Los Angeles with goDutch: Day Four

Day Four:

There were some foggy individuals on Day Four due to an 11pm beach visit... 20-somethings, eh?? [Haha]

We were in one workplace all day, starting with a presentation/show [?] by David Kwong; he’s a magician, puzzle creator for the NYT, writer and producer... basically a cool nerd. His magic was pretty neat - very slight of hand. 

David Kwong

After he spoke, we went to another room where he created a series of puzzles for us to figure out which lead to a combination to unlock a box with the prize. It was HARD. It took us all a good hour or so to work through them. My team unlocked the box and we won some fancy playing cards : ) 

After lunch we sat for a few hours talking about our studio, how to make it better, future plans, etc. It was a good sit down and talk.

We had one last fancy dinner before four of us ladies took off for LAX to catch the redeye home to our babies. 

I thought for sure I’d be able to sleep on the redeye. Nope. Too uncomfortable. What an awful feeling, right? Thankfully my Mom came to watch the girls that day  [sitter was on vacation] so I took two naps the following day to get myself back in order!

Good [tired] Morning

Always happy to be home!

Los Angeles with goDutch: Day Three

Day Three:

Up and at ‘em for a storytelling workshop in the morning - which sounded daunting and brutal but was actually a lot of fun. The Moth is a group [club? show?] that promotes the art of storytelling. They have podcasts and live events. So they had two reps there who were very engaging and we learned something not only about storytelling but about each other as well. 

The Moth

After our workshop we had a good lunch then an afternoon scavenger hunt - which again sounds silly. I can picture young Christine running around with a piece of paper in her hand checking off items. 

However, cityHUNT is an app for your phone that is curated based on your location. You open the app and there’s a list of action items; some questions to answer, mostly items/people/actions to capture on your phone which is then uploaded to the app and points are tallied. So it was pretty cool and way fun - seeing your coworkers opening up to get strangers to help is entertaining!

Still got it!

Brave souls

Exhausted, sweaty yet smiling.

A quinceanera!!

The Dudes

One of our owners!

We capped off the night at The Standard Hotel where inside is a ping pong lounge/bar with our own private room/bar! It was fun and everyone got in on the action. The guys dominated the tables but I held my own pretty well. I did beat one of them - woot!

Los Angeles with goDutch: Day Two

Day Two:

I slept like poo. Hotel room, off schedule, etc. The pillows were too flat for me. I swear I woke up every hour. I was awake by 5:15am of course because my body thought it was 8:15am. 

About four of us went out for a 6am run along the shore since we didn’t have to leave until 9:30am. It was awesome! Though a little gross with litter everywhere - !

Fancy hotel breakfast!

Our first stop of the day was a private tour of the Eames Home. This probably only means something to those with a design background:

Charles & Ray Eames were American designers who made historical contributions to modern architecture and furniture. Most notably the Eames Lounge (1956) which was the introduction to molded plywood and mass-produced furniture. Charles passed suddenly in 1978 and Ray in 1988. Their home has not been touched since then and is now a time capsule. 

Charles & Ray Eames

We had to remove our shoes and put on socks provided - and of course touch nothing, nor take any photos inside. It was pretty neat! Beautiful property. 

Then we moved onto the Getty Museum - we had our own tour of the building and grounds which I actually found more interesting than the art inside. The architect, Richard Meier, had a lot to consider with the land, the movement of traffic, etc. His attention to detail was astounding; all tiles and proportions were built around a 30x30 square. Even the landscaping lines up with the seams of the building.

Afterwards, went for happy hour at a fancy hotel and then took it down a natch to food trucks for dinner - yum! 

Nightcap at our hotel lobby with the girls : ) 

Los Angeles with goDutch: Day One

I’ve been with goDutch for almost 2 1/2 years now - I’ve seen us grow from 10 people in a house in Covington to 17 people in an official studio space in OTR. I’ve been grateful since day one that my pal Emily pulled me in. Large studio to small studio is a change, but our perks are amazing. 

Case in point: celebrating the studio’s five year anniversary by taking us all to L.A. for a week of inspiration and recharging the creativity! 

Some of us women with families were anxious about the week - I haven’t been gone from the girls longer than two nights, nor have I been gone with Tim that long since our honeymoon. Wah-wahhhh.

Not to mention Tim being on his own with the girls that long - at least he only had mornings and evenings to deal with... but anyone with a traveling partner knows that can wear on you!

Day One: 

9:30 flight, landed around 11am. 

Our mini-bus that carried us around the city.

Hotel by 12:15, back out by 12:45 to meet up with Molly, my Sister-In-Law whom I haven’t seen since Hannah was born! Was great to catch up and she showed me around the canals of Venice Beach - beautiful! We got some iced coffees and bopped around.

I was back at my hotel at 3:50 in time to Facetime with the family [6:50pm dinner there]. Showered up, our group left the Viceroy at 4:45 to walk to The Fig for dinner - YUM. Our office can be foodie snobs when we want. 

After dinner drinks at a bar, then to bed. 

Shots of the cool boutique-y hotel, The Viceroy: