#44: Joshua Tree National Park

I strongly believe that the National Park program really was "America's greatest idea." In my short life I have been lucky enough to see many of the natural splendors this country has to offer, mostly due in part to the two cross-country road trips my family has taken. However, I have only been to 2 of California's 8 national parks, and made a vow this year to change that.

The closest and most accessible National Park to Los Angeles is Joshua Tree. It's only about 2 hours east, in the desert near Palm Springs. Being born in the Mojave desert, I know to avoid all things "desert" from about May - September, unless I want to be really miserable. So when my boyfriend and I decided to road-trip to Phoenix for baseball season opening weekend in early April, I made sure to insist on a stop to Joshua Tree on our way back.

After about 4 hours of driving (from Phoenix) through nothing but desert, we rolled into the little town of Twentynine Palms and followed the signs for the park entrance. The entrance fee was $15, and our pass was good for 5 days (too bad we were just passing through!). We got to the park right after 5pm, so the heat had cooled and many of the day visitors had left. Throughout our time there, we probably saw no more than 20 other people. We drove in a loop around the northern portion of the park, and saw thousands of trees and truly breathtaking landscapes.

So a little education about the park itself. It is almost 800,000 acres big, is made up of two separate deserts and ecosystems, and hosts literally millions of indigenous plans and animals. Some of the species found inside the park, most notably the Joshua tree itself, can't be found anywhere else on earth. The park is also full of beautiful rock formations, and even allows rock climbing during daylight hours. There are several fault lines throughout the park, and even the famous San Andreas fault borders the southern end of the park, so many of the rock formations in view are the "raw" effects of earthquakes.

Some trivia: Joshua trees got their names from Mormon pioneers, who thought the spiky leaves resembled the outstretched arms of Joshua leading them to the promised land. Personally, I think the Mormons have imaginations on par with the ancient Romans who named constellations, because Joshua trees are really, really ugly.

I absolutely loved my time in the park. Desert landscapes have a special place in my heart and always make me nostalgic for my childhood, driving through miles and miles of desert wasteland with my family. The colors, the texture, the stillness, is so beautiful in its own way. And the trees themselves, are less beautiful and more impressive in their ability to survive and even thrive in the harshest environment. I highly recommend this park to anyone who loves nature and National Parks. There isn't much truly untouched land left in this country, and there is nothing more refreshing than a breath of real fresh air.

The sign at the entrance

A field of tumbleweeds and Joshua trees

This tree was so impressive - it was huge and looked more like a Live Oak than a Joshua tree!

Trees as far as you can see!

#4: The Queen Mary

My best friend used to bartend at a restaurant in the Long Beach Harbor, and whenever I needed hours of "discount" drinks, I would sit at her bar and look out at the regal Queen Mary ship, stationed in the Harbor. I had always wanted to take a tour, but as is the typical story, never really found the time. Well, at work we are re-releasing Titanic in 3D (which is going to be amazing, trust me) which also coincides with the 100th anniversary of the ship's fateful sinking. With big ships on the mind, I made a point of driving down to Long Beach a few weeks ago, excited to learn all of the interesting history of the Queen Mary.

We got to the ship after lunch, and it was perfect. The morning had been pretty overcast, and we got there right as the sun broke out. We explored on our own for about half an hour, then jumped on a "behind the scenes" tour. The tour cost an additional $8 on top of the admission price, but it was totally worth it. The ship is now a hotel and event space, and though it is technically a museum as well, there aren't many explanatory exhibits or placards to inform someone who just wants to walk around on their own.

The first thing the tour guide did was give us some facts comparing the Queen Mary to that "other famous ship" the Titanic. They were made by the same company (after the original company that started the QM was forced to merge with Titanic's company due to the Great Depression). Though the Titanic is always thought of as "the biggest ship of all time," the Queen Mary is actually twice the size (and was built 20 years later).

The Queen Mary was initially built to be a luxury cruise-liner for only about 1,000 patrons. I knew about that much going into the tour, but I had no idea of the true historic value of the ship. Since it was built to (literally) be the biggest and the fastest in the world, when World War II broke out the ship was commissioned into the British Army to transport troops from Australia, and then the United States, to Europe. They stripped out all the luxury furnishings and finery and put in barracks and painted the whole thing battleship grey. The trip from New York to England took about 5 days, and the ship consistently transported 10,000+ troops at a time. At one time, they crammed over 16,000 troops on one trip, and that still holds the record as the most people on a boat, ever. There weren't nearly enough beds for every man on board, so they had to actually sleep in shifts! The tour guide gave us the pretty amazing fact that experts estimate that the Queen Mary's service and ability to quickly transport troops to Europe when needed, shortened the length of the war by at least a year. Crazy!

