ANNIVERSARY TRIP PART 5 // A few other things we did

My SD card broke during our trip (I think it was too hot!), so I lost a lot of the pictures from the first half of our trip. But even though I don't have pictures, here are some other things we did that I think are worth mentioning:

1. Estate sale shopping!
I'm still getting the hang of estate sales, but in hopes of scoring some affordable mid century modern furniture, we decided to give it a try. I found a pair of chairs, that were more vintage than modern, but I think they're unique, and they have a little padding on the seat, which my bony butt has quite enjoyed sitting on! We had them in the back of our car, and taylor came up with the idea of taking a picture with them in the middle of the mountains (picture above).

2. Noah Purifoy Foundation:
If you like outdoor art, this place is a MUST SEE! Taylor got some really cool pictures of this place, so  those were the pictures I was the most disappointed to lose. But in any case, don't take my word for it, check out the website to see how cool it is! Be sure to call or email them a few days before to get the address (it's not published online to avoid vandalism).

3. Palm Springs Aerial Tram:
I think it's the highest rotating tram in the world or something like that. The views are pretty amazing, and it's like a whole different world when you get to the top (not to mention 30 degrees cooler!).    My coworker told me he proposed to his now wife at the top, wow... that's a hard one to outdo!  It requires a bit of walking to get to some of the views though, I think Taylor was pretty shocked at what a lazy hiker I am.

4. Food: 
Our favorites were Las Casuelas and Johnny Costas.  Las Casuelas was super relaxing and the food was great.  Mr Costas used to be Frank Sinatra's personal chef, and it was cool to try Sinatra's favorite dish- linguini with clams

ANNIVERSARY TRIP PART 4 // A few pictures of the mountains

Just a few simple pictures of the area. I loved being so close to the mountains!

ANNIVERSARY TRIP PART 1 // A Night Under the Stars

Just got back from our trip to Palm Springs last night. These shots are from a day trip we made to Joshua Tree National Forrest.

I can't imagine anything more romantic than star gazing. After seeing Christina's pintrest page, I knew that I'd want to spend a night outside the city lights to see these beauties.

As the sun started to go down, we could see star after star appear one by one. At first I was kind of sad that it was a full moon, because it made the sky too bright to really be able to see/take photos of the stars at their full potential. But goodness, the moon is quite a sight to behold as well. When there are no other lights, it's unbelievably bright. So much so that we were walking around without flashlights and could even see our shadows as we walked!

Anyway, I can't believe I've been married for over a year now. It's a wonderful and surreal feeling and I am so thankful to God for my amazing husband.

MONDAY DATE NIGHT #4 // Pick Your Own Crops at Underwood Family Farms

We went to Underwood Family Farms  for our Monday date night this week. They are about a 5 minute drive from where Taylor works, so I finally convinced him to go with me.  The original plan was to pick a bunch of veggies, and then come home to cook dinner with produce picked straight from the farm. But to tell you the truth, I was so pooped after this, we ended up drinking jamba juice and eating pre-frozen hash browns for dinner instead!

I've been reading up/listening to podcasts on locavorism (both for and against) these days, so all the talk of delicious and unique local produce had me itching to pick some local produce and see for myself.  I don't think I know enough about the complexities of the food production system in American to fully determine my own opinion on whether or not locavorism is good or bad for our environment as a whole; however, in terms of a personal experience, I did find it quite theraputic to spend an hour or so picking vegetables and learning about crops.  (If it was about 5 degrees cooler, I probably could have stayed out there for a lot longer!) There were definitely a lot of veggies that I didn't even know existed, and I can't wait to come home from work tonight and experiment with what we picked. 

JUNE IN PHOTOGRAPHS

I might be jumping the gun on this since June isn't technically over yet! But I've been accumulating a collection of random photos from the month that didn't necessarily warrant an entire post about them, but still capture some of the everyday moments in life.

From top to bottom, left to right:
1 and 2: my dad's record player.
3: Roof detail at Simi Valley library.
4 &5: At the NoHo metro station on our way to Dwell on Design Conference. I'm trying to learn to like the metro.  I got really winded walking about those stairs, how.... sad.
6,7,8: some pictures from the neighborhood while walking around after dinner.
9: On our way to get ice cream at Rite Aid (even though I thought we should get gelato from the place across the street from our apartment... but anyway, we've put that behind us now...)
10: plants in the office parking lot. 

I spent most of June in constant obsession over the weather and how it's just the perfect amount of warmness. The blooming flowers, the breezy sunlit evenings.  I LOVE the evenings!  I love the bright peaches, blues, yellows and earthy colors of summer, just makes you want to smile and relax the day away!

STARTING TO FEEL LIKE SUMMER!

Picture taken at the California Poppy Reserve

It's starting to heat up in our neck of the woods. If you're like us cheapos who refuse to turn on the air conditioning, it's going to soon be time to swap out that winter comforter for a thin sheet at night and time to start sipping ice water while sitting next to a fan as a cooling mechanism. As much as I complain about the heat, I still love the summer in theory! I love eating dinner with the sun still shining, being able to walk around at night without a jacket on, ... so nice!

We've got a busy few days ahead!  Joyce is flying in tonight, and then we'll be waking up bright and early tomorrow for Taylor's 5k and seeing our friend Jared who is in town after. Taylor's dad is celebrating his 60th on Sunday, and then I'll be off to Diamond Bar on Monday for my brother Josh's birthday!  Im not sure how studying is going to fit into all this :T

Some random things i've been thinking about:

• Speaking of the long days- did anybody get a chance to look at the solar eclipse  on Sunday? Sooooo cool! what amazing pictures! I wish I saw it!  I was thinking of trying to see it, but was too intimidated by all the warning about burning your eyes and needing to make little peephole things that were six feet long
• A juvenile mountain lion found in a downtown Santa Monica office courtyard was fatally shot this Tuesday.  I have to admit I'd be terrified if I saw a mountain lion walking the streets, but I can imagine that the poor thing must have been even more afraid. I'm not sure I could say it was the wrong decision to kill the lion, but it is still a sad situation.  It reminded me of 20 under 40 writer, Tea Obreht's novel, The Tiger's Wife, a marvelous book that contains a symbolic plot line about a tiger entering civilization. It opens with a zookeeper who has spent his life caring, feeding and nurturing a tiger, and is also forced to fatally shoot him because he attacks a civilian.
• Do you ever accidentally text the wrong person?  I'm pretty terrible at that.  For some reason I always do it to my friend Joanna while texting Taylor. Luckily I haven't sent anything too embarrassing and she's always gracious about it, but I'm still sure she doesn't love me calling her "babe" and "pookie" all the time either.  Joanna, if you happen to read this, this is my public apology!
• Are you a fast typer? Taylor and I are so unbelievably competitive about the littlest things! Take this typing test, and let me know if you beat my score!
• Lastly, a Fresh Air interview of the late Maurice Sendak, most well known as the author of Where the Wild Things Are. Really moving, could be one of my favorite interviews she's done (although i guess it's technically a compilation of interviews and not a single interview)