Memory Lane

I subscribe to Los Angeles Magazine. Odd? Not really. I live in Northern California and have been to L.A. a few times. Plus if I see something upcoming I can make plans for it. The magazine always has great things about the city in it from shopping to places to eat and attractions. The latest issue was all about the most infamous moments of crime in the city. They had a section on one of the most memorable crimes of the 90's.... The O.J. Simpson Trial.

I can remember it like it was yesterday. The white Bronco chase. It's been 19 years!

I can remember sitting in the living room watching television with my mom and my grandma. It happened on June 17, 1994 which also happens to be my Birthday. I have no idea what I did that year for my birthday but I do remember watching that entire chase. It seemed to last forever. Everyone started asking... Will he run out of gas? Where's he trying to drive to? Someone is in the car with him! Who is it? Did he kill Nicole? Why would he drive like this if he was innocent? News anchors were going nuts! People nationwide were calling in and sitting on the edge of their seats. It was history in the making. It was a car chase on NATIONAL LIVE TV. What made the chase more unbelievable was the fact that it was a high profile celebrity and he was big enough to interrupt the NBA game 5 playoff telecast. 

When the chase finally ended by him driving back to a home in Brentwood, California the entire world thought it was done. Wrong! OJ wouldn't get out of the Bronco. We sat transfixed in front of the television waiting to see what would happen next. After much coaxing O.J. finally got out of the Bronco and was immediately arrested. Then of course there was the trial. He was in for the fight of his life. He was being accused of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman who happened to be there because he was dropping off a pair of sunglasses. The trial lasted 9 months which was the longest murder trial in history for California. The trial itself had many memorable moments in it, one being this...

If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit! O.J. tried to squeeze on the blood soaked, leather glove found at the crime scene. His law team made this a factor in his innocence. During the trial O.J. and his lawyers came up with many different scenarios for why and who could have killed Nicole and Ron. They blamed gangs, they blamed the mob. The lawyers even went so far as to say that maybe Nicole had a stalker and the person thought Ron was her boyfriend so the stalker killed them both. 

Either way at this point America was divided in it's decision. Many people believed he was guilty while others said innocent. When the verdict was read (which my middle school interrupted class for us to hear) shock swept across the states. INNOCENT! In the 19 years that have followed we've seen some crazy things from OJ. He was found innocent of the murders but was found guilty on having to pay the Goldman family monetary damages. Then he wrote a book titled, If I killed her this is how I would have done it. Hmmm..... but then karma got him and he was arrested in Vegas trying to steal back some of his own sports memorabilia. He's currently serving 19 years in prison for it. So what do you think? Do you think OJ was guilty back in 1994? 

Weekend Review

I finally found these shoes! If you saw my tweet a few weeks ago, I was asking where to find these beauties. I had seen someone wearing a pair very similar and couldn't find them. I went to twitter and someone immediately told me where they were to be found! They'll be perfect for the 4th of July. 

I had been craving food from a place over in Citrus Heights called Royal Kebab. The food is sooo good there! I had one of the beef/chicken combos. I'm not a fan of lamb but it comes with every meal. 

Since my mom was in town on my Birthday and I had a lot of other stuff going on, I finally had some time to hang out with a few of the friends I've made here. Two of them surprised me with a belated Birthday gift! Who doesn't love getting gifts?!? 

Note my new owl phone case! And... I made this big purchase...

Yep that's a new computer. I still have my MacBook but for something's... gasp... it's not great. That was my weekend!

Birthday Recap Part IV

The next big attraction we hit during my Birthday celebration was the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk! Santa Cruz is famous for being the birthplace of California surfing!

When we first got there the weather was a little chilly but as the day went on the sun came out. While we waited for the sun to come out and warm things up to ride rides, we decided to have a caricature made. My mother and I had one made at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee but she has that one in her house so I wanted one made to go in mine. 

The finished product....

Then of course we spent time riding all of the rides. I normally don't get freaked out at all from rollercoasters, etc but this one really bothered me...

I think it was the fact that any slight movement at all and you thought the seat was going to come off the wire. I wasn't a fan and only rode it to one end before hopping off. I was more than happy to walk from to end to end. Then of course there was the food....

Those donuts were HUGE! The picture doesn't do them justice. I passed on the donut but I did end up getting a "tater twist" That's an entire potato twisted onto that stick. It was good going down but about 15 minutes later it wasn't too pretty. I think it must have been the oil they made it in. I normally don't have a reaction like that to potatoes. My mom on the other hand went for the healthy choice of a giant fruit cup.... well after her sweet potato fries. 

Once we had finished riding the rides and finished eating, we decided to sit on the beach and watch all of the people playing in a beach volleyball championship. Plus we just wanted to enjoy the day and our time together! It was such a fun time at the boardwalk and I highly recommend going if you find yourself near or in Santa Cruz!