Ok blah blah blah, trivia aside, the Queen Mary's story finishes like this: After WWII ended, the ship went back to being a luxury cruise liner for about 20 more years. But by the 1960's, air travel had become affordable and preferable and the trans-Atlantic cruise lines started to lose money. The owner of the Queen Mary decided to auction it off to the highest bidder, which happened to be the City of Long Beach. It was then "shipped" (hah hah) from England to California, but since it is way too big to fit through the Panama Canal, it had to go all the way around the horn of South America. The ship came, was anchored, completely re-vamped to its art-deco glory, and turned into a hotel, event space, museum and historical site.

After our tour, we passed up an opportunity to take a "Ghosts & Legends" tour, which takes people around the ship, pointing out all the sites of noted paranormal activity. I'm not a huge fan of ghosts and such, so instead we went to the bar at the bow of the ship (with all the original fixtures and decor!) and had a drink. After drinks, we took a quick tour of the engine room (mostly gutted of the boilers and propellers, but mocked up to show us what the actual controls looked like).

Our last stop was walking through the Soviet submarine Scorpion which is in the harbor right next to the QM. The submarine was crazy, so small and cramped and I can't even imagine someone living in one!

Overall, the experience was really, really interesting and a lot of fun. I am so glad we went on a beautiful day and enjoyed the harbor in the sunshine. I highly recommend it to those people (like me) that had seen the ship from afar but have never stepped foot inside. The tour was fascinating, but more than enough for me - I don't think I will stay aboard the haunted hotel anytime soon! But maybe I'll go back for Sunday brunch sometime.

The ship, with the entrance to the submarine in front and the hotel entrance in the background.

The port deck

An original shop, now turned into a gift shop, shows the ship's original art-deco beauty.

Not a great picture, but this illustrates that the ship has over 30 types of beautiful woods in it, some of which are now extinct!

The bow, with some mock WWII weapons on the deck.

The control room... I can't even describe how cramped and crazy and complicated this room was! Pretty incredible considering it powered the fastest ship in the world.

The missile compartment of the Soviet submarine Scorpion.

Enjoying a cocktail on the bow with the Long Beach harbor in the background.

#45: The Rose Bowl Flea Market

I have become a recent fan of flea markets, in particular the weekly one near my neighborhood called the Melrose Trading Post. I've been about 7 times and have always come home with new treasures. But you can't become a flea market fan without eventually hearing about the Mother of all the flea markets - the Rose Bowl Flea Market, held once a month in the giant parking lot of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Loyal and die hard flea marketers have been flocking there for over 40 years!

The market only comes around once a month on the 2nd Sunday, so Barbara, Lana, Dan and I planned a trip for February. Lana and Dan are getting married in May and wanted to find inspiring vintage accents for their wedding decor. Barb and I were looking for cowboy boots for our impending trip to Nashville, as well as a few other things. And of course, we were all open to uncovering any of the many treasures the flea market had to offer!

After suffering through 30 minutes of traffic just to park, we walked through the gates, paid the $8 entrance fee, and headed into the sea of vendors. There are over 2,500 vendors that come monthly to the market, and tens of thousands of patrons. It was overwhelming to say the least! We veered to the left as we had heard that was towards the vintage vendors. To the right was apparently all the new and hand-made crafts vendors, but we didn't have time to even peek at that side.

It took us a while to get going. The place was a maze of booth after booth of mostly overpriced vintage/used goods. As it is with any flea market, you have to hunt for the good stuff. I made the first purchase of the day when I saw a table covered in a massive tangle of gold jewelry, and some hipster girls digging through it trying on different bracelets. I noticed a very thin gold bangle, and fell in love. I began to dig through the pile and found 9 bangles, all about 2 millimeters thick, and all with different etchings in them. They are now my new favorite accessory, and all together cost $10. I had to hunt, but I found a treasure!

