Exploring LA!

This week has been much more relaxed - which was strange after the busy, turbulent few weeks preceding it! It's been nice, though, and we're finding time for some things like reading for pleasure and going on walks that we haven't really done much of in the last, well, few years! 

Monday through Wednesday we walked to the local library and checked it out, walked to Macy's nearby because Luce was out of makeup, went to the Samuel French Bookstore and read plays for hours, had plans to go to a workshop with Central Casting but had to bail when we turned up almost an hour early to find a line around the block! We also, of course, made some very yummy brekkys and dinners, had boba, and went out to brunch at a great cafe called Crave with JT!

We've got a couple little projects we're working on - the main one being the show with Chambers! We've written bios, done publicity, and brushed up on our lines; we're looking forward to rehearsals starting back up this week!

We're also trying to get a group together to work on a couple plays to push ourselves and keep on our toes.

The real highlight of the week though, far and away, has been seeing our wonderful friend Ali!! Ahh! We're SO lucky she's visiting us and couldn't be happier showing her around our city!

We met up yesterday in Santa Monica and after a hilariously long run into a huge group hug on the street, we strolled around, looking into shops and taking in the cool, beachy vibes. We walked down to the pier too and it was just so surreal to be seeing each other on the opposite side of the country!

We came back to our apartment, proudly gave Ali the tour (which didn't take too long haha but she gushed exactly as we'd hoped), watched Argo for the first time, had a delish dinner of orzo pasta salad, grilled chicken, and feta cheese, and stayed up chatting till 1 in the morning! Absolutely perfect! 

Today we slept in a bit because it was absolutely POURING with rain! And in LA, that's a big deal. When we got up we made our sweet breakfast quesadillas (whole-wheat tortillas with peanut butter, cocoa almond butter, strawberries, and bananas) and got ready for a day of exploration - rain or shine! 

We spent the day in Downtown LA, which the two of us really haven't explored much, and we found some absolute gems! First we went to the LA Central Library and it was incredible! So beautiful and the absolutely perfect place to be on a rainy day. Han got a library card and checked out a book and we spent almost an hour browsing and looking at the lovely artwork they have on display, very cool!

For lunch we took Ali to Bronzed Aussie to try our favourite foods from home! After gorging ourselves on the finest meat pies, caramel slice, custard tarts, and lamingtons LA has to offer, we headed off to our last activity for the day: a thrift shop crawl! We started on Melrose Ave, one of the coolest streets in LA, and ended up spending hours in the very first shop we found! It was SO COOL! Great clothes and great prices! Luce made out like a bandit and got so many nice things - including  her dress for Ehren and Nadine's winter wedding in Austria - and Han found two really pretty dresses too that she just couldn't resist! 

We went it to two more stores after that and headed home - via Ralph's to pick up ingredients for cupcakes! 

Luce and Ali are baking up a storm and when the cupcakes are in the oven we're going to watch Pride and Prejudice - which Ali has never seen! We've also got tickets to the Groundlings improv show tonight at 10:00 which is another awesome new experience we can't wait for! It's been the most PERFECT day and we're so, so happy to have Ali here with us.

Reunited!!!

YAY!! We had the most wonderful weekend together after surviving the longest stretch apart we've had to go through in our whole lives - almost two weeks! It was so amazing to catch up and just relax, it was exactly what we both needed. 

On Saturday morning, Luce drove out to Chapman and picked up Han, Sierra, and Katie for a trip to Disneyland!! It was awesome for Luce to meet Han's roomies and the four of us had a great time running around the park. 

 We had FastPasses for Indiana Jones and were all super excited for the ride. We got more of an adventure than we bargained for, though, when we reached the final thrilling moment where the boulder seems like it's going to crush you then - screeeech! AHH!! Everything grinds to a stop, music goes off, light's come on, and a voiceover tells us the ride's broken down! We had to wait about fifteen minutes before it got running again, and we snapped some behind-the-scenes pics while we waited.

After that, the two of us snuck off for some twin time in California Adventure for a little while and there were NO LINES!! On a long weekend?! It was amazing!! We went on all our faves then headed back to meet up with Sierra and Katie for Fantasmic! We ended up going to the later show and got PERFECT seats, right on the water's edge. The show was as full of Disney magic as we could've hoped for and it was a wonderful way to end the night! We headed out of the park, dropped the roomies off at Chapman, and went back to Lucy's.

On Sunday we went and visited Chambers - and didn't get a parking ticket this time! - which was really nice. It was kind of surreal, actually, as if nothing had changed and we were still living and hanging out together in the city. After a great morning at bootcamp, we went out for teriyaki chicken for lunch and headed home for the afternoon. We had a productive afternoon doing homework, had fro yo at The Grove, and watched the gorgeous James Marsden in 27 Dresses!

Monday was an errands day but still fun because, cheesy as it is, we were together. Luce did laundry, Han did homework, we wrote the blog, went to Trader Joes, and Meme treated us to Starbucks coffees, yum! Too soon it was time to drive Han back to Chapman and say goodbye. We were a little melancholy about it all day and we're still working on adjusting - this goodbye was just harder because now we actually know what it's like to be apart and miss each other! The weekend was great though, and it made us realize that we really are close enough to be able to visit regularly. We both settled in for another week of classes - luckily a shorter one, thank you labour day! - and are already excited to see each other again soon!