LAUREN LIVES

Man oh man, this might be a record for latest “Monthly Lookback” post…ever! The holidays are always such a busy time, and I try to remain in the moment during them, so sometimes that means not bringing out the computer for quite some time. That and, it seems like as soon as the New Year hit, work has ramped up triple-time! Since I spend my days in front of a computer screen, there are a lot of nights where I come home and don’t even want to open my laptop up! So alas, here I am with my December Lookback … and it looks like you’ll be revisiting for my January list in just a matter of days! Ha! Enjoy!

 

DECEMBER’S LOOKBACK

WATCHING:

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Prime. I haven’t truly binged a show in a long time, but the time off from work between Christmas and New Years seemed like the perfect opportunity! This is an easy one to binge because it’s only been two seasons so far … season 1 is eight episodes and season 2 is ten. One of the best scripted shows I’ve seen in a long time … it’s about a young housewife living in NYC in the late 1950s, who suddenly discovers she has a knack for stand up comedy. Definitely a must-watch!

We had two movie nights with our neighbors, where we watched Bohemian Rhapsody and Green Book … both were great, although Green Book takes the cake for me of the two! Rhapsody was a lot of fun and super entertaining, and I love Rami Malek, the actor who plays Freddie Mercury. Green Book was filled with the right balance of drama and comedy, along with some great life lessons.

 

MAKING:

^^my little studio space is coming together so nicely!^^

I got back on the crochet-train this month! I got my cousin in our family grab bag this year, and was thrilled when I found out they were having a baby boy this spring … so I found some of the softest yarn in the store and got to work! They’re both Michigan grads, so I picked blue and yellow for the colors 😉 I find crocheting to be such a therapeutic exercise, especially in the colder months when the sun goes down earlier and we tend to spend more of our evenings indoors!

 

EATING:

I’ve gotten to try so many new places to eat this month! I spent an early morning up in Pasadena with my friend Sara to see her new place, and she took me to one of her favorite breakfast spots, Kitchen Mouse. The coffee and the food here was so good … and the decorating was right up my alley … lots of plants + weavings !!

Joy On York in Highland Park offers a modern and hip Taiwanese cuisine, and it’s a great place to go with friends to just order a bunch of different items to share, because it’s all really unique and delicious!

Donut Friend in Highland Park offers a beautiful and huuuuge selection of vegan donuts! If I didn’t tell you they were completely vegan though, you would never know! The line at this place is always (and I mean always) out the door … that’s how good it is. We ordered a little box of six donuts, but I think the Somoa one was my faaaavorite!

Thanks to the suggestion of an Instagram friend, Alex and I found our new favorite breakfast/lunch spot to accompany our Palos Verdes hiking days with Marty! Malaga Cove Market is a small family-owned market/coffee bar/deli/restaurant in the Malaga Cove shopping center. It also might have the coziest atmosphere ever. Al told the owner it was our first time there, and he brought us over cookies for dessert! I think we’ve been there three separate times since then, ha! I hear their scones are out of this world, so they’re next on my list to order …

 

COOKING:

Lately I’ve been obsessed with the recipes on themodernproper‘s website! Two kickass dinner’s we’ve made this month included the Tortellini Soup with Italian Sausage & Kale and the Rigatoni with Mushroom Sauce. Wow, so good. The soup, especially, is such a huge winner. It makes a bunch too, so be ready for leftovers! I’ve recommended this to a couple of different friends and they’ve all been super pleased with it.

We’ve also been doing a lot of grilling on our new grill! I love throwing a ton of veggies on there and eating them throughout the week. Al likes meal prepping a ton of chicken for the week. And then, of course, we never turn down down a couple of Omaha Steaks either 😉

 

LOCAL EXPLORATIONS:

We’ve really tried to take advantage of this month to visit more of our friends in the different neighborhoods of LA! So we’ve seen our fair share of Pasadena, Highland Park, Seal Beach, Studio City, and Huntington Beach this month, and it’s just been so great! Exploring areas with people who live there, and who know all of the best spots to eat, is the best way to learn more about an area, I think!

For Christmas this year, Al got me maybe the greatest gift of them all: a bike trailer to pull Marty around on all of our bike rides! A huge reason I’d been biking less lately was because I couldn’t bring Marty with me … and when I bike, I like to be gone for the majority of the day. Now, we can bring him with us! We took him out on his inaugural Strand bike ride through Hermosa, Redondo, and Torrance … and stopped for sandwiches at one of our favorite little sandwich deli’s — Granny’s! Turns out that the owners used to have a bull terrier too! Pulling Martin is definitely a huge workout…but that just means I have a bigger appetite for sandwiches 😉

We tried out one of the famous bowling alleys in Studio City with our friends, on a triple date night! — Pinz! It’s a big spot for celebrities to get their bowl on, and we had a great time!

And it wouldn’t be a month in the Lewis household without a couple of family hikes … it’s our favorite way to spend our weekends!

 

GOING:

 

I blogged earlier about our day trip to the Vasquez Rocks … you can read all about it –> here!

And here are just a few photos from an early morning Marty and I spent at the dog beach! We almost had the entire place to ourselves! It’s one of my favorite ways to spend a morning.

 

CELEBRATING / LOVING / FEELING:

I always feel like the month of December goes by in the blink of an eye! There are always a million and one things going on, but at the same time, there are always so many things to be thankful for! And maybe I’d like to blame the lateness of this blog post on just being fully immersed in what was going on around me…

We had a weekend visit from Damon — a friend of mine from college — and his girlfriend, Ashley! They were in town for the Rams game, and I thought it would just be silly if they didn’t crash with us! We spent a nice day hiking in PV, bangin’ on the drums in Al’s studio, and drinking beer + playing card games at a brewery! I always feel so lucky when friends stop in for a weekend.

We spent the holiday break dog-sitting for a coworker of ours! So for two weeks, we got to be dog parents of two! Lucy, a beautiful Golden Retriever puppy (she’s just over a year old) definitely kept us occupied with lots of long walks and games of fetch in the backyard … she and Marty pretty much became inseparable by the end of our time with her, and they both were feeling a little depressed once Lucy went back home. We always love having a second dog around (hint hint, Al!!), but man, I think we had already forgotten what it was like having a truuuue puppy in the mix, now that Marty has really chilled out! Although, we definitely found ourselves missing her!!

We were so lucky to have spent Christmas Eve down at our friends’, Mel and Greg’s place, with their family and friends. Every year they host a “Mexican Christmas Eve,” and was it such a nice, new tradition for us to be included in! They have a beautiful home right by the beach, and it just gave us such a warm feeling to be surrounded by friends who have felt like family since we moved here. This was our first Christmas spent in LA! So it was so nice to have been invited. More on our first California Christmas in another post!

 

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And there we have it, a very late December lookback! January is already proving to be moving at lightning speed! Al and I are finally back working together at one of our favorite spots … and we’re working on really fun projects, which makes the longer days totally worth it! We’re in the midst of planning out some small weekend trips and backpacking adventures, but overall we’re just trying to slow down a little bit and enjoy the now!

thanks for stopping by!

xo!