After my initial find, we were on a roll. Barbara found a berry-picking bucket (adorable), Lana and Dan found three fantastic shabby-chic frames (I'm going to help them make chalkboards), I found a gold-filegree mirrored tray for $5, then Barb and I found our biggest prize. We wanted to find the perfect vintage boot for our Nashville trip, so as to not look like tourist posers in brand new boots. After trying on boot after boot that didn't come close to fitting (apparently cowboy boot sizing is different than normal shoes and is completely incomprehensible) I found the perfect pair. A warm shade of reddish brown, with a slight heel, they fit like they were made for me! I was ready to drop some cash on the boots, and the seller told me they were $15. I could hardly believe it! Barb found her own camel colored beauties only a few minutes later, for $20.

By that time, the market had gotten super crowded, we were hungry, and our shopping bags were full. We meandered towards the exit, and were out of the Rose Bowl in minutes.

The Rose Bowl Flea Market was a BLAST. It was overwhelming, sensory overload, inspiration galore, and overall a fairly inexpensive way to find beautiful vintage found objects. I can't wait to go back - and to go earlier! Admission is more expensive in the morning, but the crowds will be lighter and the goods will be even better!

They give $2 bills as change!

Lana and me - showing off our flea market fashion!

#1 most over-priced items at the flea market - vintage books. You can find these at thrift shops for $1. The cheapest ones we found at the flea market were around $10. Ridiculous.

Lana perusing vintage books before she saw the price tags.

These jars were beautiful and inspiring, shining in the sunlight!

Perfectly worn shutters gave me lots of craft ideas.

Trying on my fab cowboy boots!

The flea market definitely had a carnie feel - complete with carnival music as we entered and exited!

#43: The Grammy Museum

You can't walk far in downtown's LA Live Plaza without seeing the huge grammy plaques inlaid in the sidewalk.

I figured they were the musical take on the Hollywood walk of fame, but only when I actually read the plaque did I realize that it was advertising the new Grammy Museum, tucked on the north-east corner of the LA Live complex.

Even though I work in the film industry (and LOVE to participate in our office Oscar prediction pools), I have always loved the Grammies the most of all the awards shows. I was never as interested in the winners as much as I was in the performances, the fashion, and the outrageous stage crashers... soy bomb, anyone?

We headed to downtown, found parking on the street (!!!) and paid the $12 admission fee. The museum is 4 floors, and they tell you to start on the top floor, which is dedicated to exploring and learning about all genres of music. As you could imagine, dedicating a single floor of a museum to all genres of music must have been a very overwhelming undertaking. However, they did a really good job. The majority of the exhibits were interactive, where you could read about a type of music and hear a clip of that genre through headphones. There were several stations with 5-minute videos on genres like classical, pop, gospel, and folk. The highlight was the station in the center of the room, which used touch technology to explore how all the different genres are connected. For instance, my station started on Rock n Roll. I read a paragraph about rock n roll, heard a few clips from famous artists (Elvis and Roy Orbison), and then had the option to select several other related genres - country, rockabilly or progressive rock. I selected country, then honkeytonk, then folk, then cowboy, then roots, then blues, then jazz, then freestyle jazz, then classical, etc etc etc. I stood at the station for at least 30 minutes, absolutely enthralled with all the visual and audio information.

For as much information as I was faced with on that single floor of the museum, it wasn't overwhelming. It was easy to absorb, and we headed down to the third floor with our heads spinning with musical knowledge.

The third floor is dedicated to the Grammies in general. There was a gallery of all the different Grammy trophies through the years, famous outfits worn at the Grammies -like JLo's green dress, Katy Perry's fruit outfit, etc (see below), and a small theater playing a loop of the best Grammy performances. It was fantastic! And definitely got me pumped for this year's Grammies.

There was another room dedicated to Michael Jackson, with videos of his several Grammy acceptance speeches and performances, and a row of all his fabulous, glittery military jackets. Up close, they were breathtaking. So fancy and fit for only a performer like MJ.

The 2nd floor, and a main reason why I wanted to go to the museum, is for the changing exhibits. Now through the end of March, the museum is featuring George Harrison: Living in the Material World. It featured artifacts from every phase of his career - handwritten lyrics, guitars, sitars, photos galore, and clothing. The most interesting thing I learned from that exhibit (since I already do know a lot about George) was how TINY he was. His suits were no taller than me, and the pants were the size of twigs! It's hard to imagine that such a larger-than-life person really was so small in "real" life.

Overall, the Grammy museum was a great experience. As a lover of music, I very much enjoyed seeing all the "greats" from over the years being recognized. Learning how all the different genres of music connect was fascinating, and I wouldn't mind going back just to explore the top floor again. Most of the time, interactive museums are exhausting, but this one was done really well, and the interaction was essential to the experience. I highly recommend spending about three hours and checking out this museum!

