tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52853938235817913412024-02-18T19:08:33.481-08:00country mouse/city mousedebbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.comBlogger166125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-76024968013539962912012-11-05T21:30:00.000-08:002012-11-05T23:37:12.717-08:00N's parents in town/Palm SpringsN's parents flew all the way over from New York to visit us in early September. The best thing about our apartment in ktown is that we can now comfortably host overnight visitors (so come on over, friends)! They did a lot of LA things with N like check out the Getty and tour the Queen Mary, and we all got to spend Labor Day weekend together in Palm Springs.<br />
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It was our first time visiting Palm Springs, and we had a blast. I reserved a small house for us through <a href="http://www.vrbo.com/">VRBO</a> that turned out to be amazing--small, homey, clean, super pet friendly and it had its own pool and hot tub. I am so into VRBO lately. Staying in a rented home is infinitely better than staying at a hotel, especially when it comes to traveling with Stewie. Plus I love how I get to stay in another person's house for a little bit. It feels like I'm getting the chance to try out someone else's life for a few days. I guess that sounds kind of creepy. Anyway...<br />
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We got a discounted rate because I think most people don't feel the need to head over to Palm Springs in the height of summer. It hit well over 100 degrees every day. But it's the desert, so the lack of humidity definitely helped. You know what also helped? Having a pool in the backyard.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sun's so bright N and Stewie can't keep their eyes open!</td></tr>
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Aside from being our first visit to Palm Springs, it also turned out to be Stewie's first time swimming! <a href="http://citycountrymouse.blogspot.com/2012/05/huntington-beach-continued.html">As you know</a>, he's not the biggest fan of water. But I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to see him swim. Or try to, at least.<br />
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We tried to make the experience as un-traumatizing as possible, but I wouldn't say he had a <i>good</i> time in the water. But he swam in the end!:<br />
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Once he got out of the pool, he ran to N's mom, C, for safety on land:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBMwkTai-A_yLrQCcwXmsCovm-nNKemCJH9Li05kUX_hugr3um6BGFlyySWvowA-hpiVxUPIN_fPA4Jo3GwbGkr5kg0a7XG1EvqgF4R9GQLqnklIHHp_ubjBF35GRLhWSN0tIi2HEVgZTj/s1600/IMGP1665.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBMwkTai-A_yLrQCcwXmsCovm-nNKemCJH9Li05kUX_hugr3um6BGFlyySWvowA-hpiVxUPIN_fPA4Jo3GwbGkr5kg0a7XG1EvqgF4R9GQLqnklIHHp_ubjBF35GRLhWSN0tIi2HEVgZTj/s640/IMGP1665.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stewie: "Please don't let those evil people put me back in the pool, C"</td></tr>
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And here's N's dad, K, relaxing with one of the mimosas we made:</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How cool is he??</td></tr>
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Aside from hanging out in the pool during the day and the hot tub once the sun went down, we also rode the famous <a href="http://www.pstramway.com/history.html">Palm Springs tram</a> almost 6,000 feet up Mount San Jacinto. Here's a photo of the tram heading our way to pick us up at the botton of the mountain:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The tram rotates 360 degrees while heading up the mountain so you can see everything.</td></tr>
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I don't consider myself afraid of heights, but I was getting kind of freaked out on the tram ride. It's really high!<br />
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There's a downright beautiful state park at the top of Mt. San Jacinto. It had a lovely look to it; it's dry, but still lush somehow.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ9QmR5tFBtvizgIN-08L3RJt9VIpELm4HquX2T-AnvkpGhaJvQW9i_BPDj4fvKBdkh3xYC62gF3-PNW4vUc_46NweoyasS7aaPSR5ytSnydF73mfj4tt9Tr8Lpl72ORRdr93eXKOoFxbk/s1600/IMG_4700214.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ9QmR5tFBtvizgIN-08L3RJt9VIpELm4HquX2T-AnvkpGhaJvQW9i_BPDj4fvKBdkh3xYC62gF3-PNW4vUc_46NweoyasS7aaPSR5ytSnydF73mfj4tt9Tr8Lpl72ORRdr93eXKOoFxbk/s640/IMG_4700214.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doesn't this meadow look like something out of Bambi?</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How desktop wallpaper-y</td></tr>
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So, apparently, a lot of the trees in the park were <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Pine">Jeffrey Pines</a>. And according to a handy sign along the trail, Jeffrey Pines give off a faint smell of butterscotch. Of course, I had to test such an outlandish claim.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj912aXupSRrBLT8HdGoK1LDfQgBvB2o2ZeQZHDKP3Nj1EaUlcuqyf3nw_BKPGI6269nigTJvrZ-ccWEjk917Etl0LZ96Sn4RsSIaGHNKymsFQjhyphenhyphen1Gg4NM6PHR1hV46CN_LTQya391HzFK/s1600/DSC00544.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj912aXupSRrBLT8HdGoK1LDfQgBvB2o2ZeQZHDKP3Nj1EaUlcuqyf3nw_BKPGI6269nigTJvrZ-ccWEjk917Etl0LZ96Sn4RsSIaGHNKymsFQjhyphenhyphen1Gg4NM6PHR1hV46CN_LTQya391HzFK/s640/DSC00544.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">sniff sniff snort snort</td></tr>
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<i>And it was true.</i> They all smelled like butterscotch and vanilla! I stopped to sniff every Jeffrey Pine we passed along the trail. Some gave off a stronger scent than others. People passing by us gave me weird looks, but they didn't know what they were missing! They all smelled fan-tastic. The next time you pass a Jeffrey Pine, you should smell it. I wish my apartment could smell like them all the time.<br />
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Being on top of Mt. San Jacinto certainly gave us a spectacular view of Palm Springs below:<br />
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We also had some time to explore the town a bit. Here's C sitting with a statue of Lucille Ball:</div>
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And we had a fun time at this random hat shop:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqeg-FiSzR6S-0pBQgjsCmQAF_33wwpYzTboNtJsmkZX9Sneq0jTZrQ65-82ShLPsV-dT53stciAcmbplrk3GQtxAjzeEjFEzGfKgyrwd-4rqMOqs2RQvCTCDN5j0aif2qNkqqRqOvWTx4/s1600/DSC00504.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqeg-FiSzR6S-0pBQgjsCmQAF_33wwpYzTboNtJsmkZX9Sneq0jTZrQ65-82ShLPsV-dT53stciAcmbplrk3GQtxAjzeEjFEzGfKgyrwd-4rqMOqs2RQvCTCDN5j0aif2qNkqqRqOvWTx4/s640/DSC00504.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">N: "Is there something on my head?"</td></tr>
