Saturday, December 26, 2009

Let there be peace...and lights!

And the grand prize for most creative Christmas lights goes to this house. We saw it on the news a couple of weeks ago and thought...that's soooo cool!! It's in Santa Clarita and totally worth the drive. If you tune into the radio station advertised in front of the house, you can hear the music the coincide with the guitar hero light show. So much fun!!!


Wakefield Court...what a magical place this is. The line of cars waiting to get into this neighborhood was ridiculous!

Community....a lost concept to most. But here, they make it work. Very inspirational.


Bug was very popular in his winter coat.


Where do people find these cute lawn decorations?


Looks like gumdrops! Lots of yummy, little gumdrops!

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!! And may we all have a blessed new year!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

A little independence......

I turn 32 years old today!! I know it's customary to be dreary about such an occasion...you know, getting older. But I just don't feel that way. I was never one to think that I would live a long life. Now before you start, it's not because I'm a pessimist. But how can you really know? I drive by car accidents everyday on my long commute. And often times, my patients are very sick and very young. So you just can't assume that you're next birthday guaranteed. If anything, I feel lucky. I get to be a year older. And I always tell P, I can't wait to be old and wrinkly with him. It's what I always wish for.

For my birthday, my sweet P sent me to Portland. I've always wanted to visit our northern neighbor. Take in the greenery, breathe the clean air, drink the good water...all that good stuff. I stayed at the ever-so-chic Nines hotel. It's adjacent to Pioneer Square, which contains their version of Rodeo Drive. Of course, I didn't know this until my train pulled away to go back to the airport. What can I say? I didn't walk in that direction!


Everything was Tiffany blue and taupe. So fun.


Here's the view of the atrium from my room. The upper portion of the photo shows the hotel's restaurant Urban Farmer. At night, this whole place is buzzing and you can hear the martini and wine glasses clinking until the wee hours.

I don't remember eating very many meals on this trip. Perhaps I ate too many Southwest peanuts. But when I was able to, I took advantage of the many food carts that were spread out throughout the Portland area. Cheap and good, folks. And unlike the ones here in LA, these carts don't move about and Twitter locale updates. As if we had time to chase them around anyway.


I knew it was supposed to be cold in Portland. But I left a cold and rainy Los Angeles, so I wasn't feeling the chill until I saw this frozen pond in one the urban parks.

Poor weeds. They didn't stand a chance.

I spent a great deal of my funds on this lovely stuff. You see, it's a lot colder in...well, everywhere else than it is in LA. People in these colder states actually knit to stay warm. Which, in turn, makes their yarn shops sooooo much better!! For those of you who can't understand why anyone would be so excited about such a strange and antiquated hobby....well, I don't understand spending $500 for a purse or pair of shoes. Both of which I toss into the corner when I get home.

Lastly, I got shot by some Stormtroopers on my way back to the hotel. Apparently, Ewoks are raised by human mothers with juice boxes.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Keep walkin'..we ain't there yet.

Rice Canyon...better than we expected. The weather was perfect and there was lots of my favorite stuff....shade! It was a bit chilly so any sun exposure was more than welcomed. I thought we were going the spend Thanksgiving weekend doing our lazy thing...sleeping and watching tv. Don't get me wrong...that's not a complaint. But it was so great to get out and greet Mother Nature. You have the best conversations with yourself out there. No phone calls, no commercials, no visitors. Just you and dirt below.


Poor Buggie had to jump hurdles to get anywhere. The grass was taller than him!


The final ascent. I almost died here. I'll admit this only because I trust you to keep any fat jokes to yourself...but I stopped ever 3 feet from exhaustion. How sad am I?

The broken oak tree...the trail ends here. Or atleast that's what my knees said.