Date Day! Chocolate Chicken, Old World Grocery's and Smoggy Views

Sometimes in life, you just need to go. Get out of town, even for a few hours, and explore new places. Enjoying the world around you for all of its beautiful glory. I've always been impressed by the ads that inspire adventure. From trekking through mountains, to surfing coast lines, to just exploring cities. This world is too amazing not to take in, and even something so simple as this last weekend was thrilling to me.

I wanted to plan the day. Hailey didn't really know what we were doing, all she knew is that we had to leave at 9:00am, the only stop she knew of was, was going to Ikea to return a shelf part (we accidentally got the wrong one).

So, we took off at nine, and headed south. Los Angeles has far more to offer in regards of things to do, places to see, etc., so we find ourselves there a lot. This time around, I was taking her to a little bit of everything. Places she's been to, places I have been to but she hasn't, and places we both haven't been to.

IKEA's got this awesome sign that promotes unfortunately not actual size hot dogs. 

We hopped on over to IKEA, returned what we needed to, wandered around, got a frame for my degree to hang up, and started to head out to our first stop.

Galco's Old World Grocery in Northeast L.A. 

A friend of mine let me in on this place not too long ago, and we HAD to check it out. 

So get this, you can make your own flavored soda! 

First, choose your level of carbonation...

Then grab any variety of flavor you want. There's so many to pick from! 

Grab a bottle cap...

And press it onto the top of your glass bottle! 

Yes, Hailey's says 'Lavender'. You read that right. 

There's more than just this aisle, and there's SO many different flavors! 

You can pick up a 12-pack, and grab any flavors you want! We got some pretty unique flavors we've never heard of. In this case we acquired a blueberry soda, a rose petal soda, and even a mint julep soda! Others are some titles you might have heard of before, such as Kickapoo Joy Juice. 

This place really is awesome, and definitely a place we're going to come back to. The owner of the store is an amazing guy, with a severe love of soda, and small companies that just don't see the light of day to the public, because Coke and Pepsi run them out of town. How do we know this? He's got his letters from Pepsi and Coke's lawyers asking him to stop selling Mexican Coke or Pepsi, because it might cause 'confusion'. 

Personally, I think it's awesome he's got these hanging up right in the heart of the store. It's a tribute to his desire to give small business soda companies a chance to stand up to the big guys and let them know they're still here and not going to go anywhere. 

After we got our sodas, we headed back across the valley to a spot Hailey hasn't been to before. 

The Griffith Observatory! 

A selfie, Mr. Einstein. 

Pendulum! 

Beautiful ceiling work. 

Big places we've never been to. 

Einstein phone home...

Soon enough, we'll be traveling down there for dinner!

But first..

Big old zoomy space thing! See nerds, this is your payoff for using a magnifying glass to look at ants and stuff. You keep on zooming, all you science kids. 

While we're at it...

Look at how cute she is! 

Boo to all you locals who want this torn down. San Franciscans don't get all butthurt about the Trolly system cloggin' up their roadways, why should you get all butthurt about a sign?

Artsy? Artsy. Or just a random photo. You decide. 

Moving on. 

Okay, so Downtown LA's architecture is cool, first off. 

Second off, my mother in law found a list of 28 junk food and drool worthy places to eat at in L.A. So, Hailey and I now have donned the challenge to eat at ALL OF THEM. Someone's gotta do it, right? Might as well be a bunch of kids with clean arteries to clog. 

This is our second stop on the list (we already had been to Diddy Riese before we found out about the list. Yea, we're that hipster).

But Jake, I can't tell what that place is! It just looks all urban and cool, and quite like a place I would love to visit! What ever is the name of said restaurant? 

CHOCO. CHICKEN. 

You read that right. ChocoChicken. This place rocks. It's chocolate fried chicken, accompanied with glorious things like a bacon biscuit, or white chocolate mashed potatoes...or DUCK FAT FRIES. Goodness gracious, this place was delicious. 

I mean, LOOK AT IT. How good does that look?! 

Well, not very good if you're vegan. But if it makes you feel better, we learned that this chicken they use here is grain fed and organically grown on a farm that doesn't have giant warehouses with little cages and all those bad dirty things they teach you at PETA-School. 

But back to this place. We absolutely loved it. It's a great menu of food choices, for a little bit higher than normal price (my sandwich above was $14), but we promise you, you  get what you pay for. 

So after this, Hailey knew we were going to see a movie, and she thought we were going to go to a AMC in the North LA area. 

