The LA Outtakes

I took a lot of pictures when I was in California. Like, more than usual. I went full blown tourist. I mean, who wouldn't?! It was my first time feeling like a tourist in a long time. I'm technically a tourist every time I go anywhere I haven't been before, but sometimes it doesn't feel like it anymore. I miss that childhood sense of the unknown and having everything be new. I would say it was weird to feel 80+ degree heat in October, but I do believe New York gave me that when I was here a couple of weeks ago...I digress.

This is a fairly stripped down post. Honestly, most of my posts lately have been extremely stripped down. It's been really nice having this travel content to fall back on. It's been really busy and finding the time to write and create my normal blog content has just been impossible. Plus, if I'm being honest, I love these stripped down posts (and I now have "Strip That Down" by Liam Payne stuck in my head for no apparent reason besides thinking of the word "strip").

I've been taking everything with my iPhone. I know, *gasp*, what about my DSLR?! I don't find traveling with a huge camera conducive to my spacial and packing issues. So, I've been relying on my good old iPhone 6 for just about everything. For the time being, while I'm not living at home with endless resources in my closet and beauty drawers and my mom to take outfit pictures for me, this is just what I'm working with.

My mom told me that I had to, someway, somehow, see the Hollywood sign. There are few things that my mom tells me to do that normally I don't do. Filed under that list would be to not live out of suitcases, learn how to pack better, and probably stop wearing dark lipstick. And to those things, I say NEVER!!! But, since I'm typically obedient as hell, the view from Griffith Park Observatory fulfilled the request/suggestion. Shoutout to my friend Natasha for being a gem and snapping pictures for me all day. I automatically assume that my friends will become my personal photographers for the day and always super appreciate when they pull through and don't hate me too much afterward.

I know jack shit about astronomy. I didn't even know Griffith Park Observatory existed until I saw La La Land. I didn't know jazz existed until then, either! *crickets* Erm, moving on...this place was still cool as hell. I wish my brain wasn't so tiny and that I could wrap my head around astronomy. My brain hurts when I think too long about space and then I get a little bit terrified because it's so big and vast and who knows what exists out there.

Sticking with the tourist theme...yep, I took photos with statues. This is not something that I do normally but I was in a fabulous mood (all that sunshine did me well) and felt like doing some cheesy photos. I don't take myself seriously. Or at least, too seriously. I've always loved throwing blooper pictures in with my outfit posts. My life is a series of blooper pictures, so it only seems fitting to share them from time to time. Not that I ever try to put on an illusion that I'm perfect. Or at least I sure as hell hope that I don't! Also, in all seriousness, I did start singing "Style" by Taylor Swift to that bust of James Dean and I am not even slightly ashamed about it.

Shoutout to Natasha for taking me to The Last Bookstore on Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles. I'm a massive fan of bookstores, even if I don't physically have space in my suitcase for said books. It pained me to pass up on some of the used books, but I did end up picking out a cool piece of art (which is actually, as I've come to realize, a patch but I'm just going to mount it to a piece of cardstock and call it 3D art) to soothe the ache of leaving so many books behind.

As I mentioned in my post from yesterday, we took a little trip to the Grand Central Market. Both of us wanted to try Eggslut, but neither of us wanted to wait in the long, looping line. Instead, it was decided that I needed to try LA tacos and clearly it was for good reason. I swear, the two tacos weighed six billion tons (okay, so more like a pound, but still) and were impossible to finish but so, so delicious. I think I could've spent hours in there trying to eat my way around the place, but that would've probably taken a hit to my bank account and current weight.

I'm a big fan of walking, so to Natasha if you're reading this, I'm sorry I made you walk all over hell in tarnation to give me a tour of some of the gorgeous buildings in downtown LA. From my feet to yours, I'm sorry for any of the aching my need to wander caused. But look at how pretty The Broad and Walt Disney Concert Hall look! They were working their angles!

As we saw in Tuesday's post, the Urban Light sculpture at LACMA was an absolute must. My lifelong (aka five-year long) dream of getting photos taken within the sculpture finally came true. It was one of my many #BasicAF moments, but I have absolutely zero shame. It's a sick piece of art and deserves to be heavily photographed!

Did y'all know about the tar pits in LA? Adjacent to the LACMA, there's both a museum and free outdoor park that features some of the most bizarre things I've seen in my life. There are actual active tar pits right now that continue to bubble and do their thing. What's their thing, might you ask? I still have no flipping idea. But basically, back in the early 1900s, paleontologists started excavating fossils from these tar pits that started to seep to the surface in Los Angeles. They found tons of extinct animals from the LA Ice Age as well as other fossils of trees and whatnot. It's super fascinating, I'm not even going to lie.

Included in the list of animals they discovered in these vast pits was the giant ground sloth, featured above. They're supposed to be about four and a half feet tall, so these statues are not to scale. But look at how ugly those things were. There were plenty of other terrifying looking creatures that I am honestly glad are extinct. I mean, a bird with a ten and a half foot long wingspan? NO THANKS.

We ended up in Santa Monica because it was the only beach that didn't sound entirely horrible to go to. Granted, I didn't even touch the sand or water because I hate both of those things. I also didn't want to go anywhere near the boardwalk because (1) tons of people and (2) tons of fair rides, which are two things that are not...well...my thing. All jokes aside, it was really fun to walk around Santa Monica and people watch. I'm a huge fan of people watching and it's always extra exciting to do it not only in a new city but also on a completely new coast.

I had to take a picture of Ocean Avenue. I HAD TO. *Side note: I "had" to do a lot of things this trip, didn't I?* How could I let down my inner teenaged emo self? It would just be so cruel and wrong. Paying homage to Yellowcard is very important and I'm very happy that I was able to make this happen.

And that concludes my Sunday in Los Angeles! I'll talk about my Monday adventures riding up the coast with my best friend and her boyfriend sometime next week in a continuation of my mega informal posts while I figure a few things out over here. My regular scheduled content, as I said, will be coming back soon, I promise! I just have a few things to sort out on the whole personal front and genuinely, I'm just really enjoying posting this casual content. It's fun and informal and I think represents the current me.