Sunday, February 14, 2016

Ice Skating under Palm Trees

It seems to be harder these days to actually sit down and write on my blog. I realize I used to write a lot more often but in actuality this is not a vacation. I have been in the U.S. for seven years today. Today marks the day I left my home country, my parents' house, my family and everything that I knew till then. I did not know where to go for my social, my driver's license, my doctor and my toiletries. I think it is pretty safe to say that I know all of those things now and I am pretty proud of myself for the life that I have here in California, even when I miss certain things in Germany at certain times. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
So, my parents were here for my birthday, yeay! They arrived on New Year's Eve and were fighting till about 9pm to stay up. They finally gave in and we dropped them off at their place. While we were en route my neighbor/friend texted if we wanted to come over and we did. Not having planned anything for that night except for picking up the rents I feel like we had a great evening with new friends and some family. Oh yea, mid-December we also moved in the middle of the craziness. We had originally planned to move to Playa Vista but due some issues that did not work out. Thankfully our current landlord allowed us to stay in this complex and switch apartments and we are actually very glad this worked out. I can still ride my bike to work and everyone that has visited us in the past two years or so knows their ways around here. New Year's Day I picked up my parents after they had rested and were hungry. We had a great New Year's breakfast together and then proceeded to go shopping in Santa Monica and then grab dindin at one of my parents' favorite restaurants in Santa Monica after traditionally watching the sunset on this January 1st 2016. After all, every single store had a sale and we did not want to miss anything. We sure did not. After grabbing some joe my dad separated from my mom and I to spend some quality time on the beach while we proceeded to push my mom's credit card limit. We were very successful though we only really had a couple of hours to "waste". The man met us at the beach for the sunset and we had a great dindin after. Some of the other things we did while my parents were here were shopping, beach visits, the Getty museum, Sony Studios in Culver City, the Queen Mary in Long Beach, shopping, talks on the patio, cooking, baking and then we got to spend my birthday with each other. We took a walk to the beach on the day before and called my sis at midnight her time and pretty much sang "Happy Birthday" to her in the middle of Washington Blvd.. That was fun. On my birthday we had breakfast at my favorite breakfast place (including the fur children) and then went ice skating in Santa Monica. Well, my dad and I went. Mom was the camera woman. It was a blast. That was followed by some shopping after we were warmed up and a great dinner at another place we like in Santa Monica. My neighbor brought me some delicious cupcakes with yummy frosting that I still need to try to make myself. Mom and I made a cake over the weekend that had asked for Creme Fraiche. Well, if any one of you guys know where to get that here you can let me know. After our attempt in making it failed miserably we just used heavy cream and white chocolate and made it like that. Turned out delicioso and we all probably ate more than our fair share. A week later it was time for my parents to go and we got them some blankets as a farewell gift. My dad mentioned that he had bean very cold on the plane coming here so the man had taken that hint and wanted to make sure they weren't cold on their journey home. 
Last night I realized that I will already be back in Germany in two months to celebrate my mom's birthday and spend some time with the family. Last night as I spoke with my parents they informed me that the dry cleaner where they had dropped off the man's and my wedding attire burned down and there is no more. Sad thing but nobody was injured. I guess now I will not be able to try to squeeze myself int my dress anymore in 25 years just to see if it still fits....
Here are some photos from my parents' trip.

Mom and Champy in the sun
at "Ice at Santa Monica" on my birthday
Dad and I "ice skating"
my other half at dinner
entire family (minus pups) at Sony Studios
Yummy Cupcakes
parents at the Getty Museum
Dad and I on the Queen Mary
White Chocolate Birthday Cake
obligatory sunset pic
successful shopping
Dad and I at the Getty
Getty Museum
parents
Mom and Dad relaxing on the patio