Monday, June 22, 2009
Nanton, AB
Went to Lethbridge this weekend for my bf's grandparents 60th wedding anniversary and had the most amazing burger along the way. If anyone ever drives through Nanton, AB you have to stop at the ice cream/burger joint you can see it about half way through town on hwy 2 a little white and black building. The burgers are made from lean 100% albertan beef and they are soooo good! They also have milkshakes with about 25 different flavours to choose from!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Los Angeles - City of Angels
My trip to LA was amazing but a total whirlwind. Too much to do and see in three days. We landed in LAX which is a huge airport you can't even see all of it when you walk out the doors because there are so many buildings and parkcades and flowers and trees and construction etc. Sadly we didn't spot TMZ or any other paparazzi no celebrities flying at that time I guess.
We took a shuttle to the car rental agencies which are all located on the outskirts of the airport and picked up our little 4 door navy KIA! We didn't get too far because my boyfriend spotted a Carl's Junior fast food place so we had to stop. I tried some of his chicken soft taco and it was pretty good. We brought our GPS with us from home and you can rent them now with most car rentals and I would definitely recommend one, it was a life saver and reduces the stress of driving when you can just plug in an address and drive.
We headed to our hotel the W Los Angeles which was located in west wood about a 5-10 min drive to Beverly hills, it was a beautiful neighborhood with luscious landscaping and the sweet smell of flowers in the air, sigh....... so pretty! Thanks to MTV we had a modern suite with a living room, a bedroom with two beds ( a king would have been better but i didn't want to mess with the reservation) and a sleek bathroom. Every time we called the front desk they always said, "What is your wish?" We ended up parking at UCLA which was just across the street because they only had valet parking for $36 a day + tip so yeah back to student parking. It was worth it though because the money saved definitely got spent on food and shopping.
After we freshened up we headed out to explore finding Beverly hills first and when I saw rodeo drive we parked so we could walk the famous area. First off the houses around Beverly hills and Bel air are almost indescribable because they are so grand and picture perfect the lawns are perfection the flowers are colorful and pristine and the cars parked in the driveway probably cost more I can even guess. You also notice alot of gates in this area probably like 70% or more of these mansions are gated which is understandable because all of us tourists would be driving up for pictures.
We got rodeo drive around 6:30 pm so alot of the stores were closing but the streets were still busy with tourists and shoppers. Camera's are going off everywhere as people take their pictures in front of Gucci, Chanel, Versace, YSL etc. etc. so much fun I was happy to just window shop and look at all of the beautiful displays. We found a cute Italian place on a side street and had some delicious California pizza to fuel up.
Next we drove into the art district full of museums and galleries and this amazing park that has tar pits with dinosaurs in it and live music and art going on all throughout. From there we headed to Sunset Strip to see all the famous nightclubs like Whiskey aGoGo, the Cat Club, Viper Room, the Roxy and so on. We went out to the Whiskey aGoGo, my bf was ecstatic because bands like Motley Crue and Jim Morrison started out there. That night they had a line-up of five bands playing the last two were really good, no drink specials though drinks were around $8 and up.
After the last band we headed back out to streets ended up in the Hustler store which was crazy busy for 1am with all the other late night revellers at this point my new MK wedges were started to rub alot and I managed to hobble back to our car. Getting back to our hotel we were able to skip the line-up that was outside for the W bar which I guess is a pretty popular spot I can't believe people line-up that late to try to get in.
Sunday we tried to get up early and we headed to the LA farmer's market which I was really excited to visit. It's a pretty large market you have to pay for parking everywhere even along the beach so be prepared to pay $7-$12 to get into lots all around the city. But it's worth it we had some Brazilian bbq for an early lunch and I found lots of stuff to buy there. Fresh fruit and vegetables everywhere and lots of souvenir stuff to look at. We walked to the Grove from there along stone streets with a old fashioned green street car that runs down the middle. The Grove is a huge shopping area with lots of stores and vendors down the streets, no cars allowed.
