I just got back from spending the long weekend with Tiff and Val in LA (where Tiff lives)!

When we parted ways in July we weren’t expecting to all be together again until February so I’m absolutely thrilled this trip came together! I really cherish my time with them – I can be 100% myself and know they completely accept me as I am. It feels weird to point that out, but spending time with them made me realize I can’t always do that and how draining it is when I can’t*. So, thank you for that, Tiff & Val! It means more to me than I can coherently explain.

We didn’t have many plans for our time there. I’ve been so go go go lately that I really wanted to have downtime with them to chat and paint (and eat!!!). The ONE thing on my list was redoing a trip to the Griffith Observatory since it was so foggy when Steven and I went in March. And we had plans to meet up with a rock painting friend Saturday (more on that in the next post).

Val and I arrived at LAX late Thursday afternoon, and Tiff picked us up and drove us to her neighborhood, where her lovely neighbor let us stay in their home and watch their cats while they were away. Val and I were stoked to have kitty time – we miss our cats when we’re away! And I was excited to save money on housing, ha ha.

Bowie & Roxie. Bowie would hang out a bit and slept with me each night, Roxie was shy and didn’t show up much but slept with me the last night and let me pet her!

Thursday night was chill. We hung out at Tiff’s house and had burgers (from Burgerlords) and painted.

I’m teaching a rock painting class this Friday night at my gym so I focused on positive affirmation rocks.

On Friday we walked down to Cal State and got drinks (chai for me) and wandered campus for a bit. Tiff’s husband and their kids came down a bit later and joined us. I adore her family and loved our time with them. Her husband is kind, welcoming, so chill, and hilarious, and the kids are so sweet.

After our walk we painted,

and Tiff’s close friend Trudy came over to join us for the day. Val and I have heard so much about Trudy and really wanted to meet her, and we’re both so glad she joined us for the day! She had amazing energy and was so fun to talk to. It made me feel good knowing Tiff has such an amazing friend close by that she gets to see often!

We ordered from Cena, a vegan Mexican place, for lunch and HOLY COW they gave us so much food. I ordered a torta to try and loaded fries to share with Val (who let me try her tacos). I had NO idea how big tortas were! I ate 1/3 then worked on it a bit that night and the next day and maybe left 1/3 of it behind? Ha, I did my best. It was ALL delish. Steven would have loved it.

After eating all that food we were properly fueled (ha ha) for our Griffith hike and headed out! The hike to the observatory itself was just under a mile, and we got to see the Hollywood sign on the way up (and for most of the hike). I felt a bit bummed seeing it because I knew Steven wanted to when he was here, and we were right there but it was just too foggy. He’ll get another chance, I’m sure.

After we went by the observatory it was another 1.5 miles to an overlook where we could see a lot of the city.

I’m so happy Tiff took me there and that I got to see the city from that view. We had beautiful weather and it was pretty clear (for LA) – we could even see the ocean!

And I loved all that time the four of us had together to chat and goof around. Trudy definitely matched our silly vibes!

We hiked back down then went home to clean up, and decided to get ice cream for dinner. Ha. Everyone was still pretty full from lunch but we needed a little something so we went to Magpies Softserve which has vegan ice cream pies, and that was one of the most amazing things I’ve EVER eaten (I got the Cookie Butter Softserve Pie). Steven would have loved that place too!

We stopped in one shop then went back to Tiff’s to watch part of The Californians (a ridiculous SNL skit about Californians talking about traffic) and Center Stage, while painting. A great end to a great day!

Ha, that night, while I was sleeping, I heard some meowing in a dream, then woke up and realized the meowing was outside. It was Roxie, outside of the screen window of the room I was in, asking to be let in! Bowie and Roxie are indoor/outdoor cats and we closed their door at dusk each night as instructed but since Roxie was so shy we never knew if she was in when we closed it! (She was the first night, not on the second, then was on the third. Silly girl.)

*during the trip, before, and after. Some people make me so anxious to be around that it affects me for weeks before and after seeing them!