sunny southern california

It's 25 degrees here in Indiana, and we've had snow on and off for weeks. I needed some warm weather, so I went to Los Angeles last weekend.





Even so, I did see snow while I was there! My friend's parents rent a cabin in Big Bear and invited us for the weekend. My friend wisely pointed out that I was trying to get AWAY from the snow, but I had never been there, so off we went. Big Bear got five feet of snow last week, so it was perfect skiing weather. Everyone else in LA thought so too- it took us an extra hour or two to get there with all the traffic.



I started out with a two-hour lesson, and that helped immensely. I've never skied or even been on skis! Our instructor Eric taught us the basics, the sent us off down the hill. I definitely questioned why I was learning to ski- it is hard! After lunch, I regrouped and hit the Bunny Hill on my own. What a difference! It was much easier once I got the hang of going at my own pace (ie flying down the hill with no control). I could have skied all night, but we had to get back to LA.



The next day I wasn't too sore, so we went for a loooong walk on Manhattan Beach- all the way to Hermosa! The waves were insanely huge, and the surfers were out en masse. The sun was out and the sky was blue- not sure when I'll see that in Indiana again!



Sunday night brought a great dinner with lots of friends, and lots of wine! Monday morning, we went for a hike in Pasadena, but the recent rains flooded out our trail. We settled for a nice walk in Eaton Canyon, and a walk through Old Town Pasadena instead. Our walk included cupcakes!



I had a Fleur de Sel and it was delicious! I finished out my trip with froyo at Cherry on Top that night and some amazing gluten-free pizza from Garlic Jim's in South Pasadena. Yum!