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Stratton Summer Recap

***No need to feel bad, I know that most of you read the blog to see what movies we're going to recommend. Well, now's your chance to scroll to the bottom. All you're really missing out on is me ranting about the heat.***

Labor day weekend used to act as summer's bookend, and it still does for most of the country. But, here in SoCal the blazing hot season knows no bounds! Today is 103 degrees.* Even I, who usually can't get enough of the warm weather, am ready for a reason to make hot soup, wear a sweater to work and get some use out of the cozy blankets in our cupboards. I think our unreliable A/C unit is ready for a vacation, too. It's actually too hot to even be on the computer (my good ol laptop gets really hot, really fast), so this update will be brief. In the spirit of [what should be] Fall, We're posting a pictoral recap of our summer.
*Note: I wrote this a few days ago. Since then, our broken A/C was replaced and we're enjoying some cooler weather. For now. 

What does a newly married, new-to-LA couple do in the summer? I'll be honest, we mostly entertain ourselves by going out to eat once a week. Aren't we exciting? (All you foodies are saying "YES!") But since I haven't caught on to the "snap a photo of your dinner and post it to Instagram" movement, our summer cuisine adventures live only in our memories.

When you're trying to save your pennies, it can be tough finding affordable activities to do here. But we manage! 

We ventured to Santa Monica a few times this summer...mostly so we could eat at one of our favorite places: True Food Kitchen. If you're not in the LA area, you should check out their cookbook. 

We also checked out the Getty Villa, an amazing museum built to resemble an ancient Roman country house. 

Lavender stairs. Why, yes, I did sleep well that night!

If you ever visit us, I might have to take you here!

The Bumble Bee transformer randomly showed up at my work one day. 

So weird. And so Hollywood. 

By far, the highlight of our summer was hosting our dear Washingtonian friends (Cortland, Libby and baby Addison) for an extended weekend! Libby spent months planning this secret trip for Cortland's birthday.We were beyond blessed by our time together!

Not only is Addison adorable, she's great at travelling! 

Beach day.

A trip to the Griffith Observatory. 

Fun at the Griffith Carousel, operating since 1926!

 I felt like I'd just jumped into a chalk drawing with Mary Poppins. 

Zach took a last minute trip up to Oregon for a few days. He got to spend some great time with his grandparents. He got to visit the Oregon coast (one of my favorite places).

Thanks to our friend, Tom, Zach ended the month of August attending a John Williams concert at The Hollywood Bowl. He was blown away by the experience!

And he came home humming the Jurassic Park score... he hasn't stopped. 

Summer Reading

I used to read a lot during the summer. I'd call up the Central Washington mail-order library and rattle off my list of desired titles to put on hold. Throughout the summer they'd show up in the mail and I'd gobble them up in anticipation for the next. Hence, my mom named me the family's "reader rabbit."

Then I went to college, and got a summer job. Reading for pleasure wasn't as easy, but I still did it.

Then I graduated college and entered the workforce. 

And my summer reading adventures have never been the same. Who really wants to stare at a computer screen all day, reading emails, information, contracts, manuscripts, and then come home and read some more?  Some people can, but by 7:30 PM, my brain needs a rest! 

However, the two of us did sneak in some good books:

I read a lot of Flannery O'Conner in college, and Zach has been digging into her stories lately. She really knows how to throw a curve ball! 

Ever read anything and felt like the author was writing specifically about you?

Summer Movies
Lately, we've been picketing summer blockbusters. There's so much hype surrounding those big budget releases, and we're almost always disappointed after we've forked out the cash. Suffice it to say, we didn't visit the theater much this summer, save a few times for some movies we knew we'd love. Instead, we revisited some films and watched some new ones.

Here's what we'd recommend you watch the next time you're at a movie crossroads:

The entire movie takes place in a car. Maybe my commute isn't SO bad after all.

Like a lot of people, we revisited some Robin Williams classics in the last couple of months. This one will have you spouting off that Walt Whitman poetry from high school that you thought you'd forgotten.