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A couple other notes: we had a fantastic brunch at <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/elmers-restaurant-palm-springs" target="_blank">Elmer's</a> (yum, German pancakes) and we stopped by the <a href="http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=6" target="_blank">Desert Hills Premium Outlets</a> on the way back to LA, where I got to snag a Kate Spade bag for cheap.<br />
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A big thanks to C and K for taking some of these photos!debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-70762279477058206482012-11-05T18:30:00.000-08:002012-11-07T10:05:55.813-08:00Long Beach Sand Sculpture ContestI had my eye on this event last year, but we had a scheduling conflict so we couldn't go. But that's okay, because we finally got to it this year!<br />
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The annual <a href="http://lbsandcastle.com/" target="_blank">Long Beach Sand Sculpture Contest</a> was on August 11th. It also happened to be held on a stretch of beach right next to the Long Beach Dog Beach, so Stewie came with us. As usual, he wasn't a big fan of the water (even though it was super warm and felt awesome--it was hot that day!), but we tried to coax him in anyway:<br />
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It was the first time we've been to that dog beach, and it was alright...nothing compared to our precious <a href="http://citycountrymouse.blogspot.com/2011/04/ns-birthday.html">Arroyo Burro</a>, of course. The beach was PACKED. But it was also the height of summer and I was actually sad we didn't bring our own swimsuits so we could join the crowd in the water.<br />
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The sand sculpture contest was small but fun. We only stayed a little bit (like I said--it was hot!) so we didn't get to see the finished products, but seeing the work in progress was more interesting anyway.<br />
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A big salamander:<br />
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Some sand-carved type:</div>
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A castle:<br />
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There were also a few professional sand sculptors on the side creating this:<br />
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Pretty neat, huh? Side/back view:<br />
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And, finally, a gratuitous Stewie shot, because he's cute:<br />
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<br />debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-51733630067350190432012-11-04T20:15:00.000-08:002012-11-04T20:15:29.097-08:00And now, traveling back in time to August: The Orange County Fair<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">I'm going to try to race through the last 3 months of posts I haven't had a chance to write. Here we go...</span></i><br />
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N and I went to the Orange County Fair on August 4th. <a href="http://citycountrymouse.blogspot.com/2011/09/wow-its-been-two-months.html">We went to the LA County Fair last year</a>, which was fun, but we liked the OC Fair more. It was generally cleaner, more organized and had a lot more interesting activities going on.<br />
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There were, of course, adorable animals to see, including these pygmy goats (WANT):<br />
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Aside from the regular farm animals, we also saw camels, ostriches and all kinds of pretty song birds. But animal-wise, by far the coolest thing we saw were two real oxen. Yes, oxen--like from The Oregon Trail. I had never seen oxen in real life before, and my jaw almost dropped. They are MASSIVELY HUGE. It was something just being able to stand near them.<br />
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We also saw a trick dog show that was fun. All the performing dogs were rescues, which was nice. There was a lot of frisbee catching and jump-roping, but the most impressive trick we saw was this:<br />
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Pretty awesome balance there!<br />
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The fair also hosted a ton of contests including woodworking, scrapbooking and lots of different foods. All the entries were on display. The most interesting contest, though (in my opinion), was the tablescaping contest.<br />
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I'd only heard of tablescapes from Sandra Lee's show on Food Network. I thought it was so interesting that there's a whole competition devoted to them (and kind of weird, I have to admit). They had all kinds of themes, including Disney movies:<br />
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Various holidays:</div>
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And colors:</div>
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And, of course, you can't go to a fair without eating fried food! Aside from our regular funnel cake and cotton candy, we also tried these Australian Battered Potatoes, which were pretty good:<br />
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All in all it was a fun day out. OC Fair, we might see you again next year...debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-46021955595559056312012-08-06T22:37:00.000-07:002012-08-06T22:37:35.711-07:00Up to the Bay Area to visit Niece HannahA couple weekends ago, I flew up to the San Francisco area to see my family. N had to stay behind because he still needs to accrue vacation time at his new job. I got a good amount of outlet shopping done (and also came home with a <a href="http://cookware.lecreuset.com/cookware/category_Round-French-Ovens_10151_-1_20002_21056" target="_blank">Le Creuset Dutch Oven</a>, yeah!!), but I also spent quality time with Hannah, my 20 month old niece. Get ready for some gratuitous cute baby photos!<br />
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My sister and Hannah on the merry-go-round at <a href="http://www.hhpz.org/" target="_blank">Happy Hollow Park and Zoo</a>:<br />
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Hannah and I taking an Icee break at the park:</div>
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Hannah having way too much fun sitting in a car ride that went around and around in a circle:</div>
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Hannah looooves holding Yooni the shih tzu in her lap, but I'm not sure if Yooni enjoys it as much as Hannah does:</div>
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Yooni's cute too, so I had to take a photo of her:</div>
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And this photo isn't from my recent trip up north, but it's a good one, and it seems like I can't publish a single post on this blog without Stewie in it. So here's Hannah heartily patting Stewie on the head:</div>
