Month: March 2019

Lounging in Laguna

heros

IMG_0040

Laguna is by far one of my favorite places I’ve ever been in California! My first-time visiting was a few years ago with my Aunt and Uncle and I knew once moving back out that it was a top priority on my places to go back to! Emory and I went back in October, and although it was a few months ago now, it’s too good not to share!

Laguna is about 75 miles south right on the coast line and about an hour and a half drive from where I live (making it the perfect day trip!) It’s known for its beautiful beaches and its artistic culture!

When we went, we left on a Friday, mid-morning (trying to miss all the commuter traffic.) Once we got into town, we found a little parking lot right off the main street. In Laguna there’s pretty accessible parking everywhere, you’ll just have to pay hourly at most places! We got there just in time for an early lunch at Skyloft!  They had a great lunch menu we could pick and choose from, but what we really wanted was the view. The restaurant has what seems to be a fancier main floor, a bar atmosphere on the second floor, and then the third floor is a completely open-air patio with an incredible view of the main beach!

Afterwards we walked down to the main beach complete with the little light house  and explored the neighboring street shops! You might wonder “why going shopping when you have the beach?” Well, I’m learning that early in the morning, there’s usually a lot of fog that comes off the Pacific Ocean and on somedays it can take well into the afternoon for the fog to burn off. What better thing to do while you wait for the sun? Go check out all the local artisans’ shops! Laguna is home to many artists and the perfect place to shop if you enjoy finding unique, one of a kind things!! There are a bunch of studios that line the streets selling original fine art pieces, home décor, and specialty shops. There’s a bunch of boutiques with clothes for all different ages and styles along with everybody’s favorites traditional candy shops and surf stores! I went for the first time, it was the middle of summer and they had a bunch of different art fairs and festivals going on for even more handmade and crafted items!

Once the fog let up, we drove a little further down the coastline until we got to Aliso beach! Laguna has soooooo many incredible and picturesque beaches to choose from, but honestly, we finally decided on Aliso because there was very visible and easily accessible parking! To no surprise though, the beach was amazing besides that! It was still a breezy day and not ideal for a bikini or sunbathing in early October, but it was perfect to sit and watch the waves roll in! School must have been let out because there was a group of high school boys were wave boarding which was so cool to watch. Before long a bunch of parents and high schoolers and cheerleaders showed up for a pep-rally (before what I’m assuming was a big Friday night game!)

img_1572.jpg

Off on the side of the beach is a rocky out cropping that Emory and I decided to go explore! There were a whole bunch of tide pools along the rocks (another thing Laguna is known for) but being so late in the day, all we saw was a few anemones and mollusks of some sort. We decided to stay on the rocks and wait for sunset. In the meantime, we made friends with a seagull that would not leave us alone for any reason (even though we didn’t have any food) And before we knew it the sun was setting, and the tide was rising. Man was it worth the wait!

Although not much could follow that view, we decided it was time to move on! By this time a whole bunch of people had congregated to have bon fires (only some beaches in California will let you have them.) But before we left, we made sure to take a trolley ride along the coast! Yet another selling point on Laguna (like you needed another reason, I know) is that they have great public transportation! During peak summer hours they have trolleys that run all day long and will take you on different routes through the whole city! Since we were there in October on the other hand, we were in the start of the off-season and had to wait till later at night to enjoy.

Finally, it was getting pretty dark and we figured we better head on back! We drove up the coast as long as we could before heading back to LA. Over all is was a very laid back and relaxing day!

Where’s your favorite places to day trip? What kind of activities do you look forward to doing?

Advertisement

Bumble BFF

heros

img_0323.jpg

Phew, what’s with 2019?! It’s an intense, exciting, and full-speed ahead year, isn’t it? I’ve had a lot of things going on especially in trying to reconnect with all the friends I hadn’t seen since well before I went back to Iowa with the Holidays. If you’re looking for more recent updates, look out for my upcoming posts on Instagram & Facebook to get you up to speed! Otherwise I’m trying to get back into the swing of writing and preparing some more regular blog posts!

This week is a follow up to my post from way back in August, Finding Friends. Just a reminder I was discussing the struggles that come along with making friends as an adult and I shared a few of the ways I was going about this. One of the ideas I mentioned was trying a “dating” app to try to meet new friends. Well, I tried it and here’s what I have to say.

52051199_271357980430458_8768865375742304356_n
PC: @bumblebff

Last Fall after writing about my current friend situation I downloaded an app called Bumble. Originally this app was created with the intention of helping people to meet and inspire romantic relationships however now the app has evolved into a much larger networking tool.

Overview of the App:

There are three different modes to the Bumble app depending on what you’re looking for:

  • Bumble Date: which you sort through hoping to find potential people of interest to go on dates with, with the intentions of looking for a romantic relationship
  • Bumble Bizz: which is designed to help you to meet to grow your network in a professional sense (which I have not tried and don’t really know how it’d work…)
  • Bumble BFF: caters towards like-minded individuals looking to build friendships.

