Home, Sweet Home! - Los Angeles, CA (Part 1)

     I was still very melancholy about leaving Europe; sad yet happy.  It was six days until my birthday and 13 days until Christmas.  No one except my mom knew I was coming home.  What would it be like?  Would I see my home in the same eyes as when I left? Would my friends have forgotten me? Would they be too busy?  My head was filled with all these thoughts.  Maybe I should have canceled my flight so I wouldn't get stuck at home.  If I did cancel my flight what would I have done? Where would I have gone? Was flying home worth it?  Was I really going to be able to leave home in a month and a half as planned?

    I decided it was better if I just tried to nap the whole way and let all those things go. It really doesn't make sense to worry about things when you know you're not going to actually change your mind. The flight ended up being pretty sweet.  It was December 12th and there was no one on the airplane.  I had three seats all to myself!  

     There was an airplane switch in Las Vegas..... where I really contemplated staying for the night, getting a hotel room and a rental car and driving home the next day (or two days later! :P )  I decided to be a well behaved girl and get on the next airplane instead.  To this day i'm really not sure why!

Well, hello Las Vegas! - Dec 13

       I was so happy to be home!  My mom was waiting for me with a big hug and kiss.. and my car! Yay! Freedom! It was warm, the sun was shinning, I didn't need a parka.  We loaded up my backpack into the car and I GOT TO DRIVE!  Haha!! First time in over four months!  My mom was scared silly!  I glanced over just to see her holding the arm rests like a cat trying to avoid a bath; claws out and everything. Haha!
         

Hello view from mom's porch! - Dec 13

         My mom had pulled out a few items of clothing, my teddy bear (don't hate), my bathrobe, perfume, body washes and now had a "bedroom" for me!

         Wow!!  I had a home.

Pre-decorating the Xmas tree - me, santa, my mom, tank the dog and my brother's feet
Dec 15

         My mom must have been relieved that I was home and in one piece.  My brother seemed happy to see me too.  I was happy I committed that day to tree decorating before I left England. The next few days, few weeks were a blur.  I was every where, all at one time.  This gave me a chance to spend some time with my family.  

         I soon dashed off to this holiday party to start surprising people!  You know,  I do love a surprise!

Alex (ex-coworker), Victor (ex-coworker and great long time friend), me and Walter (a mutual friend an amazing guy)
Victor is so built his chest was popping buttons.  ;)
A holiday party I crashed for two, or technically three, of my employers - Dec 15

         It was an eventful night of seeing many familiar faces!  It was a great feeling.  What feeling?  The feeling of being known, having shared experiences with people and automatically being greeted with a smiling face and a HUGE hug! Their shocked faces were pretty priceless too.  The night was a little climactic but it ended well.  

         I soon woke up in a daze and rushed down the road to meet up with my buddies!

Jeramy and David who integrated Nicoke!  seconds after this photo was taken - Dec 16

         We were off to Joshua Tree for Zack's birthday.  Funny enough, it was my and Jeramy's birthday in two days and Zack's girlfriend, Laura's birthday in three days! Four out of six of us had birthdays.  It was a birthday bonanza!  :D

Sonic with the crew! Notice the lady on skates? ...only in America.

We're almost there! Joshua trees - Dec 15

         We were headed for Joshua Tree, yes.  More specifically we were headed for "Hicksville".  It is a small village of old air streams and campers made into accommodation with activities to keep us busy. 

         Thanks Lilly for the following photos!  :)

Hello Hicksville!

I spy CORN HOLE!

Laura and Lilly!

Zack, David and Jeramy!

Target practice with Laura

Zack's birthday cake!

         It was such a nice time!  There were a few shenanigans that took place that night as you can imagine.  Some one ate the dog treats.  Some one else had a slight fall for no apparent reason.  There was a lot of hugging going on, laughing and smiling.  More than I remember.... I guess that's what photos are for.  :D

         The next day there was a couple football games so the boys wanted to watch it in town.

         We girls went to Palm Springs and had lunch!

Yay! Lilly and me - Dec 16

This is my favorite Mexican restaurants in P.S. - Dec 16
Everything seemed so bright and colorful!

         We soon finished lunch walked around a bit and headed back to Los Angeles.  

         From the gang's house I went straight to meet up with yet more ex co-workers. (I was invited at the holiday party.) This gathering was for Diana's birthday!  Yay Diana!  Happy birthday!  