Just kidding! We drove down to Downtown Disney to see Guardians of The Galaxy, and end the night inside the parks to watch the fireworks together. For some reason, on some of our LA dates, we've ended up going as a spur of the moment thing, so I figured it'd be fun to keep up that tradition. 

All of those were shot on my canon, and without a tripod. Still trying to toy around with that 50, and what looks good. 

And, to end this blog post, here's the final stop of the night, which was also the third stop on the food list! 

Pellicola Pizza. Known for their Nutella pizza! 

This spot is yet again in downtown LA, and a few blocks from the Staples Center. Gotta say, that pizza didn't disappoint. It was slightly crunchier than I expected, but still incredibly delicious, and for $3 a slice, who can argue with that? 

This place is a throwback style to vintage film stuff. They've got old theater lamps around the place, and then..

Classic movies playing on the scrim on the window of the restaurant!

Places like this really are amazing gems, and far better than any chain restaurant could ever provide in regards to quality food and great style. After getting home at 1:00am, we were worn out. We both can't wait to get down here again to try out more places on the list, and explore even more places. If I could leave you readers...if anyone is actually reading this, with one thing, it's this: get out. Go explore, and see what's around you. I know, I know. Your comfortable wake up, go to work, go eat, go home, sleep, rinse repeat life is all comfy, but please. Your life is short, and your world is small. See what you can, and find things that aren't deemed popular. Maybe you can make it a popular place by sharing your findings with everyone else. You never know. But for now, I must bid adieu, and be off to search for more places that Hailey and I can explore. 

Photo Friday: Jungle Lanterns

Jungle Cruise is always one of my favorite attractions to shoot. Since it's opening, it's literally grown into its own ecosystem. Let alone the amazing queue, the shots are limitless. After buying a 50mm lens, I had some fun with focal length on here, and this shot turned out a lot better than I originally thought! 

Disney/Pixar: Why I Love the Magic of a Mouse and Lamp

Waiting for the parade to start..

Growing up, Disney was a large part of my childhood. Between going to the theater to see the latest film, exploring Disneyland, and laying in front of the TV on Saturday mornings watching Pepper Ann and Recess, Disney was there. It was one of a few pillars in my life. The movies taught me lessons about life. I learned from Aladdin to always stay true to yourself, and if you judge a book by it's cover, you'll more often than not be wrong. Or I learned from The Little Mermaid to always pursue your dream, even if it's not what people think you need in your life. Those are a few to list, and I could go on for days, but that's besides the point.

Disney apparently is a great thing to love as a child. But as a teenager, not so much, according to some of the kids I went to high school with.

See, when I was in high school, I was sort of a floater. I was never in one specific crowd, and I moved from group to group. I never really had a place of my own, but more a place of their own that I visited. I enjoyed hanging with some of the jocks, some of the anime/emo kids, some of the preps, some of the bookworms. I was fascinated by everyone because they were all so uniquely different in their own beautiful way. But people didn't always see it so positively in return.

When kids heard that I was a huge Disney fan, went to Disneyland once or twice a month just to hang out with my friends down there, it was a bad thing to them, and they called me a variety of names. From a freak, to even questioning my sexuality, I was berated for something I loved.

It was hard. Eventually I stopped talking about it because I didn't want the grief from my peers. I didn't want to hear people calling me a freak, or gay because I liked Disney. I knew I wasn't what they said, but I believe that if people hear something negative long enough, they'll start to believe the lies as a truth.

Now that nearly four years has passed, I'm already graduated with an AA, moving onto my Bachelor's degree, married, and still enjoying the company more than ever, I learned something new yesterday as I watched a 20-minute special on Netflix about Pixar (Inside Pixar is the name, and if you get a chance, WATCH IT).

Some, if not most of the short documentary areEVER give up on what you believe in.

things I've already seen, but yet to actually visit (open them doors for me, Luxo!). But listening to John Lasseter speak about the early years of Pixar, and how he was fired from Disney for going around his boss to make a film he so passionately believed in, only to now be the CEO of Pixar, and Chief Creative Officer for Disney's Imagineering department, I learned again, just like reading so much about Walt Disney, that you can never, EVER

20-something years later, still at Disneyland. This time with my wife, doing long exposure photography.

Never give up on those dreams, because without them, where is the warmth that this world so desperately needs? Where are those happy stories that we escape to on-screen? Where would all of those be without an idea, and a dream that someone had?

