a fairly social day

Today I got to spend a fair amount of time with several different people.

This morning Andrew was super nice and took me to Target to return a bike helmet that I bought before I knew that Karen's sister Connie was lending me hers to use this summer (so nice of her!!). So that was a nice 20$ back on my card (which is good because I've only got like 50$ to last me till Thursday...I think. Hopefully payday is this Thursday?). Then I had a Target coupon, from when I got the helmet in the first place last week, for 50 cents off Poptarts. I went ahead and used that because although they're not the healthiest food (far from it) they are nice treats sometimes and they are really good at filling me up and keeping me full for several hours. So a box of 8 Poptarts ended up costing me 1.02$ (nice...especially because the same box would have cost 2.50$ at Ralph's!). I also took out that 20$ in cash. Around here, cash is always good to have on hand. Some places don't take debit/credit and other places it can be a lot faster for you if you pay in cash.

So then we drove to West L.A. so Andrew could get something he forgot at his grandpa's house. It was a pretty area and I love traveling around so I was happy :)  The L.A. freeway system is cool but crazy and totally different from everything I've ever known so it always takes me a little bit to get used to it again. Driving around here in general is kind of crazy all the time though, not just on the freeways!

Here is something we saw on the freeway--we can't figure out why Pepsi would just have a huge ad that says LOL. Because you laugh out loud when you drink Pepsi? No idea ...

After that we went to this restaurant (it's not nice enough to be called a restaurant though, more like a fast food place but better) called Zankao Chicken. They have really good chicken dishes there. This is what I had:

A quarter of a chicken with hummus, pita bread, and rice, and this super yummy garlic sauce stuff. I don't know what the purple things are, but I think the other bit is tomato. Anyway, I don't really like hummus and I didn't like the purple stuff, but the chicken and pita and garlic sauce and rice were delicious!

So then we headed back to El Segundo... Andrew was again super nice and took me to Ralph's to get groceries that I already ran out of. Who knew I would go through cereal, chicken, and granola bars so quickly?! Also, here is another funny picture from the freeway. Seriously, 341$? Not just, like, 340$? 

Also, if you were ever curious, this is what the place I work at looks like:

And then another friend from work, Chris, and I went for a bike ride / roller skate ride on the Strand. 

At first we were going to try to get up to Venice or Santa Monica (a good hour or two from El Segundo) but he realized he had to be home too soon for us to do that (he lives like an hour away) so we ended up going to Hermosa Beach and back. On the way there we stopped in El Porto and saw my friend Mallory from DePauw -- it's really funny, we almost see each other more in CA than in IN! 

On the way back from Hermosa we stopped again in Manhattan Beach and had ice cream at the Manhattan Beach Creamery. They have super good ice cream there, and now apparently they sell candies and chocolates and all sorts of baked goods, even popcorn and cotton candy! But they sacrified like half their seating for it. Anyway, it was super tasty and gave us the energy to get back to my place where Chris could start heading home from. 

Really fun ride. It was SO pretty today! We could see for miles and miles --- we even saw Catalina Island! And that's pretty rare!

North toward Santa Monica

El Porto

Later in the evening Karen and her best friend Gloria and I went to dinner at Scotty's in Hermosa Beach. We had a great window view of the pier and sunset and I got some nice pictures of the sun going down! Awesome dinner, too. I really enjoy Karen and I have liked all of her friends a great deal as well!

View down Grand Ave. in El Segundo

Sunset pictures from Scotty's

Hermosa Beach, CA

dinner & a bar

Andrew picked me up and he was really nice to take me to Target, and then we stopped at his place and had a drink before heading out, and went to the beach so I could continue my streak. Then we walked to dinner.

For dinner he wanted to take me to this Japanese place in Redondo Beach called Tokyo Blue. He said they had really good sushi there, so I was totally game. Well, it ended up being way more than just good sushi. For one, it was gorgeous inside (they basically had a little river running through the restaurant). For two, the food was *amazing*. We had a teriyaki fillet that was one of the best steaks I've ever had (if not the best), and the sushi was off the hook. I got a Philadelphia roll (my 2nd favorite roll, the first being a Father's roll which only exists at my Japanese place back home in Columbus) and it literally just melted in my mouth. Soo good. My mouth is still happy from it!

