October 28, 2020
I’ve never judged
Or withheld grace from anyone
Like that before
So
I wonder why I expect
So little grace
and so much judgment
From others
To me
Images
Be
October 27, 2020
I’m tired.
Do less, He said
Rest.
I love you.
Analogy
October 20, 2020
I’m like
A really good
Hype man
Who wants to be
The lead singer
(Imagine Lil John
As Jay Sean in “Down”)
It’s a terrible idea
And
Everyone is happy with me
In my current place
Except for me
Look at the Finish Line
October 19, 2020
I know there’s a purpose for it
And I know it’s for my good
But
it
hurts
so
much.
Thorn
October 18, 2020
I know
I’m looking for something
More than the world has to give
But how come
That understanding
Doesn’t
Make the pain any easier
2020.08.10 – 2020.08.20
National Park Hopper: Spaces In Between Edition
Going to faraway places by car is very different from flying. Depending on who you are, you may think of the negative aspects – it takes wayyyy longer, you feel cramped in a small enclosed space, you have to stay alert while driving, it’s boring, there’s no internet, etc… This was probably my first big road trip and after going, I can honestly say that it is a WONDERFUL way to travel. Being able to mentally connect the dots of the spaces between each destination is a special experience, and there are just so many beautiful things to see in this world, even if they don’t have a 5-star review or millions of visitors a year. I’ll be posting some destination photos later, but I really wanted to pay homage to those places along the way, that we may not even have stopped for. Here’s to you, the spaces in between!
I guess this first one’s cheating because Lake Shasta is most definitely a tourist hotspot and we’ve visited before, but that’s another part of the road trip experience. You WILL drive by a lot of famous places that you don’t have time to visit, but the view is still a pleasant companion along the way. Also, random story – the last time I came to Lake Shasta I saw a coworker from Huawei and only figured out by hearing her voice because she was dressed totally differently from when she’s in the office. The end.
Fire is such a big part of the ecosystem in California. It is a fearsome thing to behold, but also exciting to think of the life that follows in the footsteps of immense destruction, if only we humans haven’t ruined nature’s ability to recover in the meantime. (Although, do we even have the capability to ruin nature? I like to think that instead of affecting her, she simply puts down boundaries and says, no, you don’t appreciate me so you don’t get to witness the wonders I have to offer. We’re shooting ourselves in the foot here.)
Vast, vast patches of green plains with mountains in the far distance.
A majestic mountain accompanying us as we traverse beyond California into Oregon. Sometimes it almost feels like cheating to use Google Maps to identify land features, so you’ll have to let me know which mountain this is!
Trains are another transportation mode of the past (at least for the most part in the US), but there were so many trains throughout our trip, carrying goods of all sorts to their own new destinies. Trains trips are a corollary love to road trips (think Europe and Asia), and I would love to go on a train trip next.
Mountain gradients are always so amazing and so beautiful. I want this to be on a tote bag, or some physical item that I can see and use all the time!
We started driving by these huge lakes and rivers as we hit the Pacific Northwest (or in most places other than California and Southwest USA), and it was so amazing to see so much freshwater available for recreation and for sustaining life. I’ve officially been converted to team rivers for life! My favorite was probably Columbia River.
We caught Painted Hills in Oregon at an hour when the lighting was not great, so these pics from the car on the way to the destination actually turned out much more vibrant and lovely than the actual location itself!
Miles and miles and miles of golden wheat – connecting with the places that feed us. When driving by the tiny towns tucked between the fields, people on the side always waved. Isn’t that so precious?
Wind turbines are always so picturesque and other worldly
Right before we got to our hotel in Idaho, we drove over this huge lake that is probably the destination of every summer lake cabin story I ever heard, with jewel blue waters and the clearest skies you’ve ever seen. Talk about a summer vacation paradise.
These moody evergreen colors! Hitting the mountains again.