A 6-foot tall statue replica in the main lobby

THE Dress (which was absolutely stunning - even on a mannequin) from 2000

MJ's collection of sequined military jackets

Daft Punk tron outfit from 2008

Katy Perry's booby-licious fruit dress from 2009

A wall of George Harrison

#15: The Standard Hotel Rooftop Bar

There really is nothing quite as lovely as a relaxing, laid-back lunch on a rooftop amidst skyscrapers, am I right? Unfortunately, the premiere rooftop bar experience in downtown LA, the Standard Hotel, is a big fan of throwing fussy, douchey parties almost every weekend. Due to this little obstacle, I had pretty much given up hope of ever enjoying myself there.

It took us some time (three attempts to be exact), but my friend Barbara and I finally realized that in order to have our perfect, relaxing lunch, (and to avoid fedora-wearing downtown posers) we'd have to go on an off-weekend. Like a really off-weekend. And we couldn't have picked a better time to go than this last Sunday. It had rained all day Saturday, the weather was predicted to barely reach 60 degrees, and it was, after all, January.

By the time we made our way into downtown at lunchtime, the sun was shining and the temp was in the high 60's. Already better than what we expected. To our delight, when we got up to the rooftop bar, there were a total of four people on the entire roof - three patrons drinking mimosas, and one bartender. We had our pick of seats, and laid back on the sofa/chair/beds that serve as the seating, and just took in the amazing skyline views.

It was a little chilly, but we sat right next to a heat lamp, which dramatically improved the experience. The lunch menu was pretty limited, with only about 6 items that were barely more than finger food. I got pork sliders (delicious) and Barb got a grilled cheese sandwich. As we were finishing lunch, the sun came out from behind the buildings, and all of a sudden it felt like a summer day.

We walked around the perimeter of the roof and took pictures of all the views. One part of the restaurant has turned into a "bier garten," which was empty at the time but looked very charming. On the back side of the bar is the semi-famous pool. I know the rooftop bar and pool have been in several movies, most memorable for me in Get Him to the Greek, where Russell Brand jumps from the roof of the bar into the pool and has his life-changing epiphany.

The best part about this whole experience was that we had the place to ourselves. We weren't cramped, sitting on a corner of a cushion that occupied 10 other people. I am pretty sure this was a very atypical experience, but I am glad that we finally planned it right. I certainly wouldn't want to go back and stand four fedoras deep, trying to order a watered-down and ridiculously expensive cocktail, but not much can beat lunch on a sunny, uncrowded day!

The rooftop lounge - completely empty!

The pool, deserted.

A great shot of the US Bank Tower, the tallest building in Los Angeles.

The signature upside-down sign out front.

Part of the downtown skyline - the US Bank Tower, the central library, the AT&T building and cell tower, and the historic Biltmore Hotel.

#18: The Rose Float Parade

When I was in Girl Scouts as a kid, we used to volunteer to help with the floats for the Rose Parade every year. For years, all we were allowed to do - since we were so young - was help sort flowers. Nothing glamorous. But the last year I participated, I think I was about 12 years old, I hit what I thought was going to be the jackpot. They were going to let me decorate part of the actual float!

So they handed me a board, and a big bowl of white rice and a bowl of black olive seeds (I think) and told me to make a license plate. Nine hours later, I was almost finished. I couldn't even feel my fingers they were so cramped, my back was sore from hunching over the table, and I honestly couldn't stand the sight of rice for weeks. But it was all going to be worth it, because I was going to see my work on national TV during the Rose Parade!

Yeah... no. Of course the cameras spent about 45 seconds examining the vibrant flowers and the people waving on the float, and didn't once pass over my masterpiece of a license plate. At that moment, I was done, DONE, with the Rose Float Parade forever.

That was, until, I moved to LA 10 years later and met a few native Pasadenos (residents of the great city of Pasadena) who live and breath the Tournament of the Roses. This event is their chance to show the country, and even the entire world, how awesome they are. Over time I decided that, though I would never, ever volunteer to decorate again, it might be worth it to trek down to Pasadena to watch the parade in person on New Year's Day.

To watch the parade, I found that you have a few options. You can camp out on Colorado Blvd. starting at noon the day before the parade, and get a front row view of all the action on New Year's Day. Now, I do many things, but camping is unfortunately not one of them. Especially not on sidewalks... that's called being homeless.

