Week 2 @ GA: This is so LA

Pacific Ocean sand has finally touched my toes :) It only took almost 26 years to make that happen, but it was worth the wait. I was invited by a classmate to play beach volleyball with her, her family, and some of their friends and we were joined by a random group on the beach and had a really fun time. I was awful, per usual, but I stand by the fact that the ocean breeze was really intense at times (aka every time I touched the ball). At one point, I managed to do a form of pike into the sand and minorly bruised my tail bone... that was special. After I had fallen for about the fifth time, everyone was staring at me with bewildered expressions and I realized that I had forgotten to inform them that I fall an unreal amount during most activities. 

The view was pretty incredible with the boardwalk on one side, the ocean on another, and the Santa Monica Pier in the background. It doesn't get much better than that.

We then moved our Sunday Funday back to my classmate's house for dinner which is probably when I officially realized that I was living in LA. My classmate's family and friends all practice transcendental meditation so for 20 minutes before dinner there were 10 people in the living room meditating. It was a really interesting experience, especially since meditation seems so fully integrated into their lifestyle. I felt like they were all robots and I had unplugged them to come up with an evil plan so it was actually a really entertaining 20 minutes for me. Also, the entire delicious meal was vegan and gluten free. If this isn't LA, I'm not sure what is.

Continuing with the vegan theme, today, 2 classmates were bound and determined to take me to Veggie Grill (an all vegan fast-casual restaurant) so we made the trek for lunch. After being assured that the "Chickin'" actually tasted like chicken, I ordered and then of course asked for a soda... at a vegan restaurant. The cashier was slightly confused, but quickly informed me that they had lemonades and iced teas. Whew! I can only drink so much water. I am happy to report that the "chickin'" was surprisingly good! Veggie Grill is doing some good work on making vegan a sustainable lifestyle here in Cali.

I want to wrap up this post with an introduction to the second project that we have been assigned which I'm really excited about. Our goal is make an interactive prototype for an eCommerce website for a school uniform company. Did I wear a school uniform for almost 17 years? Yes. Did I manage company uniform programs and their eCommerce sites for 3 years? Yes, I did. I am so grateful for this past experience because I am plenty overwhelmed with the project even though I have a really good understanding of the task. So, this is a shout out to my parents and PCi - thank you for making this past week and the week to come a lot easier for me!

Some doodles of my project thus far...

Side Note: Last Saturday night, I received an amazing car package from my friends. Check it out - Graesser cookies AND a Cardinals collar for Nala. I think they know me well...

Alright, that's all I have for you. Have a good weekend everyone!!