December on the Best Coast

Hey! I'm home for the holidays! Here are some pics to document my time here so far. (I'm here till January 3rd, when we leave for CUBA!) I feel it important to note that I have mainly spent my days:
1. jogging
2. going to yoga with my mom for FREE because the gym is free if you are a family member of someone who has a Foothill Gym membership
3. working out at the gym for FREE because of reason listed previously
4. eating lots and lots of food and chocolates

Part I: Local stuff

First morning in Monrovia. It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

You're not living in LA unless you eat chia seed pudding for breakfast (courtesy of Leah). I thought they were pretty gross. It's oatmeal for me from now on. 

Special trip to Eggslut in downtown LA, the trendy eatery that bases every menu item on local, organic eggs. It was really good! But I felt kind of sick afterwards...

...perhaps because I had a sundae about 5 minutes after eating the cheesy egg sandwich? 

Chai in the afternoon light.

Part II: Weekend trip to the Bay Area, visiting Janelle, Erika (not pictured, sadly), Jessica, and Anja

View from Janelle's window in San Francisco.

Driving to get Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast.

Janelle's wacky dog, Margot.

Bonding with John Mayer (the scruffy guy in my lap) and Margot. They both barked at me for about the first hour of my visit (no kidding), and then warmed up to me, as you can see. 

Met up with Jessica for Ethiopian lunch at Enssaro in Oakland. 

Walked around beautiful Lake Merritt

Lots of egrets in the lake!

Awesome welcome sign at Anja's apartment. We've lived in all of those places at the same time. 

Beautiful sunset walk around Cesar Chavez Park.

The Golden Gate Bridge is in the distance there!

On the morning before I drove back to LA, we went for a nice walk around these redwood trees (not sure where this hike was, exactly).

 Part III: Home again 

This is my favorite photo from the last two days. Cosmo sitting under the Christmas tree like a he's a lil PRESENT. 

Stuck at the airport

Supposed to be in LA right about now, but our plane had electrical problems (?) and had to make an emergency landing in Chicago. A meal voucher compelled me to buy dinner at the only place in the terminal (other than Starbucks): McDonald's! 

Yaaay fish filet and a chicken salad that I will pick the chicken out of. 

Good mail day

Came home from a long day of work to find: a pin I ordered online from Black Friday (in the pink envelope), makeup samples, a Xmas card with beautiful lettering from dear Hannah, and an advertisement for Fun Home (a show I hope to see in 2016). Hooray!

P.S. Tomorrow's my last day of teaching for 2015!!

Cat Quirks

Everyone who has lived with a pet knows how each one has its own unique quirks (It's part of what makes life so fun with a pet). Well, the cat we have now adopted -- Seymour -- has the quirk of basically acting like my conscience (or like a small whiny child) when I've been sleeping too long. In my experience, most cats will curl up in bed with me if I sleep in, on my stomach or by my head. Not Seymour. He literally just sits by the side of the bed and meows at me until you get up. And it's not because he wants to be fed (Ari has usually fed him earlier, since he works early on Saturdays). It seems he only wants me to get up because he's bored. Which, I guess, is a valid reason.  

Magical Prospect Park

Looking extra magical in the rainy fog this evening.