Once you download the app and select your mode, then you have to make a profile. Your profile includes a variety of images you select, and a short biography blub. You can also choose to share some additional basic info like where you work or where you went to school. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen that someone out here is also from Iowa or the Midwest and that instantly helps you build a connection! You can answer other basic lifestyle questions like if your single, if you have kids, or if you’re new to the area to further define who you are and help identify who might be a better match! You can also set some limits to further narrow your search by age, gender, and distance!

Here’s a peek at my profile!

Then once you create your profile, you’ll be shown a collection of other people profiles that you can swipe right (for yes, they seem like a great match) or left (no I don’t think we’d probably work out) At first, this was weird for me. When you use an app like this for dating motives, you can obviously tell if you initially attracted to them physically and by their biography, however when you are looking for friends, I don’t particularly care about your physical appearance. In the beginning I felt guilty for judging women based off of these limited descriptions and her physical attributes. With that being said though, you do generally get a sense of who you’d be more compatible with for example someone who says they’re super passionate about heavy metal bands and is looking for a friend to attend those kinds of concerts with— it’s probably not a great match for me. So, my approach is I try to keep as open of a mind as possible while being a little realistic. I try to find one or two things we have in common and then build from there. If you both approve of each other’s profile, then you “match.” Once you’re matched as a potential pair, then you have the ability to message one another and learn even more about each other and make plans to meet in real life.

My Experience:

IMG_0329

Once I started matching with potential new BFF’s, women were constantly messaging me wanting to meet up and grab dinner! I went on my first friend date (for lack of a better term) to get ice cream— and she was great! We got along great and found that we have some similar interests but enough differences to learn about one another. At this point I was feeling very optimistic and excited! Then, before I knew it though it started to be a lot! People wanting to go do something every night of the week which just isn’t realistic or attainable both when it comes to time and money so… I reached out to the first girl I met and reconnected with her. Turns out that she was facing the same problem: too many to meet, too little time! So, we decided together that we should plan a group date. She’d invite people wanting to meet her and I’d do that same—combine forces. So that’s what we did! We planned a get-together at Malibu Winery (always my go to) and invited about 10 women to join us!

img_0320.jpg

Once the big day came, neither of us knew what to expect because sometimes a group setting can be intimidating and interesting not knowing how one another would interact (or in this case not even who some of these women are.) Let me just say though, despite our hesitations, I truly don’t think it could have gone any better. Yes, we were an interesting group of ladies, all different ages, backgrounds, careers, interests, yet we all got along great! We shared stories over wine and snacks and just had wonderful conversations the entire day.

The beauty of it was would we all have individually met at a different event and connected and bonded, no probably not. Would we all have normally thought we’d be a friend group coming out of it, no probably not. We all shared something special that day and it gave us a bond and gave us a reason to stay in touch as a group! Maintaining these relationships, we don’t all get together every time! That’s a lot of work and pretty high expectations of one another. However, we do have a group message and when any of us has an idea of an activity the group might like, we invite one another and whoever can come, does and if it doesn’t interest you it’s totally fine!

This group of women has taught me a lot about friendship, other people and myself and I am so grateful for them! I always look forward to any activities that bring us back together. Since our initial winery date, we’ve gone roller skating, to comedy shows, out for drinks, to concerts, and to museums! We have a lot of ideas on our lists and look forward to more activities in the future!

Now outside of this group I’ve met a few other ladies that I connected with in my initial use of the App we will get dinner or drinks and I invite them to join the rest of us when we can! Outside of these few experiences, I’m no longer using the app! I now feel that between the different group of friends I have out here in LA now, I have enough of a close circle that I try to give everyone the time they deserve to continue to strengthen those friendships! I feel a little guilty that I still have so many unanswered messages on the app and I know there are way more people out there to meet! I’m satisfied though with where I’m at and think it’s best to take a little break and enjoy the ones I’ve already met.

Wrapping it up

This was over all a tremendous experience for me and it has made all of the difference! I enjoyed the freedom and flexibility it gave me in trying to make plans with other people! It’s helped me build my network of friends and has helped me try new things in the city! It’s helped me adjust to the city that much faster! The greatest part of it for me, was that everyone who is on the app is also on there looking to make friends. These people are willing to go out and get to know you and learn more about you! Not everyone is going to become your new best friend and some you’ll connect with more than others (and that’s perfectly ok.) I promise you though, you’ll learn something about yourself with every person you meet, and you never know where the relationship could go.

For me, the group date idea also made it so much easier. Yes, we got lucky we all got along in that setting but also now we continue to do group things and individual get togethers whereas otherwise we might feel like we need to reconnect one on one way more frequently! I do apologize I didn’t try other apps that compare to see which ones work best or which I liked better (because I know there’s more options out there than just Bumble.) But this one served its purpose and it’s honestly been the only thing I’ve needed so I’ve stuck with what works.

If you have tried any of the apps though, I’d love to know what your experience was like and what you thought of it! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!