Hello, and where to from here.

Hey there!

I'm not here anymore, I know! This blog has served me well over the years, as an amazing way to catalogue our round-the-world trip of 2012, the best of our time in LA, and a spot to share some of my thoughts on the world and my place in it.

But I'm going to be honest with you, I just don't have time for it for anymore! I'm so so busy with work and life, and just plain living to be writing about it all the time.

But rather than delete all this content, I thought I'd just leave it here because there are still some valuable resources, and things you may want to explore.

This post is designed to serve as a table of contents to the highlights of this blog, in case you're planning a road trip, or thinking of moving to Los Angeles, or keen to eat at some amazing restaurants.

If you're not interested in any of those things, and maybe you're just looking for me - you can find me here, on my new website, showcasing my photography work, my creative endeavours, and even a photo blog!

But in the meantime, here is one helluva table of contents:

1 ~ First up, exploring Los Angeles:

An overview to my four part guide to the city.

2 ~ Preparing for a road trip across America?

An overview of tips and ideas!
Planning the big ride.
Here's my top ten items to take.
What to do on the road.

3 ~ The road trip itself! In 2012 we drove over 7000 miles from New York to Los Angeles. This is what we saw:

The Road Trip Overview.

4 ~ New York City:

Before we started on our road trip, we spent a month in New York. Here is the blog post, with links to individual posts about different things we did.

5 ~ My husband certainly knows what makes a good restaurant tick, and what makes great food amazing. Read his restaurant reviews here:

New York City
Europe

This is something I reeeeeeeally believe in.

Long live the nap.

The Happy Creative.

Have you had a chance to visit this website yet? No? You totally should, right now.

It's the best pathway to being a happy creative.

A Simple Thank You

When Novels Were Bad For You

"She will tell you about how, when she was small, she could lose herself in a novel for hours, and now, all she can do is watch the tweets swim by like glittery fish in the river of time-she-will-never-get-back."


I love this quote from this New York Times article I just stumbled upon. Definitely worth a read.

There are times when I hate myself for being oh-so-consumed by my facebook news feed, rather than picking up a great book. I've found that something that definitely helps me is having a book loaded on my phone, on the Kindle app - for those doctors-waiting-room-moments, when you do need something to pass the time. Now if only I could stop my fingers from tapping straight on the facebook app, rather than the Kindle one!

Incredible

My father-in-law sent me this mind-blowing video this morning. What an incredible photographer:

Taylor

Headshots from this week, with the oh-so-sweet Taylor!

Photographs by me.

This is gonna be an eye-opener...

Husband

I finally managed to convince Husband to let me take his photo. And it worked out so well! I have so much love for this man, and I think he looks pretty phenomenal in these pics, if I say so myself.

Photographs by me.

Guide to Los Angeles

Since moving out to LA about two years ago, we've had a slew of wonderful visitors, friends and family pop into town - either just to holiday, or to stay for good. And, as to be expected, they're always after some hints and tips and tricks and ideas. Over the years we've sent out brief emails, jotted down lists, and texted out maps, but it does finally feel like it is time to draw up a bit of a guide, to our experiences of Los Angeles, and what I think is worth visiting, and not.

So, I've split it up into a few blog posts, by area:

Silver Lake & Los Feliz (my 'hood)

Hollywood

Downtown

LA & Surrounds

I've also made a list of the ultimate tourist things to do in this town.

And I thought I'd include here just a few suggestions for making the most out of your stay in LA:

1. HAPPY HOUR
I can't emphasise this enough. If you can switch up your meal times and grab an early dinner you can save big bucks. Or just grab a great round of drinks!

2. RESERVATIONS
This city is packed to the rafters. If you'd like to go out for a meal on the weekend, do phone ahead and make a reservation.

3. CAR HIRE
Los Angeles is big, and spread out! You will need a car, seriously.

4. UBER
That said, uber is a fantastic option for getting around, especially at night time, when you'll pay a $10000 fine for getting caught drinking and driving.

5. AIRBNB
You can find some great spots to stay in and around town on airbnb, and often get to meet some locals in the process.

6. TIPPING
You have to add a tip! A good rule of thumb is to double the tax (which will be printed on your bill), or to make sure you're hitting between 15-20%.

7. TAX
Speaking of tax, in Los Angeles you're looking at around 9% added onto everything you purchase, at the time of purchase. So be prepared to hear a much higher price when you get to the check-out than you were originally expecting.

8. PARKING
Don't ever assume that you can just park somewhere - you can't park anywhere in this city. Or at least not without ready at least three parking signs, and feeding the meter. Pay careful attention here, the fines are hefty!


