Health and Beauty

By Dahlia Acevedo Today we visited Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook in Culver City. I find it hard to believe we have lived in Los Angeles County our whole lives and have never been to this awesome place. When you first arrive you see people walking up the incredibly steep and lengthy hill. Although I felt tempted to do so, I knew I am pretty much out of shape and couldn't possibly handle it. Instead we drove to the top of the hill and parked in the lot. Parking is two dollars per hour or six dollars for the day. The whole place is a scenic overlook offering 360 views of Marina Del Ray (we could see the ocean!), Culver city, and Down Town LA. It was hot, but because of the ocean breeze hikes were tolerable. Every single path we took was short, and lined with lush greenery and yellow wild flowers. In addition, yellow wild flower covered hillsides are abundant. At one point while stopping to take a picture I noticed the mountains peaks were covered in snow. Oh!, and one very cool fe

Ready to begin a beautiful and satisfying bike ride? Lake Balboa is so lovely this time of year. Full of wonderful parks like The Japanese Garden, and Lake Balboa Park. I hope you enjoy the following awesome bike ride around my neighborhood. To begin your ride, park at the orange line station located just off Sepulveda Blvd. and Oxnard. The station is bursting with bright pink cherry trees. A beautiful start to your adventure. As you bike along you will go under a bridge and arrive at Victory blvd. Continue on this very green and stunning bike path, lined with yellow, pink and purple wild flowers, as well as cherry trees, until you come to Balboa Blvd. Cross the street and make a left (don't forget to stop and take a picture of the orange tulips. You can't miss it), so that you continue down Balboa blvd until you arrive at Balboa Sports Park. There are always teams playing soccer. Make a right into the park to continue onto the bike path, and veer right. Continue on this bike

Lake Balboa is one of my favorite places on earth. It is always beautiful there, but today was a stunner. The cherry blossom trees have bloomed (for the most part), and are incredibly beautiful. City officials have apparently planted a bunch of new cherry blossom trees along the lake. Thanks to the intense heat we get in the valley it is impossible for anything to survive for too long. If I were you I would plan to come out and see them as soon as possible. I do not expect them to last more than a week or two. However, the older cherry trees on the outskirts of the park, have completely bloomed. There are plenty of cherry trees around the lake that have bloomed, but are mainly in spots. Some have yet to bloom all the way. As we were leaving the park I felt sad. Some things you feel you could just  enjoy forever. I would have loved to visit the Japanese Gardens as well (located directly across the street on Woodly). I'm sure the Cherry blossom trees that have bloomed inside the