el matador beach

Yesterday, Rach and I drove to a place called El Matador beach. It's about a mile outside of Malibu and took about an hour to get there. It was totally worth the drive!! It's a small, semi-secluded beach that (apparently) not a lot of people know about. I did a little bit of internet research on LA beaches and decided to try this one out. We felt like we were in Mexico!! It was so beautiful. Here are a few pics of our day at the beach. After our afternoon in the sun we relaxed our sun-kissed bodies on the sea-side deck at Duke's in Malibu for a relaxing drink.

colorful starfish & mussels attached to the rocks

hot hot hot!

LA has been SOOO hot lately! We have been fighting 103degree weather in Glendale and are about to roast alive. Thank god for fans. The hot weather make conditions favorable for wildfires, which LA has also been affected by. Here in Glendale we can see the smoke and fires in the mountains while driving to/from work. I'm sure it doesn't help the heat situation any either. They canceled school today in Glendale due to the smokey air. We haven't been affected by the air yet...we can't even smell it in our house. Hopefully it will be gone soon.

(A pic I snapped on my phone. The smoke is coming from the hills. This is taken from my neighborhood area.)

The house is still fabulous and we are loving living here. We have walked over to the Americana and Galleria a few times. The girls have been here almost a month and are still loving it. They are liking their jobs and enjoying exploring the city with me :) We've been going out a lot on the weekends and Rachel and I went to Manhattan Beach yesterday to cool off by the ocean. The waves were HUGE (8-9 feet). We got in but quickly got out after we got beat up by a few waves, ha.

I can't wait to come home in October and see all of my family! Especially Mal, Ben, and Ethan! It's going to be a good time. I am thinking we should do an early Thanksgiving, because I doubt I'll be able to come home for Thanksgiving or Christmas this year... Thoughts??

all moved in

Wow I haven't updated in forever. It's been a crazy busy couple of weeks! I promise to post pictures soon. I worked 9 shifts in 11 nights the week before I moved into the house, then Rach & Nicole arrived in LA, then Mom & Dad got here, spent all of last week moving into the house, and I turned 23 somewhere in the middle of all of that.

The house is wonderful and it's so great having my best friends in LA with me. Mom and Dad were HUGE HUGE HUGE help with the move. I couldn't have done it without them!! Special thanks to my Dad for hanging all the curtains in my house (I love my blackout shades in my bedroom! Keeps my room cool & dark during the day for excellent sleeping conditions :) The house is looking great but we still have lots of work to do. I'll post pictures as soon as we get the place looking just like home! Rach and Nicole had their first night of work lastnight and all is well so far. I've been back at work the past couple of nights...working again tonight and then off for another 4. My good friend Theresa (a friend from SLU who now lives in Chicago) is coming into LA tomorrow so I'll get to spend some time with her this weekend. Rach, Nicole, Theresa and I are planning on going to the Cards vs. Dodgers game on Monday night here at Dodger Stadium. Go Cards!!

I'll update more later...off to work...

counting crows

On Tuesday night I went to the Crounting Crows/Augustana/Michael Franti & Spearhead concert at the Greek Theatre. This was the first time I've been to the Greek Theatre and it was sooo beautiful! It's nestled in the hills right under Griffith Observatory, within walking distance from my apt. It's an outdoor venue with a beautiful view of the mountains behind the stage. We got to watch the sunset and enjoy the great music under the stars. It was the perfect summer night in LA! I can't wait to go back.

A clip from the concert: Counting Crows "Mr. Jones"

zodiac

It's hard to believe...

....that I've lived in California for almost a year now! I'm still as excited about living here as I was even before I took my NCLEX exam. There is still so much I haven't seen and so many places I want to go. However, I feel like I've learned so much this year (about everything! from how to purchase & haggle prices on a new car...to paying bills on time...finding affordable insurance companies...and budgeting my 401K into my paycheck)...I am such a grown up! When did that happen? I have accomplished a lot this year...most notably, I feel like I have become the nurse that I hoped I would become. CHLA has molded me into a knowledgeable, detailed, and proficient RN.

So, 3 minor earthquakes, only 4 rainy days (yes...only 4!!), and 2 code blues' later...I am still in love with this city!! I can't wait to move into my new house in 3 weeks and see what my next year in LA brings me :)

independence day

Happy 4th of July! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend. I spent mine at work and watched some of the fireworks with my kids from the 6th floor windows (not a bad view actually). I had a great night at work. My kids were stable, sleeping, and in no pain. I had an easy admission (pancreatitis). It was the kind of night I wish I had every night at work! We had a potluck and I brought little pre-made sandwiches from Vons and ice cream. Yum! Now I'm going to enjoy the next 5 nights off working on packing up for the big move (3.5 weeks!).

corpus christi

Texas is an interesting place! It seems like almost every woman has tattoos of looney tunes and their kids baby feet on their backs! Ha...but seriously, besides the urhm..well, interesting folk down in Corpus, we had a fun time. I went down to meet up with Nicole, who has a bunch of friends at the Navy base down there. The guys were super fun. We grilled out one night and went to a dive bar (which reminded me somewhat of Pooreboys in good ole' Hburg). Dancing to 90's hair band music played by a local band and drinking jagerbombs ensued. The next day we lounged at the pool & went to the beach. The water is SO warm in the gulf! It felt like bath water. It was really nice actually, compared to the frigid pacific waters in SoCal. The temp outside though was EXTREMELY hot. Maybe I'm spoiled and too used to LA weather, but damn...I felt like I was in hell...literally 115 degrees and humid! We went to SeaWorld the next day which was super fun (minus the heat)...and surprisingly enough I managed not to get sunburned! Overall we had a really great time. It was a good mini getaway and now I can mark Texas off the map of states I've been to. YEE-HAW!

mj!

Can you believe he is gone? What a legend.

There is no denying this man had some of the best moves ever!!


There is art and memoirs all over Hollywood commemorating the late artist. A painting on the side of an entire building in West Hollywood says "Michael Jackson: You Rocked Our World".

My favorite episode of South Park EVER:

Rest in Peace Michael! ...sha-mone!

third eye blind

Best. Show. Ever.

On Wed (the 24th), I was lucky enough to get tickets to the sold out Third Eye Blind show in Anaheim. I've been wanting to see them forever but they have never been performing near me...something told me to check for tickets last week, and low and behold...they were going to be in SoCal 7 days later! Since I wouldn't be in town for the LA show, my friend Jason and I drove down to the Anaheim House of Blues and enjoyed the show there. It was EXCELLENT! They played all of my favorite songs and a few new ones. The place was crowded and it was definitely worth the extra $$ I payed for the tickets. I'll be at every Third Eye Blind show I can get to from now on...you can count on it.