Brea (not the tar pits) and LA

The two days that we stayed in Brea at my uncle Leo's house were spent relaxing. Though we had technically been on "vacation" for the past two weeks, it had not felt like it with the hours of driving and the rushing from place to place. We laid by the pool, we ate good food and drank good drinks, and Jack constantly tried to get me to noodle fight or to play some kind of game with him (so competitive).

The first night we were there I felt an earthquake and Jack saw a coyote. Perhaps we should have taken those as signs.

I got to spend some time with my uncle Leo and ant Teri; anything Leo says still causes me to roar with laughter. 

This is what my Uncle Leo does everyday now that he's retired: he plays golf in the house.

Most of my family came over Tuesday night for a delicious barbecue a la Teri. Ant Kathy and her boyfriend, uncle Dave and his girlfriend, Uncle Brian, Alex, Brianna with her new cute baby Danielle, Uncle Tom and Ant Karen all came over. I had forgotten what a mixed bag my mother's family is. All wonderful people, but all VERY different. 

and introducing Danielle!

Here is Brian and Leo trying to get her to smile for the camera

The next morning we said farewell and headed to Los Angeles. We experienced the bad LA traffic and spent the time talking about what we would do if there was an earthquake.

Then we went to the Hollywood sign.

We then made our way back down the hills to the actual Hollywood.

look how little Shirley Temple was:

After we had our fill of Hollywood, we drove out to Venice Beach, which was great. So many weird, wonderful people and a pretty clean beach. We watched street performers, sat under palm trees, walked in the sand and the water, and listened to the incessant chanting of "get your medical marijuana prescription right now, the doctor is IN" standing in front of buildings with signs such as Dr. Kush. 

Jack eating the best ice-cream EVER. 

I became very homesick on the beach. I missed everyone, and I started to ask myself "What the hell am I doing?" I missed Graham, I missed my mother and my sisters, I missed all of my friends, and I missed a sense of stability. I had no idea if I would like San Francisco or not, and I was terrified of what would happen when we got there the next day. Venice Beach was where it finally hit me : I left my home and everything else I have ever known and loved. I am headed towards the unknown; I have no idea what is going to happen next. 

Ok, I had to temporarily forget those heavy feelings as we had to leave the beach to go to Amelia's (one of my high school best friends) house. After tight hugs and girly giggles, the three of us went off to get sushi. The sushi place was delicious and full of attractive LA people. Amelia and I caught up and shared stories about leaving everything behind and starting over. She seemed to be happy with her decision to leave, so it gave me some hope that I would be happy with mine as well.

The next morning we woke up, and drove to our future.