Then we had to head back to the hotel to get ready for the MTV Movie Awards. So we were already running a little behind by the time we got to our hotel because we weren't exactly sure how long it was going to take to get to the ampitheatre some people said two hours with traffic others said oh no way less than an hour either way I felt rushed to get ready fast. My bf realizing he had no hair gel and didn't want to use my hairspray decided to run out to the drug store to get some. I was in the bathroom curling my hair when he left and like literally two minutes after my curling iron breaks and it'll turn on but there is no heat. I have no way to get ahold of my bf so I continue to rattle the curling around hoping to jiggle it into working but no such luck. So about 1/4 of my hair is curled at this point and I don't know what to do. My bf comes back expecting me to be ready but of course I'm not because of the hair delay and so I pack up my hairspray and make-up and we stop at a rite-aid where i buy some curlers spray the heck outta my hair put in the curlers and crank the air in the car hoping it will dry by the time we get to the show. It worked out okay but while we are driving I'm having to do my hair in a rush and miss all the sights along the way along with the Hollywood sign which we didn't get a chance to drive back by!
Oh well, so we get to Universal Studios with like a half hour to spare we go take pictures at the entrance to the awards. Which is at the Gibson amphitheatre in the middle of Universal Studios so we got to see some of the rides and walk around the little city in Universal full of restaurants and shopping. At 6:00 pm it was time to go in.The red carpet was in a blocked off area that we could only see a bit of from inside Gibson's looking through the doors on the back side. Caught a glimpse of Miley Cirus and John Voight ( I was wondering why everyone was saying Angelina Jolie then I spotted him) but it was hard too see and more people gathered blocking out the little view. We had pretty good seats in the second bowl on the right side of the theatre.
TO BE CONTINUED (too much to write in one sitting)
Okay so the show started and even though on the tickets it said camera's prohibited there where flashes going off everywhere. The host Andy Samberg was pretty funny and it was neat to see what goes on during commercial breaks. Watching long lines of seat fillers running around once they start the 3 minutes to the show countdown. They had a guy with a mic who would say what was coming up during each segment and would tell the crowd "big energy, come on people make some noise," and stuff like that, we had to clap and cheer as the show came back from commercial. So everything was going great until my camera died about 15 minutes before the show was over. I had lots of pics of inside the amphitheatre but what I was really looking forward to documenting was the after party outside who knew who I would run into! So I was really bummed and of course there was no where to buy batteries and every one had their own cameras they need batteries for.
So the after party was gorgeous. Outdoor white! furniture everywhere VIP tents along the outside with security no one I recognized hanging out in them. Lots of yummy gourmet food that was served throughout the grounds, a DJ spinning some beats and they even had stand up heaters that you could warm up under all over. So somehow my bf go talking to a security guy told him how sad I was that I wasn't going to get any pictures of this and the security guy gave him his batteries out of his flashlight! Only two batteries but it was enough for me to take a few pics before it died again. Lots of MTV people at the party I met Dan & Jesse who do the hills aftershow. Got a picture with Dan but when I went to get one with Jesse the camera died but oh well I still got to talk to her, she is so skinny in person but also really nice.
After the party we drove to Hollywood because we only had one day left on Monday that we planned to spend checking out the beaches. We walked down the sidewalks full of star's towards Grauman's Chinese Theatre and passed the Kodiak Centre where the Oscars are held. Took lots of pics then headed back to our hotel to get some sleep.
Monday Morning we got up early and headed to Venice beach to work our way North up the coast. It was kinda cloudy that day so the beach was pretty quiet, still quite a few shoppers on the boardwalk full of little stores, food, artists, musicians and other sights. We almost walked all the way to Santa Monica Boardwalk which looks kinda close from the beach but we decided to walk back to the car instead because it would have taken another hour at least to walk. Santa Monica boardwalk has an amusement park, mexican restaurant, arcade and other stores on it. Was pretty busy for a Monday morning. From there we drove up the coastal highway towards Malibu stopping at a really pretty university along the way. We spent some time at a Malibu state park we happened upon by chance and saw a band shooting a video there (can't remember the name). It was rocky and beachy with high cliffs and little caves and so unique and fun the tide was coming in by this point so we turned backed towards LA so we could get a late supper. Found an out of the way sushi joint that had the best sushi ever ate alot of sushi that night.
