Recap

 I've been in the desert, La Quinta to be exact, for 3ish weeks now... So here's a recap of how I've been spending my time thus far! To be honest I haven't spent too much time at home yet. I've been enjoying the freedom to be a vagrant (my life long dream)!

 I was only in the desert for 2 days when I left to go to LA to spend time with my grandparents, great aunts, and dear friends Shelly and Kenz.  We braved Leisure World to shop the estate sales and found a few treasures, went to Nordstrom, and drank unhealthy amounts of coffee.  It's so nice to be close to family again.  I know my time with them is not infinite, so I'm savoring every moment.  

I'm equally excited to be closer to my So Cal friends!  Shelly, Kenz and I headed to San Clemente for our 4th (or 5th???) annual beach weekend!  We mostly ate and watched Girls, but enjoyed our time together as usual.  We ended our weekend back in Orange County to snack and watch The Oscars! 

 I was also able to go spend a few days with Jeanna in Loma Linda (only an hour away from me!).  We were Prom chaperones, watched our favorite movies (Tristan & Isolde and Sister Pants), and hiked to the Hollywood sign (something I finally got to check off my bucket list)!

I've also been enjoying the desert before it gets unbearably hot!  The weather has been pretty pleasant and I've realized it's so much more beautiful out here than I ever imagined!  Our first stop was to get season tickets to the zoo!  It's so much better than we expected!  It has real animals, giraffe feeding, pretty trails and gardens, and of course a gift shop! 

 Joshua Tree National Park is about 30 minutes away, so we spent one day exploring!  It's absolutely beautiful and another State Park I got to check off my list!  

Last week we went to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden (it is as fancy as it sounds) for a big tournament!  My dad's coworker has a box, so he invited us to eat, watch tennis, and rub elbows with the rich!  It was so fun!  I loved watching the pros (we saw the #1 ranked guy in the world)!  

Last weekend Andrew was in town and we decided to cool off a bit by taking the Tram up a mountain to Mount San Jacinto State Park.  The ride up was a little scary, but so worthwhile!  There was actually snow on top of the mountain!  I haven't seen snow for ages.  My dad and I also got to hike a bit and see some great views.

I wasn't sure I wanted to start up blogging again, but am so excited to be able to document my adventures!  I really want to use this time off to do all the things I was too tired to do when working full time.  I've always loved writing and reminiscing, so this seems like the perfect way to do both.