Traveling to Los Angeles for the first time and need some travel tips? How to prepare for LA parking, airports, weather, and traffic.

When I was a girl, my dad always tried to teach me about cars.  He pointed to what this thing was and he explained how it worked.   And I remember none of what he tried to teach me.  I remember looking at his tan, scarred hands, that grime under the nails that would never come out.  I can close my eyes and smell the mix of diesel fuel and cigarette smoke. That was the smell of my dad after a long honest day's work in the shop.  The literal blue collar with his name stitched across his chest.

It's ironic that my husband and I are both bloggers given that we met back in 1995 on this new little thing called AOL.