Venice Beach

We finally made it to Venice Beach last weekend. It's so close! We strolled the boardwalk and did some great people watching. We saw bodybuilders at Muscle Beach (where there was also a fashion show taking place) and were approached by several young gentlemen hawking evaluations for medical marijuana. There were, as one might expect, plenty of hippie musicians. We also saw a juggler and a bona fide freak show, just like on Coney Island. (We didn't go in, but we did see the heavily tattooed men with the two-headed turtle out front.)

Small World Books, an independent bookstore nestled behind a burger joint (same ownership), was probably my favorite part of the day. This little shop is extremely well-curated, and I give them huge props for having about four shelves of poetry in a small store. I loved the handwritten staff recommendation cards and the personal feel of the place. The entire back of the store is devoted to The Mystery Annex, a mystery section bigger than one you'd find at a Barnes & Noble and decorated with eerie paintings and crime scene tape. Sadly, the bookstore cat, Conan the Librarian, did not make an appearance that day. (Every good bookstore has to have a cat. As I'm blogging, I'm reminiscing aloud about the store. Chris is musing, "Beth, how are you not working there right now?")

We grabbed lunch at Danny's, sister restaurant to the James Beach joint featured in "I Love You, Man." Chris got the delicious fish tacos mentioned in the movie. (This place uses the same recipe as their other location.) Then we strolled the Venice Canals.

Locals tether their canoes right outside their front doors. We saw some adorable ducks bobbing along the waterways, and even a cat basking in the sun on the walkway. For fun, I scoped out the property prices along the canals—they seem to run between 1 and 3 million!

The beach itself had a great vibe. It was full of surfers and energetic little kiddos. As we walked along the water, watching waves crash majestically over a jetty, it dawned on Chris: "We live here."

We could live beside the ocean, leave the fire behind...

We took a little trip to the Santa Monica Pier a couple of weekends ago while our friend Erica (of Lives of Boxes fame) was in town for a work conference. It was incredibly windy, but we walked all along the beach and got some yummy fish tacos at Blue Plate Oysterette.

We passed by The Hotel California. (I'm sure it's not the original or anything, but I had to get a picture...and proceeded to have The Eagles stuck in my head for ages.)

Apparently, it was Falun Dafa Day and a group of Chinese Falun Gong practitioners were having a little festival. These two little girls were so cute, dancing and demonstrating bendy gymanstic feats.

That's just Chris, smiling on the pier. I like.

Finally, Erica had to get to work Monday, so we dropped her off at the conference's hotel in Palos Verdes (not far from my Redondo Beach visit—in fact, I think you can see this general area in my pic). We didn't actually feel too bad for her once we saw the place. Not too shabby, right??

Avocados on pizza?!

Those little green gems for which we have named our blog made a recent appearance on a pizza. It will come as a surprise to no one that I have become obsessed with Green Peas, the veggie- and vegan-friendly café that creates this delicious pie. It also features fresh basil, oregano, cilantro, parsley, scallions, green pepper, spinach, tomato, pumpkin seeds (genius!), and mozzarella.

Catching up: Redondo Beach and local walks

A couple weeks ago, I drove to visit a friend in the Redondo Beach area. Here is the beautiful view we had during our walk along the beach:

I've also been walking around Culver City a bit. These sights are on the way toward our current favorite brunch spot (Cafe Laurent) and the library.

Statue in front of the senior center, called something like "Life's Path" (wish I could remember exactly).

In front of the Veteran's Memorial building, there's a filmstrip sculpture in a little pool, touting Culver City as "The Heart of Screenland." (Our town is very effectively branded; I hope we'll have another post about that soon.)

And, of course, we're right near the glorious Sony Pictures Studios. I suppose we have come to right place for making movies.

The Culver City Steps

Culver City is nestled beside Baldwin and Blair Hills, which means we can get an excellent dose of nature in about a twenty-minute walk/five-minute drive. Some friends had recommended we check out the Culver City Steps there...which are exactly what you think: a series of large stone steps leading from the road up to a plateau in Blair Hills. It's become my favorite part of living in this suburb.

