Back home and back to the grind. Here are some photos from the holiday break, when I was visiting family and friends:
I got to spend a couple days in New York, and the weather was so mild that I ended up walking about 60 blocks (~3 miles) through the Upper West Side one evening. I caught up with old friends over drinks and Shake Shack.
Another afternoon was spent strolling around Central Park, going ice skating in 60-degree weather, and browsing through the Plaza Food Hall. It was a Kevin McAllister-inspired afternoon, if he were a 30-year-old woman visiting from California. [Side note- I'd never gone ice skating before, so hooray for finally doing it and not even falling on my tailbone.]
 |
| Columbia University |
 |
| Columbus Circle (with a visit from Karl the Fog) |
 |
| Plaza Hotel |
 |
| Plaza Food Hall |
 |
| Central Park ice skating |
Then it was back to the West Coast but instead of heading straight home, we took a detour to Southern California. We spent a couple nights in LA, concentrated in Koreatown, Silver Lake/Los Feliz and Downtown, plus Glendale. We stayed in The Line hotel and enjoyed their views, their design, and their food (check out the loaded "notchos" in the pic below, they're addictive). This is probably the coolest-looking hotel I've stayed in - "concrete chic" as you can see in a photo below. I like the desk-as-headboard move, but I love the serape-covered chairs. Pretty much every design-y item in the room was available to buy, which is a pretty smart marketing move. We walked up and down Wilshire Boulevard a couple miles in sunny weather, and hit some golf balls at Aroma driving range.
We had a lovely tour guide in the form of the husband's childhood friend and long-time LA resident. We grabbed lunch at Grand Central Market in DTLA (like The Plaza Food Hall, but seemingly less touristy) and walked around the Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall before popping into MOCA. I also caught up with a grad school friend over brunch at Messhall Kitchen in Los Feliz (no pics but check out their site)... We've gotten to hang out in a few cities now. All this was before heading out to Joshua Tree, and it was a lovely way to end the year.
 |
| The Line Hotel |
 |
| way over yonder, the Hollywood sign |
 |
| concrete chic at The Line |
 |
| POT Notchos at happy hour |
 |
| breakfast at Commissary |
 |
Commissary at The Line
|
 |
| memorial at RFK Community Schools |
 |
| Grand Central Market |
 |
| Disney Concert Hall |