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<br /></div>debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-70182663792678711592012-08-05T19:27:00.001-07:002012-08-05T19:27:28.560-07:00Stewie yawning (just for fun)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAXHCbSm-VrzatCLJv4qxecL_xZS46NYVb_eYUcPmj-2aNaEemHGv6edwwtcTgcZqsykoFcliFestREIR7xJI7nSjbQnKBck402BdeY2G3HrTXxdjAIcY2Vd1CvmlnFM5n_tVTSCsnEyd4/s1600/Stewie-yawning.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAXHCbSm-VrzatCLJv4qxecL_xZS46NYVb_eYUcPmj-2aNaEemHGv6edwwtcTgcZqsykoFcliFestREIR7xJI7nSjbQnKBck402BdeY2G3HrTXxdjAIcY2Vd1CvmlnFM5n_tVTSCsnEyd4/s1600/Stewie-yawning.gif" /></a></div>
<br />debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-35740256974378930682012-07-22T22:00:00.003-07:002012-08-28T10:27:50.389-07:004th of July in LA: Long Beach Aquarium and Queen Mary Fireworks<div class="p1">
N and I don't usually do 4th of July festivities. We generally avoid things like huge crowds and competing for space and having to get somewhere several hours early in order to watch a brief amount of entertainment. But I decided to change that this year. Partially because the 4th fell on a Wednesday and I felt like I had to make something of my one-day holiday, but also partially because I like fireworks. We also ended up doing some pre-firework activities that were pretty fun!<span class="s1"><br />
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</span>Every year, the <a href="http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/"><span class="s2">Aquarium of the Pacific</span></a> in Long Beach holds a 4th of July BBQ on their front lawn. We actually went to the aquarium when we first visited LA back in 2008 and scoped out what life would be like if we ever moved here. We hadn't been back since then, and the menu looked pretty good:</div>
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<li class="li2"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ginger Mint Infused Summer Fruit Salad: Cherries, Peaches, Watermelon, Melon, Pomegranate and Pineapple</span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Anchiote Roasted Potato Salad with Red and Yellow Bell Peppers finished with Manchego Cheese </span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Rotelli Pasta Salad: Black Olive, Cucumber and Grape Tomatoes Tossed in a Champagne Vinaigrette</span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Organic Baby Spinach Salad: Roasted Almonds, Tangerines, Grape Tomato, Red Grapes and Cucumber Served With Papaya Poppy Seed Dressing</span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Laughing Bird Sustainable Shrimp Ceviche: Cucumber, Tomato, Cilantro and Shrimp Marinated in Latin Spice and tossed with Citrus, and Tequila Served on a Tostada Shell and finished with a splash of Cholula and a Avocado wedge. </span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Citrus Marinated Airline Chicken Breast Grilled and lathered with Housemade Spiced Orange Marmalade </span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Smoked Brisket BBQ Pork ribs </span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hot dogs </span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hamburgers </span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Roasted Seasonal Vegetable Salad: Eggplant, Zucchini, Onion, Orange Bell Pepper, Red Bell Pepper Tossed in Sweet Roasted Garlic Puree </span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Brown Sugar Vegetarian Baked Beans </span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Assorted Rolls and Corn Bread </span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Individual Apple, Cherry, and Peach Empanadas </span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Frozen Watermelon Cubes with Coconut Anglaise </span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-size: x-small;">House made Miniature Coconut Chocolate Candy </span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-size: x-small;">House made Miniature Coconut Chocolate Candy with Almond</span></li>
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<span style="background-color: white;">I balked a little at the price ($37/person including admission to the aquarium), but I decided to go for it anyway. The price for kids was a whopping $29 each! But I thought the cost could work in our favor and was hoping it might be a smaller affair with less kids, but I was wrong. </span><br />
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We got there 30 minutes early, but the lawn was already PACKED and the line for food (which hadn't even been served yet) snaked all the way down the sidewalk. Here's what the table setup looked like on the front lawn:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGN0-YyErQqVxC87gTP1K7vcvzA30r4nKGom-e-JxyY2f9vpPNHSZE4xIAiv2hCwCCSCxhVj9iwAltHc6S_25HnoQNEoVfxgAJLtqUOz18eqcL7OEgMug_UlHqGX3JOs-CaWHPISPhOhWh/s1600/2012-07-04_Long+Beach_Aquarium+Fourth+of+July_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGN0-YyErQqVxC87gTP1K7vcvzA30r4nKGom-e-JxyY2f9vpPNHSZE4xIAiv2hCwCCSCxhVj9iwAltHc6S_25HnoQNEoVfxgAJLtqUOz18eqcL7OEgMug_UlHqGX3JOs-CaWHPISPhOhWh/s640/2012-07-04_Long+Beach_Aquarium+Fourth+of+July_001.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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But despite the crowd, the catering folks did a very good job of keeping the food well stocked and relatively clean.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheLzFbi8LJCaPpjISwWXExlZQm58p__nzOAPiQeEP1xM6BilbzGrO-lijqKXoS4egMTcIGBKxXj12ijzgBylKC1RIXe3aIiGRElkIXz7xeZtZ-5wd6SKw_GwhW26qUlZNHVYf42wNguqH0/s1600/2012-07-04_Long+Beach_Aquarium+Fourth+of+July_011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheLzFbi8LJCaPpjISwWXExlZQm58p__nzOAPiQeEP1xM6BilbzGrO-lijqKXoS4egMTcIGBKxXj12ijzgBylKC1RIXe3aIiGRElkIXz7xeZtZ-5wd6SKw_GwhW26qUlZNHVYf42wNguqH0/s640/2012-07-04_Long+Beach_Aquarium+Fourth+of+July_011.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The food actually exceeded my expectations, although the brisket didn't really taste like brisket and the ribs were pretty sauce-less. We also had to share a picnic table with other parties. But altogether it was pretty good!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglBW6qttdX3RWPx0gAtbzPFF0lYueXZpCLsxw8a5Z14sX7mTcClPr2tI6uuM2tgwEbV-FnDYex6fG84h7FgCIn2ysfWIzdxnG2ugfaEBsffO6te6OrwZAcaTHEA6Xsgmz3USnI5mF2h4HJ/s1600/2012-07-04_Long+Beach_Aquarium+Fourth+of+July_014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglBW6qttdX3RWPx0gAtbzPFF0lYueXZpCLsxw8a5Z14sX7mTcClPr2tI6uuM2tgwEbV-FnDYex6fG84h7FgCIn2ysfWIzdxnG2ugfaEBsffO6te6OrwZAcaTHEA6Xsgmz3USnI5mF2h4HJ/s640/2012-07-04_Long+Beach_Aquarium+Fourth+of+July_014.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">After we ate, we headed into the aquarium. They have a pretty extensive touch pool where you can pet small sharks, sting rays, bat rays, horseshoe crabs and other ocean creatures. And it's always fun to pet a sting ray! Look how huge they are:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr9m6iX16d1HWLYp7-74qFgsnzmD_PnlG1ae7TrQrU0pmwpuwb0NPvV152KgW-LtccVzDqeUCuvA3eiIjV7uJQoS-K1JW0kJfdVye4t2iVRkNq-mTZWZYUxmTg-8_TOi9Unh2d2uhfxhA1/s1600/2012-07-04_Long+Beach_Aquarium+Fourth+of+July_016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr9m6iX16d1HWLYp7-74qFgsnzmD_PnlG1ae7TrQrU0pmwpuwb0NPvV152KgW-LtccVzDqeUCuvA3eiIjV7uJQoS-K1JW0kJfdVye4t2iVRkNq-mTZWZYUxmTg-8_TOi9Unh2d2uhfxhA1/s640/2012-07-04_Long+Beach_Aquarium+Fourth+of+July_016.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Also check out a video N put together with shots of bat rays and the shark tank:</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="338" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/45410529" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="600"></iframe>