Tuesday was back home by the time we checked out we ate a quick breakfast at a nearby bakery (such good croissants!) then we headed to the airport because we needed time to return the rental and get through customs.
So I loved LA, one day it would be great to go back and see more of the huge city and just drive down the coast maybe to san fransico that would be fun!
We took a shuttle to the car rental agencies which are all located on the outskirts of the airport and picked up our little 4 door navy KIA! We didn't get too far because my boyfriend spotted a Carl's Junior fast food place so we had to stop. I tried some of his chicken soft taco and it was pretty good. We brought our GPS with us from home and you can rent them now with most car rentals and I would definitely recommend one, it was a life saver and reduces the stress of driving when you can just plug in an address and drive.
We headed to our hotel the W Los Angeles which was located in west wood about a 5-10 min drive to Beverly hills, it was a beautiful neighborhood with luscious landscaping and the sweet smell of flowers in the air, sigh....... so pretty! Thanks to MTV we had a modern suite with a living room, a bedroom with two beds ( a king would have been better but i didn't want to mess with the reservation) and a sleek bathroom. Every time we called the front desk they always said, "What is your wish?" We ended up parking at UCLA which was just across the street because they only had valet parking for $36 a day + tip so yeah back to student parking. It was worth it though because the money saved definitely got spent on food and shopping.
After we freshened up we headed out to explore finding Beverly hills first and when I saw rodeo drive we parked so we could walk the famous area. First off the houses around Beverly hills and Bel air are almost indescribable because they are so grand and picture perfect the lawns are perfection the flowers are colorful and pristine and the cars parked in the driveway probably cost more I can even guess. You also notice alot of gates in this area probably like 70% or more of these mansions are gated which is understandable because all of us tourists would be driving up for pictures.
We got rodeo drive around 6:30 pm so alot of the stores were closing but the streets were still busy with tourists and shoppers. Camera's are going off everywhere as people take their pictures in front of Gucci, Chanel, Versace, YSL etc. etc. so much fun I was happy to just window shop and look at all of the beautiful displays. We found a cute Italian place on a side street and had some delicious California pizza to fuel up.
Next we drove into the art district full of museums and galleries and this amazing park that has tar pits with dinosaurs in it and live music and art going on all throughout. From there we headed to Sunset Strip to see all the famous nightclubs like Whiskey aGoGo, the Cat Club, Viper Room, the Roxy and so on. We went out to the Whiskey aGoGo, my bf was ecstatic because bands like Motley Crue and Jim Morrison started out there. That night they had a line-up of five bands playing the last two were really good, no drink specials though drinks were around $8 and up.
After the last band we headed back out to streets ended up in the Hustler store which was crazy busy for 1am with all the other late night revellers at this point my new MK wedges were started to rub alot and I managed to hobble back to our car. Getting back to our hotel we were able to skip the line-up that was outside for the W bar which I guess is a pretty popular spot I can't believe people line-up that late to try to get in.
Sunday we tried to get up early and we headed to the LA farmer's market which I was really excited to visit. It's a pretty large market you have to pay for parking everywhere even along the beach so be prepared to pay $7-$12 to get into lots all around the city. But it's worth it we had some Brazilian bbq for an early lunch and I found lots of stuff to buy there. Fresh fruit and vegetables everywhere and lots of souvenir stuff to look at. We walked to the Grove from there along stone streets with a old fashioned green street car that runs down the middle. The Grove is a huge shopping area with lots of stores and vendors down the streets, no cars allowed.
