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It's not a trip to L.A. without some time spent in a car (cue the obligatory, "I'm stuck in traffic and have a camera" shot).

Every year for our birthdays, in lieu of presents, my mom and I treat each other to a trip down LA-way. I've blogged about it before (see: Time to Roadtrip) We eat. We museum. We Disneyland. We are a people of tradition. This year was a little different though because our duo became a trio. My sister Hayley was able to make it! Yay! We started our trip with lunch in San Marino and a visit to the Huntington Library & Botanical Gardens.

Yes, I am wearing a polka dot body suit from American Apparel. Because sometimes you buy a polka dot body suit from American Apparel and you think to yourself "I am never going to wear this thing" and then you think "I WILL WEAR THIS THING! I will wear this body suit till the polka dots come off." And I did...

Body suits are kind of awkward...and awesome! On to the Huntington and their Japanese gardens-

It was so peaceful and calm that Hayley said she felt like she could take a nap on the grass. I dared her to prove it and she did. Now I owe her $1...

The Shakespeare Garden-

But back to the Japanese garden-

The polka dot body suit and I should not be allowed near this incredible example of bonsai...it makes us feel big & powerful...too powerful

Onwards to the Chinese garden, polka dot body suit!

The Chinese garden was constructed just a few years ago and it is fantastic place to visit.

Clearly, this statue was not happy with her body suit- they are not for everyone.

That evening we visited the Norton-Simon Museum which houses some of the finest art I have ever seen! If you are in the Pasadena area, it is seriously a MUST SEE!

Hayley was very impressed by the art. Can you tell?

Looking for more on how to be crazy cultured? Check out my previous blog post: Lean into Art

Show me the Monet!

And how about some carbs with that culture. I have two favorite restaurants in Pasadena. The first is Gale's. They serve Northern Italian food & the food is gooooood. I'm talking off the charts. But, what I really love about this place is that it has a neighborhood feel. You walk into Gale's & it feels like Cheers, but with ciabatta bread. Get the house salad (best salad I've ever had). Get the Pasta Al Forno- trust me. Go for it. Creamy meat sauce, ugggghhhhhh.

Here it is. I realize this picture makes it look like Freddy Kreuger's face, but believe me when I say, "He should be so lucky."

So, I mentioned that I have two favorite restaurants in Pasadena- I give you Europane. I wish I lived in a world with teleportation, just so I could have a macaroon from here whenever I am feeling peckish.

We tried three types of macaroon: coconut, hazelnut, salted caramel. They were all delicious, but we agreed the win goes to the coconut!

When two macaroons are spooning, it's a spoocaroon.

We had dessert first, but Europane is pretty well-known for their egg salad sandwich which my mother got on olive bread...she says she's dreamed of it ever since...

While we are in Pasadena, we always go to the Pasadena Heritage Craftsmen Weekend. Here's Hayley while we were waiting to start one of our tours.

Hayley said that she thought she should be a model, but a comedy model, because and I quote, "I'm especially beautiful when I make funny faces. So, really I'm more of a comodel, comedy model."