Los Angeles

I love Santa Monica. This was taken at the end of a gorgeous afternoon with Mary, having wine and cheese and watching the Sun go down over the ocean. (Again living on the east coast of AUS this was a lovely new sight). I think last time I was here with Kate I'd thought I could live here and I had the same thoughts again this time around. A lot of LA is busy, but the coast is spectacular. Santa Monica pier (I'm sure it was in Baywatch!)

This is the fountain at the Grove shopping centre I first discovered with Kate in 2005. Was great to go back to - especially to Anthropologie, which we don't have in AUS, and where I got a lovely travel candle from, plus some cute clothes.

I thought this Mystery Bookstore was like spiritual mysteries but it was actually crime/ thriller/ mystery stuff. If detective stories are your thing, it's heaven!

Em - for you - Rodeo Drive!

I went into Westwood Village which was a lovely little spot - funky cafes and theatres, plus a few good shops. It was around the corner from a bank i went to cash a cheque in, which involved being finger printed!
Thouhght the image below was interesting - the guys on the right were trying to give the homeless people pizza, but they wouldn't take it.

So the trip to Los Angeles was lovely. The time seems so long ago now, however I shopped

up a storm. Em the pics of Rodeo Dr etc reminded me so much of you! I stayed at the Beverly Hills Plaza which was nice, but not quite what I expected. I did get a good sense of Los Angeles though - I hoped around on the bus each day, from one end of the city to the other. I spent an afternoon down at Santa Monica beach catching up with Mary, a client I met on my first

US trip in 2005.