For those people looking to move to LA, these are some of the resources we found useful:

1. Immi Help
A website packed with details about visas, green cards and health insurance.

2. Craigslist
Everything from apartments to furniture to jobs to the world. There's some real junk on there too, so you'll need to sort through it carefully.

3. West Side Rentals
The best resource for finding an apartment/house. You pay a fee ($60 for 60 days), but at least that means you're finding the good stuff. We found all our apartments through this website!

4. Breaking Into The Industry
This blog has some great insight into what it means to be an actor in this town, and some good tips and tricks.

5. LA Weekly
A good daily dose of news and events around Los Angeles. I get it in my Facebook feed.

6. LA Casting
"Where the industry goes to work". Join up to network with fellow industry peeps. If you have an agent out here, they'll sign you up for free.

7. DoLA
What to do in LA - parties, events, specials.

These areas didn't quite make the cut in my book, but I can't quite leave out huge big gaps in my Guide to Los Angeles, so I'll let the internet do the talking:

Beverly Hills
Santa Monica
Beach Cities/LAX
The Valley
Pasadena

This is one big sprawling city, the second most populous in the United States (after New York), covering around 1,215 km^2. Thanks Wikipedia!

I'll keep adding!

Jesika

This was one hot afternoon. Temps above 100 degrees! My camera kept overheating, and I'm surprised Jesika managed to keep it cool. She is one great chick.

Photographs by me.

Holding On To The Memories

My love of photography and photographs has definitely awakened a need in me to record and document life a little better. I mean, what is the point of taking all these pictures just to store them away in some computer?

So, of late I've been working on printing out a few more photo books, and it made me think of the previous books I've worked on - our wedding album, and a few 60th birthday gifts now.

Here's some sneak peaks from previous books:

The Los Angeles Diaries: The Tourist Trap

These are the things that didn't quite fit into any of my other posts, and mostly are part of a real tourist experience of LA. It might be worth it to you to visit a few of these though, so I included them here:

The Disney Concert Hall - modelled after the Bilboa Guggenheim Museum. DTLA. You can take a free self-tour if you're a real music junkie, like my brother. Frankly, after seeing the real deal myself in Bilboa, I wasn't easily impressed.

Take a car-free trip around downtown LA with this guide.

Warner Brothers VIP Studio Tour - my brother and I went on this tour while he was visiting. You actually get a lot of bang for your buck, and see quite a bit of interesting stuff! The tour guide was very knowledgable, and it was fun to see the inner workings of Warner Brothers. PS - there is no non-VIP tour, they just call it that to make you feel fancy.

Pink's Hot Dogs - a Hollywood institution. Road side, every possible combination. Not overly palatable though.

Universal Studios - worth a visit after your stop at the Warner Brothers tour - they're reasonably close to each other, and there's a large section that you can wander around without actually having to go in to the Universal Studios park - which is a giant theme park. I've heard good things, but I've never been.

Disney Land - we were lucky enough to visit Disney World on our road trip across the US, and as such have not felt the need to visit Disney Land out here in California. But once again, I've heard good things. Disney World was friggin incredible, even for us mostly-grown-up adults, and it's one of those proper American experiences.

LACMA - The LA museum of contemporary and modern art, or some such. I'm so sophisticated. I've explored the grounds, but never been in. You need to get a photo under these lights, no matter what.

La Brea Tar Pits - on the same property as LACMA. A good dose of history, and actual bubbling tar pits.

Pann's Diner - feeling a bit peckish after your long flight? This diner is right by the airport, and was where they shot Pulp Fiction. A good intro to Hollywood.

The Grove - the ultimate mall experience. At least this one is mostly outdoors, and actually visually pleasing. But you can get your shopping on, grab some lunch, watch a movie, die of a sugar over-load at Sprinkles Cupcakes (a right of passage, you have to try it), and even visit The Grove Farmers Market - which is quaint, and a little more off the beaten track. I particularly like The Grove at Christmas time, they sure do know how to make it pretty. If you're staying over on the east side of LA (which I'd highly recommend), the Americana at Brand, in Glendale, is our very own version of The Grove, just without the farmers market. (Picture from the Google.)

In N Out Burger - don't miss out. Get it animal style.

Still want more?

Here's Trip Advisor's 350 Things To Do In LA.

'Where LA' racks up the Twenty Top Venues for watching live music in LA. And, the 10 best LA bars and restaurants to listen to live music.

Also, you can see my other guides here: Silver Lake, Hollywood, Downtown, LA & Surrounds, and Tourist-ville.