Valentine's Day | The Grove | Hollywood Hike

With our Italy departure being set back a few weeks, Brandi and I have been doing our best to keep busy and focusing on anything other than the fact that we are still here in California. Long story short, the paperwork that's required for us to be there long term and renting an apartment is a bit more strict in Florence than most places. That said, we're still here and hoping to receive the news we've been waiting for this week...the green light to buy our plane tickets to Italy! [Fingers, toes, arms, and legs are crossed] 

Anyhow, moving on...

This past Valentine's Day happened to be the 10th that Brandi and I have celebrated together. Valentine's Day is somewhat comical because on that very day, it's mind boggling to see and hear about how many people love the day, hate the day, don't see the purpose in the day, don't want to buy into the hype of the day etc. To me, it's all about what you make of the day with that special person. The day can have great meaning and be full of romance, without buying into the hype of spending a ridiculous amount of money on gifts or dining off a pre set dinner menu. Sure I get it, you're supposed to love that person year round and shouldn't need a day to remind them. I fully agree but at the same time, what's wrong with putting a little emphasis on the love you have for that person for an extra day? It doesn't need to cost and arm and a leg like people think it does. It just requires a little planning, creativity and knowing how to make that person happy. 

To start the day, Brandi and I visited Handsome Coffe Roasters in Downtown LA. She'd never been and with it being literally around the corner from my office, I figured it would be a nice treat before dropping her back off at work. 

Since I have yet to luck out with a delivery company who can actually drop the flowers off to Brandi on Valentine's Day between the hours of 8-5pm, she receives them directly from me. Let's just say there have been one too many instances where the flower company has failed me. As soon as I dropped her off at work, I made a quick dash to pick up some flowers and go right back to her office to deliver them. It's safe to say that she was surprised. 

For the past 5 or 6 years, we've made it a tradition to make sushi at home with each other and this year would be no different. 

Ever since we began packing for our move, I know it had been eating away at Brandi that we couldn't bring all of our pictures with us. I decided to make a mosaic picture using all of our wedding pictures to help solve that problem. The tears streaming down her face were a pretty good indication that she loved it. I can't wait to have this framed and on the wall of our new house in Italy! 

Saturday night we decided to get dinner at The Grove since they have a good selection of restaurants and so Brandi could check out the new Top Shop that just opened. 

We ended up eating at Marmalae Cafe and I ordered the Chicken Meatloaf [Homemade chicken meatloaf served on a bed of mashed potatoes with sun-dried tomato gravy and sautéed green beans with slivered almonds]. Maybe I was just craving meatloaf and mashed potatoes but this meal just hit the spot. According to Brandi, mashed potatoes are a stress cure and I'd have to fully agree with her. 

After a heavy meal like that, Sunday was spent trying to work it all off. We hiked up behind the Hollywood sign which is something we'd never done together. Apparently, this was the shorter but much steeper way up the mountain. Between warm temperatures and a steep ass hill, we were covered in sweat and I'm sure anyone behind me was asking themselves...did this guy eat chicken meatloaf for dinner? I'll let you figure out why. 

All and all, it was great weekend and although I'm going to miss the gorgeous weather we've been having in So. Cal, I really hope we're told to book our plane tickets this week. 

Until next time...

Touring Our Own City

Over the weekend, Brandi and I decided it was time to venture out of the Valley for a change. Not only did we want to keep things inexpensive (there is a secret behind this that you will soon find out), but it was time for us to get a little creative, doing some sight seeing and just enjoy some of what Los Angeles has to offer.

We started our Sunday at 7:30am with a 3.6 mile hike at Tree People (Coldwater Cyn. & Mulhulland Hwy.). Incase you're not aware, the San Fernando Valley has been seeing 100+ degree temperatures so getting out there early is imperative...unless you feel like completely torturing yourself.

(TreePeople images courtesy of Google Images)

This location was recently recommended to us and has quickly become one of our favorites. It has great views, very clean paths and is not crowded. If you're down for some hiking, add this place to your list of places to check out. www.treepeople.org

After breakfast (chorizo, eggs and tortillas for the foodies out there), we hit the road and headed over the hill to LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art). We've never really ventured around there with the exception of the La Brea Tar Pits so it was nice to finally check it out.

After LACMA, we were actually on our way to Melrose to do some walking around when we stumbled upon the Fairfax Swap Meet. With a $2 per person entry fee and rows upon rows of vintage clothes, electronics and art, checking it out was a no brainer. 

Once we were done enjoying the sights and sounds of the swap meet, we decided to walk down Melrose for a bit. The heat got the best of us after about 30 minutes so we decided it was lunch time. About 1 mile away was one of our favorite and well-known Mexican spots, El Coyote. It's been family owned and operated since 1931 so rest assured you are getting an authentic meal. 

(El Coyote image courtesy of their website)

It's safe to say that you can order anything off the menu and leave a very happy customer. We generally order a combination dinner (side salad, enchilada, taco, rice and beans) but this time we opted to keep it light, somewhat healthy and inexpensive. I wish I had words to better describe this side salad but those who have tried it know what I'm talking about. It's nothing more than shredded lettuce, tomato, carrots, string beans and peas topped with thousand island dressing. For some reason, this $4 salad has found a place in both of our hearts and hits the spot every single time. 

At the end of the day, not including gas, we managed to do all of this for less than $20 total. Not a bad way to explore parts of LA while keeping it cheap!

Until next time...