This one may have just slipped its way into my top ten.

If you don't watch any other movie on this list, WATCH THIS ONE! You may walk out of the theater as if you've just attended a somber Good Friday service, but you'll be glad you did! We got be apart of a Q&A with Brendan Gleeson after the screening. There is a lot of heart behind this one!

Zach was reminded how much he loves this movie when he saw it at the Egyptian Theater (built in 1922).

I get extremely anxious when I watch Wes Anderson films.

This is one summer blockbuster that earned Zach's stamp of approval.

I often find reasons to re-watch MY FAVORITE movie. Is it weird that sad movies [often] make me happy?

I love it when women save the day.

One word: Delightful. Three words: Next vacation, planned.



Happy Fall, happy reading, and happy movie-watching!

Los Angeles Anniversary

That's right, folks. We've graced LA with our citizenship for an entire year now! I recently re-read my first blog post detailing our journey here and my first impressions of the city. You should, too, if you want a laugh. 
http://thestrattonstory.blogspot.com/2013_05_01_archive.html 

Our faithful readers may have noticed that we fell off the blogging radar for a few months. This is partly because I couldn't find any blog-worthy things to say and partly because we've been a little busy, you know, making money to pay off medical bills and spend at overpriced grocery stores and gas stations. However, you know it's time to post an update when a handful of people, other than your family, tell you they miss your blog posts. Other than being busy like the rest of the population, there hasn't been much to report. Our happenings consist of:

• Work 
• The fact that I'm making a bulleted list right now tells you that I've been doing too much of it.
• Commuting 
• One word: Podcast. I can't believe it has taken us this long to hop on the bandwagon! They make our grueling LA commutes much more bearable (I like listening to The Moth and Balanced Bites while Zach listens to Screen Rant and On the Page).
• Cooking and eating 
• Since Zach's recent health scare, we've really committed to eating simpler and preparing whole foods that promote energy and sustenance. It's pricier and A LOT more work than making cheese quesadillas for dinner and calling it good. Despite the challenge, we have experienced positive results. 
• A bit of creating 
• Zach's been more creative than me these days. He's always working on some cool film/TV writing project and he just started his one-year screenwriting mentorship with a writer/director/editor in Hollywood. Zach's imagination and writing truly impress me! I hope that you will all be able to see his work someday! 
• Occasional excursions
• We like to recover from a long week of work by staying home. But when we do get out, it's usually in the honorable pursuit of food. If you're ever in the area, you should visit us (duh!) and these recent restaurant finds:
• http://www.truefoodkitchen.com/
• http://www.fairoakspharmacy.net/index2.html

Here are some photos from a recent day trip to Santa Monica. Though we wore sunscreen, we were burnt toast after three hours. 

• Visits with old friends
• Back in March, my dear friend/roomie from college, Natalie, visited for a weekend. I showed her around the Paramount lot and we took a tour of the grounds. At the time, I'd only been working there for a month and I enjoyed hearing the stories and history of the place I go to work every day. 

First time I've ever enjoyed going to work on a Saturday. 

The historic water tank (which also serves as a parking lot) where they filmed the Red Sea crossing in The Ten Commandments, among other things. 

Had to take a rest in the Forrest Gump bench. 

Strolling down the Walk of Fame. I get my good taste in music from my dad. 

Fun fact: Zach's great great uncle filmed Shirley Temple's movies!

• A visit home for Memorial Day weekend
• We took a trip back to the old hometown, Ephrata, WA. On this particular weekend, we visited Zach's parents in Washington one last time before they move to Georgia! We also got to see my little nephew, Hudson, get adopted into the La Plant family. 

There he is with my sweet grandma!

It rained a little over the weekend, and there was a rainbow! Don't see that every day (or ever) in LA. 

Two out of three of my nephews. It was a big deal that Colton decided to sit still for a photo op with his auntie. 

Mom and me in matching blue stripes.

I have the best big brother around. 