This was what the hour-long drive up Glacier National Park looked like along Going-to-the-sun Road (what a name!). But don’t be distracted because you’ll need both eyes on the windy, narrow road turning to and fro the perilous edge of the mountains.
Another amazing sight was the gas prices, so cheap compared to California! This may be a good thing for an economic perspective, but potentially not so good when seen from an environmental perspective. And both perspectives exist within me – what chaos.
Scattered throughout all of these small towns were random sculptures and statues that were at times hilarious, at times ridiculously creative, and always completely unique (my other favorites were this HUGE carved falcon with wings spread apart in full glory, and a fishing pole sculpture dangling a metal fish by the side of the river!).
Why yes, I do need a horse ranch in Montana if every day looks like this.
Isn’t it funny how things just stick out when they have to do with someone you love? Took this photo of the Utah Jazz arena (I care absolutely nothing about the NBA) because I knew it’d be exciting for A
When we were talking about favorite places, I ranked Grand Teton as one of my top, while my mom said it was the least impressive. I totally get where she was coming from because in terms of land features, it actually was not that majestic, but at the same time, the beautiful line of mountains across the horizon forming a border of a lush expanse of plains and rivers and forests just really speaks to my soul. And there was so much life in this place! To each their own.
Don’t you just love national park rangers? There’s something wonderfully special about them just because of the profession they chose. Part of this trip was finding that balance of living life normally in a time when nothing is normal, and trying to maximize physical safety for all individuals even while we nourish our own emotional/social needs. I loved what this guy said, “This is your national park, so please stay safe by maintaining social distancing and wearing your masks so that we can keep your park open for the rest of the season.” This guy has it down!
Snake River Basin. These mountains!!! I watched and waited to see a bald eagle and was rewarded!
Heading to drier places with long stretches of straight road and no cars for miles around. Don’t drive too fast though – you might meet the popo like we did.
US Mail! What lovely company on the road. Support the USPS please!
Grand Teton is to Yellowstone what Canyonlands is to Arches. Which may be one of the reasons why I loved it so much because I was always team underdog. Huge plateaus of a rich red rock rising high into the air for miles around. Drive up the steep road and suddenly you’re in a different world, literally an “Island in the Sky”.
Plus that setting sun hitting the rocks at the perfect angle.
Ugh, this place. Beautiful. And hot.
It was so hot. We were so done. So we just waited in the shade and I drew a horse in the sand while Mama went up ahead to get some more photos.
We could not for the life of us see the hole, but it was a fun idea to paint huge letters onto the sandstone surface of the rock! Also, this was the longest duration my mom drove on the trip and was also the period of time when we took the most stops. My mom is probably the most spontaneous person in our party.
All things considered, I probably wouldn’t want the government to use their money on this, but it was somewhat sad that the state boundary line was not more celebrated between most states (maybe this is the A Walk to Remember in me speaking haha). This was one of the cuter ones that actually had a turnout so we could take a picture of it.
Not sure it’s a good idea to build the road through the arch…
There’s a picture in Page, Arizona that everyone takes, and when my mom saw this plateau, mountainous area, she had to stop and be like…is this that place? Let me take a picture just in case.
When you go to the Costco Business Center in Las Vegas and they just sell goat and lamb carcasses. Culture shock.
Setting a good example of how to social distance in elevators.
The hugest In-n-Out sign you’ve ever seen
Windy, dusty chaparral with Joshua trees dispersed throughout and happy clouds are A+
Literally turned smoggy the moment we hit the border between Nevada and California.
Apparently there is still traffic between NorCal and SoCal.
Coming back to a red sun and chaos, but with the energy to hear and respond with compassion.
2020.08.10 – 2020.08.20
National Park Hopper – Animal I Spy Edition
H and I love animals. So much of our time was spent searching for different wild critters on our daily adventures – here are the fruits of our labor! In addition, please enjoy the set of poems we have created in homage to my ingenuity as a first grader.
