Paying Respects

Last week Al's Dad was in town and got to spend the day with him.  We went to the Promenade in Santa Monica to have lunch and go shopping.  Getting Al to go shopping is rare so I'm glad his Dad likes it. We made the mistake of walking in the food court where there is a playground.  Alex almost jumped out of the stroller so that's where we ate lunch.  I just realized how crazy Cole's brow line looks in this picture. 

Alex warming up to the idea of sitting on his Grandpas lap.  After all they do have the same name.

The promenade was amazing that day, no crowds and great sales.  I could have stayed all day.

Every time Al's Dad has been in town we've talked about taking him to Forest Lawn Cemetery where Michael Jackson is buried.  We heard he was buried below a stained glass window so we went to the Mausoleum where they have a video about the Last Supper stained glass window.  

Turns out Michael Jackson isn't buried in this one, but Elizabeth Taylor is and this is her headstone.

Pretty amazing.

We got the scoop where MJ was buried and heard there are fans there everyday standing guard.  Sure enough there was a lady sitting there eyeing us.  Who just hangs out at a cemetary everyday?  Al stayed  in the car while we went to pay our respects.

Forest Lawn is unreal, it's huge.

This is the building MJ is buried in. You can't go in, but you can look through the window and barely see a long hallway with a stained glass window at the end and a white marble casket below it.  

Flowers from his fans.

Our last stop was Walt Disney's grave.  Alex was done at this point and plus it was freezing.   On our way out I told Al to drive by MJs one last time to see if that lady was still there and sure enough she was, random.  Hopefully no one reading this thinks we are weirdos hanging out at a cemetery, haha.  

Thanks for coming to visit Al.  Next time let's go to Disneyland!!

Trojan Horses

I don't think I've ever blogged about Porto's but it's totally blog worthy so here it goes. Porto's is one of the only good things about living in Glendale and everyone knows it. Their cuban sandwiches, assortment of desserts, and potato balls are all delicious.

The potato ball is kind of the perfect food. Crispy on the outside, with warm mashed potatoes inside surrounding a ground meat center. Yum. The Cubano sandwich is even better. Crusty Cuban bread, super thin, lean slices of ham and pork, dill pickles, a hint of melted cheese and mustard and don't forget the Plantain chips on the side.

We took Al's family while they were here for the triathlon and just as I suspected they went straight for the desesrt line. You can't really go wrong with any of them, but then again I have only tried the ones that include chocolate.

After we had lunch at Porto's we went horseback riding in the Hollywood Hills. Of course I chose to wear black on one of the hottest days of the years.
Al and Lexi's horse had something going on because they wouldn't leave each other alone.

All of us at the top of the ride. By the end of the ride I felt really bad for the horses because they were drenched in sweat and totally needed a good brush and bath.

While Al and his dad were checking in for the Triathlon, Lexi and I walked around the Expo and entertained ourselves. Afterwards we went to a USC game. I may or may not have eaten 2 bacon wrapped hot dogs loaded with peppers and cilantro.We were lucky enough to witness a 50 year old man doing a keg stand in the middle of campus.

What I didn't get a picture of was the 10ft beer bong hanging out of the second story of the Pike house.

We even talked Al's dad into buying a USC t-shirt who is the BIGGEST BYU fan ever.

The famous Trojan horse statue on campus and one more hot dog before we left the game.

Moonlight Rollerway

We have been talking about going rollerskating for a few months and finally decided last weekend was the perfect opportunity. Jill and Sean thought we should dress up in 70s clothes which worked out great because they provided all of our outfits.

Jill with her cute new hair

Sean & Jill
Aaron & Celia
Us
Moonlight Rollerway was hilarious. Before they let you in you have to pay and then they buzz you in a door with a little window that apparently a lady is watching you out of to see if your chewing gum. Once you walk in she says "Spit out your gum" and then you have to drop it in some sort of ash tray with sand, pretty nasty. This place doesn't mess around. Al getting crazy on the skates
I will have to say this wasn't like any rollerskating experience I had in Utah at Classic or the 49th Street Galleria rinks. This was an actual wood floor and it was packed. Who knew rollerskating was so popular?

There was a big group of teeny bopper girls skating around and they came up to Sean and said OMG are you that guy in the Got Milk Commercial...hahah Then they wanted a picture with all of us. We were that cool
Aaron & Celia. I think Aaron wins best outift in all that nasty Polyester.

If you look in the background of the next picture there is a DJ booth way in the back. On Tuesday nights the owner plays live organ music. How creepy is that?
All of us
Moonlight Rollerway was so much fun. The people that worked there were a little creepy...almost as creepy as Carnival workers.

March Madness

March must be the month to visit California because we got to see so many great people last week. My mom left on Monday night, my aunts stayed with us on Tuesday, Ross stayed with us on Wednesday, and then I got to hang out with Ashley all day on Saturday. Best week ever!! When we picked up my aunts from LAX on Tuesday it was the middle of rush hour so we went to dinner at...........CAFE RIO. They came all the way from Utah to eat at Cafe Rio with Al and I. I've been dying to go to the new one in Manhattan Beach, so thank you for going with us:) I've heard a few people say that it's not as good as the ones in Utah......hahahahhaha They are the same EVERYWHERE. They were the same in Nevada and they are the same here. It's like California people saying In N Out is better in California. In Utah it's just trendy to go to In N Out unless you grew up with it like Tonya:) Anyway enough about that. After dinner we went and walked around Manhattan Beach which is a new personal favorite.
Look how clean this beach is.

We went to the Manhattan Beach Aquarium at the end of the pier and got to see all 4 fish tanks.

We walked along the beach and admired all the houses that we wished we owned.

This one was my favorite.

Spicy Fruit cart spotted on the 110N
On Wednesday night we went to dinner with Ross at the long awaited Pizzeria Mozza. Al and I have tried to go to dinner here 3 times and there was always at least an hour wait.
We ordered the Caprese appetizer which was barely enough for 1 person.

Al's fennel sausage, panna, red onions and scallion pizza that was really good. The flavors were bold and complimented one another. I wasn't sure what the hype was all about until I read an article that talks about how Mario Batali from the Food Network owns it. That still means nothing to me, but apparently it means a lot to all the other people that are there every night. Pizzeria Mozza is on my overpriced good list.

Saturday was such a beautiful day we decided to check out Runyon Canyon in Hollywood. I have to say Runyon was one of the more interesting hikes I've been on.
When you first walk in there is a little grass area that is covered with people doing yoga, pilates, and other stretches I've never seen. Based on the amount of dogs I saw within the first 5 minutes I wouldn't be laying anywhere on that grass.

There were huge cracks like this all over the trails which I'm guessing are from earthquakes. Maybe even the one that woke me up in the middle of the night two weeks ago.
The view of Runyon. There were so many people and dogs everywhere.
The first look out point....Century City
Los Angeles
2nd Look out Point
Hollywood Hills Houses with the Hollywood sign in the background
The end of the hike where all dog owners fight over water for their dogs
1,2,3,4,5,6,7 dogs walking with these 2 people.....lol
The views were beautiful, the dogs were annoying. Next time I go back I'm going on a week day.
After Runyon we picked Ashley up and I got to hang out with her for the rest of the day. We had lunch with Al at Granville Cafe
It was so much fun to see her and great to have a shopping buddy again. Come back soon Ash, come back.....