In honor of our one-year LA anniversary, we've decided to impart a little insider wisdom from our experience thus far. Here are some observations, things we know now that we didn't know then, and reflections about our humble life in LA:

1. Hollywood is not glamorous - I'm not talking symbolically. It's just really, physically unattractive.It has its historical gems (Paramount Pictures being one of them), but I guarantee we won't be seeing Gene Kelly frolicking down a cobblestone street singing about the rain anytime soon!   
2. LA is a really big city - Just because we live in LA, doesn't mean we're a hop, skip and a jump away from the beach, Disneyland or LAX. Very big misconception. The other day we drove from Glendale to Anaheim during rush hour. And it took us TWO HOURS. Coming home that evening, post-rush hour, it took us 40 minutes. Ouch. 
3. Because LA is big and we want to clock the least amount of time on the freeway as possible, we select our friends based on where they live. If we're friends (and you live in LA), it's because you live within a 20 mile radius of our apartment. I'm only kind of joking. 
4. The city makes us even more introverted than we thought we were. And, thus, we find that we're a really good match. Every Friday night when Zach proposes that we do dinner and a movie at home, I remember why I married him. 
5. We surprise ourselves. I'm a small town girl at heart. But a year in this thick-skinned city has been an empowering experience. Driving in LA traffic, building a career, working towards our goals, making connections and waking up to this place every morning has equipped and molded us in unexpected ways. 

Zach says this has been the most challenging year of his life. I'm not ready to define it like that yet. But, I can say that marrying Zach (a creative, inspired, faithful and driven person) has significantly changed my life. Sometimes people get married and life doesn't change all that much. They stay in the same town, they keep their jobs and their friends. I can't say that for us. We've trudged through 100% brand new territory together. And though there is still  uncertainty headed our way, I'm learning to be at peace with it. Even now as I write this, I feel relief. Our first major transition as a couple and as individuals is behind us. 

Back to Books
We've both read some excellent books over the past few months, so we decided to share those with you (along with our movie picks). In a culture where "reading" has become staring at a computer screen for hours, browsing catchy articles on Facebook, perusing blogs and getting news from the msn.com homepage headlines (guilty), we're trying to be intentional about sitting down with a book in hand and giving our eyes a rest from the computer glare. Last month, I was practically giddy about a book I was reading (Unbroken). I haven't felt that way about a book since my junior year of college! Next time you're looking for a good read, pick up one of these four:

Our Movie Picks
The movies in this batch cover a variety of topics and genres. As I was reviewing the list, I realized we have a movie or TV show for a number of moods you might be in. Allow us to recommend a few winners. 

If you'd like to relive the good old days when people weren't hating on Nicolas Cage. 

If your'e in the mood to reexamine your life. (PS: One of my new favorite movies!)

If you have the urge to experience an epic sci-fi morality tale! 

If you're in the mood for a surprise ending to beat all surprise endings.

If you feel like sitting on the edge of your seat for a solid hour and a half. 

If you want to remember what it was like to be a kid again, pining for the day of your very own Hogwarts acceptance letter (we may or may not have watched the entire series in a 1.5 week's time). 

If you're in the mood for a good laugh. Everyone likes a good impression.  

If you're willing to forgive AMC for splitting the final season of Mad Men between two years. 

If you need a good reason NOT to join a cult. 

If you feel like watching a really good episode of Dateline, minus the creepy host and the commercials. 

If you want to relive your small town high school days - only in football-obsessed Texas. (PS: If you haven't watched this show, it's really good!) 

If you want to take a trip to quirk-ville, then Wes Anderson has you covered with this one. 

If you're feeling passionate about justice and the value of human life - Also, if you remember the actual historical event. Anyone? 

If you want to watch the the best dang fake documentary of all time!

If you want to know what it was like to be me in my 4th grade spelling bee prime - I was one spot away from being the district champion, when I misspelled "nasal." That word sure did sound a lot like the word "nozzle." 



That's all for now! Thanks for reading our blog this past year!