A Revival: Griffith Observatory & The Getty Center

A Day of Frolic and Play...in L.A.
[Date: November 2011]

Charlene and I had a free day during the week to go up to LA and visit our cousin Alee. We picked her up after her morning shift at Starbucks (on Olympic & Doheny in Beverly Hills) and got some coffee and breakfast as well.

{Side Note}
As I was standing in line with Charlene to order (Alee was "taking" our order, heehee), I noticed this guy behind me and he looked so familiar...I've seen him somewhere before. Later as we were leaving Starbucks, Alee tells me that it was Jason London (I knew it, he's from 7th Heaven!).

To start our day off, we headed straight for the Griffith Observatory. I have been wanting to go here for a while now, so I was really excited!

{Location: Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles}

There wasn't much of a crowd that day. Initially, I thought it was because we were there on a random weekday and it was still pretty early in the morning. Much to my dismay, we found out that the place was closed that day (note to self: double check business hours before going)...but nonetheless, we enjoyed what we could outside of the observatory :)

{Love}
That view of Los Angeles from way up here.

Of course I HAD to take my picture with the legendary James Dean :)

So I guess I'll have to return some other time to fully experience the rest of the observatory! I was a little bummed, but that's okay. In no way did this ruin my day...if anything, it just gave me another excuse to come up to LA again :)

After the observatory, Alee took us out for some lunch at Alcove Cafe & Bakery. This cafe was so cute. It's  housed in two cottages and has a beautiful terrace/garden surrounding it. We ate our lunch al fresco! The food was pretty darn tasty too :)

{Side Note}
As we were eating, Alee notices a familiar face sitting across from us. She and Charlene recognized the guy, but I had no idea who he was. Apparently, it was Damian Fahey (from MTV's TRL back in the day). I couldn't take a picture without it being too obvious, and plus the guy was having his lunch so I didn't want to impose. What is up with the 90's/early 00's celebrity sightings today? Hahaha :)

After lunch we headed on to The Getty! I was super thrilled we were going. I've heard so much about it and I thoroughly enjoyed going to The Getty Villa in Malibu last year (in 2010), so I knew I needed to pay a visit to The Getty soon.

Finally, after getting lost for about 20 minutes, we arrive at The Getty! Haha...basically, Charlene's GPS (aka Bear) took us into the residential area surrounding the museum and we thought that maybe The Getty had another side entrance or something. Nope! Ughh...so we had to back track to the main freeway.

{Side Story}
As we were winding through the hilly neighborhood, trying to get back on the main freeway, Charlene turned a corner and I literally screamed my head off! In someone's yard, there was a fully dressed and very realistic monster/skeleton figure hanging from a tree. Mind you, it was a few weeks after Halloween already, so it didn't occur to me that it was Halloween decoration. I seriously jumped up from my seat and screamed at the top of my lungs, which in turn, scared Alee in the backseat and she screamed too! Charlene thought I was playing around at first, but then she said when she looked at my face and heard my scream, she could tell that I was seriously terrified...and then we all started to laugh hysterically! I realized what it was after a few seconds and felt so dumb! Oh well...at least we got a good laugh out of it :P

{Location: The Getty Center in Los Angeles}
Whoa...what? This tram ride up to the museum was quite the experience :)

{Tidbit Fact}
I love going to museums. It's one of my favorite past times. For me, it's a place to escape and just become enthralled in all that art, history and other world cultures. Bonus points if the museum features gardens too!

[The Central Garden at The Getty Center]

The Central Garden is so utterly, breathtakingly beautiful.

{Love}
I felt like Alice in Wonderland walking through the garden :)

{Love}
I fell in love with this area. Giant pink floral trees!

The Fall colors were in full swing! LOVING it.

As you can obviously tell, the Central Garden stole my heart! I couldn't pull myself away from it...and a good chunk of our time was spent there :)

We headed back to Beverly Hills area for dinner at Chipotle (hey, their food is good and fast and affordable...always a plus!) and afterwards we went back to Alee's Starbucks for some coffee. We had been sitting at our table for about 15 minutes or so, when I noticed a guy walk through the door. I definitely recognized this one! Seriously? I was star struck...it was Bruce Willis! I am (and have been) a big fan of his. Our table happened to be right next to the bar area, and he was standing 3 feet away from us as he was waiting for his drink. I SO wanted to take a picture with him! But I clammed up...got nervous and to be honest, his presence was a little intimidating! Now, I'm kicking myself in the rear for not even trying to take a picture with him. Ohhhh me....  ;(

I'd say all in all, it was a great LA day with my sister and cousin. I had so much fun! The celeb sightings were interesting. The places we went to were awesome. We got in a good laugh (and a good scare). I LOVE spending QT with these two gals <3