I'm over being called a freak, or the logic of 'only gay guys like Disney' (football players, you know who you are, and you should be ashamed of yourself for this type of talk). Over the last four years since high school, I've learned so much about the company I one day intend and hope to work for, and I have made some amazing friends in wonderful departments who are now mentoring me and helping me fine tune details I need to iron out before I apply for my name badge at the Mouse. I'm over the negative outlook on MY dream, because I'm going to do what it takes for it to happen. I want to be apart of a team who's goal is to make stories come to life, and inspire the next generation of kids to dream just like Walt did, and just like I'm trying to do.

You can never let people get to you, no matter how hard it may be sometimes. At the end of the day, the people who are talking down to you aren't the ones who will help you anyways. They don't believe in your dream, so why let them influence it? Find the people who see things the way you do, and build each other up. Maybe someday people will realize they're wrong. If they don't, then you've still won, because your dream became a reality. 

Photo Friday: Entering The Mansion

A lot of photos I shoot are at Disneyland. It's my favorite place to shoot, because you can hardly ever look at something the same way twice. This was shot while hanging out with a good friend of mine, while closing out the parks. Both of us were running around New Orleans Square taking photos of the empty park. This was shot off the new 50mm lens Hailey and I bought. It's a lot trickier to use at first, because it's a fixed lens, and you have to walk around more to set your shots up, over relying on the zoom.

Boy Meets Girl Meets World

I've been a big fan of Boy Meets World for as long as I can remember. In fact, my sister got me the entire series on DVD last year as a Christmas present. Now, Disney decided to bring back the show in a new way, as many of you know, with Corey and Topanga being parents to their daughter Riley.

From the three episodes that have aired so far, I've honestly been blown away. Disney Channel is finally returning to their roots of having a show that teaches history and lessons alongside the events life throws at everyone. Sure, it may be centered around a young teenage girl, but even I'm learning from it, and remembering some of those lessons the original show taught me as I was growing up.

What makes this show superior than the rest on the network though, is that it does what was just stated. It teaches you, and you sympathize with the characters. Why is that?

Because the characters are you. Whether you're a dad or mom, little brother or big sister, best friend or a crush, there's a little bit of you in those characters. There's stories you've gone through, and have tried to figure out how to handle it. There's events that seem bigger than they are, but the characters teach that you can conquer anything with those closest around you by your side to help you through it.

It may be a 'kids show' to some, but really, it's a family show. It's a show that teaches parent's to revel in their child's childhood, and don't rush them to grow up so fast, unlike what the world wants them to do. It teaches the kids to accept that there are responsibilities in life, but don't take them so seriously that they miss out on the fun times of being a kid, because as Topanga so beautifully put it in the third and most recent episode, "stay this young for as long as possible, because when it's gone, it's gone."

Hey Pinheads...Pinterest Isn't Just For Girl

Gentlemen...

We need to talk. There's something bugging me about my gender. We're an arrogant bunch, and I don't know why. We brag about our sports teams being better than the other, our cars being faster than  the one in the next lane over, and our girl being prettier than another.

Oh, and apparently we have an issue with thinking that certain things are for girls only. Sure, I'll agree with you that I'd never be caught dead getting a mani/pedi, or shopping for clothes with a group of guys. But what about online? We Facebook photos of our night out with the bros, and tweet about the sports scores. How about pinning our interests? Or, pintresting? Is that a word? Ladies, help me out there.

My boards. See? It's not that bad. 

Anyway, Pinterest isn't just a site where girls convene to trade recipes and nail art, and create their ideal weddings to Adam Levine. Sure, a lot of that stuff is on there, and just like any other guy, I actively avoid it. However, what if I told you about taking what the girls do, and being guys, and making boards of your dream cars and motorcycles? Or those sick leather jackets and messenger bags? Or a collection of sunglasses and cufflinks? Hell, even trade our own manly recipes for ribs, beer chicken, and more?

I don't understand why more guys don't take advantage of making boards on Pinterest to collect a list of the things we want. The desktop site is easily laid out, and the app for your iPhone and Android is even easier. I believe it's time that men invest some time into this site. It's not just for the dresses and drinks the ladies love. It's for the street art. It's for the architecture and creative backyard solutions to make hanging out in the backyard cooler than just that store-bought plastic lawn chairs.


All I'm getting at here guys, is that it's not something that's just for the girls. We can share in the boards and sharing all the things that are all so great about being a dude. So, here's to pinning. Here's to celebrate being a guy, and giving light into what makes us men so awesome to begin with.