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The aquarium had special extended hours on the 4th so it was open until 10 p.m. We looked around until 8 p.m. or so and then tried to stake out a spot to watch the Queen Mary fireworks. We grabbed one of the last chairs up on the second floor outdoor cafe area, but when the show started we realized the trees completely blocked our view. We went back to the touch pool area and stood among the sharks and rays while we watched the show.</div>
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The show itself was underwhelming. It only lasted 15 minutes and just wasn't that impressive. But the worst was still to come.</div>
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</span>When the fireworks ended, we headed to the parking garage along with thousands of other folks. We actually got one of the last available spots in the lot when we first arrived in Long Beach and thought we were really lucky, but it also meant we parked on the very top floor of the structure. And when thousands of people are pulling out of the same structure on the five floors below you, you don't make much progress. </div>
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</span>We ended up sitting in our car on the 6th floor for a solid 60 minutes without moving a single inch. By the time we started moving forward, we were not in a good mood. The night was semi-redeemed during our drive home--fireworks were going off all around us the whole time we were on the freeway. It felt like we were being showered the whole way! That "show" was actually way better than the Queen Mary fireworks.</div>
debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-91320242483677979172012-07-06T18:00:00.000-07:002012-07-06T22:02:46.597-07:00Berry picking at Underwood Family Farm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Last weekend, N and I headed up to the Simi Valley area to pick fruit at <a href="http://www.underwoodfamilyfarms.com/" target="_blank">Underwood Family Farms</a>. We've gone <a href="http://citycountrymouse.blogspot.com/2010/07/cherry-pickin.html">cherry picking</a> in SoCal before, but I had this grand plan in mind wherein I would come home with pounds-upon-pounds of fruit that was easily freezable. Then I'd make awesome, fresh-tasting fruit smoothies in the middle of winter. So with that in mind, I decided that blueberries would be the perfect choice.</div>
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Underwood Family Farms has two locations, but we went to the one in Somis since that's where the berries were (their Moorpark location is mostly vegetables). It also seems to be a much smaller farm, and we wanted something that was quiet. It was the tail end of blueberry season, but there was still plenty to pick. The farm was almost completely empty, which we really appreciated. I called beforehand and found out we were allowed to bring Stewie with us, so with us he came!</div>
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There was a fun little tractor ride to the blueberry field:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtfMx3ZUf0GYOlL8k2JQMFiVGqu_E5YWIfTCBCypNRCF0doegVxnQZw7VFwcbRwKITdvSHd2BErmr5ys9yHz1FckrvLUXLZNyHUqgQ_vo7wImUjAHfr38Qtbk2JorpT9STro64Q-zuAw2Z/s1600/photo+%25287%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtfMx3ZUf0GYOlL8k2JQMFiVGqu_E5YWIfTCBCypNRCF0doegVxnQZw7VFwcbRwKITdvSHd2BErmr5ys9yHz1FckrvLUXLZNyHUqgQ_vo7wImUjAHfr38Qtbk2JorpT9STro64Q-zuAw2Z/s640/photo+%25287%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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N hoarding blueberries in his container:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRkmuv66-WQogbp3Novq1dBgyL50zZoTGHmH5tlr7IUvmclTUfinu2b_kfIcLU1deoySlv4EUG0cFID3GQHvzqDIhODryUyP1d2XV_tIBw-QyZQ_I2RyKY53uL8OuNz9NgWBr9MTyiC3xa/s1600/photo+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRkmuv66-WQogbp3Novq1dBgyL50zZoTGHmH5tlr7IUvmclTUfinu2b_kfIcLU1deoySlv4EUG0cFID3GQHvzqDIhODryUyP1d2XV_tIBw-QyZQ_I2RyKY53uL8OuNz9NgWBr9MTyiC3xa/s640/photo+(2).JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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Even though it was technically only 75 degrees that day, we were out in the glaring sun and it was HOT. Hot-hot-hot! Stewie was being so wussy that he started to drive me crazy. He kept crawling along the bush line desperately trying to find as much shade as he could (which there really wasn't much of since it was around noon). I was trying to be an efficient blueberry picking machine, but all his leash pulling and frantic yanking made it impossible. I had also recently given him a bath, so while he started out nice and white, by the time we left he was a distinct yellow color from all that army crawling he did through the shade.</div>
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It was so sunny he could barely keep his eyes open:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJSbTE5WX5o5t9DVjEppoYqZPqoss29gJTb73pbF4kKhxpqwPv3GjFXXPO6taoUrAY2fda5iVAnw3LsVXxyHCFnOc4knGP2rcvUkth2VaEP9eTk7-ldLeoVnuRRgUj4Bz61ozD4OBcdRlX/s1600/photo+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJSbTE5WX5o5t9DVjEppoYqZPqoss29gJTb73pbF4kKhxpqwPv3GjFXXPO6taoUrAY2fda5iVAnw3LsVXxyHCFnOc4knGP2rcvUkth2VaEP9eTk7-ldLeoVnuRRgUj4Bz61ozD4OBcdRlX/s640/photo+%25281%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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N did the majority of the picking while I dealt with Stewie. So instead of pounds-upon-pounds of blueberries, we only ended up with 2.5 lbs. And we ate all of them in the following week. And they were the sweetest blueberries I've ever had (by the way, fresh blueberries + cottage cheese = awesomeness). We could have picked so much more. Darn you, Stewie!</div>
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There were also raspberries available for picking, but they were few and far between. We ended up with less than half a pound of them. This is where Stewie is thinking, "Can we go back to the air conditioned car now please? PLEASE???":</div>