I was on lookout duty and spotted a majority of these animals, but H is the one who went in to do the hard work of carrying the long lens, learning to focus a super heavy camera quickly, and getting down and dirty to capture these animals in their best angles. National Geographic wildlife photography, here we come!
One of our first new species sightings – a marmot! Excitement ensues – better pictures to follow in our subsequent sightings, but there’s nothing quite like the first.
Animal Watching Tip 1: Be very aware of your surroundings – sight, sound, smells, etc. Use what you know about an animal’s habitat and habits to make inferences about the places you’ll find them (eg, I squatted down beside some wild blackberry bushes and found rabbits! – literally like in Peter Rabbit). When you hear rustling, stop and wait. Animals are super alert creatures and often will not come out until their surroundings are still. I had to wait for a few minutes after hearing some movement before this tiny little chipmunk came out of the bushes to eat a nut in the clearing. So precious and so worth the wait!
Are you a bird person? I most definitely am, but as I get older, I realize that many people dislike birds, to my dismay. But look at this beauty! After hunting through a list of birds in the Glacier National Park, I have identified this to be a Cedar Waxwing (not to be confused with the Blackman’s Warbler, whose eggs are more speckled haha).
Written as a six year old in first grade:
Chipmunk chipmunk just like that,
Hopped into a pudding vat.
Chipmunk chipmunk take a bow,
You’re a chocolate chipmunk now!
probably one of my favorite captures of this trip – a marmot desperately wanting to become a bird
Marmot, marmot, eating flowers,
Trying to gain more nibbling power.
Marmot, marmot, chew on and on,
Going to win a food marmot-thon
We saw so many chipmunks, but I don’t think you can tire of how cute they are. We feel the same way about squirrels at home. We saw a mama with its babies and the little ones were so inquisitive – one even hopped onto my shoe!
Bison bison, all grown up,
Time has flown, You’re no longer a pup!
Bison bison, I’m proud of all you’ve done,
Time to move on and say goodbye son.
Tip 2 – when you see people looking somewhere, stop and ask what they’re looking at! We did just that multiple times on our trip and were gifted with knowledge of where to see a huge elk, a female moose, and a beaver swimmingly happily during golden hour at Oxbend in the Grand Tetons.
Black bear, black bear, naught to do
How about a little something new?
Black bear, black bear give it a try
Why don’t you bake a good blackberry pie?
Pika poem in the works, but in the meantime, this was one of the more exciting captures of the trip, because you don’t really expect to see much in the midst of a huge pile of rocks, but when you stop and watch for awhile, you’ll catch the scurrying of the industrious pika, who always stops just long enough to tease, but never long enough for a clear picture.
SO MAJESTIC, MISTER MOOSE. Don’t you have a special affinity for the gentle giants of this earth. It’s amazing to me that there are such huge animals on this earth that only feed on vegetation and don’t harm others?
On this trip, I also learned the amazing fact that moose are very good swimmers who can hold their breath for a minute and dive up to 6 meters underwater to eat aquatic plants. WOW!
Pronghorn – I caught a glimpse of these guys from super far off at the Elk Rank and, obviously, mistook them for elk, but we spent a few minutes off the beaten track to get close enough for these clear snaps. Move out of the way, cheetahs, because pronghorn actually take the cake when it comes to speed. The fastest land mammals in North America, these guys reach speeds of 55 mph and can run at 30 mph for 20+ miles (compare that to cheetahs who reach 60 mph but can only keep up that speed for a few hundred yards)! Nature!
After seeing this magnificent creature in South Korea multiple times before, I discovered that it was the infamous magpie of folklore and fairy tales! Hard to believe these beautiful birds have accumulated such a bad reputation in certain cultures because they’re so lovely. Here are some fun facts I have learned about magpies from Speaking in Tongues by Ella Frances Sanders (a wonderful coincidence!):
“The magpie is widely considered either an ill omen or a good one depending on where you are in the world: in China, the bird is a lucky sign; in Mongolia, it is believed they have control over the weather; in Scottish folklore, they foretell death; and in German folklore, they are thieves.
