quickly acclimated and swam out past the breakers. The only drawback? Navigating between the endless strands of seaweed that feel oh so creepy as you swim by them. But the view was totally worth it--the pier to the left, all of the northern beaches to the right.

After a great swim, Amy had mentioned to me that Ocean Beach has a huge Farmer's Market every Wednesday. I had only ever been to Charlottesville's before, but had never purchased anything. I was in for a treat; so much fresh and fragrant produce, fish, and flowers. Free samples everywhere, we tried so many things: ceviche, tomatoes, hummus, veggie smoothies, guacamole, pesto, and so much more. There's not only food there: jewelry, pictures, stationery, musicians, etc.

An excellent day all around, today was more of a cleaning up/doing errands but ended with a nice surprise. The Community Supported Agriculture Farm we joined, Seabreeze Farm delivered its first installment. Included: salad greens with edible flowers, alfalfa sprouts, corn, tomatillos, grapefruit, grapes, one pear, a cantaloupe, scallions, 2 heads of lettuce, carrots, and a bouquet of fresh flowers. Using some of these, we made white bean chicken chili--I'll give credit to Amy on this one; she found the recipe and had the idea to join the CSA. Eating organic food from local farms is better for the environment, but the economy as well. Join one today!

I'm getting faster internet (plus wireless!!) tomorrow so i will be able to put up entries and pictures a lot quicker. Tomorrow I'm going to explore Encinitas, a surfing mecca to the north followed by kayaking in La Jolla on Saturday. Woohoo!

Love Free stuff/cheap things

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In San Diego, all of the museums are located in Balboa Park. Every Tuesday, San Diego County residents get in free to certain select museums, depending on which week of the month it is. So, on Tuesday, Amy and I went to the San Diego Museum of Art. Neither of us have bothered to get CA licenses yet or license plates, so being wonderfully clever we brought our lease. The museum folks were super impressed as in, "Whoa, these girls mean business" and chuckled at our post grad cheap skate means of entry. (As much as I love going to museums, I would only fork over money to go see the Met or MOMA in New York; I guess growing up with the Smithsonian has spoiled me). Anyways, the museum is just the right size for an afternoon of exploring, but also just small enough to feel a little too crowded. The museum has fabulous paintings from some old masters, but also has an impressive collection of American painting, sculpture and photography. By far and away, my favorite exhibit was Portraits of Power by Richard Avedon.

Here are two of my favorite portraits from the exhibit:

Marilyn...so innocent

And that was only the beginning. Avedon was passionate about people of politics, entertainment, media, etc and especially people who were outspoken and willing to change the world. He died in 2004 but but began his last photo spread during the 04 elections. He took this picture below of Sean Penn and yup, you guessed it, President Obama.

Who knew how famous he would have become? I guess Avedon had a knack for these things. You want a real cultural forecast? Google Avedon's The Family 1976 that was taken for Rolling Stone; it's 69 portraits of the people that he thought we shaping and making the world at the time.

Unfortunately, because the SDMA is a lot smaller than the National Gallery of Art and the Met, the selection of prints to purchase are few and far between. Come my first paycheck, I really would like to purchase the coffee table book they do sell--so grown up!

After the museum, we strolled around Balboa and happened upon the botanical gardens. My mom used to take my sister and I to the ones in DC every year around Easter time and it brought back some memories. However, San Diego is fortunate to have 3 huge ponds in front of the gardens full of coy fish. Pretty sweet.

Naturally I gravitated towards the most orange fish, can't leave cville behind yet. After a long day, Amy and I decided to try one of the numerous happy hours in PB. Who doesn't love $2.50 margaritas and $2 fish tacos?? Delicious, we went to Fred's pictured below, and then hit up Moondoggies later.

Good ole Fred's

We concluded the night at the bar a block away from us where the special was sangria with live flamenco dancing. As outgoing as I am, I politely refused to dance on stage with the dancers and was chided and mocked for my shyness. HA. If they only knew...

Off to study, clean and do mundane errands. I'll write about the farmer's market tomorrow!

Shout out to KMD, who just started college!! Miss ya dude!

picture post of the new A P T

Posted on Tuesday, August 18, 2009 | 0 comments

Here it is, as promised, pictures of the newly furnished and decorated (ha, well maybe...). Enjoy!

Also, great news: I just found out my cousin Meaghan is moving to SD! Woo hoo for family moving to west coast. Amy and I are off to explore Balboa Park and free museum Tuesday.

Crazy first couple of days

Posted on Monday, August 17, 2009 | 0 comments

Moving in had been, well exhausting. I am currently taking up residency in Ikea seeing as I have been there every day since arriving (the information/can you help me people have started to run away from me). However, I now have successfully set up the apartment for Amy and I. Woo! Speaking of Amy, she is my wonderfully fabulous super smart roommate who had her first full day of work on Saturday. Joining the real world has made her tired and eagerly anticipating her next day off (tomorrow!) to hang out with me and explore SD.

Amy and I during graduation

Anyways, when I have not been hanging picture frames, doing laundry, cleaning the apartment, or setting up house, I have gotten to enjoy Pacific Beach. Oh yeah, that's where I live now. I am six blocks from Tourmaline Surf Beach (which I have yet to surf on (in? at? whatever)), and a little but longer to Law Street Beach where I also have yet to take my first dip in the Pacific Ocean. The weather in PB starts off cool and cloudy every morning and then by 10 am the sun peeks out and starts to warm up. It hasn't gotten above 79 degrees yet; the sun however is very hot when the breeze is not blowing.

Currently I am under stress for filling out tons of paperwork for my new job and trying not to get frustrated about my imminent nursing license (why does California have to be so different?!). However, despite how frustrated I might feel, the atmosphere here is so amazing and comforting even though I am 3000 miles away from VA. Pictures of the apartment and some scenery up soon!

Also, shout out to c-prof, reimer, and alli (thanks for commenting!)