Not only do you get a great workout while climbing (and I do mean climbing) these enormous steps, but you also get instant transportation from L.A. city street to verdant surroundings.




Plus some great views of the city sprawl when you get to the top:

Ikea Party!

Ikea assembly is meant to be done with a buddy—even their instructions say so! Last night, Chris and I went over to Sam's new place for an Ikea party. Basically, an Ikea party consists of ordering pizza, cracking open some beers, and juggling an array of Allen wrenches while listening to a mix of sweet 90's alternative rock. I did not wear a pencil behind my ear, as Ikea suggests. We built 2 end tables, 4 sets of shelves, and a desk. I also got to unpack brand-new kitchen things, which was really fun. Sam's place is now lookin' good, if I do say so myself!

We also recalled the greatest Ikea quote of all time, from The Wire, Season 5. I looked for the clip to no avail:

Kima is growing frustrated as she attempts to put together a crib.

She calls McNulty, bubbling with anger.

McNulty's response: "What kind of Scotch are you using?"

Apartment pics: Kitchen

Welcome back, friends. We have some more shots of the apartment for ya!

The kitchen table was a craigslist find. The woman who sold it to us is a former New Yorker who now works at Sony Studios. She gave Chris her card. It felt very "Hollywood". (The 4th chair is currently serving as a desk chair.) Our chalkboard came with us from NYC. We're planning to put up some little shelves around the clock where we can display family photos.

The cream clock (wedding gift from our maid of honor, Jenn) was blending in too much with the beige walls, so we hung it in front of a cloth placemat (NY housewarming gift from our dear friends Erica and Steve). A matching one sits in the center of the table. I love these items and I was so happy to find different ways to use them in the new space. (Free decor solutions are so fun!)

One word for all the New Yorkers out there: dishwasher.

(I feel the microwave deserves a shout-out, too. It's a little scratched, but it has now moved 12 times, if I'm counting right. Nana got it for me at Wal-Mart when I went off to college, and it's still working great.)

Oh, hi, avocado! Looks like we've got some guacamole to make...

Morning walk

I took a little walk this morning to wake myself up. Check out the 'hood (the first shot is our street!).

I'm pretty sure this is honeysuckle. Whatever it is, it smells amazing and it's everywhere. I stick my face in it pretty much every time I pass some. [update: My very sharp mom-in-law, Clare, has pegged this as Chinese star jasmine. Beautiful!]

Apartment pics: Living room

You saw the coffee table, but here are a few more shots of our new living room! We still have a little unpacking and decorating to do (those are homeless DVDs in the plastic bin, and on top are some framed pictures from our old place that we haven't put up).

Old stuff, new place: Our Ellis Island prints and barometer (from good ol' Stray) find a home on the wall alongside an Andrew Bird record (should you ever wind up with some vinyl that you can't exactly use...stick it on the wall!). The TV and all of its accessories made it intact thanks to our OCD packing job and the genius guys from Atlas Movers.

There's the little blue loveseat and white chair we scored on craigslist. New bookshelves from Ikea (we decided to sell our old ones in NY rather than drag them out here).

Let's see those books again. Yes, we sold off our furniture, but dragged all of these books from the East Coast. And this is the "pared down" selection—not counting the ones we sold and the huge cart full that we donated to the Woodside Library. We may need psychological help. At the very least, we need to seriously consider acquiring a lighter obsession, such as eBooks. Or paper clips.

The white chair, by the way, is now known as the ambush chair. Roger has claimed this chair and sits in it much of the time. When he's not in it, he's often under it, waiting to ambush you and attack your toes when you take a seat.

On another note, I also have to give Chris credit for finding the cute felt pillow with cattails on it.

And the crowing glory, our little balcony. I worked out here a couple times last week. It is absolutely the best.