Week 20: Malibu State Park

A few weeks ago, Tom found a list of local "swimming holes." I thought swimming holes only existed in Mark Twain, but apparently they also abound in Los Angeles County. In any event, we ventured to Malibu State Park to check out the swimming hole, and this being L.A., the outdoor set of M.A.S.H.

Since it's been over a month now since we went, I am just going to dump a bunch of pictures on you. Suffice it to say, it was a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. What was less lovely was the Wednesday morning that I spent at the DMV after losing my license on the aforementioned Sunday afternoon, but that is another story entirely. Anyway...the M.A.S.H. set was cool.

I want a horse.

After about a six mile hike, it was swimming hole time. For Tom anyway.

{debating}

{going for it}

Final analysis? Malibu Creek State Park is a lovely oasis in the middle of the city. M.A.S.H was a terrific program. And Hot Lips Houlihan is a fabulous (albeit slightly sexist) character name. Hurrah for state parks and Hot Lips!

 I was just going to warn you to avoid doing a Google image search for Hot Lips Houlihan because time, or more accurately, the plastic surgeon, has not been kind to her, but then I thought, I've seen it, and I shouldn't have to suffer alone. Avert your eyes if you don't want to tarnish your memory of Nurse Houlihan.

Ah, we can't go out like that. Happily, Hawkeye has aged much more gracefully.

To sum up, go to the Malibu Creek State Park. Do not do Google image searches of tv hotties from the late seventies.

Week 19: Spring Decorating

 Unlike most people who use spring as a chance to clean, I opted to add to the clutter by making totally unnecessary butterfly garlands! This was more a product of my inability to sit still and just watch TV than anything else. Also, I have a tough time throwing magazines away, and this project was perfect for justifying my collection of back issues of O, Real Simple, Shape, Elle Decor, Better Homes and Gardens, Traveler, and The Atlantic. Note to self: consider cutting back on magazine subscriptions.

Anyway, as Tom and I vegged out one evening last month, I whipped up a bunch of these guys. I got the idea and instructions here (how I came across a German blog in the first place is beyond me). In case you aren't fluent in German...

Find a colorful page and rip it out.

Cut out a 10cm x 7cm rectangle and an 8cm x 8cm square (those wacky Europeans with their crazy metric system!).

 Diagonally fold both pieces accordion-style.

Stick the rectangle on top of the square and connect them. I used floral wire.

Do that 10-12 more times, and - boom - butterfly garland!

Week 18: Settling In

Now that we're coming up on almost a year in L.A., I decided it was probably time to hang some things on our sad, empty walls. Obviously, I have hung things on walls before (beginning, probably, with a tapestry and my parents old records in my inexplicable 8th grade hippie stage), but I have never hung things up in Los Angeles before... I know, it's a stretch, but take it or leave it, it's the new thing for week 18. It is slightly more legit, however, because I used a new strategy for creating the gallery wall effect.

Thanks again to the magic of Pinterest, I came across this idea a while back and decided I should give it a go in hopes of avoiding the ridiculous excess of nail holes that usually results when I try to hang pictures unsupervised. I generally end up with about three times as many holes as are strictly necessary. Pinterest seemed to have the perfect solution though, so I got out my parchment paper and started tracing the frames I wanted to hang. Apparently, however, I did not pay close enough attention to the directions because I traced my frames and then cut them out instead of laying them all out on one big piece of paper. This was dumb. It makes way more sense to do it like the nice lady in the example.

Anyway, I taped my paper templates to the wall and pounded nails in the (mostly) appropriate spots. There were a few adjustments necessary because of spacing issues (which would have been avoided if I had followed the dang directions), but I'd say I only ended up with 10% more holes than required.