No Bake Energy Bites

Hi everyone!
With all the stress of wedding planning, moving, school, and much more I found myself letting myself go. (No excuses though, purely my fault). However, I REALLY have no excuses now. It's time to get back into it! Jacob and I have been swimming and bike riding a lot plus playing softball twice a week. I have been doing a lot of meal prep and eating whole foods instead of processed. And we both have committed to drinking a gallon of water a day. And even within the last two weeks I've personally felt a difference in how I feel throughout the day. My face has cleared up, I'm not as bloated, my metabolism is getting faster, and I have much more energy.

But even with clean eating... my sweet tooth is still something fierce, even more so with eating right. So what do you do about it? Ice cream? A candy bar? Cake and cookies? Sometimes... sure. (No judgement here) But every day? NO. So this is one of my absolute favorite recipes to crave a sweet tooth in a healthier way.

No Bake Energy Bites

In a medium bowl mix oats, coconut flakes, peanut butter, flaxseed, honey, vanilla and chocolate chips.

When you choose your ingredients, remember CLEAN EATING! So with coconut, either buy your own coconut and roast it and shred it yourself or get unsweetened organic at the store. The other important ingredient to get clean is the peanut butter. Don't go with Jif or Skippy with all of the extra unnecessarily ingredients, go with a much natural peanut butter. Take a look at the difference in ingredients from Skippy on the left, to what I used on the right...

Once you're done mixing all of the ingredients together, use your hands to make ball shapes. I make mine about an inch by an inch.

Then pop them in a big ziplock bag and refrigerate them until you are ready to eat them. I usually like mine in between breakfast and lunch as a little pick me up. They're SO good and very filling.

Ingredients:
1 cup of whole wheat oats
2/3 cups of unsweetened coconut flakes
3/4 cup of peanut butter
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/3 cup of honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup of chocolate chips (you can add more or less depending on what you like)

You can add more or less of whatever ingredients you'd like. I usually add craisins, chia seeds, or any type of nut as well. Since they are no bake, there doesn't have to be an exact ratio of anything. I like to substitute honey for agave nectar sometimes too. The possibilities are endless!


Happy Healthy Eating!

-HW

Young, Wild, and Married

I got married 5 days after I turned 20 years old. Because of that I got a lot of "Wow you are SO young" "Are you sure you're ready!?" "You already are getting tied down THIS young!?" A lot of the comments I got were pretty negative or doubtful. And I know that some may look down on young marriages, but honestly, I don't get it. I found my person that I want to spend the rest of my life with... without having to search for very long.  I didn't get my heart broken a bunch, I didn't sleep around, I didn't have a ton of failed relationships. It's not a negative thing, it's a blessing. A big blessing. Not only did it save me a lot of heartache spending many years to find the one... but it also means that I get more time with my spouse (God willing). Do I regret getting married young? Not one bit. I am so incredibly in love with my husband and best friend.

Marriage has honestly been the best thing to happen to me. While Jake and I have a lot of similarities, we are also pretty different in some aspects. It's these differences that make life interesting. Before being with him, I think I lacked every possible ounce of compassion where he had plenty of it. He was patient, I wasn't. He was kinder with his words… I wasn't. But never once did he look down on me for that, or love me less because of it. Instead, he used his compassion, patience, and kind words to help me. We grew together, and that is a beautiful thing. I have been blessed to see many wonderful marriages in my life, and I always prayed that one day… someone, somewhere, would be able to look at my marriage and think the exact same thing. And I truly believe that that will happen.

At the moment, Jake and I are simply a family of two. Our own little Williams family. One day, not anytime soon, but some day… we will expand our family. Until then, Jake and I are working to create that strong foundation for them. It is our job as husband and wife to love and live deeply. To set our family rules and beliefs into place now rather than later. To work hard and play hard. We are only four months into creating our family's foundation… and by golly I think we are doing a pretty damn good job.

So to all the "haters" who questioned, doubted, and thought we were stupid… you were wrong. I'm not in this to "prove anyone wrong" because ultimately that isn't my goal nor my intentions. My goal is to have the best marriage possible with my absolute best friend. And while doing that, sharing my revelations, recipes, DIY projects, thoughts, and anything I feel like on our blog. And maybe that one person… somewhere… someday… will stumble along our blog and be inspired by our marriage and our love.
-HW

A Magical Fourth

Hailey and I didn't have any plans over the Fourth of July weekend, so we decided at the last minute to head down to Disneyland. We checked out the new Alice in Wonderland, and enjoyed the day mulling around the parks with no real agenda. Also, I really wanted to give a go at trying to capture long-exposure shots of fireworks, and figured the special fireworks for the Fourth would be a good start. The color isn't the best in these, and I wish some came out brighter, but for the first time, I was happy with the general results.