Tag Archives: Culver City

Have A Low-Key 4th (or Friends, Fries, and Fireworks)

Posted on July 7, 2017 | Comments Off on Have A Low-Key 4th (or Friends, Fries, and Fireworks)

Since the 4th of July party I usually go to was on the 1st, I had the 4th of July free. I wasn’t totally sure what I wanted to do that day, but I knew I was going to enjoy having an extra day off. So many holidays are on Mondays (or have fallen on a Sunday) so I don’t get an extra day off that often. It’s a real treat when there is an extra day that I can relax and have fun.

I figured I’d try to go and see fireworks somewhere, but I really didn’t have a plan. For the last several years, I’ve pretty much gone to Chris and Marie’s party. But I used to go to other events before. About 4 years ago I went to the fireworks show in Studio City. And for a few years before that I went to the show in Culver City. But with my friends living all over LA, I wasn’t quite sure where I would end up this year.

I texted some friends to see who was interested in going to a show and most people either had plans or didn’t feel like driving in holiday traffic. I don’t blame them because I didn’t want to drive that far and usually I have plans. But fortunately my friend Grace (she works for the podcast with me and also goes to OTF) had no plans and was up for coming to my side of town! So after she had some acting work to do, she headed over and we went to the Culver City fireworks show.

The Culver City show used to be at Culver City High School, where I used to be a substitute teacher. I was pretty familiar with the school and we watched the fireworks from the football field which was pretty fun. But since the last time I went to the show, they moved from doing the show at the high school to West LA College (a community college in Culver City). It’s still pretty close to my house, so it didn’t take us too long to get there.

The seating is on the grass of some of the sports fields there (I think it was the soccer and softball fields) and most people bring blankets and chairs to sit on. I had a big beach blanket that stays in my car, so I grabbed that for us to sit on. The gates opened at 4pm and we got there around 7 so a lot of the field was already claimed by other people. But we didn’t need too much room for 2 of us and found a spot that seemed pretty good. Since fireworks go up high, I wasn’t too worried about being very close. And I wasn’t expecting to see the show that was on the stage before the fireworks (I think it was just different musical acts).

It was pretty awesome getting to hang out with Grace. We’ve gotten to hang out a bunch lately and she is so awesome! She’s pretty new to LA still so I’m always sharing random LA advice with her. But she’s been kicking butt considering she’s still new to town! I wasn’t doing that much for my career when I moved here, but then again I was focused on college then. But it’s awesome to be friends with someone who is super motivated because that motivates me to do more.

There were a bunch of food trucks there to buy food and Grace went on a food run while I held down our blanket. It took her a while because of the crowds, but I didn’t mind because there was some really great people watching. It’s such an interesting crowd that goes to this fireworks show. It’s not the typically LA event and it really has a small-town feel to it for being in the middle of a major city. I loved seeing all the families having fun and the kids acting like kids and not being jaded by the world.

Grace ended up getting us some french fries and they were so good! They were so good that I forgot to get a photo of them before we ate them! It was the perfect treat to have while we waited for it to get dark for the fireworks to start. I had looked at what time sunset would be, but the show had to start much later (closer to 9pm).

In the past, I’ve always been impressed by this fireworks show. For being a smaller show, it’s one of the longer shows. And this year was no different. It was about 20 minutes of fireworks to lots of different songs. We couldn’t really hear the songs because all the speakers were placed close to the stage, but it didn’t matter. Seeing the fireworks is still awesome and exactly what I wanted to do for the 4th of July.

After the show was done, Grace headed out to get an Uber home while I headed back to my car. Taking an Uber would probably have been the better option because the parking garage was a total mess trying to leave. I didn’t even move my car from the parking spot for about an hour. It took me almost so long to get out of there, but once I was out of the garage it was only a few minutes to get back home.

It was a low-key 4th of July, but it had all the elements of what I wanted to do that day. I’m glad that I got to do exactly what I wanted to do that day and it was a nice way to have a day off before getting back to all the craziness of my life.

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Posted in Celebrations, Fun Stuff

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Culver City 5K (or 5K #2 For The Year)

Posted on June 17, 2014 | 8 comments

I’ve obviously slowed down on the number of 5Ks that I’m doing this year. In fact, at this point last year, I had just done 5K #5 (and reached my year-long goal 6 months early!). But when I had that goal in mind, I didn’t have any other workouts that I love. Now I have 2 different workouts that I’m really enjoying so my 5Ks aren’t getting the same focus that they used to.

But I’m still going to do some of my favorite races, and this past weekend was one of the ones I really enjoyed last year. It’s the Culver City 5K (if you couldn’t guess that already from the title of the post). I like this race for a few reasons. One, it’s a super flat course. I actually walk a similar path when I do some walking in my neighborhood. Two, this 5K starts and ends about 3 blocks from my house so it’s extremely easy to get to. And three, there is a discounted entry for substitute teachers of Culver City Unified (which I’m still signed up to do), so I don’t have to spend a ton of money to do the race.

