LA Woman

I love LA - everything about it really - including the smog and the traffic. The second I step outside of LAX I take a deep breath and know that I'm home. Even more so when I'm behind the wheel of a car with the windows down, a little Bob Marley in the cd player, cruising down the 405.

I recently had a whirlwind weekend in LA with my friend Rachel, who had never been to my glorious city, so I was excited to show it off. And show it off I did.

We seemed to hit everything of importance, including the beach twice in three days, ate at some amazing places, saw all of my friends (if only for a little while here and there it was great!), saw a couple of her friends AND managed to do some hard core yoga at Maha Yoga with the "main man" himself, Steve Ross. Dance Club music filled the small space, as well as about 60 students with mats stacked upon one another and it was the most intense fun I've had in a "yoga" class. My abs still feel the work we did. And while I'm still a major fan of Iyengar yoga, and my lovely Brenda, this class would be an awesome thing to wake up to everyday!

Saturday was beautiful and we spent a few hours on the beach in Santa Monica body surfing, jumping the waves and just relaxing. It's been awhile since I've actually been in the ocean since most of my LA trips come when it's too cold but this was heaven. I always "feel small when I stand beside the ocean" as the song goes. Even more so when I'm in it. It's a great place to remember how big the world is and how small you and your troubles really are in comparison with bigger things that surround us. While in grad school, the beach would be my escape. I often went by myself to think and study and just be. It's hard to really explain the effect that the ocean has on me but it's unlike anything else. I feel at peace with myself and my world...it's kind of like running!

This was my end to summer, and in my dramatic fashion, it was a great way to say goodbye to summer and to start looking forward to fall.