Then we had to head back to the hotel to get ready for the MTV Movie Awards. So we were already running a little behind by the time we got to our hotel because we weren't exactly sure how long it was going to take to get to the ampitheatre some people said two hours with traffic others said oh no way less than an hour either way I felt rushed to get ready fast. My bf realizing he had no hair gel and didn't want to use my hairspray decided to run out to the drug store to get some. I was in the bathroom curling my hair when he left and like literally two minutes after my curling iron breaks and it'll turn on but there is no heat. I have no way to get ahold of my bf so I continue to rattle the curling around hoping to jiggle it into working but no such luck. So about 1/4 of my hair is curled at this point and I don't know what to do. My bf comes back expecting me to be ready but of course I'm not because of the hair delay and so I pack up my hairspray and make-up and we stop at a rite-aid where i buy some curlers spray the heck outta my hair put in the curlers and crank the air in the car hoping it will dry by the time we get to the show. It worked out okay but while we are driving I'm having to do my hair in a rush and miss all the sights along the way along with the Hollywood sign which we didn't get a chance to drive back by!
Oh well, so we get to Universal Studios with like a half hour to spare we go take pictures at the entrance to the awards. Which is at the Gibson amphitheatre in the middle of Universal Studios so we got to see some of the rides and walk around the little city in Universal full of restaurants and shopping. At 6:00 pm it was time to go in.The red carpet was in a blocked off area that we could only see a bit of from inside Gibson's looking through the doors on the back side. Caught a glimpse of Miley Cirus and John Voight ( I was wondering why everyone was saying Angelina Jolie then I spotted him) but it was hard too see and more people gathered blocking out the little view. We had pretty good seats in the second bowl on the right side of the theatre.
TO BE CONTINUED (too much to write in one sitting)
Okay so the show started and even though on the tickets it said camera's prohibited there where flashes going off everywhere. The host Andy Samberg was pretty funny and it was neat to see what goes on during commercial breaks. Watching long lines of seat fillers running around once they start the 3 minutes to the show countdown. They had a guy with a mic who would say what was coming up during each segment and would tell the crowd "big energy, come on people make some noise," and stuff like that, we had to clap and cheer as the show came back from commercial. So everything was going great until my camera died about 15 minutes before the show was over. I had lots of pics of inside the amphitheatre but what I was really looking forward to documenting was the after party outside who knew who I would run into! So I was really bummed and of course there was no where to buy batteries and every one had their own cameras they need batteries for.
So the after party was gorgeous. Outdoor white! furniture everywhere VIP tents along the outside with security no one I recognized hanging out in them. Lots of yummy gourmet food that was served throughout the grounds, a DJ spinning some beats and they even had stand up heaters that you could warm up under all over. So somehow my bf go talking to a security guy told him how sad I was that I wasn't going to get any pictures of this and the security guy gave him his batteries out of his flashlight! Only two batteries but it was enough for me to take a few pics before it died again. Lots of MTV people at the party I met Dan & Jesse who do the hills aftershow. Got a picture with Dan but when I went to get one with Jesse the camera died but oh well I still got to talk to her, she is so skinny in person but also really nice.
After the party we drove to Hollywood because we only had one day left on Monday that we planned to spend checking out the beaches. We walked down the sidewalks full of star's towards Grauman's Chinese Theatre and passed the Kodiak Centre where the Oscars are held. Took lots of pics then headed back to our hotel to get some sleep.
Monday Morning we got up early and headed to Venice beach to work our way North up the coast. It was kinda cloudy that day so the beach was pretty quiet, still quite a few shoppers on the boardwalk full of little stores, food, artists, musicians and other sights. We almost walked all the way to Santa Monica Boardwalk which looks kinda close from the beach but we decided to walk back to the car instead because it would have taken another hour at least to walk. Santa Monica boardwalk has an amusement park, mexican restaurant, arcade and other stores on it. Was pretty busy for a Monday morning. From there we drove up the coastal highway towards Malibu stopping at a really pretty university along the way. We spent some time at a Malibu state park we happened upon by chance and saw a band shooting a video there (can't remember the name). It was rocky and beachy with high cliffs and little caves and so unique and fun the tide was coming in by this point so we turned backed towards LA so we could get a late supper. Found an out of the way sushi joint that had the best sushi ever ate alot of sushi that night.
Tuesday was back home by the time we checked out we ate a quick breakfast at a nearby bakery (such good croissants!) then we headed to the airport because we needed time to return the rental and get through customs.
So I loved LA, one day it would be great to go back and see more of the huge city and just drive down the coast maybe to san fransico that would be fun!
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