Wedding Weekend - Bachelorette Night

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Before I show pics of the wedding here our a few pictures from KT bachelorette night.  We spent the night at Mont Bleu Casino in South Lake Tahoe and had a wild time. Not too much to report, as we all made a pact to keep details of the night quiet. I'll just say there was a lot of drinks, dancing, and giggling throughout most of the night. Cheers to a crazy night out with the gals!

KT dancing on stage with the band

 KT made us matching tank tops too

Big Sur

Just got back from a business trip in Big Sur. I stayed one of the nicest hotels I've ever been too and am still blown away by my whirlwind trip there. I won't say much more about the hotel, because then I'll give away which one it is, but I'll just show you pictures from my room.

The pictures really don't do the view any justice, but let me tell you it was absolutely stunning. Did I mention that these were all taken from my private patio?  Sigh. Just when I'm about ready to pull out my hair from working so much, I get a nice little reminder of some of the perks that can come along with the job. Another highlight of the trip, was watching the sunrise over the Pacific Ocean.  I'm back in LA now and the change in scenery from Big Sur is a little shocking to the soul. I'm just thankful that I got to soak in the beauty of Big Sur for 21 hours.  That'll definitely hold me over for a while.

Raptor

Since summer has started, I've noticed an increase in the number of raptors around RPV. I came upstairs and found this Red-tailed Hawk munching on a snack on our upstairs patio, but as soon as I moved to grab my camera he took off and flew to a near by lamp post.  I've always been fascinated with raptors, thanks to my to the nearly six years of volunteering at the Lindsey Wildlife Museum in NorCal. They seem so regal and confident, but there is also something very calming and soothing about them. Maybe I should join the local Audubon Society?  We're supposed to go to Alaska next year and I really hope we can go on an eagle/bird watching trip.

On a side note, just came back from a crazy couple days in Tahoe for KT's wedding.  I left on Wednesday for Tahoe and D eventually met up with us on Friday night.  Didn't get in until late last night and I'm still in a daze about the whole weekend. We had a lot of fun and feel like I need a couple days just to recover! More updates soon!

Beau

 Or as D likes to call him "Beau-nus," "Mr. Beau Jangles," or "Beau-sers."  Our neighbor has a delightful Border Collie/Australian Shepherd mixed dog that we watched over for a week earlier this month. Subsequently, D and I have fallen absolutely in love with him.  Besides being an incredibly sweet, bright, and silly dog, Beau just happens to be the perfect kind of dog for D and me. I'll explain more in a minute, but check out a couple pics I snapped of him while he was staying with us. 

Loungin' Beau

Camera-shy Beau

 Isn't he adorable?!  He's an avid outdoorsman and enjoys chasing after anything remotely shaped like a ball.  However, brand new tennis balls seem to be his favorite. There were a couple nights that we actually had to, excuse the term, hide his balls, because he just couldn't relax with them around. Once they were out of sight he wasn't as focused on playing, but rather more focused on the leisurely activities.

Anyway, so Beau is the perfect dog for us as D grew up with a wonderful Australian Shepherd name Buzzy and I grew up with a lovely Border Collie named Belle. D and I were both very close with our dogs growing up and so it seemed only fitting that the perfect dog for us would be a mix of the breeds!  Here's a picture of Belle and Buzzy and you can see how Beau is a bit of a mix of the two.

Beautiful Belle

Bodacious Buzzy (aka Buzz-ers)

Never noticed how all the names begin with "B" before!  Must mean something . . . can't come up with anything good right now though.  All in all, Beau is a wonderful foster dog.  He and I went on a lovely hike this morning through the hills of Rancho Palos Verdes.  Beau charged up the hill through the sagebrush and bounded after countless numbers of wild rabbits. He never caught any of them and honestly I don't think he would know what to do with them if he did.  I think he just enjoys the chase.

San Pedro Fun

A couple weeks back, J (D's Dad) came to visit us for a couple days. Our first stop on our tour with J, was a few spots in San Pedro. Most people aren't familiar with San Pedro, as it sits on the southeast side of the Rancho Palos Verdes Peninsula. San Pedro is home to the Port of LA and used to be a major fishing/cannery industry. What better time to explore local neighborhoods than when visitors are in town?! I found a couple kitchy little spots that looked like fun. First stop was the Point Fermin Lighthouse

Isn't the old Victorian house gorgeous!  The museum was unfortunately closed when we got there, but the grounds had some beautiful gardens and a park that looked out into the ocean.

