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Monday, April 25, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
This past weekend my Mom got the opportunity to come out to visit Paul and I in LA a 2nd time this year! After spending the latter half of the week in Tuscon, Arizona for work - my Mom arrived late Friday evening to spend the weekend with Paul and I.
On Friday night, we went to dinner in Venice - and Saturday we had a lazy day at our house in Playa, although we did get out for a walk along the beach. Saturday evening, we met my Mom at the Inn at Playa del Rey where she was staying just a short walk from our house. We had wine and cheese and caught up by the fireplace in the cozy living room at the B&B. We took a cab in the misty weather up to Santa Monica, where we had wine on the outside patio at a new restaurant and cozied up again - under heat lamps. For dinner we made our way to a new spot called Zengo, Asian/Latin fusion which was absolutely delicious and enjoyed our last night together in LA.
It was so great to see my Mom even if only for a few days! Miss you already Mom!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Ojai!
Late February, my girlfriends and I decided to take a weekend trip up to Ojai. Ojai is in Ventura County, about 1/2 way between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. On Saturday morning, we drove up through the canyons and mountains to Ojai Valley.
It was a cold, but beautiful day... as you can see from the photos below.
The main reason for the getaway was that me and several of the girls had celebrated birthdays recently - within the last month. We spent the weekend spa-ing - in hot tubs, steam rooms, massages, relaxing and enjoying each other's company.
While in Ojai, we experienced lots of different weather - namely hail - which you can see here! There were small balls of ice, about the size of a tic tac that fell for nearly 3 hours and actually stuck to the ground until the next morning.
I was able to capture some photos of the most beautiful light. All in all a blast and I'd love to go back to this quiet, relaxing town, with Paul.
Riley's Birthday!
On February 17th, 2011, Riley celebrated his 3rd birthday. Surprisingly enough, he woke up - like any other normal day, but then became so excited when he realized it was his birthday (no not really, but I like to imagine that happened).
It was a day like any other, except that Paul and I bought Riley some birthday toys for his enjoyment. I will never forget the first day we brought Riley home.
Like most parents, we were emotionally exhausted after the first day. We didn't quite know what to do with him, he definitely took advantage of our ignorance a bit by being so darn cute... but several years later, Riley is one of the most amazing things that has happened to us in California. He is smart, loyal, super affectionate and playful. Despite being 3 years old (or 21 people years), he still has the personality of a puppy.
We love our little monkey. :)
Sunday, February 13, 2011
San Francisco Trip
This past weekend (Super Bowl weekend) I decided to take a trip up to San Francisco to visit my friend Ashley. I flew up early on Friday morning and had a slew of meetings for work. 3 cab rides, several espressos, dim sum and a glass of red wine at the W Hotel later... I arrived at Ashley's house in the Lower-Haight area of San Francisco (pageandscott.blogspot.com). She lives in an adorable 3 bedroom classic San Francisco apartment building with a backyard garden.
On Saturday, we spent the day in Dolores Park in the Mission district. Every time I go to San Francisco, I am reminded of what living in a real city feels like. While LA is absolutely a massive city, in many ways it feels like and resembles a suburb, with lots of disparate neighborhoods. This is one thing that I love about LA, because you do have these tiny microcosms within the city - that have their own personality BUT - it does make it harder to discover new things, that you may stumble upon walking around the street with a friend. This is what I love about San Francisco.
I had been forewarned about Dolores Park. It felt like a hippie mecca, like the 1960s were still alive. We planted ourselves down on a blanket, with cold beer and fresh fruit and waited for the masses to arrive. By about 3 pm in the afternoon, the entire park was packed. Our blanket was surrounded on all sides and we were joined by more friends. There were drum circles, people grilling, hula hoop contests, soccer, dogs running around, music, incense, Chinese sound therapy... it was an interesting day to say the least. We soaked up the 70 degree weather and took in the sights.
After a day in Dolores Park we had dinner with friends and went out to some bars. On Sunday morning I made my way back down to LA, to make nacho dip, mini baked potatoes, guacamole... and to stuff my face with Super Bowl food.
It was a great weekend. :)
Monday, February 7, 2011
Griffith Park Day
Paul and I always like to try to spend as much time as we possibly can, outside. We have had an unbelievably warm winter that has given us 70+ days consistently for the last few weekends. This past weekend, we decided to go to Griffith Park - which is nestled in the Hollywood Hills, about 40 minutes Northeast of our house.
Griffith Park is an incredibly expansive park - over 4,000 acres of land. Some of it unfortunately was caught in wildfires a few years ago, but we didn't see any tarnished or charred land while we were there.
The one thing I loved about Griffith, aside from the view of all of Los Angeles and parts of the ocean - is the fact that there are a lot of different options for hiking - meaning if you are a beginner, or you want a moderate hike, your not walking at a 45 degree angle for an hour. Runyon Canyon - also in LA tends to be like that and can be a little intense.
We spent about 2 hours hiking. Riley throughly enjoyed attempting to catch lizards and snakes - which you do see on the sides of the trails - apparently there are even mountain lions - and he was exhausted by the end of the hike (success!). 
We hope to get a group up to the observatory as well, as the views were gorgeous and there were a lot of people picnicking and enjoying the sunshine. Sending warmth and love to our family from CA! Wednesday, January 26, 2011
The Big 2-8
This past weekend, I celebrated my actual birthday on Friday, January 21st. My parents flew in on Thursday evening and we had dinner at our house in Playa. I made one of my specialties - Asian style tacos and we played Wii for a while.
My parents were staying in the Marina, so on Friday, they did some exploring and walking around enjoying the warm weather - it has been in the 70s. On Friday night we went out to dinner for my birthday at a restaurant that is quickly becoming one of my favorites, called Asia de Cuba. We shared a delicious meal and finished it off with carrot cake and doughnut holes with a toffee/caramel dipping sauce (YUM!!).
Paul and I have never been to the Getty Villa, sister to the Getty Center in Beverly Hills. The Getty Villa is exactly what it sound like, a villa nestled in the hills of Malibu. The art in the museum is Greek and Roman antiquities and there is a beautiful garden surrounding the property. We joined an architecture tour to learn more about how the site was built.
On Saturday morning, my parents came over and we went on a long walk to show them the neighborhood and give Riley some exercise. It has been a gorgeous month so far, and the weather was in the 70s again on Saturday before we began our day.
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