Redemption

None of our trips to the Griffith Observatory are ever the same. Every time we go, we have new stories to tell. Each time we look at the view of the city, different emotions are evoked. We've gone early in the mornings when there's hardly anyone there. We've gone on insanely hot days where we only went as far as the shade went. We've gone on days where the sky was so overcast that the view of the city was under a blanket of clouds. But never had we gone during magic hour to watch the sun set below the mountains...until now.

Whiteout

If our version of a perfect world didn't already include white painted fences and white palm trees, it does now. We spent Saturday afternoon enchanted by Vincent Lamouroux's art project, Projection, in Silver Lake. We had caught glimpses of this installation in our Instagram feed, but even then, we were unprepared for our breaths to be taken away by its haunting purity. With an almost too literal rendition of the concept of monochromatic, the transformed Bates Motel was every minimalists' dream. We were particularly mesmerized by the peeks of green trying to overcome the unnaturalness of being something it wasn't. It just goes to show that life does go on.

One Moment More

It seems silly to hold onto photos for so long before posting for them, but two weeks later, here we are posting photos from a trip that seemed like it was a lifetime ago. It has become tradition now to plan an adventure together instead of exchanging gifts for holidays and birthdays. We want to collect moments, not things; and so for Valentine's Day, we decided to make a quick getaway to Palm Desert. It seemed like the least romantic place to escape to. For us though, we couldn't have thought of a better way to celebrate love than with open roads and open skies for us to explore. We traded windmills for people that weekend. Away from civilization, we were able to find quiet and intimate moments, like stopping at a deserted recreational area near the Salton Sea to gaze at the stars. Without the usual city light pollution to distract us, we were in complete awe of the beauty above.

In a Hopeless Place

It seems as if no matter where we go, the sun is always one step ahead of us, and our recent trip to Palm Desert was no exception. With nothing but blue skies and the open road ahead of us, we raced to Salvation Mountain just in time to catch the sunset. After what seemed like hours and hours of driving, we finally reached our destination in what seemed like a hopeless place. With its many bright colors and patterns, the mountain stands as a testament to what one man can create. Once we followed the yellow brick road to the top, we watched the sun fade into the horizon. As dusk settled in and the tourists filed out one by one, the mountain was just ours to rest on for a short while while we waited for the stars to peek out.

Extra Ordinary

Traffic in the Sky

After spending an afternoon immersed in Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock at the MOCA, we explored another nearby piece of art--the Walt Disney Concert Hall. With its many curves and hidden passageways, it was almost too easy to get lost while wandering in the maze of reflective surfaces and staircases.  Every now and then, there'd be an opening that would give us a breathtaking view of the cityscape in Downtown LA.

Old Haunts

Realizing that San Francisco was only a train ride away from where we were staying, we decided to go into the city for an afternoon of fun in our favorite area, the Mission District. Once we got there, we stuck to Brandon's tradition of grabbing lamb and beef schwarma from Ali Baba's Cave. Whenever we're in a new city, we always set out to find a good coffee place to get our caffeine fix. We found ours at Four Barrel Coffee, which was also a cool space to hang out. After filling up on good food and drinks, we perused through some cool thrift stores along Valencia before ending our visit at hipster hill in Dolores Park--another place that we love to haunt when we're in the area. We really enjoyed revisiting our favorite spots in the Mission and keeping on with our traditions. We cannot wait to go back again hopefully soon.

In Contrast

We couldn't end the year without finding one more grimey corner of the world to stomp around in. We stumbled upon this abandoned warehouse on our way to grab dinner at our favorite vegan thai restaurant one night and decided to revisit it to shoot on a recent sunny winter morning. The shadows that were created in this space were breathtaking. There's just something so magical about the sun in the winter time. We love how it becomes softer and just barely there in the sky.