The other option is to buy tickets to sit in the "grandstand" - one of the large bleacher structures that they build all along the 5-mile parade route. I looked into it early in the year, and found that a grandstand seat at their cheapest start at around $40 a piece (and get more expensive as the year goes on). It seemed like a viable enough option, until my main Pasadeno Michael told me that they give you about 8 inches of butt-room, you have to get there at like 5am, and the bleacher is as cold as ice (and about as comfortable). I was beginning to second-guess the decision, based on the pure hassle of it all. Not to mention, over 1 million people go to watch the parade, and we all know how I feel about large crowds and having to wait forever. But luckily, I have friends that are in-the-know, and Michael told me a little-known secret.

The night before the parade, all of the floats line up in order along Orange Grove Blvd, as the float designers make last minute adjustments and prepare for the judging. There are huge lights above every float, to the point where it's almost as bright as day. My friend lived just a block away from all the action, and after he explained how easy and fun it was, I was excited to check out this low-key, low-effort version of the Rose Float Parade. Unfortunately, he moved to Chicago last summer so I didn't get to hang out at his house while waiting for the floats to line up!

The Tournament of the Roses has a quirky rule that the parade and football game never take place on a Sunday. Trivia: it's because when the parade first started in the late 1800's, they didn't want the horse-drawn floats to spook other horses that were standing outside of churches. No joke. Since 2012's New Year's Day was on a Sunday, we went up to Pasadena on Monday the 1st instead. Ronny and I had a late dinner, then walked around amidst all the campers on the sidewalks to kill time before 11pm, when the floats started lining up.

The first thing I noticed is that the majesty and grandeur of the floats does NOT translate at all on TV. It doesn't even translate in these pictures and I was standing 5 feet away. It is absolutely awe-inspriring to see the magnitude of these floats, to see each individual petal amongst the thousands of flowers. Each float takes an average of 80,000 man-hours (all volunteer) to complete, and cost up to half a million dollars. There were a total of 47 floats this year, with entrants from corporations, cities, universities and charitable organizations. A great part about seeing them the night before is that each float is "escorted" by a handful of the volunteers that worked on the float, many of whom are a part of the organization behind the float. You can ask them questions about what materials were used, how long something took, its significance, etc. Luckily Ronny found a really cute corgi to go play with while I asked a ridiculous amount of questions.

I absolutely loved the whole experience, and am so glad Michael educated me on it. I would have never known otherwise! I really hope I get to do this again, even though I still have no interest in going to the actual parade. Oh, and the best perk of all, going to this is completely FREE! All we paid was for parking, which was a fraction of what it would have cost us the next morning to see the parade.

It's lamentable, again, that my camera was still broken at the time (I have since replaced my old point-and-shoot with a Nikon D5000 SLR) so I again apologize for these pictures being pretty low quality. I'm sure you can google Rose Parade 2012 and get awesome profesh pictures.

People like me forget that there is actually a football game involved with the Rose Parade. Traditionally, each university playing in the Rose Bowl submits a float, and its marching band and cheerleaders march with it in the parade. Here's the University of Wisconsin...

... and the University of Oregon (the eventual winners of the game)

A breathtaking dragon made from yellow mums from Air China's "Spirit of Prosperity and Harmony" float, which celebrated 2012 being the year of the Dragon. I believe this one ended up winning the top trophy.

This one was called "Shining Knights Still Exist" from Odd Fellows and Rebekahs

Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer! The wheels on the wagon actually turned as the float moved.

This one is from the Aids Health Fund, titled "Our Champion." It featured three floral portraits of Elizabeth Taylor, the charity's founder, in different stages of her long career. The portraits were made using nine different shades of seeds. They were truly stunning in person.

Dole's "Preserving Paradise" float was an ode to the beauty of Thailand. Remember, this entire thing is made up of organic plant materials. Unbelievable.

A very awesome rainbow, I don't remember which float

My company, Paramount, had an entrant this year to celebrate its 100th Anniversary in 2012. It was called "100 Years of Movie Magic" and featured the Grease Lightening car, Forrest Gump's bench, the plane from Wings (the first Paramount release), Bumblebee from Transformers, the Star Trek ship Enterprise, over 4,000 red roses to make up the "red carpet," and the famous Bronson gate that I drive through every morning on my way into work. Pretty cool!!

20-foot tall floral Bumblebee

Me and Ronny in front of the Paramount float. We wanted to take a picture in front of the Cal Poly float, but for some reason it was dark where CP's float was lined up.