This past Saturday was the bib pickup and it’s held in the parking lot of one of the schools I used to sub at a lot. It’s easy to get to and since this race is pretty small, it’s only takes about a minute to get everything done.

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Since the race is pretty much down the street from me and it had an 8am start, I didn’t have to wake up too early. But as soon as I got up in the morning, I realized that it could be a pretty warm morning. And I’ve had issues with crazy hot 5Ks in the past and haven’t liked it. So I drank a ton of water and tried to think cool thoughts as I headed over to the start line.

I was also very excited for this race because I finally got to meet a new friend in person! Lyndsay blogs on The Balance Brunette and we had connected recently over several FB groups that we are both a part of. She lives very close to me and we had been trying to meet up at a happy hour or something, but our schedules just didn’t match up. But we realized that we both were doing this 5K, so we finally got to meet!

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Originally, Lyndsay was going to run this 5K, but since some things had come up, she changed her mind and decided to walk with me. I warned her that I am slow and if she felt like she wanted to go faster she could ditch me and my feelings wouldn’t be hurt. But she said that she planned to stick with me.

Of course, I had to get a quick “before” photo of me before the race started.

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We ended up being toward the front of the pack for the start, but we stayed off to the side to make sure we didn’t make any of the runner mad.

This was one of my slowest 5Ks ever. I finished in about 1 hour and 8 minutes. But I don’t care. I know that I walked slower than I would if I was racing alone because I wanted to chat with Lyndsay while we walked. And if I had been going as fast as I could, I would be too out of breath.

We had a nice walk together just chatting about random stuff. We did a lot of chatting about blogging and the various issues we both have. We also both babysit so we talked about that as well.

And at around the one mile marker, one of the coolest things that has happened to me so far regarding this blog happened. Lyndsay and I were walking and I was telling her a funny story about a store that we were walking past when I heard someone yell, “Jen, hi!”. I turned to look who had called my name and I didn’t recognize her. Since I’m horrible with faces and names I figured I just forgot who she was. But as she came up to me she told me that she reads this blog and just wanted to say hello! How cool is that!?!? And to the woman who said hi, you totally made my day! But you didn’t say what your name was so I can’t acknowledge you properly. Hopefully you are reading this and you can comment and let me know who you are!

After finishing the 5K, Lyndsay and I had to get some victory pictures with our new race bling.

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This was actually Lyndsay’s first race where she got a medal (and I know it won’t be the last)!

Eventually we headed our separate ways to head home.

Even though this was my slowest 5K possibly ever, I totally consider this a success. I finished and I didn’t finish last (about 15 people finished after us). That’s all that matters. And I got to finally meet my new friend.

My medal holder in my living room is starting to get a bit full now. I think it looks awesome. My dad is scared that I’m reaching the weight limit on it. Hope not because I know I’ve got some more awesome race bling coming up later this year!

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5K #5 (or It Only Took Me 6 Months To Complete A 1 Year Goal)

Posted on June 17, 2013 | 3 comments

Yesterday, I completed 5K #5. I still can’t believe that I did it! I remember when I was writing this post and wondering if I would ever get it done.

At the time I wrote that post, the 5Ks I had in mind were the Color Run, the March of Dimes March for Babies (which I ended up missing because I was at the dress fitting that day), the Revlon Run/Walk, and then doing the Universal Studios one again. That would be 4 and I figured I would find another one before the end of 2013.

I never would have guessed on January 1st that I would complete my goal by June 16th. Part of what helped me get it done was just taking the risk and signing up for races that I didn’t know well. It does make me have a bit more anxiety during the race (because I don’t know the course that well ahead of time), but I’ve learned that using Google maps I can help reduce some of my panic and be more prepared.

Anyway, back to my recap of my race yesterday. I signed up for this one because it was extremely close to my house (the start/finish line was just under a mile from my front door) and there was a discounted entry for employees of the Culver City Unified School District (technically, I am still employed there as a substitute teacher).

Yesterday morning was not my best morning. I woke up in pretty bad pain. If I didn’t have a race, I probably would have spent my morning doing stretches and waiting for painkillers to kick in. I didn’t have that option, so I did some stretches and took some painkillers and hoped for the best. Because of needing to do extra stretches, I was running late. So instead of walking to the start line, I ended up driving (looking back, I wish I rode my bike as there were areas to lock bikes up right by the start/finish line).

The 5K started before the 10K, so I went to the start line and hung to the back of the pack. And of course, I took a before picture.

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I found that shirt at Old Navy and felt it was pretty fitting since that shirt expresses how I feel about finishing a year-long goal in half the time.

I was one of the last people to start the race. One of my fears is being the last person to cross the finish line, so I tried to focus on staying ahead of at least a few people. For the first 2 miles, I was in pain. It sucked, but I pushed through (I’m only regretting that a little now as I’m still in pain). But I kept going and was very happy when I could see the finish line in my sight.

