Friday, May 15, 2015

STSS Spring Adventure 2015 // Day Two, Pt 1: Mornings with Mickeyla

UCLA Campus // Evelyn and Mo Ostin Music Center & Inverted Fountain
^ Doesn't this look like one of those digital renderings of what the proposed building could look like? Alas, it's real! ^
UCLA Campus // Re-Bruinitized in the Inverted Fountain
 ^ Re-Bruinitized! ^
UCLA Campus // Evelyn and Mo Ostin Music Center
UCLA Campus // New Music Cafe
Westwood // Mexican Fruit Cart
Westwood // Mexican Fruit Cart Close Up
 ^ My mom saw this picture and was like, "HA. Look at your tiny feetsies." Thanks, Mom. ^
Westwood // Urban Outfitters Interior Design
^ Oh, Urban Outfitters. I want to like you because this interior is THEBEST, but sadly, your clothes aren't my style. ): ^
Westwood // TLT (The Lime Truck) Interior Design
^ How could I not like a place whose main color scheme is grey and lime green? Answer is, I can't. ^
Westwood // TLT (The Lime Truck) Food & Mexican Fruit Cup
Hammer Museum in Westwood // Give More Than You Take
^ See us? :D ^
Hammer Museum in Westwood // Heatherwick Studio Exhibit
 ^ Heatherwick Studio was the featured artist/design exhibit at the Hammer Museum. They're the ones behind the London Olympic torch. So awesome. ^
Hammer Museum in Westwood // Outdoor Restaurant

I love the couch in Mickeyla and Evelyn's apartment. I've taken many a nap on that couch during undergrad and it fits me perfectly. Like sers. My five foot two-ish inch frame can stretch out on it without feeling squished and fills it enough so that other people don't feel like they have enough room to sit where my feet should be. Hee. It's perfect. I could write odes to that couch. *happy sigh*

Anyways. Mickeyla's first class started at eight in the morning, so we were up early to catch the bus to campus. I actually learned a bunch during that first lecture on "Intro to Non-Carious Tooth Structure Loss" and definitely enjoyed meeting a bunch of her classmates. I hadn't realized how much grad school would sort of feel like high school-- you're with the same people for hours every day and it's a small group, so everyone was joking around before the teacher showed up.

The second lecture we went to... ugh. The teacher was good, the kids were the same, but the material was AUGH. I think out of all the body systems, the nervous system is my least favorite. For a psych major, I dislike learning about the brain's physiology a whole bunch. *sheepish* I still took notes since I'm 93% sure I'll have to learn this during OT school, but I didn't quite enjoy it as much as that first lecture. Thankfully, right after that, we were freeeee and Mickeyla and I went off to go explore campus.

Neither of us was super hungry at this point, so we went to check out the new music building near the Inverted Fountain. While we were in the area, Mickeyla re-Bruinitized herself, albeit nine months late. Since people hadn't been jumping in and out of the fountain yet {UCLA graduates in June, so no one should be touching that water until then}, the fountain was super clear and clean. Gorgeous.

If you're looking for a cool kid, semi-hipster, decently quiet place to study on campus, try the Music Cafe in the EMo building {technically, it's the Evelyn and Mo Ostin Music Center, but M and I decided their couple name was EMo}. After walking in, going "Oooh," and walking back out of the cafe, we decided to try and find a way into the building to see what it looked like. All the doors were securely locked... except one. And we found it. Moohahaha. Sadly, the inside was nothing special. Only the outside had been made pretty. ):


Looking at the time, we thought we should probably get lunch, even if we weren't very hungry. As we made our way out into the wilds of Westwood, we came across a Mexican fruit cart and instantly stopped, looked at each other, and raised an eyebrow. "Yes?" "Why not?" I love that she and I understand each other well enough to see an adventure where most people just keep walking. Having no experience ordering from a fruit cart, we simply asked for a bit of everything, which included: canteloupe, honeydew, orange, cucumber, watermelon, coconut, pineapple, and mango with a lot of lime juice and a good dusting of chili powder. The mango chunks were our favorite and if it's possible for fruit to taste brighter, the lime juice and chili definitely had that effect. Worth a repeat, for sure.


Next, we decided to get food at TLT Westwood before walking home. We just beat the lunch rush as at least twenty people got in line after we ordered. O.o The wait was short though and the people-watching good. Mickeyla tried the Beef Short Rib Sliders and I got the Carnitas Fries. So good.

There's this one card by Emily McDowell that says "There's nobody else I'd rather lie in bed and look at my phone next to," and, ignoring the lying in bed part, I've found that you know you're besties when you're comfortable goofing off on your phone next to one another and don't feel like you have to entertain/seriously converse with the other person all the time. For example, after eating our food back in the apartment, Mickeyla and I sat on the couch and played around with VSCOcam for quite a while.

We had passed by the Hammer Museum on our walk through Westwood and the ickle girlikin mentioned how they had an temporary exhibit I might like on architecture and design. With an hour to kill before Tommy and I were supposed to leave for Irvine to meet up with Steph, Mickeyla and I headed back outside to visit the museum. Even though I'd been at UCLA for four years, I'd never stepped foot inside the Hammer until this day. Admission is free and you get a sticker when you enter that lets the docents know which exhibits you're allowed into {if you ARE a member, you get special access to certain stuff, I think}.

You have to try the circular chairs in the courtyard if you go. I'm not sure if they're a permanent part of the museum or if they're just part of the Heatherwick Studio exhibit, but they're pretty great. M was right, by the way. I did enjoy the pieces on display by Heatherwick {check out their stuff; they're so awesome} and Charles Gaines {his stuff is like paint-by-math (instead of just by numbers)}. Everything had a certain whimsy and inventiveness I really liked.

Also. Museum stores' children's sections are the BEST. If I ever have a small human being, I want to have a book baby shower. Ugh. Too much cute. Too many adorable animals. Too many gorgeous, quirky things. Rawr. Can't handle.

Mickeyla and I ended up getting so distracted by all the things in the kids' section that we had to dash back to the apartment in order for me to be ready when Tommy showed up. I'm so thankful for this girl. I've mentioned it a thousand times before, but she had ridiculous patience living with me those first two years of undergrad and has always had my back. We've known each other for thirteen years now {which is over half our lives} and I'm 111% sure we'll be those crazy old lady besties in the future. Thanks for letting me stay over, Mickeyla, and allowing me to tag along to class with you and always being down to create adventures wherever we go.

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Earlier parts of STSS Spring Adventure 2015: day one.
Later parts of the trip: the rest of day two, day three, and day four.

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TLT Westwood
1116 Westwood Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90024

Hammer Museum
10899 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90024

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