southern california | loveliness.

Tag: southern california

orange county

Posted at 8:00 am by jasminedesirees, on February 2, 2018

I mentioned here that we started a list of things we want to do now that we’re living in Southern California, so I thought I would share. I love to do anything outdoors, especially hiking or anything to do with the ocean, and there are also random activities and restaurants I’ve been wanting to try.

I’m definitely still learning my way around here, so maybe some of these will get knocked off the list once I learn more about them, and I’m sure there are lots I’ll be adding as I learn about new things, so I’ll update this every once in awhile to see where we’ve been and what we thought, and any new additions.

On that note, if you have any recommendations for things or places you love to visit, please leave them in the comments section!

Activities
Concert at the Hollywood Bowl
Weekend trip to Catalina Island
Scuba dive
Rent this AirBnB Airstream in Malibu
Run and Yoga at Santa Monica Pier
Surf lessons
Stay overnight at the Beverly Hills Hotel
Movie on the rooftop of the Montalban Theater
Camp at Joshua Tree National Park
Rose Bowl Flea Market
Weekend away in Palm Springs
Rent paddleboards in Long Beach
Go to a Speakeasy
Skating at Hotel del Coronado in San Diego
Griffith Park Observatory
Visit the Flower Market

Restaurants
EggSlut (I’ve been here a couple of times, in Vegas and Venice, but it’s so good I’m going to leave it on here.)
Salt and Straw
Petit Trois
Pizzeria Mozza
Gjelina
Malibu Farm
The Bungalow
Ivy at the Shore
Grand Central Market
Creme and Sugar
Anaheim Packing House
Spire 73

Hikes
Devil’s Punchbowl
Mt. Baldy
Sturtevant Falls
Escondido Falls
Bridge to Nowhere
Rose Valley Falls
Top of the World
Solstice Canyon
Del Cerro Park
Shipwreck Hike (we actually did this last weekend, post coming soon!)

Posted in California, life, Los Angeles, travel, USA | 0 Comments | Tagged hiking, Los Angeles, orange county, restaurants, southern california, things to do, travel

life update

Posted at 8:16 am by jasminedesirees, on January 24, 2018

This has been a pretty busy few months, and I finally have some free time now so I thought I would do a post about what’s been going on lately.

Last month I graduated with my Master’s degree, said goodbye to Arizona, and moved down to Orange County. Before I’d even unpacked, we were off to the Bay Area for Christmas, and then I flew to Mazatlan on Boxing Day to spend time with my family there.

I got back a few days ago, and am finally all moved in, so I’m officially a resident of California again, but this time the Southern half. D has been here since September, he moved down here for work, so we’ve been living in different states for 4 months (really more like 6 since I was gone so much for News21) so it’s really nice to be back in the same zip code.

It was actually kind of fun being on my own for a bit, I’ve never lived alone before. I had a cute little studio in Downtown Phoenix for a few months, I could walk and bike everywhere. I only had vegetables in my fridge (I’m vegetarian, he isn’t), we would FaceTime every night and I drove down to SoCal every couple of weeks to visit so it wasn’t terrible. We were both so busy at the time that we would just be doing homework in the same room anyway (he was finishing his Bachelor’s degree as well as starting training for his new job) so we have a long list of fun Southern California things we want to do now that everything is a little calmer and we’re living together again.

I haven’t put up a post in so long, and I have a bunch of posts from the last 9 months that are basically done but I’ve never shared, so I’ve been thinking over the last few weeks about why that is, and whether or not I even want to continue to post here.

What I’ve realised is that I initially started this blog (6 years ago!) when we moved to the Bay Area from Hawaii, and I didn’t know anyone and I didn’t know anything about where we were, so it was a fun hobby for me, I finally had somewhere to put all the millions of pictures I take, and it gave me a reason to explore places I maybe wouldn’t have otherwise.

And now that I am back in the same position again, I’m glad I still have this space because I really do enjoy it.

It’s only when I start thinking about whether or not I should be trying to get more followers (or actually promote my posts anywhere at all) or about the content (Is it interesting? Does it matter if it is since I don’t really care if anyone else sees it? Should it be more journalistic? Should I be writing about more serious issues?) that it isn’t fun and I start to avoid it.

So I’m just going to try not to overthink it, and just let it be what it is, a fun hobby and a place for me to share whatever and whenever I feel like it.