Monday Muse: Armchair Backpacker (#3) - United States!

Hey there everyone! It's Monday, and as you've already known, it only means one thing (1D pun, get it? Yes, I know I'm very much slightly obsessed)... it means Monday Muse!! Your one stop awkwardness happiness to amazing Monday! You know you love Monday Muse! XOXO. Now before I start to sound like bad ads, let's see what country we are coming to in our journey today!

Tataratarataratara!! *le getting bored of drum rolls*

America!! I know that most of you guys are from America, but I myself am very excited! So, without further ado... enjoy! ♥ 

The bookie in action

Hi there all! My name is Rachel and I love books, obviously!  I live in a Southern California in a suburb about forty miles north of Los Angeles. I recently joined on the lovely Jasprit’s book blog, The Readers Den and have been having a blast, amazed that I’m a co-blogger with someone in the UK while I reside in the USA!  I feel so honored Hilda asked me to be a part of this feature because I just adore Hilda’s blog and I think her feature of showing other locals is a brilliant idea.  So let me tell you a little about California.  California literally has anything and everything you can imagine or want to do.  From our stunning beaches to our gorgeous mountains, and the exciting city of Los Angeles, there’s something for anyone who visits.  These are just some of the places I like to go, or are part of my life on a regular basis.

Places

One of my favorite places to visit is The Huntington Gardens and Library in San Marino.  It’s gorgeous and the mansion library would make any booklover salivate with dreams of being locked up in there. The home has one of those staircases that make you wish you had a ballroom gown so that you could descend, making a graceful entrance! (Unfortunately, they don’t allow photos of the interiors.) The afternoon tea is wonderful, and the surrounding 120 acres of gardens are magnificent!  Each garden has a different theme: Japanese, herb, rose, desert, and tropical.  Every season holds a different beauty in each of the gardens. I’ve visited Butchart Gardens in Canada, and I think this just as, if not more beautiful.   I highly recommend this stop!  

Hearst Castle is about three and a half hours north and totally worth the drive.  It is situated on the beautiful rolling hills of San Simeon and has spectacular views of the ocean that go on forever.  Every room is grand, but it has one of the most drool-worthy libraries I’ve ever seen! Can you imagine sitting in one of the chairs curled up with a good book?!!

Concerts/Events

One of my favorite things to do is see music concerts and we have so many.  My favorite venues are small, so you feel up close and personal.  The Ford Ampitheater, and The Music Box, in Hollywood and the The Wiltern in Los Angeles are my favorite.  The Kooks, Young the Giant, and The Airborne Toxic Event are just a few that I’ve seen recently.  All of them are brilliant live!  I don’t know why I didn’t get a shot with The Airborne Toxic Event in the photo on the left, but you can see The Kooks below at The Music Box. 

Library/Bookstores

For the booklovers in all of us, the Los Angeles area has so many author event signings.  I personally love Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena and Once Upon a Time Bookstore in Montrose. Both are wonderful as a bookstore and author event location. They draw a lot of big names, and they have a wide selection of YA titles. Below you can see: Anna Carey, Cynthia Hand, Marie Lu, Tahereh Mafi, and Veronica Rossi.  Just below them are: Elizabeth Miles, Becca Fitzpatrick, and Moira Young. 

Food

 

Well I suppose this is last, but in my book, it’s certainly not least!  I love Mexican food, so this literally a weekly affair: Chips, salsa, and a margarita=I am a happy girl!!

Final note

So if you come out here, I promise to look for an author event so we can go be star-stuck, forget any pertinent questions, and babble like idiots; because this is what I do every time!  Then we can chat and gossip books forever over Mexican food and margaritas!  What are you waiting for?!

Yes, what are you waiting for?? I don't know about you guys, but I feel like moving in to Southern California now! It just seems like such a fabulous place to live, agree? I mean, look at The Huntington Gardens and Library! Imagine curling up and reading your book in Hearst Castle's library! The awesome venues to watch your favorite band!! And ooh, don't get me started on the awesome authors living in the US! It's so unfair that you can always meet and shake hands to those rock stars, Rachel! ;)

Don't forget to check out Rachel and Jasprit's beautiful blog at The Readers Den!! If you missed Jasprit's equally amazing guest post about UK, you can check it here. :) Both are bloggers extraordinaire with ability of weaving words into gold! Go go go visit their gorgeous blogs and say hi in the comment box! They're extremely friendly and you know you want to be friends with them! ♥ ;)

As always, we have map to help marking our journey! :)

Get ready to SWAG, because our next destination is INDIA! Yay, let's go visit the hometown of those amazing Bollywood actors and brilliant movies! ;) NAMASTE, everyone! ♥ :)