Something else that elevates magpies into the ranks of the intriguing: they are one of only a few types of bird that hold funerals – when a magpie dies, others will squawk loudly until there is a whole conventicle of magpies gathered at the scene, at which point they will all fall silent for a few seconds.”
Prairie Dogs – so cute!
Even with all the majestic creatures in the world, there is nothing quite like a graceful horse grazing against the backdrop of the mighty mountains.
2020.04.17
First Year in Love
Uh uh uhm so uh…and so began a beautiful bond that is so not Hollywood worthy, but in my mind much better. A wasn’t at all what I expected – in fact, I tell him that if it had been any other time in my life, I wouldn’t have given him a second glance. But dating A has been every bit as wonderful as I wanted a relationship to be, and more. He’s so kind, funny, values similar things, and is so so so good to me. God definitely had a better idea of what would be best for me. He always does.
Disclaimer – please do not mistake this romantic relationship for a fellow food critic partnership. That being said, this is basically just a gallery of food pics 🤣
2019.05.04 // sometimes, clumsiness can be a blessing. A forgot to lock his car so while I was waiting for him to come back from helping someone move, I got to chill in his car
2019.05.04 // A likes to brag that his desirability peaked in college when a girl gave him her number while he was playing guitar. I reluctantly have to agree that he is definitely the most attractive when he is in his musical element
2019.05.11 // We had to part ways for three weeks less than a month into our relationship. Cue evenings in the bathroom texting when everyone else in the cabin was already sleeping (in all fairness toward me it was like 8PM haha)
2019.05.30 // coming back after three weeks out of town to a surprise in my room! This was such a first experience in my life, and I have to say that I like it. The funniest part of this is that my roommate has a huge version of this same plushie, and when A came into the room to drop off the present, he got super confused when encountering giant avocado, which evolved into embarrassment of how small his own offering was keke
2019.07.15 // teaching A to be friends with his neighborhood cats
2019.07.20 // Coordinating outfits for the first time at a wedding! Can you tell I’m excited? And then I was devastated because he left the tie at a friend’s house before the reception -.-
2019.08.04 // Triple date with a huge, delicious homemade dinner and a choral session
2019.08.08 // A lovessss mangoes. So naturally I took him to Scoopzilla for the mango sticky rice ice cream yummmm~
2019.08.10 // Meeting Daisy is one of the joys of my life since A and I started dating. A understandably gets jealous haha
2019.08.15 // Wicked with the siblings and A. This show remains fabulous.
2019.08.17 // Lunch with the family and A.
2019.08.19 // Trying to cook more together with cheap new customer Hellofresh boxes. Finding out that the so-called “crema” was just sour cream plus water and making it for everything just to make life fancier
2019.08.23 // A likes fancy recipes like panna cotta with his two favorite things in the world – mangoes and raspberries – on top
2019.09.03 // Greedy greedy A with his benedict PLUS a waffle all for himself. I think he had to fast that day because of a physical exam so he was understandably starving
2019.09.13 // A seeing me off with Panera (was supposed to be my beloved Rubio’s but they were closed!!!!) and froyo before my drive to Sacramento for the weekend.
2019.09.19 // fellowship scavenger hunt and we got to be on the same team! of course A somehow managed to find cookies to munch on during the game
2019.09.23 // Musical A expanding his repertoire of instruments with an electric (edit: a bass) guitar
2019.10.02 // Wednesday evenings during busy season mean dates at Caffe Latte with, well, lattes. A bear to match my bear~
2019.10.05 // Half Moon Bay pumpkin patch with a humongous hay maze!
2019.10.07 // Celebrating A’s birthday. I gave him this homemade Loch Ness plushie that he named “Ness”. Other birthday elements included his favorite sushi and finally going to Colormemine to paint each other mugs.
