sonder

Love this. So true.

dollhouse

Last Friday at work I happened to catch a glimpse of myself in the bathroom mirror and had a tiny panic attack at how crazy and straw-like my hair was looking.

I tend to go months without noticing or caring, and then one day a quick glance reveals how dire the situation really is and I need to get my hair done IMMEDIATELY and if I can't find someone to do it, I'll buy a box of black dye and get out my office scissors and do it myself.

Luckily I was able to get an appointment for the following day, and decided to go a bit darker again, as I'd had pretty light ombre for awhile. I also got my eyebrows done professionally for the first time in my life, it was pretty wonderful, I don't think I'll ever be able to go back.

I know my sisters will be excited as both of them have been known to drop helpful hints about my lopsided brows.

One of mu favourite things about the salon, The Dollhouse in Brentwood, is the decor, it's so whimsical and colourful, I always feel like Alice in Wonderland.

under the weather

I came home sick from work yesterday, I had a really sore throat, which is probably strep as my manager helpfully pointed out. Being sick is not all bad though, I have been spending a lot of time sleeping, and watching heartfelt tear-jerking family dramas on Netflix (Stuck in Love was surprisingly good).

I've also been medicating myself with an industrial sized bag of Hershey's kisses, and Lipton chicken noodle soup. The one that's radioactive yellow and contains no actual chicken, that's the good stuff. The boy tried to be sweet and surprise me with homemade chicken noodle soup with vegetables and real nourishment in it, but I wasn't having anything to do with it. I'm endlessly charming when I'm sick.

L.A. wanderings

Just a few more pics of our trip to L.A. last weekend. We ended up doing everything I had on my list, and lots of other things, like spending the day cruising down the PCH and checking out Venice and Huntington.

We were there for four days, and didn't have any real concrete plans so it was very relaxing. We ate lots of yummy food, and found hoards of 49ers fans in Huntington beach to watch the football game with on Sunday. The niners lost, but it was a beautiful day, and it was $3 mimosas so I wasn't too upset.

Also I read Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) on the trip and at the beach, and loved every second of it. Mindy Kaling is my spirit animal.

It made me endlessly happy that there is a restaurant called Pink Taco and that their sangria was basically the nectar of the Gods

Santa Monica pier at night

Kt von D's tattoo shop. I was very excited, her eyeliner makes my life complete

Grauman's Chinese theater, the Harry Potter cast

tartine

Every year for Christmas my grandpa gives all of us grandkids some money to buy whatever we'd like. I usually save most of it, and buy myself something that I've been wanting, or a few things if they are small.

Last year I bought myself a new camera, but there wasn't anything big that I wanted this year, so I bought myself a couple of things I'd had my eye on for awhile,  including this gorgeous cookbook from Tartine, a bakery in San Francisco.

It came in the mail two days ago, and I've basically been carrying it with me and drooling over it ever since. The pastries and cakes are so beautiful they are basically edible works of art, and the pictures are so lovely that I want to frame them and hang them in my kitchen. Or not, because I don't think mine will look the same and I wouldn't want anybody to be able to compare.

I will absolutely be making their flourless chocolate souffle cake for my birthday this year, but I'll probably have to make two in case anyone else decides they would like dessert as well.

They also have a bread cookbook that a friend of mine has, and when I read through it I basically wanted to renounce my entire life so far and move to an Italian monastery on top of a mountain (which I'm assuming is where they learned to make bread?) and do nothing but bake glorious crusty loaves.

I guess the moral of that story is, I like carbs. You can buy both Tartine and Tartine Bread on Amazon.

rectory

I signed up for AirBnB awhile ago, but hadn't had a chance to use it yet. After the new year I got an email from them offering one night free if you booked two nights, so I decided to give it a try when we went down to L.A.

We found this amazing house to stay in, it used to be an old Catholic rectory, turned into a home by a cool musician and his wife. Our stay was lovely, he worked nights and slept during the day so we barely saw him and had the place to ourselves, and it was one of the most beautiful and most unique places I've ever stayed.

There was a lot of stained glass windows, and lots of tiny little details that really made it special. I also loved his collection of musical instruments, scattered around the house as decoration, and also ready to be played at any time.

Our first AirBnB experience was awesome, I'm planning a trip to New York in March (I've never been, and I'm soooo excited, I've wanted to go since I was little) so I'll definitely be looking around to find a neat place to stay there during my visit.

runyon

We had a truly gorgeous long weekend in L.A., it was upwards of 80 degrees every day we were there. One of the things I had been wanting to do was hike Runyon Canyon, we did the Hollywood sign hike last time we were in town, so even though it was sweltering, we grabbed some waters and set off.

After spending 45 minutes searching for parking we finally made our ascent. The hike is beautiful, if a little crowded, with scenic views of downtown L.A. and the Hollywood sign. It's also a dog park so there are dogs of every shape and size coming up and down.

It's not a very strenuous hike, there are some stairs that are kind of hard to navigate but other than that it's a pretty easy, pretty quick hike, I would definitely recommend it if you're in town and want to get some exercise and some sun.

Hollywood sign

Stark can not hang

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