 

Next, we went to downtown San Pedro to walk through the Los Angeles Maritime Museum J's served in the Navy during the Vietnam War and also happens to be a huge fan of the naval books series Master and Commander (or actually the movie Master and Commander with Russell Crowe). The museum was small, but fun with a lot of model ships and historic artifacts.  D also pointed out that the museum smelled funny. Then again what museum doesn't smell funny?!

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Loved this picture and quote at the museum of  Jack London. Way to rep the Bay Jack!!!

J telling us one of his navy stories.  We didn't have time that day, but next time I want to take a tour of the S.S. Lane Victory ship.  They even take the World War II boat out for sailing trips to Catalina.  Might have to add that on to the bucket list too.

 

Lastly, we finished the day off with sushi, from one of D and my favorite local spots.

Betrayal at the Orange County Fair

Ok, perhaps the title is a bit harsh. But I had a hard time finding a good synonym that portrayed the same feeling as “betrayal.” Anyway, D and I got tickets to watch the Neon Trees at the Orange County Fair. The Neon Trees toured with the Killers last year and also have several hits on the local radio stations, so I figured the concert would be safe bet. Plus the tickets were cheap and they gave us free admission into the fair. Score! Not only do we get to enjoy some live music, we also get to go to the fair! 

D and I arrived at the fair, and had fun walking around taking in all the sights. As we made our way to the concert amphitheater, we stumbled upon a Pink’s Hot Dog food stand. At first glance, I thought it was an imposter, but upon closer examination we found it be a true sister to the original Pink’s. Excited that the line didn’t include hundreds of people, D and I jumped at the chance to finally try one of these prized dogs. After waiting only 15 minutes for our order, we sat down to enjoy our meal. 

I took my first bite, and it was just ok. As I continued to devour my sauerkraut, onions, and chili covered hot dog, my feelings didn’t change. Just ok . . . Sigh. At least D and I can put that “LA must” to bed. We proceeded to the concert and quickly took our seats. I noticed that the crowd had a large number of young girls and families with kids, and decided it was because of the fair. We enjoyed the opening band, Eastern Conference, and patiently waited for Neon Trees to start their leg of the show. As the sun set, I couldn’t get over how young/different the crowd was compared to other shows I had been to in the past. D noted the same thing and began skimming the band’s page on his smart phone. Just as the lights went down, signaling the concert to begin, D said to me “I think we’re at a Christian rock concert.” “What do you mean?”, I ask. “Well, the band started in Provo, Utah . . . and I think all of the band members are LDS.” I opened my mouth to counter his argument, when behind me, an avid fan shouted out “I BELIEVE! Praise HIM!!!” Slowly, it all settled in. I looked around the crowd and realized that D and I were sitting in the middle of a bonafide Christian rock concert. I have nothing against Christians or Christian rock music. However, I felt like an imposter at the show, as D and I weren’t quite as involved in the music as most of the audience. I couldn’t help but wonder if we were the only people in the crowd who had been confused about the Neon Trees. All in all, good show, just wish we had had a heads up beforehand.

Pottermania

Alright, so I admit it.  I'm a total Harry Potter addict. Today, the last and final movie was released out in theaters and tonight I'm dragging D to watch it with me in 3D at a local IMAX theater. We picked up our tickets up yesterday from the theater and there was at least 100 people waiting in line for the midnight showing.  We saw people dressed up in Hogwarts letterman jackets, robes and scarves from their favorite houses (Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff), and various other wizarding costumes. There were even several people having "duels" with fake wands.  I may be super excited about Harry Potter, but I don't think I could ever have a fake magical duel while wearing full robe regalia in the middle of a shopping mall.  Perhaps, I'm not as hard core as I think. Anyway, here are a few links that I would like to share in celebration of the final Harry Potter film:

Cake wrecks - a whole slew of cakes with the Harry Potter theme

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2011/07/harry-situation.html

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Theme Park in Orlando, FL (still working on how to convince D to go there with me . . . who wouldn't want to drink butter beer in the Three Broomsticks or take flight with a Hippogriff?!)

http://www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter/

Discover what shape your patronus takes (mine turned out to be a swan, but I'm not sure I agree with it)

http://apps.warnerbros.com/hp7b/patronus/us/index.php

Lastly, I leave you with one of my favorite clips on youtube, called the Harry Potter Puppet Pals.  They're a series of spoofs on the books/films and I find them quite amusing.  If you don't agree, that's ok. Because like I said, my adoration of Harry Potter is slightly kooky.