California Part 4: Hollywood Hills

Statement of fact: you cannot visit the Los Angeles area and not see Hollywood. It's at least a one-time experience! We drove up from Santa Monica through the hills, passing through Beverly Hills and Bel Air along the way. Needless to say, passing through these extremely luxe neighborhoods was a beautiful experience. Yet, it was surreal to see so many gated houses, perfect streets, and everyone driving Porsches (seriously...).

This photo is not mine. View original image here.

We headed to the Griffth Observatory, a beautiful building that sits on the edge of the Hollywood hills. From there, you could see the Hollywood sign and look over the city itself. We honestly could have spent hours sitting on the lawn people watching. It was so beautiful. When we walked around the back of the observatory, we noticed that there was a fashion photo shoot happening on the side of the building.

 

We had to see the Chinese Theater, of course. I could not believe how many people were in Hollywood. The closer we got to the theater, the more people seemed to crop up. Also, side note: did you know that Shirley Temple is still alive?? I didn't either...

This is the El Capitan theater where tons of movie premieres are held. When we visited, they were setting for the premiere of Planes.

The Dolby Theatre is where the Academy Awards (aka the Oscars) are held each year. I really wish I could have gotten more pictures because it was so massive and beautiful, but again, the amount of people around made it impossibly to stand and observe for more that a few moments. Also, this theater is right across the street from El Capitan, and sits next to the Chinese Theater so there are three major theaters right in the same location. I definitely knew I was in Hollywood!

The Walk of Fame was pretty cool to see; I had no idea how many stars there were on the sidewalk! When we decided that we had soaked up as much of Hollywood as we could, we turned back and ate lunch at a great little restaurant called Urban Masala. It featured Indian cuisine and they even had a tandoor oven! It was great to find a place that was set apart from the McDonalds, Popeye's, and other fast food chains that seemed to dominate the block. Plus, their food was pretty darn good!

Stay tuned for more!

If I Could Take Three Months Off...

Today's Blogtember challenge is "if you could take three months off from your current life and do anything in the world, what would you do?"


I would pack up and go on a road trip across the United States with Luis! We both really dislike flying and a road trips would be the perfect way to see and experience the places we'd be traveling through.

We'd start in Maine and end up in Seattle, all while visiting everywhere in between. While we would have a few places in each state that we would plan on visiting, we would also be on the lookout for those surprise places; hidden gems on our journey across the country.

Some cities that I'd have to see are...
Aspen, Colorado
San Fransisco
Portland
Seattle
Washington D.C.
Austin
New Orleans
and so many more! 

We actually started planning a road trip for next summer. Traveling and exploring new places is probably our favorite thing to do together. Nothing energizes or inspires us more than experiencing new places, eating different food, and hitting the open road. We're lucky to live equidistant from two large cities (we live almost exactly between Chicago and Milwaukee, WI) and can take mini trips to each of them when we have some spare time... It definitely keeps us sane!

So, what would you do for three free months??

California Part 3: Universal Studios

On our third day in California, we had to visit Universal Studios! I was surprised by how massive their studio lot and amusement park was. The park/studio was on two "levels," as it is mostly on a large hill. In the above picture, you can also see their neighbors, Disney and Warner Bros Studios.

We started things off by taking a studio tour that takes you through their lot (hosted by the great Jimmy Fallon!). This tour is a must if you go to their amusement park. You get to see external sets from some of the most famous movies like Back to the Future, Psycho, Jurassic Park, and many others.

This is the city hall from the Back to the Future movies (minus the clock on the top) where the lightening had to strike.

This, of course, is the Bates Motel from Psycho. They even had the creepy house on the hill behind the motel. It was really creepy...

This is an example of a facade. In fact, in many movies when you see people walking down a street, or in an outside setting, it may simply be a facade. This scene from Bruce Almighty was filmed in front of a facade that was also on the Universal Studios lot (the inside scene was shot on another sound stage). 

Remember that movie War of the Worlds? This is a actual plane crash set that they used in the movie. It was pretty cool to see!

Sound stage where The Voice is filmed. 

If I may gush for a moment, the Transformers 3D ride was AMAZING. Yes, we waited in line for almost 2.5 hours, but it was worth it! I forgot that I was on a ride for a minute... Also, I've got to give Universal Studios credit- they know how to keep you entertained while you're waiting in line. They had an entire scenario built into the ride itself to make you believe that the ride you were waiting for was some kind of mission. The waiting area was also decorated like the set of Transformers. 

Also, the guys who dressed up as the Transformers were crazy good. I kind of felt bad for them though... It was SO hot and they had to entertain a crowd of people who wanted to get their picture taken with them. A.k.a my worst nightmare.

