Hollywood

Our first night in LA with Gino was a blast- we went out and had dinner at place called Mama Burger, then we went to a bar called The Abbey. It was so much fun to be in West Hollywood and hanging out w/ Gino!

The next day, we met up with Eddie and Diana, and they took us to Doheny Beach, an hour or so out of LA where Eddie's sister and family were camping for the week. It was a perfect beach day, and the water was warm and beautiful! The Pacific ocean!

The boys went out to try surfing with Eddie's brother-in-law and friend. It was eric's first time surfing, but he was a natural, of course. He picked it up really fast and got 5 or 6 great rides!

Diana and I spent the afternoon playing with Eddie's little niece Emma. She is soooooo ridiculously cute. We jumped waves and played games with her, and I swum in the ocean quite a bit since the water was so warm. It was a fantastic day!

We hung around at the beach until a bit after 7, waiting for the traffic to lessen before we drove back into LA. When we got back to Eddie and Diana's apartment- Eddie made us dinner. He made alfredo sauce (which I taught him how to make a while ago back in Pittsburgh! :) and it was delicious. We hung out and drank some beer, ate, and jammed on our guitars. It was a perfect day. Conversation throughout the day ranged from religion to education to vocal technique to the grooming of palm trees.  :)

This morning, Eddie made us eggs for breakfast- and I helped cook some turkey bacon (yummm). Then the boys and I got ready to go hike to the hollywood sign, while Diana stayed home to practice. The climb to the sign was easy at first- paved roads that wound around up the hill. The last part of the climb, to as close as we could get to the sign, was very steep and through loose sand-like dirt. We did pretty well- the boys made it up a bit higher than me, and then the hardest part was coming back down the very very steep trails in the dirt. It was really, really hot and we had forgotten to bring water (although this time at least Eric and I didn't wear flip flops!!). So I was a bit dehydrated, and also have a history of passing out randomly, so I had a little trouble for a bit and needed to take a break-- slash practically fall off the mountain :P Eric ran to get water for me from one of the rich bel air houses, haha, and the boys took care of me until I stopped seeing stars :)

After making our way back to the car, Eddie drove us back, showing us parts of LA including a cool solar-powered gas station. We stopped at an In-N-Out, where Eddie insisted we had to get burgers (I just got a grilled cheese!) and took lunch home to eat w/ Diana. The boys and I were exhausted and very very dirty- so for the past couple hours we have been showering and napping and just relaxing. Also watching some Arrested Development which is hilarious. 

We are going out tonight with some of Eddie and Diana's friends, but Eric and I are getting up for an early start tomorrow. We'll be driving up the Pacific Coastal Highway to San Francisco, so that we can arrive in time to go to the rehearsal dinner which Matt and Helen invited us to attend! It's been fun to relax and hang out for the past few days, so we'll have to get back into driving mode for tomorrow. Luckily- we have Harry Potter book 5! :)

Thats all we have for now- pictures will follow!!

xox

Laura and Eric