Be a tourist in your own town | The Getty Center
The Getty Center turns 20 this year, and it’s just as vibrant a space today as it was more than 10 years ago when I last visited.
It’s a Los Angeles staple – many LA locals could tell tales of visiting the Getty on school field trips. I have vivid childhood memories of riding the tram up the hill with the 405 storming through the pass below, then wandering the art-filled halls and gardens that dangle off the mountain. When I finally returned this past week, these memories came rushing back as I introduced Sohrab and two of our best friends, Wes and Jen, to “that white building in the 405 pass.” read more…
Christmas with the Osatis | We’re going to London!
After a year full of traveling in 2017, Sohrab and I were thankful to spend some time at home with our three kitties for the holidays. We even got to enjoy a quiet Christmas and New Year’s Eve with our parents in our own zip code! But it was Christmas morning that was perhaps the most – dare I say it? – magical. A casual morning turned into a whirlwind when the final present made itself known in the boughs of the tree, nestled next to my Hedwig ornament.
But ah, before I give too much away, press play here: read more…
18 ways to prep for 2018
With only a few days until 2018 begins, I’d say it’s high time to get prepared for it.
If you’re a procrastinator like me, that is.
Some of my best ideas come in the heat of the moment – when I’m rushing around to finish the task before me. But that’s not an excuse to wait until the last minute. Instead, it’s inspiration to create that mindset when I’m not actually on the brink of the deadline.
If I wait until I’m panicked about finishing, I’m stuck feeling shaky – like that one time I chugged a Red Bull the night before a college paper was due. Not recommended.
One of the ways I’ve been avoiding that feeling this December is by preparing my 2018 bullet journal before I start using it. And so we come to the first item on the list: read more…
On staying productive with a chronic illness
I admit that I struggled with the title for this post. I’m hesitant to call what I have a chronic illness. No one can see it. Few people know. I don’t know what I have – no one does. It certainly doesn’t have a name. The several doctors I’ve visited over the past 10 years don’t know. I’ve tried several medications and fancy treatments but nothing seems to stem the issue.
My illness usually shows itself in the form of headaches and unwavering dizziness. It keeps me in a blurred state in bed or on the couch or wherever sounds comfortable at the time (kitchen floor, perhaps?). Either way, I’m not about to leave the house let alone fire on all cylinders.
And yet, with a little bit of strategy, I’m able to get a little bit of work done even on my worst days. read more…
Home for the holidays
Ah, Christmas – a favorite holiday for so many. The lights, the music, the (fake) snow… They all set the scene for merriment. But the beauty of the season, perhaps, lies in the diversity of ways that people celebrate during this time of year. For us, it varies.
We tend to travel a lot during the holidays; whether it’s across town or across the ocean, we’re rarely home during the last month of the year. This will be our fourth Christmas in our northern Los Angeles condo, and after years of not waking up and spending Christmas day under our own tree, we are staying put this December. The holidays are the perfect time to embrace family and the spirit of home, and now that we’ve done a small visiting tour of those that live farther away, we are taking the opportunity to focus on home. read more…
24 hours in Amsterdam
What can you do with 24 hours in Amsterdam?
Sometimes you are gifted with a few precious hours in a place you’ve never been before – given the unexpected chance to explore a new culture, meet new people, and expand your horizons. On our most recent journey to Europe, that’s exactly what happened for Sohrab and me in Amsterdam.
Our stay in the Netherlands was supposed to be a mere 3 hour layover in Schiphol Airport. Once we had gotten to know the layout rather well, we sat to wait for our city hopper plane to Frankfurt – which never arrived; weather kept it away, apparently. With no plane and no plan, we booked a last minute hotel for the night to wait out the storm. What happened next was 24 hours of sheer adventure, borrowing time from Frankfurt to see a place we didn’t think we’d get to. In short, a nightmare turned into a daydream. read more…
Touring castles in Germany
There are so many castles in Germany.
SO. MANY.
One of the more popular (read: Instagrammable) ones is actually one of the newest – Schloss Neuschwanstein near Füßen (read: Few-sen). This “Disney castle” is set high atop a rocky mount along the southern border of Germany, about a 2-3 hour train ride south through gorgeous countryside from the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) in Munich, depending on if you have to make a transfer or not. read more…
Useful German phrases to know (before traveling to Germany)
If there is one thing you need to know about me, it’s that I’m a bit obsessed with language. I spent my college years working towards a degree in English and a minor in Linguistics, so my days were filled with words. It was blissful.
So, when Sohrab and I decided a while back that we wanted to take a trip to Germany, I knew that I’d need to brush up on (read: learn!) some German. read more…
Let the adventure continue
We’ve been married for two years today.
Time FLIES!
It’s been a wild ride already – and we’re still just at the start! Marriage is somehow so different than engagement or before – so even though we have been together for 8 years, this new beginning has been wonderful. I couldn’t imagine a better life partner – and let’s get real for a second here. I’m so lucky to have found someone like Sohrab at all, let alone so early in my life. The Carl to my Ellie. The Sam to my Quorra. Gush, gush, gush. read more…
I’m an INFP-T, find out what it means to me
Life is messy. I think about this often during the alone time that I require as an unashamed introvert. I inherited much from my mother — the perfectionism, the messy office, the introversion. My dad and sister are exactly the opposite when it comes to being around people. They thrive in a crowd. Mom and I shrink to the sidelines, burying ourselves in our work. read more…
Hi! We’re Sohrab and Allegra – join us as we geek out, travel the world, and explore our own backyard: Los Angeles!
