california in june: part one

Location: Long Beach

A few weeks ago Hannah and I flew out to California to visit my best friend and see The Kooks play a show in L.A.!

The trip over was pretty smooth minus the hour long delay - cue: Starbucks & Pandora Radio.

Thank you Vanilla Bean frap & banana bread for making the hour go by much faster. 

Ahlin picked us up at (the tiniest) airport in Long Beach - I ran to hug her, NBD, and then she took us to 2nd Street to get some dinner. How about some Southern Californian Mexican food?! Cue: Super Mex.

It was delicious and authentic. But then again, what do I know about authentic Mexican food? I take that back - I'm 1/8 Mexican. Detecting authenticity is my blood.

More to come!

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

- Langston Hughes, an excerpt from Let America Be America Again

to the sea!

my friends and i love planning parties. especially themed parties. (remember my hipster party?) so in planning ahlin's 21st birthday/going away party, we had to go all out.  we decided on a "nautical" theme. (i.e. boats, sperrys, stripes ... you get the idea.) i don't have pictures of everything, but know that it was kind of a big deal. 

yes, there just happened to be a boat parked in our party location. thank you to matt and gabe for making it look pretty!

 party-goers.

lifesaver cake. :)

leah's husband, kyle, breakdancing. no big deal.

me + leslie + jen + katie + leah + ahlin

obligatory titanic shot.

obligatory hipster shot.

my other half. 

me and danny.

the after party.

ahlin, you are the abed to my troy, the monica to my rachel, the barney to my ted, the buster to my arthur, the sails to my boat. thanks for making my wolf pack, not just one wolf, but two. bahahaha :) luhyou&happybirthday!