We finished off the day with a few more rides and some shows. Guys, the dog up there played Marley in Marley and Me!! He was awesome.

Have a lovely Labor Day weekend!

California Part 2: Malibu

Last week, I posted the first installment of our trip to California, and today I'll be sharing the second part of this "series."

On our second day in California, we drove north up the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu. I have to say that Malibu was my favorite place of all of the locations we saw. It was quintessential California: bright sun, rocky coast, crystal blue beaches, and surfers. 

We stopped at a national state preserve called Point Dume on the Malibu coast. In addition to being a beautiful landscape, this is actually the physical location of Tony Stark's house in the Iron Man films. The inside of his house were filmed elsewhere, while a 3D model was built and digitally imposed onto the cliff in post-production. It was pretty cool to see. Other fun facts? The 1968 Planet of the Apes had important beach scenes filmed on the beach in the picture above, and Vincent Price's ashes were put here... (thank you Wikipedia!). 

Luis and I walked out to one of the cliffs and listened to the mixture of surf and laughter coming from the beaches below. The only thing missing in that moment was that I didn't have a book with me! 

We finished the day by driving up into the Malibu hills and visiting a vineyard called Malibu Wines for a wine tasting. The vineyard had a lounge area situated in a courtyard with tables and places for you to settle in, sample some wine, and be with family and friends. 

Malibu Wines sold their own brands of wine, and the brand we decided to sample was called Semler Wines. Let me just tell you: this place changed my opinion about California wine... The types of California wine I've tasted back home were no where near as flavorful and robust as these.

So, we sampled their 2010 Sauvignon Blanc which had notes of pineapple, grapefruit, honeydew, and orange. It was incredibly smooth and the flavors mingled perfectly. (We definitely left with a bottle of this stuff!) Next up was a 2009 Malbec that featured blackberry, violet, vanilla bean, and boysenberry. This was more aromatic that the previous wine we tasted. The third wine was a 2009 Syrah made of 100% estate grown grapes. It also had a hint of cherries. Honestly, this was my least favorite of the four we tasted. It had too much of a bold finish for me. The last wine was a real showstopper. At $70 a bottle, their 2007 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon was full of vanilla, licorice, dark chocolate, currants, and spice. Despite being a more heavy wine, it had an surprisingly smooth finish. It was altogether a lovely experience!

Vacation is such a fresh-start. For a short time, the rush and stress and to-do's of your everyday life stop and make way for the completely new. Everyone needs those moments. 

Stay tuned for more!

Midwest to West: California Part 1

I've been such a negligent blogger lately! There have been a lot of transitions in my life, the biggest being a change in employment, and I have just been feeling as though I'm at a loss of time to create meaningful blog posts. Let's play catch-up, shall we?

A few weeks ago, Luis and I were so lucky to be able to travel to the sunshine state with his parents. We spent about six days in the Los Angeles area, visiting his brother who is living there to pursue a career in film score composition. It's so exciting because he's incredibly talented and we wish him all the luck in the world!

I couldn't believe how perfect the California weather is on a daily basis. The temperature never left the seventies during the day, and at night it cooled down and became so refreshing. I've grown so accustomed to the muggy, hot nights of Midwest summers.

We chose Santa Monica as the site of our main stomping grounds and spent the first day exploring the beautiful city. I noticed that people really value their time spent outdoors. As we walked towards the pier, people were sitting everywhere with picnics, reading books, or just hanging out. I loved it!

There were so many people on the pier with their families and friends. I saw Shailene Woodley walking around the pier, too! I was a little star-struck. I had silently told myself that I wanted to see at least one famous person while I was there, and I accomplished it on the first night!

We got to the end of the pier and looked out over the vast ocean that spread itself out before us. It was a beautiful thing. We stopped to rest our feet and listen to the (awesome) impromptu concert that was happening nearby.

Part of our Santa Monica exploration included the amazing Santa Monica Place mall (if you can call it a mall?). Chicago has some pretty intense shopping areas, but this was on a whole new level. Three levels, outdoors, every single store you can imagine? It was quite the experience.

This is the top level of Santa Monica Place: more stores! Not pictured: an amazing food court that included Mediterranean food (lamb kebabs!), sushi, and crazy good Mexican food. You can either eat inside or sit outside where they provided pretty awesome lounging tables. Also, the view overlooked the ocean. Insane!

Whoever made this wall of Converse shoes is my hero. That reminds me... I think it's about time for a new pair!

Where have you been traveling this summer? Stay tuned for more!