2011: Thank You

Well 2011 is over and I successfully completed 34 things on my list. I'm not beating myself up about not completing all 40 - I did, after all, spend one weekend a month out of town, took a two-week tour of the Midwest this summer, let alone weekly movies (I ended up seeing exactly 52 movies this year... craziness) and overall led a busy, crazy, hectic wonderful life. I am pretty proud of myself, because I did about 33 more things than I probably would have done without the list.

I decided to add a few more things that I discovered over the last year and knew that I wanted to explore and blog about. I can't wait to write about those journeys as they come! But in the meantime, I would like to take a second and thank absolutely everyone that helped/participated in all the activities in 2011.

First to my BF Ronny: You are SUCH an amazing good sport. I dragged you to museums you had little interest in, made you eat Pink's hot dogs (ew) and wait for HOURS at the price is right, and connived you into hiking on Saturday mornings instead of sleeping. Of the 34 items completed, you were a participant or absolutely essential (hello, Dodgers tickets!) in a whopping TWENTY of them. But through it all, we got to participate in a Magic Castle show together (I won't tell the magician's secrets if you don't!), saw full dinosaur skeletons, and discovered the jewel that is Philippe's. THANK YOU for being so indulgent and supportive and for being so essential in helping me along my goal :)

Barbara - You are always game for anything, especially a CRAZY day in August that started with the Hollywood Museum, continued with the Griffith Observatory, and ended with the movie at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. I can't believe I convinced you to do it all! Also, the burlesque show, the UCLA football game and the Huntington Gardens wouldn't have happened without you!! Thank you so much for being such a big part of my list (and my life!) in 2011.

Regina and Kaio -One of my most favorite couples, thank you for embarking on the promising yet disappointing journey of Restaurant Row with me. Most restaurants weren't that great, but luckily we didn't get any food poisoning! Kaio - thank you for introducing me to the magic that is Black Version and the Groundlings, and Reg - thank you for your enthusiasm for the Hollywood museum, it felt good to have someone to nerd out with :)

Meaghan - It may annoy me in the present, but I DO have to thank you for your photo-craziness and insisting on all the pictures from the Richard Simmons class. I haven't seen my facebook blow up that fast EVER as the night I posted those pics! You also looked HOT at the Magic Castle and I have never seen someone so enthusiastic for The Little Mermaid! We have to go back to the El Cap for The Lady and the Tramp in February! :)

Tracy - Obvi I have to thank you for your amazing Playboy hookup (that post remains my most-read post on the entire site!) That was such a treat and something that would have been impossible without you. And of course, thank you also for accompanying me to drag queen bingo! We should go again soon.. maybe you will win something fab this time! Oh.. and I almost forgot! YOU were the one that volunteered me for the magic castle show!

Marsha - Thank you for not diva-ing out on that completely sketchy dim sum place in Chinatown! I definitely would have freaked out if you had freaked out. I also absolutely loved going on the horseback ride with you and Nicole. Going with anyone else wouldn't have been the same!

Joey and Josh - for lending me your pups to help tug me up all the hikes. Seriously, Archie got me through the last stretch of the Hollywood sign hike when I thought I wouldn't make it. And for coming out for the Real Housewives UCB show, and the movie at the cemetery (thanks for the great quote Josh!) and for overall being fabulous Angelenos.

Betsy and Caro - for helping me check off the FIRST thing from my list at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. The flight line was a totally life-memory and that little baby elephant was TOO MUCH!

Jannine - my roommate who gets to hear my manic recaps of every single thing I do (lucky her!!) Thank you for educating me on Runyon, UCB, everything Lakers, and for coming to the Magic Castle and the cemetery movie! Oh and Gyu-Kaku on restaurant row.. They have happy hours every day now, we have to go back!

Sona - for being up for the craziness that is the ART WALK and for being my downtown Guru. I know you're in med school but we need to see each other more!!

And Joli, my new LA protege, who on a moment's notice (literally about 20 minutes) came all the way out to downtown with me to see the amazing LA Philharmonic at the Disney Concert Hall. Thank you for your adventurous spirit and I promise to take you on more adventures this year (and maybe you'll show me some on the Westside!)

I really hope I didn't forget anyone. You are all MVPs and I can guarantee I wouldn't have done any of these things, experienced all these memories, if you hadn't participated with me! Making this list was pretty life-changing for me, and I can't begin to thank you all for helping me along the way.

Here's to an amazing (and active!) 2012!!

XOXO,

Susan