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The farm also had several animals in pens to feed/look at. Here's Stewie encountering his first goat. Why, hello there....<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT6qYEyTah8EQc4xSTZK4Wy9QQ_aTVOOuFlCcRb33ld6pkiRq10eonpjW2b9hm2rRmX6iVbP4n4KTAZkWlkjSdTbQhZnvJzWbppH5noM6OxUILqwrDwjEsv97Oa5koZabrE6E-wXzO5Thf/s1600/photo+%25285%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT6qYEyTah8EQc4xSTZK4Wy9QQ_aTVOOuFlCcRb33ld6pkiRq10eonpjW2b9hm2rRmX6iVbP4n4KTAZkWlkjSdTbQhZnvJzWbppH5noM6OxUILqwrDwjEsv97Oa5koZabrE6E-wXzO5Thf/s640/photo+%25285%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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And his first chicken (which had a really badass hairdo):<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVhfmyAnQ8-ux4ofq7Q4uV6oMc5OTxsyxL91ZoV7Ddv-79M9E9zDlpKQ1RRKe9v8yToGlgZn4NXcitKXng39OLAI18axFxm35XE3JkHXhGWl5Dwq6jQUgXqW6o7pSot_BDhWU5nN4HmRQl/s1600/photo+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVhfmyAnQ8-ux4ofq7Q4uV6oMc5OTxsyxL91ZoV7Ddv-79M9E9zDlpKQ1RRKe9v8yToGlgZn4NXcitKXng39OLAI18axFxm35XE3JkHXhGWl5Dwq6jQUgXqW6o7pSot_BDhWU5nN4HmRQl/s640/photo+%25284%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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The farm had a little stand that sold veggies from their Moorpark location, so I also swooped in and bought fresh corn, golden beets, bok choy and romaine. Their produce looked FANTASTIC. The romaine literally looked like a heart of romaine but it was the whole head somehow (somehow!!). We've eaten everything and I can also say it was all very tasty.</div>
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And finally, we had to take a photo of Stewie's blueberry-stained feet. What an adorable <a href="http://cuteoverload.com/2011/10/23/not-so-comfortabuhls/" target="_blank">paw bouquet</a>:</div>
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<br />debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com2Somis, CA 93066, USA34.257222 -118.99527834.244098 -119.015019 34.270345999999996 -118.975537tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-16157265548727473852012-05-30T20:44:00.000-07:002012-05-30T20:44:00.136-07:00Huntington Beach continued<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Some more Stewie photos from our trip to Huntington Beach for all you fans out there, who are ALL of you, of course. Who wouldn't be a Stewie fan??</div>
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1: Unleashing the wild beast.</div>
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2: Waiting until the beast realizes he's free (sometimes he can be a little slow).<br />
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3: Realization hits!<br />
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4: The beast springs to life!<br />
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5: He's off!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Sydt2SSb8wIqB2w2lLzSOKgCpNquGe9enSFb70UCzxmFRQLEGOBMw8JCD_jyEgX103ZFi9mxnH-Ubh4D7FIuIIRxJZGBFwSBRY-SJc3bqWlCQUJ4N4wkotmXEfoIKSTFRTwFMl7zjc2g/s1600/Huntington+Dog+Beach_2012-05-27_024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Sydt2SSb8wIqB2w2lLzSOKgCpNquGe9enSFb70UCzxmFRQLEGOBMw8JCD_jyEgX103ZFi9mxnH-Ubh4D7FIuIIRxJZGBFwSBRY-SJc3bqWlCQUJ4N4wkotmXEfoIKSTFRTwFMl7zjc2g/s640/Huntington+Dog+Beach_2012-05-27_024.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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6: And away he goes...<br />
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7: ...only to be rudely tackled by an over zealous pup along the way. I merrily laugh at his humiliation.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihRc0CDQPD3E6Rnxl5v9LL2l6VjmQrqOLsrtnUaIDnxhcc6IuABjb90wQh3u3i-huS7InQozgvPcTY2k8GV_jA_CEPG_4FzReW7A6a0Vk-6cWMGGGAPvoVl0241SwY4BHbgqWOId6Gr4J5/s1600/Huntington+Dog+Beach_2012-05-27_037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihRc0CDQPD3E6Rnxl5v9LL2l6VjmQrqOLsrtnUaIDnxhcc6IuABjb90wQh3u3i-huS7InQozgvPcTY2k8GV_jA_CEPG_4FzReW7A6a0Vk-6cWMGGGAPvoVl0241SwY4BHbgqWOId6Gr4J5/s640/Huntington+Dog+Beach_2012-05-27_037.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />8. Stewie: "I have my eye on you, waves. You'll never get me wet."<br />
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9. Stewie: "..."</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGMgA5uADHHieXVmzzT4RzZc4fJ7kPcjdq7lyOVcowyTPbYozyd-Qg4ONKDLzPCQ77e_Rku6kWXnGC5vpVBkwlGCghVqsCIh1J_ya81eVxj6ErcrLIG55gyz92IKoY-50LF1Abtq_Z2tPA/s1600/Huntington+Dog+Beach_2012-05-27_066.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGMgA5uADHHieXVmzzT4RzZc4fJ7kPcjdq7lyOVcowyTPbYozyd-Qg4ONKDLzPCQ77e_Rku6kWXnGC5vpVBkwlGCghVqsCIh1J_ya81eVxj6ErcrLIG55gyz92IKoY-50LF1Abtq_Z2tPA/s640/Huntington+Dog+Beach_2012-05-27_066.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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10: Stranger dog: "Mmm, a tasty white and fluffy marshmallow treat just for me..."<br />
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11: Stewie clings to me for dear life.<br />
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<br />debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-66504857846355471372012-05-29T22:23:00.001-07:002012-05-29T22:23:23.412-07:00A dog-friendly weekend at Huntington Beach (and beyond)When we moved to LA from NYC, I had a dream. A dream of jumping into my car and driving away from the city for 1-2 hours and spending a quick weekend away whenever I felt like it. It would be beautiful, outdoorsy and Stewie would come with us. And, of course, I'd score an awesome last-minute cabin/camp site/hotel/bed and breakfast deal for cheap and everything would just fall into place on its own.<br />
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But did it ever happen? Nope.<br />
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It's tough doing weekend getaways, even though it's what Los Angeles is made for, what with Malibu and Santa Barbara to the west, Big Bear Lake and Palm Springs to the east and San Diego to the south. I quickly discovered that doing an overnight trip on a regular two-day weekend felt too rushed...and when would we get our laundry done?? And anytime a three-day weekend came around, everything (including bare camp sites) would book up way too fast. It was also complicated to bring Stewie with us. And those last-minute deals I thought I could get? They never seemed to materialize, even while searching for them at midnight the day before. In fact, everything I found was twice as expensive than usual.<br />
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They never materialized, that is, until this past Memorial Day weekend!<br />
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Everything finally fell into place for once. We didn't have anything scheduled for the weekend, it wasn't supposed to rain and we found a really awesome last-minute deal for a hotel in Orange County. And we finally got to go to a place we've had our eye on ever since we moved out here: <a href="http://www.dogbeach.org/" target="_blank">Huntington Dog Beach</a>.<br />
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But before we hit the dog beach, we stopped by the <a href="http://www.parkbenchcafe.com/" target="_blank">Park Bench Cafe</a> for breakfast. It was a really cute almost all outdoor restaurant that's semi-integrated into the park it's located in. It's famous for its dog friendliness and even has a menu where you can order food just for your pet. Literally every party there had at least one dog with them, including several HUGE dogs whose heads easily went over the tops of the tables!<br />
