Design & Other Stuff

MPLS In LA

April 22, 2012 1 Comment

This past weekend some very dear friends from Minneapolis visited me. And ya know what? We had the best time.

We explored fun little towns and yummy breakfast places. (We all really love food.)

(Look at this pretty lady! She’s looking at her husband—I can tell from this photo that she loves him very, very much.)

And we totally went to Disneyland!!! I didn’t get very many photos at the park because I was too busy riding amazing rides and eating snacks. (I love this kind of crap soooo much.)

And of course we visited the ocean (several times). I think riding bikes along the boardwalk was one of my favorite moments. That, and when they had their first celebrity sighting at breakfast. So famous!

It was such a relaxing three days—it was hard to see them go! I wish life could be like that all the time—one continuous vacation. I can’t wait for all the fun hangouts we’ll have this summer! (And all the food we’ll eat together).

Thanks, friends!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: California, friends, Minneapolis, Vacation

I Walked To The Beach

April 15, 2012 1 Comment

Venice Beach, California, USA.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: California, Instagram, Venice Beach

Dolla Dolla Bill Y’all

April 1, 2012 1 Comment

This afternoon I went to the Melrose Trading Post—a GIANT flea market in the parking lot of Fairfax High School in Los Angeles. It was so big and so overwhelming and so wonderful.

My plan was to take lots of pictures and buy lots of treasures but my eyes were too busy trying to take it all in. I did walk away with this little guy though—a nice addition to my wood type collection.

Memento…

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Flea Market, Melrose Trading Post, Thrifting, typography, Wood Type

Get On Your Bikes And Ride!

March 25, 2012 2 Comments

This weekend I took a ride to my favorite spot and decided to take some pictures along the way. There’s a great bike trail behind my apartment that takes you right to the ocean (about 2 miles away). The trail is lined with pretty flowers and a channel on one side that catches the ocean’s overflow and gets higher and lower depending on the tide.

The flowers matched my bike’s color scheme… photo op!

Right before the trail splits and you hit the ocean, there’s a spot along the water where all these rocks have been stacked up. They look like little people and I love them so much. They’re mysterious and weird and awesome. I looked into why they’re there and I guess some artist guy started stacking them years ago. He doesn’t do it anymore and non of his original stacks remain but someone’s been carrying on the tradition. I couldn’t resist—I stacked one too! I didn’t take a photo of it though… mystery stack!

The trail splits off once you reach the ocean but there’s a couple walking paths that take you to the point where all the boats come in to the marina. Once you reach this point, the bike path takes you all along the coast. It’s pretty great!

Fun things that have happened while biking this path:

1. A homeless man threatened to kill me. Let’s get real though. Have you seen my bike? It’s pretty fast. There’s no way he would be able to catch me.

2. Jesus and his girlfriend complimented my bike’s color scheme. Shout out to Two Wheels bike shop for the awesome bike!

I definitely get a lot more use out of my bike in California. I use it to get to work (I’ve always wanted to be a bike commuter) and take trips along the ocean most weekends. I will say that California needs to step up their street biking safety/awareness though. Although there are some bike lanes—there aren’t enough and cars drive way to close for comfort. And, for the most part, the bikers here are pretty stupid. No one signals and weaving in and out of cars is pretty common. It definitely makes me proud of the bike community in Minneapolis! We know how to roll…

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: bike, California, Ocean, Trail

Treats!

March 19, 2012 2 Comments

I’ve officially hit the mid-way point in my California adventures. To celebrate, I decided to treat myself to some fancy coffee at Intelligentsia this morning. So many people have told me to check this place out and I’m really glad I did—mostly just so I can say, “Been there, done that.” I love the area it’s in but I wasn’t blown away by the atmosphere inside. But the almost-as-big-as-my-head latte was delicious (you can tell they know a thing or two about espresso) and the I-can-die-happy-now-that-I’ve-tasted-this muffin was—and I quote all native Californians—”bomb.”