2019.10.31 // halloween at church! A in classic fashion got his costume on that day. The best part was probably getting eggrolls from King Eggroll
2019.11.15 // our personalities came out when a friend gave us a free burger coupon from the Counter. A was getting extremely confused by all of items I was topping onto our burger (for value’s sake of course), and I told him to just take the weird items out and eat them separately ahahaha. I definitely think we got our $14’s worth out of this meal.
2019.12.20 // A laughed at me when I came to Sizzling Lunch for the second time and tried to order something on the menu that they don’t make anymore AGAIN. I couldn’t tell you why but I may be the only person in the world who finds Italian style pasta on a sizzling plate super appealing.
2019.12.30 // a special video call with A while he was in Japan with family
2020.01.11 // Sometimes A just wants to be fancy, so we randomly decided to dress up nicely and eat yummy fish at Pacific Catch (ughhh, that citrus miso salmon is my jam)
2020.01.26 // A fell in love with Sweet Honey’s mango pomelo sago so we come here multiple times a month. sadly, he does not enjoy tofu pudding which has been the singular most tragic loss in our relationship thus far (I’m not complaining)
2020.02.03 // A is having a cathartic moment after finishing Bojack Horseman. This is an extremely accurate depiction of him.
2020.02.05 // Leadership team building over pottery and lunch and I snuck A as my plus one
2020.02.14 // A puts his best foot forward for our first Valentine’s Day with homemade chocolate strawberries and flowers.
2020.02.20 // Cute cousin perks!! A’s mom was hosting a cooking lesson with T so they were making sushi and homemade fruit roll-ups and chocolate popcorn balls. This family is so sweet!
2020.02.22 // Triple bowling date where A dragged me down after bragging about our bowling prowess lol. We placed second with a total score of 170 – I got 120 of those points.
2020.02.22 // Going to a bougy cooking class where we didn’t even really cook…plus it was SO expensive. But I’m not complaining here haha. And we did an encore for A’s parents to make the investment worth it. Minus the flambé steak…
2020.03.07 // One area that we fall on the opposite ends of the spectrum is in creativity. I’m always so amazed to see A at work creating new things or making his own spin on things, like this rap/beat he created by clicking random things for less than ten minutes. It stands out to me particularly because I am so lost and so fearful when it comes to making something out of nothing.
2020.03.20 // shelter in place begins, and so do the silly Facebook video calls
2020.04.17 // I went crazy during shelter in place and made a whole tribe of loch ness plushies. Here’s the whole family
thank you for one year, A ❤️
with some patience, diligence, and understanding, here’s to many more
2020.01.12 – 2020.01.18
The Happiest Trip on Earth
I’ve lived life long enough to know that it is a gift to find a good friend, to end up with a good roommate, and to have a good travel buddy. But to have all three in one? That is an absolutely miracle of nature. But that’s just the kind of treasure E is. The happiest trip doesn’t happen because you go the happiest place on earth – it happens because you go with the best people. But the location does help.
people kept on asking me what the numbers on my cap meant and it was hilarious because i had no clue, i just stole it from A’s closet to wear on the trip – for your information, i have since discovered that it is the zip code for aspen, colorado
there were so many crazy things about the trip to florida. instead of landing in the evening of sunday like we were supposed to, delays led us to an extra flight leg, and an overnight stay in the airport. this unfortunately meant that we would miss out on getting passes to the elusive new star wars ride (yes, we were going to be those crazy people outside waiting in line hours before the park opened), but this is us changed into our duffy/shellie mae costumes, still excited for day one disneyworld!
because we arrived so late that morning, we decided to save time by going straight to the park from the airport. i was met by an extremely crabby security guard who kept making very sarcastic and aggressive comments about having to check through every piece of my baggage. it was so hard because there was so little empathy for my situation, but i wished i could’ve done a better job of stepping into her shoes as well and responding with compassion and grace. instead i was super sassy right back. sigh, still so much to grow.
also, right after we got into the park, we almost couldn’t figure out the locker situation with our bags and that was probably the most stressful part of the trip where we almost just gave up on everything. thank goodness for not giving up and asking staff questions.
