Hollywood!

Hey guys, sorry it took me so long to get this post going, but it's been sort of busy since I got back to work. Taking off a million days didn't really help matters - but it was totally worth it! So as you know by now, I took a jaunt to Los Angeles for the weekend, to stay with Eric and Alex in their house in the Hollywood Hills. Eric was nice to enough to pick us up at the airport, and it was nothing but sun and mid-seventies the whole time we were there, as you will see from the sapphire skies in the photo. Eric and Alex have a great house in the Hollywood Hills - their street and the exterior of the house are pictured here. Actor John Rhys-Davies - better known as the dwarf from "Lord of the Rings" used to live there, which I thought was pretty cool.

Anyway, Matt and I had an awesome time visiting LA. Neither of us had spent much time there before, so it was really cool to get out and see the town. We had dinner with Paula - an author I know from my company on Friday night, at this cool Italian restaurants where the waiters all sing. Matt and I spent a day wandering around Santa Monica - which is the area you see with the palm trees - just gorgeous. We shopped and had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the beach. We kept saying we'd forgotten that it was December! Alex was awesome enough to take us hiking in Topanga Canyon on Sunday, which was fun, beautiful and invigorating. And Eric took us to the Grove on Sunday night - a cool outdoor mall that is all decorated for Christmas - complete with huge trees, Santa and his reindeer, and fake snow all through the streets.

Matt and I also got to hang out with James - a friend we met on our first trip to Europe six years ago. We hadn't seen him since he'd been to New York three or four years ago, so it was awesome to see him. We also met him at the Saddle Ranch where we got to watch people ride and fall off a mechanical bull. Nice!

So to finish off this post, let's do the list of awesome quotes from the weekend:

IS THAT QUEEN LATIFAH? HOLY FUCK!

Um...there's some kind of green algae growing in the Brita water pitcher...

Yes Obi-Wan Kenobe - you are wise beyond your years...

The bartender lost my credit card! I'm going to have to cancel my credit card!

Could the entrance to this stupid dome be any harder to find? Jesus!

Hey you guys mind if we sit here? (Alex, talking to a table of pigeons outside in and out burger). Thanks!

Thanks to Eric, Alex and Dale for letting us crash at their awesome place, and thanks to Eric and Alex for taking us cool places in LA! Hope we can do it again soon!