Category Archives: snapshots

planet gazing

Last weekend I surprised R and his friend, Dan, by taking them on a little excursion to the Griffith Observatory for a star-gazing event. There were knowledgeable telescope owners all over the front lawn who allowed people to gaze at the planets and stars. It was very cool and quite a fun free evening! We saw Saturn and her rings, Mars in her red glory, neat-o Venus and a “Double double”. Not to be confused with the double-double cheeseburger from In-n-Out, a double double star is where you can see 2 double stars in the same area. I didn’t even know that double stars existed. It was fantastic! Venus was my favorite planet to see because I know so little about it compared to Saturn and Mars.

Here we all are outside, looking up, at the observatory…

things are looking up amazed at the sky

And gazing into the telescopes…

taking a gander at Venus peeking at Venus

After enjoying our sky, we went to House of Pies. We had never been there before and were surprised to learn they serve much more than pie. It is a diner with a retro/modern feel inside (yes, that is contradictory)…

hip/retro house of pies

I had chocolate cream pie! Mmm delicious…

yum

Click here for the small set of photos. Hooray for new adventures.
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sparkle pink

My hub has a scooter that we ride around town to avoid having to deal with LA parking.
It also happens to be fun! He recently bought me a new helmet to keep my noggin safe since the other one was too big and probably wouldn’t have saved me. I feel like a bad-ass in my helmet…

pink rough rider

Who says bad-asses don’t wear pink sparkles?
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two weeks in chicago

I returned home from Chicago yesterday after 2 weeks of work. I had a great time!

I got one day off in Chi-town which I spent getting a much needed haircut and exploring the Taste of Chicago, followed by a Segway Tour with two of the gals, Sally & Michael-Ann, who were participating in the workshop I was leading. They had come from NY and PA for the immersion program, so we had a great time being touristy together!

My hair hadn’t been tended to in quite some time and grown unruly and layer-free. I also hadn’t washed it in several days. Ew.

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But after my haircut, it looked healthier and happier! Hooray for Yelp help in finding a good salon…

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Later I met up with the gals and we wandered the Taste of Chicago, which is the world’s largest food festival, held annually during the 10 days leading up to July 4th. You buy little food tickets and then go around and use them in exchange for food treats from restaurants all over the city. I enjoyed a piping hot chicken pita, a slice of cheese pizza and a rainbow ice cream treat. Yum!

Here we are at the entrance…

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And this is Sally at the Rainbow Cone place…

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And then, off on our Segways for a tour of the lake front! Here I am getting ready to ZOOM fiercely…

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My Segway’s name was “Big Wes”. Please don’t mind my embarrassing need for a pedicure or my red, puffy feet. It was so hot and humid!

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During our tour we got a proper photo of ourselves in front of the Taste of Chicago sign…

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Pretty city view while one of these gals is doin’ her own thing…

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Look how pretty the lake is…almost as good as the ocean. Almost.

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At the end of our tour, I did some improvised modern dance!

While at first we thought we might be embarrassed to do such a touristy attraction, we ended up having so much fun!

During my second week in Chicago I found some horses chillin’ in an empty lot near my apartment. I visited them a few times. I usually arrived during their dinner hour, so they did not pay me much attention, but I loved talking to them.

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It was such an odd sight to see the horses hanging out in the middle of the city near the elevated train…

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On Friday evening, the workshop I was leading came to a close. One of the women made us t-shirts to commemorate our time together, which was so special! Here we are showing off our shirts…

immersion gals: chicago

For the complete set of Chicago photos, click right here.

I had a great time in Chi-town, as usual, but I am very happy to be home!
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honeymooners in kauai

The second part of our honeymoon vacation was spent in Kauai! It is such a beautiful, lush island and we enjoyed it so much…

We stayed in two different spots. First, we were in Kapaa, a town on the East side of the island with great access to the rest of the island, so we explored the East, South and West shores of the island from there over the first few days.

One of our favorite gems was on the South-East shore. We parked on the road and walked in to a small, hidden waterfall called Kipu Falls. It pours into a deep pool at the bottom and begs to be jumped. We did. Over the top of it and to the side of it from a rope swing. We loved it! Rory went first…

And I loved flinging myself out over the pool with the rope swing.
My little running feet as I descend make me laugh…

So refreshing and divine…

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Another day, we explored the Waimea Canyon area on the West Shore. What a lovely drive up into the mountain, with amazing views. We explored and hiked around as much as we could in flip flops. Next time we come to Kauai, we will be prepared with hiking boots so we can venture further from the roads.
Here we are overlooking the canyon…

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Later that same afternoon, we drove all the way to the most Western shore of the island before you reach the Napali Coast. We ventured out onto a long, very bumpy dirt road in our Ford, Mustang (a free upgrade!), which was very slow going since we wanted to be sure we didn’t blow a tire or an axle. But Polihale Beach was so worth it. We also learned that when we return to Kauai, we will rent a 4 wheel drive car so we can explore more off-road adventures. This beach was unbelievable. This was the closest we got to the Napali Coast. I did yoga and we basked in the sun and sand for too short a time before we had to get back in the car to drive back out the slow-going road (it took over an hour because we had to drive so slow). Gorgeous!

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west kauai beach

This picture doesn’t adequately illustrate the craziness of this road, but we liked the sign. It was very accurate…

yes, it was a rough road.

One day we took a Kayak trip up the Wailua River, which was fabulous! Our guide was an amazing storyteller (note the word story: we’re not sure what was true and what was just his imagination, but it was fun just the same). During this adventure we hiked to Secret Falls and took a swim underneath, which was chilly and invigorating. Overall, this was a super day!

cute kayaker

waterfall champions

river cross

a kayak built for two

After kayaking, we headed up to the North Shore of Kauai, where we stayed for our last 2 nights. We were right near Hanalei Bay, which is a lovely area (though rich with mosquitoes). Up there we beach hopped and finally encountered a marine mammal. Rory was very excited to see this sweet little monk seal napping on the beach. It was pretty cute…

he loves the sea mammals

On our last night we took some champagne we were gifted by the hotel down to the beach at Hanalei Bay and toasted our wonderful trip!


feet in the hanalei bay

handsome hub

And the next morning we flew home. Here’s how we felt about that…

going home = sad faces

For the entire album of photos from Kauai, click right here.

We loved our honeymoon so much and are already anxiously awaiting our return to the islands…

Thank you to everyone who helped make our trip possible!!! We are so grateful.
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