Last Week of L.A.

Alright, so I'm outta L.A. right now, I just spent a week in Tempe, AZ, and  a week in East Lansing, MI.  I will write about those next.  My time in L.A. is finished, but I had to write about one of the places I went during my last week, because it is definitely worth mentioning.

The Huntington Library, Arts Collection and Botanical Gardens, in San Marino, CA. Amazing!

My friend in San Francisco told me that I could not miss this place and he wasn't lying.  This place has tons of art works, rare books, and more gardens than you could ever dream of.  Some of the gardens include - A Chinese Garden, a Japanese Garden, Rose Garden, Desert Garden, Lily Pond Garden.  There is an estate that houses Art pieces as well as several other Galleries on the property.  The House itself is gorgeous, and worth a tour by itself.  The library is for scholars, but they have an excellent exhibit that takes a look at many first edition books like The Canterbury Tales and Paradise Lost. 

It was such a cool experience, and I am so happy I went!

Chinese Garden

Japanese Garden

Relaxing

The House

Desert Garden

Lily Pond

Rose Garden

Rare books

If you are ever out here, be sure to visit this place!

Alright L.A., you've been fun, but it's time to move on!

First week of the New Year

Welcome 2014!  What a great year it's going to be.  I hope we all have wonderful and exciting experiences and adventures this whole year.

  New Year's Eve was a pretty crazy night.  I was going to spend it downtown in L.A. at Grand Central Park, but by the time I got out of my show, the park was at capacity!  It was nuts!  There were so many people everywhere.   We checked it out, but then headed back to the hotel b/c we needed a beverage to ring in the New Year.  The hotel bar was packed, so the majority of our company ended up going to the 4th floor.  The hotel has provided our company with a large room on the 4th floor with a microwave, a fridge, and tables and chairs.  We all brought our own libations and snacks.  Eventually people ordered food, and we had a nice big TV to watch the ball drop.  It was definitely a success!  I had a wonderful time. =)

Downtown before it go crazy

Then it got a little crowded!

 

So we had our own party at the hotel.

New Year's Day, I had off, and I pretty much just relaxed all day, and it was amazing!

This first week has been filled with hanging out with friends and eating good food.  I've been going to this bar down the street called Bunker Hill, delicious food and drink.
I also visited the Griffith Observatory where we watched the sunset over L.A. and then had GORGEOUS views of the city.  It was like the movies where they look at all the lights of L.A. from a hill top.  It was awesome.

Griffith Observatory

Pictures can't capture how stunning the views were

The ceiling inside

Sunday night was good too, went out with a few friends to dinner at Bunker Hill, then off to a few bars, including a dance club playing Latin music.  And, did we dance?  You bet ya!  Oh my goodness, I have not danced in so long, and I had such a good time!  Thanks to my friends for going into that crazy bar with me!  It was a great night and one I won't soon forget.
  I also went back to the garment district this week and picked up some items for work, as well as some new jewelry supplies for me.

A fun night out

Some of my new supplies from my shopping day!

All in all it's been a great first week of the New Year!  How's your Year going so far?