star wars land – wow. the replicas of all the ships and characters and locations, spot on!
i love how this guy accidentally photobombed us haha
edna mode was so fabulous. whoever played her character did a fabulous job of conveying her character with movement only.
one final meeting with buzz in the evening – to infinity and beyond!
day 2 – animal kingdom really took us surprise. first off, pandora was so out of this world, and they managed to make a ride that was worth an over two hour long wait, aka flights of passage. dude. so good.
they had an eight month old hippo baby in their exhibit!! watching this sweet, stumbling little guy figure out how to walk under water was so precious
but hands down, the achievement of the day was running around from one place to the next trying to collect all of our wilderness explorer badges before they closed shop at 5pm. we somehow managed to collect all 31 badges with the help of a ton of helpful guides (one even gave us one of the stickers we were missing because we were short on time!), and we are now officially senior wilderness explorers!
so thankful for disney employees who for the most part seem to really genuinely love their jobs and make the experience all the more fuller with their enthusiasm and dedication to their work.
can you guess who we are today? the cat ears and missing third kitten might give a hint as to this classic disney film we picked our characters from.
i just wanted to post this photo even though it’s basically the same as the one before, because we asked a random girl to take some photos for us and she nailed it with the lighting and everything. i love it when you pick the perfect person to take a photo for you
day 3 – fantasyland. it’s so interesting to see how different parks have their rides differently arranged. it’s a small world was definitely tucked into a small corner at fantasyland instead of having the entire backside of the la park
so much 💕 for this one
ingenious addition to fantasyland – they added different activities in the wait lines like a replica of eeyore’s home, interactive screens, and a playground area simulating rabbit’s garden. WELL DONE!
when the sweetest employee ever makes your day by taking photos in the best angles for you even though he’s been working all day without a chance to eat yet. thank you, michael!
day three was disney princess day for us, but if you ask A, i was dressed up as the fairy godmother (this boy does not know his disney princesses)
day 4 – disney outdid themselves with epcot! so much attention to detail in their depiction of different nations in the world showcase, and all the educational rides were phenomenal. it is decided that i will never be an astronaut though because mission space advanced level was extremely nauseating and we both died.
many of the stations had native artisans working on their craft, like this individual painting alebrijes in the Mexico showcase. just that final touch of disney detail to make each place come to life
norwegian school bread is THE BEST! cardamom bread with light and creamy pudding topped with toasted coconut flakes – why didn’t i get this in school?
china – how much time must it have taken to put this together??
getting my caramel fix in the rustic and beautiful Germany showcase (i don’t know how they got all these things to be the perfect proportions so they were delicious without being overwhelmingly sweet)
we’re missing the annual festival of the arts by a day, but took advantage of these fun “pose as a painting” frames. while waiting in line, we asked what the right one was, and the couple ahead of us said, “Mona Lisa”. we were flabbergasted that we couldn’t recognize it, but really, who ever looked at the background of the painting anyway?
beautiful italia with its graceful arched bridges
you really cannot pick favorites here. each showcase was created with so much care and attention to detail that you just have to appreciate each one for its own distinctness
classic British telephone booths~
side note – can you tell who i’m disneybounding as?
morocco was insanely beautiful with these intricate tiles and designs. definitely going to add this stunning location to list of places to visit
when every night ends with fireworks, it can’t be so bad, right?
day 5 – last morning at fantasyland to finish as many rides as we can. this is me going to ride the carousel by myself while E and i took turns waiting in line at the broken snow white & 7 dwarves train ride.
getting most things done means more time waiting in lines to meet characters and get their signatures. buying an autograph book each time i go to a new park is probably the most extravagant purchase i make all year long
we forgot to take castle photos during day 3, so here is our make up session!
also, i was very vaguely going for the casual belle look, not expecting anyone to realize, but one of the workers noticed and complimented my outfit! disney, as expected.
