Cabin in the (Bel Air) Woods

Today was a special day.

Zoe and I drove North to visit my best friend Miwa in her little cabin abode in the Bel Air woods.  Woods, you say? in Bel Air? why yes! It's not just full of mansions of the stars...and Fresh Princes...theres another part that is pretty woodsy and Miwa happens to live right in the heart of it.  Apparently one of Elizabeth Taylor's mansions was right behind Miwa's house.  A common sighting while driving down Sunset to her house: sightseeing tour vans filled with tourists eager to spot a movie star jogging or just to see where they live.

After I arrived, we grabbed a quick lunch then headed to Santa Monica to get a sweet treat at Harajuku Stop.  Here you can get really sweet dessert crepes.  It was empty so the three of us took over the place and Zoe ran amuck until we got our crepe. SO good!

Besties since 4th grade. My Miwa-chan

Cool light fixture in Harajuku

O ya, Miwa is 8 months pregnant. She's ready to pop!

Zoe loves purses

Japanese soda, theres a marble inside. I don't know why. But
the bottles were pretty. 

Zoe and her obsession with ice

Ahhh finally our strawberry,nutella,mochi,vanilla ice cream
filled crepe. Delish

 After that we made a quick stop to Trader Joes then back to the house to explore.  These cabin houses look like they're just plopped up in the hills, and they pretty much are.  Miwa's is steady on the ground...but the 2 that we climbed uphill to were pretty rickety, and after exploring a few minutes in them my fear of spiders and creepy crawlies kinda took over and I decided it was time to go back into the house. 

Lil Tomatoes

Look up and this is what you see all around

Down the steps to our adventure

Next door neighbor

Dried blueberries to keep her happy

Another neighboring cabin

Rickety cabin

more please!

Miwa made my favorite meal EVER that we would eat at her momma's house when we were younger.  It's a Japanese dish called 'donburi'.  Its thinly sliced meat cooked on a pan, with onions and egg poured over then all of that is eaten over rice.  Zoe loved it too...and she's pretty picky these days!

 

we skyped with our bestest friend Sarah, she lives in New Jersey for the
next two years...we offered her a grapefruit and she was clearly
excited. 

Zoe was so good all day...it amazes me everyday how awesome she is and well behaved.  She didn't get a nap today and I was expecting a breakdown at some point...but it didn't happen.  She just played, and was super cute and funny.  As soon as I turned the car on and headed back to the OC you can be sure she was passed out.  

Today was good. Thank you, Miwa-chan.  I love you!