After dinner we got a cab to Saint Rocke, this bar in Redondo Beach that has live music. It was fun but I think I would have had a lot more fun if I wasn't so tired (I was plain exhausted). Sorry about that, Andrew. I thought the music was good but it wasn't really dancing music, so whatever. Got a cab to come back home, and got home before midnight. I fell asleep right away and had a solid 9 hours of sleep till this morning. I feel rested and I'm going to spend most of the day just resting, I think. Should be nice for preparation for tomorrow's first day of work!

settling in

So, I got to the condo about 10.45am. Karen had mailed me the keys so I could just move in right away. Last summer I met John, one of her friends, with the keys and he let me in and helped me get my trunk up and such. He and his wife are on vacation right now so he couldn't do that. But really, I am glad that I just had the keys already. I don't like to bother people too much and I like being able to do things on my own schedule.

At first, Thelma, the cat, didn't remember me, but after about an hour she did and let me see her again. She always wants to be petted but I can't really pet her (I'm allergic), so that's kind of sad. She's a nice kitty. You know she must be because I really don't like cats :) Haha.

I just kind of threw my stuff down in my room, plugged in my computer, and let my mom know I was here. My body was telling me that it was 2pm back home and I hadn't eaten anything since 4.30 in the morning. Well, I had some crackers. But that was not nearly enough. So I went downtown El Segundo to this deli called Rinaldi's. I ate there for lunch the first day I was really on my own for meals last summer (Saturday; Friday I ate with Karen, John, and Meryl for both lunch and dinner), so I thought it'd be fun if I ate there again. I had a yummy meatball sandwich and a strawberry banana smoothie (they use real fruit, and it's so good). This guy I remembered from last year was still working there, and he was still as friendly as ever. He gave me some aluminum foil so I could take have the sandwich home (which became my dinner). 

After lunch I unpacked everything. I brought even less stuff than last summer. I like getting California-related stuff out here, so I try not to bring too many clothes and whatnot. Just enough to get by. After unpacking I walked to the grocery store, Ralph's, which is a little over 2 miles away. I needed groceries for the week and a bus pass. I brought two reusable grocery bags with me, so I knew that I could only buy enough groceries that could fit in those two bags. I also wanted to keep my first grocery bill under 50 dollars, since I don't have very much money to tide me over till the first paycheck, which is two weeks away. I succeeded in both ventures, so that made me feel pretty good. Then I walked back the two-plus miles to my condo, put everything away, and took a short break. 

I decided I want to see the beach everyday that I'm here again this summer (I succeeded in this last summer, too. 81 days in a row!). So I walked the 1.2 miles down to the beach, enjoyed the view, and walked back. It was still cloudy and chilly, so there wasn't too much else to do besides be there for just a few minutes. 

After that I wanted to go to this surf shop to see the guy who took me surfing last year. I wanted to show him my skateboard with its modifications, because he also sells skateboarding stuff. Actually, he builds his own longboards to sell, and they are really sweet. You almost don't want to ride them because they're so beautiful. Anyway, I hopped over there, and he remembered exactly who I was and everything! It was pretty awesome. He was surprised to see me. He had a friend with him, and somehow we got onto the topics of bikes. I said that I didn't want to buy a bike out here because it's a huge investment, and I already have a bike at home, and I'd want to bring the bike I bought back with me, and then I'd have two bikes, which is silly. So this guy says he has an extra bike that he'd loan me for the summer. Sweet, right?! And for free! The only stipulation is that if something breaks I'll fix it. He also had a lock for me to use. What a way to be in the right place at the right time and know the right people! Crazy! So now I have a bike to use this summer. So, having the skateboard is kind of silly, because the bike will get me everywhere significantly faster. We'll see what I can do with it. I ended up hanging out for a lot more time at the surf shop and meeting all these other guys, friends of Mark who runs the shop, who surf and board. They're all at least 40 with wives and girlfriends and kids, but they still think they're 25. It was awesome to watch and listen to them talk about surfing and all sorts of other stuff. A couple guys were mad that Mark didn't have a TV at the shop so they couldn't watch the Lakers game. Haha.

I left about 7.30 from there, came home to the condo, and warmed up my meatball sandwich dinner. Karen came home about 8 and we had a good time catching up with everything. She has made some changes around the condo and everything is just beautiful! I will try to get some pictures and post them. We watched some TV (So You Think You Can Dance)  and then I realized that I was super tired and went to bed. I needed some energy for my big adventure on Saturday.