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So Stewie got his first ever restaurant meal--cooked chicken breast! The dish on the menu was called the "Bow wow wow." Here he is waiting for his breakfast (he's in the shade under our table):</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Jr3fvrsxuIL_9qAdkndYKdRwCx9VNlSSxxMC0sJklNvB0G6PgP6-qWAmTu7ErYq9MMkX4YCE3AGY64eggezEY7IDR-A_H7CoBYlusa81lpyOLe-LuUS6_uu-0NkN1fo6b-xFeI8m4gSb/s1600/photo+(4).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Jr3fvrsxuIL_9qAdkndYKdRwCx9VNlSSxxMC0sJklNvB0G6PgP6-qWAmTu7ErYq9MMkX4YCE3AGY64eggezEY7IDR-A_H7CoBYlusa81lpyOLe-LuUS6_uu-0NkN1fo6b-xFeI8m4gSb/s640/photo+(4).JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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So tasty, isn't it Stewie?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdtygkUdIDR1SMvM4eMlDiCJiwOf8pagrAB3fSTOBeE8AkwB6Fu6aOeB1UPrADQhYQ5b9CH-lNcbSfO9DXi64UrVATT-AGcfUrvYtH5hdd89lwjun05IC34WWPRffDvXU0Ywm_B3fbhUg/s1600/photo+(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdtygkUdIDR1SMvM4eMlDiCJiwOf8pagrAB3fSTOBeE8AkwB6Fu6aOeB1UPrADQhYQ5b9CH-lNcbSfO9DXi64UrVATT-AGcfUrvYtH5hdd89lwjun05IC34WWPRffDvXU0Ywm_B3fbhUg/s640/photo+(3).JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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N and I got a couple egg dishes which were surprisingly good. There were dog water bowls everywhere and a big container where you could go refill your dog's water whenever you liked. It was a really cute cafe; we'd definitely go back! </div>
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After breakfast, we headed to Huntington Beach. It's a super long stretch of beach and it was pretty crowded when we went. You're technically not allowed to have your dogs off leash, but no one pays attention to the rules. Since there were so many dogs and people, Stewie couldn't relax. He kept climbing into our laps and trying to get us to pick him up to save him from the other dogs who wanted to sniff his butt. What a wuss.</div>
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Showing Stewie a neat shell I found (there were a ton of really cool shells on this particular beach):</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJ1auta_onhK-l7p7T6GWOLFfoaA9hXjjMKow8tgQp1Vgq3bXaqZ9HU9LPD84MBDVUR1vGeN8DUWKZ_evEPhV1b6_EeSKtX0Lz0EGVR724MeY0yoAc5bmwDzDhkGLTyQP-990ILxQAcNl/s1600/Huntington+Dog+Beach_2012-05-27_135.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJ1auta_onhK-l7p7T6GWOLFfoaA9hXjjMKow8tgQp1Vgq3bXaqZ9HU9LPD84MBDVUR1vGeN8DUWKZ_evEPhV1b6_EeSKtX0Lz0EGVR724MeY0yoAc5bmwDzDhkGLTyQP-990ILxQAcNl/s640/Huntington+Dog+Beach_2012-05-27_135.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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On the bike path that goes for miles along the shore:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKQ1N0xdraUBjYWgzlLTdTlDCbG6ejqZ9OF138Dona21vkDovhkw7ikgMONV6CiyWXg8DnBtXAxov8xLVxRcCfU85fKQuISq0Xc8PXXhi9ohou1OSvqjvTcUSBCoAeLfqZYPmyMYXEtEW-/s1600/photo+(6).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKQ1N0xdraUBjYWgzlLTdTlDCbG6ejqZ9OF138Dona21vkDovhkw7ikgMONV6CiyWXg8DnBtXAxov8xLVxRcCfU85fKQuISq0Xc8PXXhi9ohou1OSvqjvTcUSBCoAeLfqZYPmyMYXEtEW-/s640/photo+(6).JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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And finally, one of the rare moments when Stewie lost track of the waves and actually ended up in the water (he usually dances just out of reach of the ocean):</div>
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We stayed at the Westin Hotel in Costa Mesa for one night. The chain is really dog-friendly; they allow all dogs under 40 lbs for no extra charge. They also provided us with this Westin-branded dog bed for Stewie. They usually provide food and water bowls, too, but they ran out the night we were there. There were a ton of the dogs at the hotel.</div>
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Altogether a very successful weekend trip! Huntington Dog Beach was very nice, but it wasn't the best place for Stewie. A little too crowded and active for his tastes, so he couldn't fully relax and have fun. He definitely likes <a href="http://citycountrymouse.blogspot.com/2011/04/ns-birthday.html" target="_blank">Arroyo Burro in Santa Barbara</a> much better.<br />
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Another plus to this trip was that we were able to stop by Buena Park on the drive home and go to <a href="http://www.portillos.com/" target="_blank">Portillo's</a>. I love Portillo's! We got italian beef sandwiches and the very friendly staff brought a bowl of water out for Stewie. Stewie also got some cheese fries, too, of course.debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-28703531717504669682012-05-23T21:07:00.000-07:002012-05-23T21:07:39.975-07:00Linotype: The Film (and back to the International Printing Museum)Several weeks ago, N and I took another trip down to the <a href="http://citycountrymouse.blogspot.com/2011/10/la-printers-fair.html">International Printing Museum</a>, but it wasn't for the printers fair--we went to attend a screening of <a href="http://www.linotypefilm.com/" target="_blank">Linotype: The Film</a>. Watch the trailer:<br />
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You probably know by now that I have a special love for old timey printing. I love the clanking sounds of the old machines and seeing all their zillion parts move together in an impossibly fluid motion. It's like watching a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rube_Goldberg" target="_blank">Rube Goldberg</a> machine, but the finished product is a piece of paper with a perfect (or perfectly imperfect) ink impression on it. And I don't discriminate--Linotype, Heidelberg, old fashioned typewriters--anything that takes a carved piece of type, covers it with ink, then presses down on paper makes me happy.<br />
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So I was pretty excited when I heard about this documentary. A tiny film with no distribution just about the Linotype machine?? I had to see it.<br />
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I didn't have high expectations, though. In my mind, I categorized it with the documentary <a href="http://www.helveticafilm.com/" target="_blank">Helvetica</a> (yes, a movie about a font), which I thought was good, but not that great. But I ended up being truly impressed! It was a really great film! It was very nicely paced and the talking heads in it were fantastic--funny, informative, passionate. But then again, I wouldn't expect anything less from old wizened men reminiscing about their days as a youngin' working as a Linotype operator. I'd sit on the ground in front of their rocking chairs for hours listening to them if I could.<br />
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The film juxtaposed the long past era of the Linotype machine with its current (very) limited world. The "youngest Linotype operator in the world," a guy in Brooklyn, talks about how he learned how to use the machine from a mentor and hopes to pass the knowledge on. The film also features a man who is a traveling Linotype repairman--probably the only person who really knows how to fix and maintain the crazy complicated machines nowadays. All he does is travel on the road with his wife answering calls and replacing Linotype parts. There's also a man who runs a "Linotype University" in Iowa. It's all really fascinating stuff.<br />