I ended up crossing the finish line 10 seconds faster than the Firefly Run, which means that I’ve taken 26 seconds off of my Hollywood Half 5K time (the first officially timed race I did this year).

And my self-portrait finish picture.

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I was very happy that 4 people finished the 5K after me, so I wasn’t last. And right after I crossed the finish line, the winner of the 10K crossed. So it was pretty cool to see that.

Sorry for the short recap of this race. It wasn’t a super eventful race for me and I was by myself so I didn’t take a ton of pictures. But it did get me to my goal, and that will make this race very memorable.

So what’s next? I still have a few other 5Ks in mind, but I don’t know if I want to set another goal (like doing 10). If I do that, it will be awesome, but I also have to keep in mind that races aren’t always the cheapest things to do. I will do the Universal Studios one again, and there’s a Santa Monica one I’m looking at towards the end of the year.

But for now, I’m just super happy that I have a nice collection of bibs and medals.

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My dad hasn’t been in town yet so my super cool medal hanger that my aunt got me is still not up yet. But it will be hopefully very soon. At least I can admire my work this way for now.

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Posted in Celebrations, Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health

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Family Time (or A Culver City Type of Day)

Posted on February 12, 2013 | 1 comment

My mom and Aunt Cindy got here yesterday in the afternoon, so I spent the morning doing errands and cleaning up and the afternoon with them.

My mom and dad normally come to visit me together (my dad’s first solo visit was for the Pat Metheny show), but my mom has been here a few times alone. My aunt has never visited me while I’ve lived at my current house, but now that I think about it, I don’t know if she’s ever visited me in LA before.

The first stop when after they both had gotten in (my mom was driving from the Bay Area and my aunt was coming in from Sacramento), was my house. It was nice and clean (I hope), and my aunt finally got to see my cute little house. I gave her the grand tour, which took all of 2 minutes, and then we were off for an adventure.

My aunt grew up in Culver City (my mom and her siblings grew up in the LA area too, but in the valley), and had not been back in years. I was always telling her about different areas, but she couldn’t quite picture it. So we did a little driving tour of Culver City.

We went to check out my aunt’s old house. My aunt wasn’t sure she wanted to go inside, but my mom has an awesome track record of getting to see the inside of houses she grew up in, so she tried. And we did get to go inside and see my aunt’s old house.

I had never seen it before, but according to my aunt, a lot of the place was exactly the same as how it was when she lived there with her parents. Even the tiles in the kitchen were the exact same! She’s going to find some old photos so I could see what it looked like when she lived there.

After that, we drove around to see her old school, which is one of the schools that I used to substitute teach at!

Finally we had a nice early dinner at Ugo.

We ended the night early since both my mom and aunt had long drives earlier today. We have more adventures planned for today, and I’ll be writing about those tomorrow!

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Aria V Wine Shop (or Another Living Social Win!)

Posted on December 6, 2012 | 1 comment

I’ve had some good Living Social deals and some pretty awful ones. And over the summer, I had seen a deal for 12 wine tastings plus 2 appetizers at Aria V Wine Shop in Culver City. Seemed like a decent deal to me since it only cost me $25.

The deal was going to expire next week, so yesterday my friend Kate and I decided to finally test it out. It was located in a kind of weird area of Culver City (almost under the 405 and right next to a shut down hospital). But we managed to find some free street parking around the block and headed inside.

It’s actually located inside the Polentoni restaurant (so if you are going look for that sign), but inside a little private room. When Kate and I got there, we were the only ones in that room, but it quickly filled up.

We explained to our waiter that we were here for the Living Social deal and he explained that we could choose 2 appetizers that were priced at $12.50 or under and then 6 wines each to taste that were priced at $42 a bottle or under. Anything over that and we would just have to pay the difference.

We checked out the menus.

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I asked our waiter if I could get the Prosecco as 2 of my tastings and then pick 4 more and he was ok with that.

We got our food.

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(I ate lightly earlier in the day to save up for these calories).

And when our “tastings” arrived, we were shocked by how generous the pour was.

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I’m a pretty lightweight when it comes to alcohol, and there is no way I could do 6 tastings like that!

In the end, I had 2 glasses of Prosecco and one glass of a rose that the waiter had selected for me. And Kate had 3 glasses of Italian reds that the waiter had selected for her (one was called a Super Tuscan, but I don’t know the rest).

As we were brought the bill, the waiter also brought us glasses of their special holiday mulled wine.

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It looked and smelled delicious, but personally I didn’t like it very much.

And when our bill arrived, it proved that we got our moneys worth on this deal.

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We left a very nice tip.

I’ll totally go back to Aria V, even if I don’t have a deal for it. It was yummy, the atmosphere was fun, and it’s pretty close to my house.

And I’ve been in a bit of a funk the last few days (the work schedule and lack of sleep is getting to me a bit). But nothing can bust you out of a funk better than hanging out with your best friend and having moments where you are laughing so hard that you are crying.

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