March in LA

What a start to March, Shake it baby, the highs and lows

Welcome back to This Month in LA.  Once again March seemed to go pretty slowly yet when you look back it's flown???  It's been a hard one for us mainly because we're missing our friends.  Just like a new relationship--you're madly in love having an amazing time and six/seven months later you start to miss your friends and the novelty starts to wear off.  Like a fantastic relationship, however, we press on and this one is going to work (without too much effort).

It started with a bang!

It was a wet start to the month but that just gave us something more to talk about--three days of constant rain.  It even flooded [insert gasp].  LA drains aren't built for rain.  I know what you're thinking, it's been blizzarding in other parts of the country, those in the East Coast can count their snow days on more than one hand and we're carrying on about rain.  That's right.  It's perfect here in BH.

Of course by "with a bang" I mean the event of the year--the Oscars.  There was a lot of talk around town: Would the celebs get rained on? Will it stop raining? Who will Gwen crown best dressed?  I predicted up-dos for the night and it was good to see many took my tip; surprised to see others that didn't but each to their own.  I loved watching the Oscars--even though I wasn't there in the flesh.  It was especially good in front of the fire with a glass of red in hand with the rain beating down.  (If you missed my rundown on the big night I've popped in a link for you to visit the post--you're welcome).

Roadtrip.

(Deliberate use of period & the word period).  Americans love a good roadtrip and we embraced the close proximity of Vegas and a four-day long weekend thanks to the teachers needing some quality time to write school reports and headed for the desert.  Nothing like a mini break and spending money to make you feel better.  Loved Vegas--just never thought I'd actually get there or be on a family holiday when I did.
(Hmmm... why did the month seem to drag on exactly?)

And continued with a bang ... and a shake ... and more shaking.  

LA drains may not be built for rain but they're certainly built for earthquakes.  We experienced our first-ever earthquake.  Yep, we woke on St Patrick's Day to a 4.4 earthquake with the epicentre a mere couple of miles from us.  It shook us up alright--scared the crap out of us.  One jolt is fine.  Two jolts are fine (as angry as they were) but the shake thing was not pleasant.  I went from cool to OMFG in a millisecond as soon as the shaking didn't stop and things started crashing down (ok, one vase--but it was precious--and a couple of unbroken photos in frames fall off the bookcase).  I would've seen my life flash before my eyes had I not been concerned about securing the kids.  Be glad if I don't have to experience that again (plus I don't have any spare tealight holders/vases in my "Spin" collection left--my Shanghai friends will appreciate how important that is).

Present day

It's spring break ... and we topped off a super holiday-filled March with a last-minute trip to Wales.  This was just what the doctor ordered--normal food, the comfort of friends and family and NOT Australia.  We thoroughly appreciated--and embraced--everything Wales had to offer.  Better still we have another week at home to regroup and hopefully get out and play too.

A quick word about Facebook

Many of you "like" me on Facebook and I really appreciate it.  I've been reading a lot about how Facebook works lately.  If you like my posts or stories it keeps the post alive, basically Facebook thinks the content must be good because people are interacting with it so post it to more people's sites (and I'm not talking new people I'm talking people who already like my page).  I see why they do it but it makes it hard when I'm trying to get what's essentially a start-up business up and running.  I started paying to promote my posts but what I've found since then is that Facebook has stopped my posts showing up in many newsfeeds I'm guessing so I'll keep paying to promote them.  It's a challenge let me tell you!

I'm trying to grow my reader base and likes so I can approach organisations to give me free tickets in exchange for blogging about the experience.  I get judged on Google Analytics information (real-life visits to my page), my likes on Facebook and the number of followers I have on Twitter & Instagram: the more the better.

Anything you can do to help is greatly appreciated!

Another month down and ready to start April with a fresh approach.  Doesn't hurt we've got a number of friends visiting this month--that always puts a smile on my face.  Plus another roadtrip (this time down south to San Diego) and the countdown to the summer holidays.

In the meantime ... Keep smiling, stay positive and live life to its fullest.

xx It Started in LA xx

Psst ... highlight stories with links posted below. Enjoy catching up!