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One of the great things about watching this film at the International Printing Museum is that a lot of the attendees were true printing fans. Not poser hipsters like me...I'm attracted to these machines, but I know relatively little about them, and I've certainly never used one before. I bet if I went to this screening in NYC the theater would have been full of young people who were there just to watch a niche indie film. But a lot of the crowd at the Museum were actually other old wizened men who worked as Linotype operators when they were young, and they were there to get in touch with their past. After the screening, I saw some of them sit in front of the old Linotypes on display in the Museum and rest their hands on the keyboard. They had wistful and dreamy looks on their faces. It was really moving...I may have teared up. Maybe.<br />
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The other great thing about watching with this crowd was the Q&A after the film. It was great! Everyone asked insightful questions. I've been to enough Q&As with directors to expect the same lame questions to come up every time, but this one was really good.<br />
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Oh, there was also a raffle for those who attended the screening. I told N beforehand that of all the raffles I've ever been entered in, this is the only one I've ever wanted to win. And guess what. I WON.<br />
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My name was drawn FIRST! N could not believe it. I think he still doesn't believe it. I knew it would happen, though ;)<br />
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I got first pick at the various prizes they had available--some large metal slugs, candy, a book. But I already knew what I would take. And here it is:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrOot1QWldE11S2iWGyw7caTf6G-9siImLUpsTkmaTYVqTz0mTtGDMGpx-cU6oJ045BCYtB0XO9rPZrQAsCmQ_-SVTzL9MxQdIclU3XZt3-poowkZ1APExVyM-Qhiy-bibNoYB7g_q3jFT/s1600/photo+(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrOot1QWldE11S2iWGyw7caTf6G-9siImLUpsTkmaTYVqTz0mTtGDMGpx-cU6oJ045BCYtB0XO9rPZrQAsCmQ_-SVTzL9MxQdIclU3XZt3-poowkZ1APExVyM-Qhiy-bibNoYB7g_q3jFT/s640/photo+(3).JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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In case it's not clear (and I'm sure it isn't), it's a custom-made stand that displays your metal slugs! Remember <a href="http://citycountrymouse.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2012-01-23T21:13:00-08:00&max-results=5" target="_blank">the ones N and I got of our names from the printers fair</a>? I love them but I didn't really know what to do with them...this stand solved that problem. It has an angled notch where you place your slug so the words on it are conveniently reflected in the mirror and you can read them frontwards. Genius! And in case you didn't notice--we used this latest trip to the Museum to spend another dollar on getting a slug made with Stewie's name on it.<br />
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The Museum created these stands for a client to give out at some convention, and this was one of the leftovers. It says "Linotype-Hell" on it because Linotype merged with a company called Hell at some point. A docent told a story of how competing companies would call Linotype-Hell just to hear them pick up and say, "Linotype Hell!" to which they'd respond, "IT SURE IS!" and hang up. Harhar.<br />
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Nowadays, Linotype is still around but doesn't deal with printers at all anymore. But you might recognize the name in your font menu--they design all kinds of <a href="http://www.linotype.com/" target="_blank">typefaces and fonts</a>.<br />
<br />debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-62261631093812266322012-05-20T23:22:00.002-07:002012-05-20T23:22:30.790-07:00Growing (and eating) mushroomsSo--those <a href="http://citycountrymouse.blogspot.com/2012/03/2012-la-mushroom-fair.html">babies</a> I mentioned a couple posts ago? They were born. We raised them. And we ate them yesterday.<br />
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N and I brought home a mushroom growing "kit" from the fair in February. Here's what it looked like in the beginning:<br />
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The bag held a mixture of cotton seed hulls that were inoculated with oyster mushroom spores (and some other stuff). Here's a close up view:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhckRg9syTnKWzFtIRv0Qe1tHWdV6QqipJNteerwVDpbQ0wlkWpYN1gO0DZxtwjP2zmKcaJhf8p72aneU1PxbV-TSG4xEcU6w-a6rkNtCJH0u05sX92mOF3aM4q6kCYbvuD-vDwRdcIa56/s1600/IMG_0167.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhckRg9syTnKWzFtIRv0Qe1tHWdV6QqipJNteerwVDpbQ0wlkWpYN1gO0DZxtwjP2zmKcaJhf8p72aneU1PxbV-TSG4xEcU6w-a6rkNtCJH0u05sX92mOF3aM4q6kCYbvuD-vDwRdcIa56/s640/IMG_0167.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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It looks kind of gross, but it actually smelled pretty pleasant! All we had to do was puncture the bag several times with a fork, then place the bag in the dark (the back of our closet) and wait while the substrate filled the mixture. Three weeks later, it looked like this:<br />
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All the white stuff is mushroom growth (substrate). The points sticking out of the bag are called "pins." At this point, we cut open the plastic bag around a few of the largest pins and brought the bag out of the closet into indirect light. A few days after that, it looked like this:<br />
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They were starting to look like mushrooms! It was very exciting. This is what it looked like a couple days later (about a month after we brought home the bag):<br />
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PRETTY!<br />
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They pretty much maxed out around the size above. I think we did a pretty bad job with the pins--we should have caught them earlier and let one of them grow--two at maximum. The fewer pins you allow to grow the bigger the mushrooms become. We had 3-4 clumps going at once so they turned out pretty small.</div>
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At the fair, everyone was saying that fresh mushrooms taste completely different than anything you buy at the grocery store, so I was really curious to see how they'd turn out. N did the cooking with what we happened to have in the fridge at the time:</div>
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Oyster mushrooms, arugula, chives, olive oil, salt and pepper cooking in our cast iron pan. And the finished product:<br />