tomorrowland had some of my favorite rides – the peoplemover, the carousel of progress, the monsters inc stand up comedy show. my choices of favorites seem to indicate that i’m quite the old fogey these days
disney travel tip – prepare your outfits beforehand! i got my minnie ears from mercari at a fraction of the cost, and they were lightly used so they’re friendly to the earth too!
my one qualm about this trip is the fact that disneyworld was pretty lazy about the quality of their foods. the churro was ridiculously stale, and the turkey leg was oversalted and stringy from being roasted too long. 😦
always ready for an adventure
thank you, E, for making this trip happen, and making it the best time ever!
i love this snap with the adorable two girls dressed up in the perfect elsa & anna costumes, lollygagging and having the time of their lives
it would’ve been nice to do some other things outside of disney world in orlando, but our days were so full that we were always too exhausted to do anything other than eat at mcdonald’s right outside the hotel (which was also glorious). on our last night, we did get a chance to stop by the world food trucks a few blocks down from the hotel and it was amazing! wish we could’ve had the energy to check it out earlier, but thankful that we did get to try this delicious food truck paella
until next time~
2020.01.04
Solo in LA
I’ve always been extremely insecure about being alone in public places since a young age, and while time and circumstances forced me out of my comfort zone, the innate fear driving my actions hadn’t ever been addressed. Until now.
Growth is the motto of my life. Key checkpoints of growth – moments where you think to yourself: I can’t believe I’m doing this because yesterday, I would not have and I could not have done this. And that’s exactly how I felt about going to LA on my own to go to a wedding I wasn’t sure I would know anyone at.
I still remember when I went to Europe with one other female friend and we were constantly bombarded with the comment – “Have you seen Taken before??” It still irks me and I still think those girls were literally just being dumb, but at the same time, the reality is that I am more vulnerable, not because of anything I can control, but simply because of who I am. So arriving at Union Station before the crack of dawn, I did take precautions to not walk out on the street until it was light outside. Fortunately, the inside of this place is gorgeous.
What’s LA without some imported palm trees?
I love walking through downtown LA, and it helped to connect the dots of many locations that I thought of as separate entities. It’s like when you’re playing a video game and as you walk through new territory, the map of the space gets revealed.
Urth Caffe – my first stop. This is one of my favorite places in LA and the perfect spot for some avocado toast and matcha latte to energize tired me who was not able to sleep much on the bus.
More walking from Urth Caffe back to the Union Station area. Across the street is the historic Chinatown district and apparently the oldest fire station in LA – Old Plaza Firehouse!
Olvera Street – Makes me think of Coco. I’ve always loved the colorful stalls and cut paper art strung up in rows and rows. Churros and taquitos galore that I wish I had another five stomaches for.
Philippe’s – I always want to try something new each time I go back to LA and it’s French dip sandwiches this time! But here are some familiar faces – my Flow boys and they’re all grown up. So thankful to be able to pick up from where we left off.
So beautiful!! I didn’t realize until way later that this is actually the church they attend (or at least the church rents this space), which makes it not only beautiful but meaningful! Only downside is that the police sirens that went off more than once during the ceremony really echo. Poor builders probably didn’t think about that one.
M – the lovely bride! I always tell people that she was the one who showed me not to depend on a man to define my identity – that God has His timing, but in the meanwhile, I need to value and care for myself as He created me. So encouraged to be a witness of God’s timing in allowing her to meet A and for them to begin a new journey together.
Korean food served at the wedding!!! – kalbi jjim and multiple types of rice cake YUM
I’m so thankful for the big family of God that comes around and supports one another. Even though it’s been a long time, and there was awkwardness mixed in, I was touched by everyone’s taking time to welcome me, catch up, and even do things like give me a ride back to Union Station so that I wouldn’t have to take public transportation at night. All acts that give me courage to respond in the same way and reach out of my comfort zone again next time.
And the clock struck midnight, and I was back on a bus to go home. I was probably so tired that I instantly fell asleep soundly until I got home. LA, until next time~
gracerootsmovement 