Diana, Kristy from Paris, Micki from Colorado and me --from Mars - Dec 17

         I hung around with them, chatted and reminisced for a few hours before every one called it a night.  It was lovely to see every them as well as Bridget (not pictured) again!

         From there I was off to one of my closest friend Torrey's!  I went straight to bed.  The next morning I was glad to wake up there on my birthday.  Especially when my favorite breakfast on the planet was on the menu and there was a morning toast! 

Bestie & breakfast! - Dec 18

The essence of Torrey - Dec 18

         Torrey happened to have the day off.  So... what to do?!  Scoop up his friend Tony and... drive around until we found something awesome to do?  Maybe do some christmas shopping at the Glendale Galleria?

We found Santa Claus checking his list on the way - Dec 18

and I scored a new hat!  Thank you Torrey! - Dec 18

         The sun was bigger and brighter.  The clouds had never been so beautiful!  I never saw LA in such a great light. We were rocking out in the car.  Yes.. I was actually singing.  I was happy to be home and overjoyed to be alive!

Random shot of Glendale and the clouds - Dec 18

         What was next?  Drop Tony off and have an Oyster House celebration! It seems all my friends were busy but Torrey was still making my day.  Man, those oysters were good!

Dec 18

         We decided to go back to Torrey's house and invite his friends and my mom.  Of course my mom brought my brother. 

My brother Jacob and me - Dec 18

       
         It was weird... for the first time in my life my brother bought me a birthday and/or present.  It contained quite a few pairs of thermals so I wouldn't be cold on my travels.  Pretty thoughtful.

         One of those pairs of thermals happened to be these:

They were a bit over sized even though they were a medium and literally fit three people! - Dec 18
They were a great laugh!  Thanks Jake!
(Katie, Cole and me)

         That's basically how that night ended.  The whole week was good fun with people I love.  I really enjoyed myself!

         Stay tuned!  This post is to be continued!

Ephiphany no. 1,307

I thought about whether I really want to post this or not.  I guess I do.  Usually I would stay classy and just think this but not share it so publicly.  I feel like that's exactly the opposite of what this post is about.  So here she goes....
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The best part about all of this (traveling) is:  I can do what ever I want! There is no political BS in my life any longer.  If I don't want to listen to the words coming out of someone's mouth; I no longer have to. I can just walk away.  If I want to tell someone to take a hike; that is simply what I'll do.  Moving from city to city gives me such great happiness, freedom and bravery. Not to mention; new amazing friends.

A big thanks to the A-holes! Thanks for allowing me to appreciate such a great God given right in FULL spectrum. Thanks for your arrogance, lack of self reflection and using your power like Darth Vader.  It has brought unto me such great joy and I will NOT join the dark side! Instead I shall rise above.

Enjoying the morning sun with one of my new MOST favorite people (after a ride in the park on a frog and a chicken)!

Swedish Fish

New York was such a great experience! I'm glad I was able to make it there before I left the US.

The plane ride was great! I just wish I was able to sleep a little more.

I guess I shed a few tears before I switched planes in Berlin. It was then that I realized I was about to make my childhood dreams come true.  It was one of the things that I always thought I wanted to do; but I never saw it actually happening.  At the same time I always knew it would happen.  It was a weird feeling.  Knowing that I was making my dream come true. No excuses! Not money, time or how I "couldn't" do it. I was about to meet family I always wanted to know because I bought the plane ticket and at the end of the day I made it happen.

I switched airplanes in Berlin, ran across the airport because the last plane was late. From there it was another short ride to Gothenburg, Sweden.  I felt like such a smelly mess! I still had the same stale clothes on since sweating cats and dogs in New York. I quickly changed my clothes so my cousins could recognize me, grabbed my bags and was headed to customs.

Customs was going to be tricky since I hadn't actually purchased a plane ticket out of the European union. Right? Nope. There was no customs. I guess because I went through it in Germany? I'm not sure but they really didn't look at my passport in Germany either.   ... I guess I was supposed to just walk out.... Right? It seemed too easy but it was real.

There, I met three strangers: Ingrid, Christian and Anna. Well, okay... They're my distant cousins.  I was greeted with three big hugs despite how cruel I smelled.  We jumped into their red Volvo and drove home.  I explained my "day" which was really two days, not sleeping, nor showering and my awesome adventure in New York.  I was relieved by how cool and sweet they all were.

They showed me to my bed.

Oh, wait! I meant: My very own guest house! Saweeeet!!
















I'm so fortunate and grateful for everything!


