Descanso Gardens

March 23, 2022 Nina Penalosa1 Comment

When things don’t go as planned, it can be pretty disappointing. But other times it can be full of wonderful surprises.

While I was down in LA earlier this month, my friends had insisted that we go to the Huntington Library since we didn’t have time to go when I visited last October. But once we were en route we learned that it was closed on Tuesdays — take note in case you plan to go too! A few ideas were tossed around, and we ended up going to Descanso Gardens instead. I had never been, nor heard of it before, but I’m always down for a promenade amongst nature. 🌿

We spent time admiring the different types of camellias that bloom there, pointing at all the squirrels and ducks we happened upon, and watching turtles swim around and sunbathe. There was one baby that kept trying to climb on the back of another for what felt like forever, but we kept rooting for it until it successfully climbed aboard! We also spotted four that stayed in place for the longest time, so we said those were our turtlesonas.

I also had an amazing opportunity to partner with Dr. Martens, so of course I wore my Chelsea Boots to wander around for the day. At one point we walked up a steep incline, and my Docs helped me through it 😮‍💨 I’m usually a tennis shoes or ballet flat girl, but lately I’ve really been into pairing boots with dresses. I love the way my Docs compliment my gray maxi dress from Blackmilk Clothing with black birds and pops of yellow and pink flowers.

Afterwards we had brunch, and a few stores down we came across The Last Book Store’s Montrose location which is full of plants. We didn’t get to explore the store as much since we had to buy Liveplay tickets for one of the BTS concerts in Las Vegas (haha 😅), but had we gone to the Huntington we wouldn’t have seen all that we did.

This day was also really special as it was International Women’s Day and I got to spend it with some of my favorite ladies. If you read my previous blog post you know I’ve been going through a very hard time, so days like this are much needed.

:: OUTFIT DETAILS ::
dress: Blackmilk Clothing (n/a)
chelsea boots: Dr. Martens (buy here)
jacket: A New Day (n/a) / purse: Coach (buy similar here)
necklaces: Alex and Ani (buy here) & Karen Digital Shop (buy here)

Cheers,
Nina

The Second Happiest Place on Earth

March 28, 2014 Nina Penalosa6 Comments

Powell’s City of Books is one of the most magical places I have ever had the pleasure of visiting. It is without a doubt the second happiest place on earth — the first being Disneyland (duh), but it definitely gives Disneyland a run for its money. If only they had Dole Whips. *le sigh* Upon entering Powell’s, Caitlin and I were both bright eyed and bushy tailed and extremely overwhelmed. Books upon books upon books and MORE BOOKS! We spent a good two and a half hours in there (Jen joined us a bit later since she had a late start that morning), and I could’ve easily spent the entire day there if my stomach wasn’t telling me to put some food in it. I’ll talk more about food on the blog later, because OMG. *salivating*

Anyhow, I had no idea where to even start as all the literary categories were split into different rooms on various floors (Gold, Rose, Purple, Pearl, etc). At the front of the store there’s a bookshelf featuring their best sellers, and The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman was in their top 30! This made me quite happy since that’s my “100 item” at my job. Caitlin and I went into the Rare Book room where many books that were printed around the 1800s were beautifully displayed in all their worn-out leather bound glory. We must’ve looked really strange as we opened books and held them close to our faces to inhale the old book smell. I sniffed a book from 1884. It smelled spectacular.

I kept straying away from everything I had on my original booklist, then found myself with at least 10 books. One included a gorgeous copy of Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote that was in fact Tiffany blue. It’s one of my all-time favorite books, but I couldn’t justify buying a book I already had two copies of (I think I mentioned in one of my previous posts that I got a copy that looks like a first edition, but I can’t tell if it actually is or isn’t). Ugh! It was very difficult, but I managed to trim the fat off of my shopping basket.

I walked away with…

Nerd Do Well by Simon Pegg
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell
I Don’t Care About Your Band by Julie Klausner
The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld
Spirit Animals by Stefanie Iris Weiss
Van Gogh quote card
Unicorn postcard (most beautiful postcard EVER!)
Downton Abbey tea (not pictured, and it was a last minute find at the register)
Powell’s tote

I gave myself a budget of $50, but then I said eff it. BUY ALL THE BOOKS! Carpe diem! Next time I go to Powell’s I’m going to bring some books from my personal library to sell for store credit, that way my bank account won’t be pissed at me. The only problem is that I have a hard time letting go of books. I’ll figure it out when the time comes.

I’m not even close to being done about sharing all my fun adventures in Portland, so stay tuned for more posts!

Cheers,
Nina

PS: In case you’re wondering about the group picture, Jen said I could only share it so long as I Photoshopped a horse head over her face.

bloop

Wanderlusting

April 24, 2012 Nina Penalosa6 Comments

Lately I’ve been feeling ~~quite~~ extremely restless with my surroundings and have had this innate urge to go out and explore. I’ve also been wanting to use the word “innate” in a sentence, so I guess 1 out of 2 ain’t so bad. Wait, I take that back. I won’t settle for 1 out of 2. I won’t!

Saturday’s day trip to San Francisco was much needed, but I want more. I want to get in my car and head up north to Portland and Seattle. I want to drive up the dizzying road that leads to Lake Tahoe (even though I have yet to drive out of town by myself). I want to hop on a plane and see the east coast. I want to cross the “pond” and walk amongst the cobbled streets of Europe. Hell, I’ll settle for a mini adventure too, like a day trip to Santa Cruz or Berkeley.

ADVENTURE IS OUT THERE! And I need to explore oh-so-badly. Pictures with words that enhance the feelings of wanderlust keep popping up on my Tumblr dashboard. I feel like it’s a sign. The interweb gods want me to get off my ass and go see things with my own eyes, rather than just seeing these wonderful places on my laptop’s screen.

John Green just posted a new video up on Vlogbrothers about how he went out with Ransom Riggs, author of Mrs. Peregrine’s School For Peculiar Children, and adventured deep into the belly of an abandoned hospital in Los Angeles.

Towards the end of the video he says, “It is nice, on a Thursday morning in April to be a kid for awhile, exploring with old friends, never knowing what wonder or terror may await around the corner. And isn’t that why we explore and also why we read, and watch sports and browse Tumblr and study astrophysics? Whether we’re watching horror movies or accidentally visiting their sets, I think we’re after the terrifying, awesome, otherworldly feeling of not knowing what lies in wait.”

Oh, John Green. You always make me feel all the things.