We had a little "fika" (afternoon swedish style sandwiches, coffee and/or tea and maybe some cookies) and went for an afternoon "bath" in the lake right down the street.  They consider a swimming a "bath".  I think that's quite charming but it makes me feel like I should be bringing my shampoo.

I picked up a GoPro up at the airport in NYC so I could share this and much more with you:

The lake is gorgeous and the water is actually quite warm!

The next morning we packed up our things and headed to their summer house in Kungsbacka, Sweden.  It was a bright, warm, sunny day.  This only leaves one option in the Swede's mind: TIME TO GO BOATING!  Woo hoo!  

We packed up the wheelbarrow with snacks for another "fika", towels, clothes and gas.

 

Anna, Christian with his sprained ankle and our newly named Wilbur the wheelbarrow - Day 1

Off to the granite islands just a short distance from the house!

Their dock - Day 1

Anna and Captian Christian - Day 1

They gave me the honorary Swedish life jacket. How sweet! :) - Day 1

Woohoo! Almost there! - Day 1

 

 Boating and Swimming is a big part of their lifestyle. In school the kids are required to take swimming tests. They basically have to be able to save another's life.

 This would be the first time I've snorkeled in the ocean. They have jellyfish everywhere here.  This particular one stings. They have a blue jellyfish that's friendly. :)

The next day I was feeling a bit under the weather so I slept in a bit then...Boating Day 2!

Christian, his (my) fashionable sunglasses and Swedish coffee around sunset (10:30 pm). - Day 2

It was even more gorgeous in person - Day 2

Peace, quiet and the boat - Day 2

All and all I'm sure you guys know how I felt these few days.  I mean... look at that!! Chapter two of my tales in Sweden coming soon(ish).

The Big Apple

So much has happened that I'm just now stopping to breathe!

A beautiful Manhattan space and cool gifts in process!

I left off where I was leaving for a cross country trip the next day....  That got canceled.  I felt like the timing was off and the group of people weren't the people I wanted to be stuck on the road with for a week.  Instead I ended up wrapping up a few more things in LA, barbequing and enjoying some close friends' company before catching a flight to New York.

New York was an absolute blast! I ended up arriving around 5 am.  I jumped off the plane with my 45lb backpack and found my way around the city to Manhattan where an old friend now lives.

Apparently on Sunday the elevator doesn't work in his building so I carried my backpack up 8 flights of stairs. That was awesome! I did it with no hesitation.  It's kind of ironic because I think the last thing I said to my mom was, "Bye mom. I'm going to go get some calves now." referring to carrying my backpack around the world and all the muscle I would be gaining.

The highline, Manhattan, NYC

We had breakfast then decided we were going to walk from 26th St & 11th Ave all the way across the Brooklyn Bridge and take a nap in the grass on the other side. I guess it was only about 5 miles but after climbing 8 flights of stairs and the humidity it seemed like forever. It was a gorgeous day to make one of my dreams come true in New York.

Brooklyn Bridge, NYC

We took about three hours rest/nap in the grass in Brooklyn then caught the subway back to the Manhattan  From there we packed our things to go stay by Far Rockaway on the 7th floor by the beach.  I passed out as if I had been tranquilized.

The next morning we woke up around 8 am then I headed back to Manhattan solo. I ended up jumping off the subway a couple stops too soon which worked to my advantage.  I found a quaint coffee shop and grabbed a pastry in Greenwich Place then walked down to the beach.  There I rested for a bit and watched all the weird/fit people jogging by.  HA ha!

I ran some errands then grabbed my backpack.  I was now ready to head to the airport.  This time the elevator guy was there! Thank goodness! I walked back to the Penn Station which was about 10 block give or take.  This day was EXTREMELY humid to a LA native. By the time I reached the subway I was not only dripping sweat, it was like the flood gates had opened and I was showering everything in my path.  I felt bad for the pregnant lady I gave my seat to. It wasn't until she looked up a little confused why it was raining that I realized how sweaty I really was.  (I'm sure I have disgusted you all now.)

New York City, I am now in love you too!

Not the best food shot, but this NY pastry was delish!

Here are 10 reasons why:
1. The subway
2. People outside being friendly and active
3. Awesome parks, each with a different purpose
4. The highline in Manhattan.
5. A plethora of history and cobblestone streets
6. The gateway to America's art/fashion culture
7. Bodies of water all around you
8. Many people from around the world visiting
9. COFFEE! The way it should be!
10. Famous pizza and pastries




I found my way to the airport just fine.

Now: NYC -> Berlin -> Gothenburg, Sweden