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Mixed with pasta and parmesan cheese! A little pasta water was the base for the "sauce."<br />
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I have to say, hands down, this was the best thing N has ever created and cooked. Everything was done <i>perfectly</i>. There were barely any ingredients, but it was amazing. And the mushrooms? AWESOME. They were crazy sweet. I never thought mushrooms could be that sweet! And they were cooked perfectly, along with the pasta. N says the secret to perfect pasta is salting the water the right amount. I'd easily pay $20 for that pasta I hoovered down that day.<br />
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Mushroom growing is fun. And easy. And tasty. I think I will do it again sometime...debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-38510807240756388792012-04-06T20:26:00.001-07:002012-04-06T20:26:44.272-07:00A new apartment in KoreatownN and I moved into a new apartment at the beginning of March. We had a lot of stuff to figure out about shopping for a new place in LA.<br />
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It was a lot of "firsts" for us. The first time we hired professional movers (we used <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/aussie-movers-los-angeles" target="_blank">Aussie movers</a> and they were pretty great), the first time we had to buy a garage remote control and the first time we had to contemplate street parking (we only get one spot with out unit).<br />
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We ended up with a 1.5 bed + 2 bath apartment for only $100 more than our increased rent would have been at our last place--and that was a studio! We have so much space now it's almost mind boggling. And now it's time for another rundown...<br />
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Things I love about this new apartment:<br />
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<ul>
<li>The half bedroom is actually an open loft space, so our ceilings are super duper high! I love high ceilings.</li>
<li>We have TWO exposures, and they're on opposite sides of the apartment. I'm not sure if multiple exposures is a big deal in LA, but I'm still in NYC mindset when it comes to real estate so I'm amazed. We get a pretty good natural outdoor breeze going through the place.</li>
<li>We suddenly have lots and lots of kitchen counter space. Freedom!</li>
<li>We are literally within half a mile of a TON of awesome Korean restaurants, including our favorite kalgooksoo and jjajjangmyun spots. For. Serious.</li>
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Things I do not love about our new apartment:<br />
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<ul>
<li>We only have one assigned parking spot. Gag. We have to street park one of our cars, which would be okay since N usually takes the Metro to work, but oh those dreaded street cleaning days! I've never cared about street cleaning until now. Do we *really* need it?? I guess we probably do...</li>
<li>The stairs that go up to the loft cut right in front of the entryway to the apartment (you can see them jutting out in the photo below). You have to literally step over them every time you enter. As one of the Aussie movers said, "You better not come home drunk, because you are DEFINITELY going to trip over those!"</li>
<li>There are no drawers in the kitchen. Yes, you heard me right. Whoever heard of a drawer-less kitchen?? We had to jury-rig a weird setup for our silverware and stuff.
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<li>There's no central air. In fact, there's only one wall unit for the entire apartment and it's in the living room. I had serious reservations about that fact, but we took the apartment anyway. I think I may end up sleeping in the living room during some summer nights, though.</li>
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And now for some pics!<br />
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The living room. You can see the stairs on the left and the loft up top. And Stewie on the lower left:<br />
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The living room from the opposite direction:</div>
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Messy bedroom:</div>
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The loft area with second bathroom:<br />
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And the view from the loft looking down onto the living room:</div>
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<br />debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-14121409156604105742012-03-12T22:11:00.000-07:002012-05-20T23:03:15.082-07:002012 LA Mushroom FairIt's been an unbelievably busy four weeks. We moved into our new apartment and are now mostly unpacked, but I first need to play catch up before getting to the move.<br />
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<a href="http://citycountrymouse.blogspot.com/2011/04/la-arboretum.html" target="_blank">I said we'd go to the mushroom fair back in April </a><a href="http://citycountrymouse.blogspot.com/2011/04/la-arboretum.html" target="_blank">of last year</a>, and we did! The 2012 <a href="http://www.lamushrooms.org/fair-2012.html" target="_blank">Los Angeles Mushroom Fair</a> was held on February 12th of this year and we headed to the Arboretum to check it out. It was a fun and strange experience. The crowd was really diverse: kids, seniors, hippies, park rangers, foreigners, school kids banking volunteer hours--it was all over the place!<br />
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First, we participated in a "mushroom walk" led by a mycologist who was a research fellow at a university. She explained how to find mushrooms and do some basic identification and harvesting--it brought me back to my college days. Not that any of the courses I took had to do with mushrooms. The way she talked was just so...professor-y! She's in the middle below (I can't remember her name, sadly):<br />
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There were a ton of mushrooms on display with very helpful docents to answer our questions. We learned that very few mushrooms are actually deadly, although many upset your stomach. We also found out that the one common lethal mushroom local to Los Angeles is the most benign looking of all:<br />
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Don't let their boring appearance fool you--they're called "Death Angel"! Don't they seriously look really boring and typical, though? Like you might want to pop one in your mouth just out of curiosity?...<br />
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There were a lot of weird mushrooms on display:<br />
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Massive ones:<br />
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Tiny ones:<br />
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Mushrooms everywhere!:<br />
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There was also an identification table where visitors could bring in their own finds and have an expert help them figure out what kind of mushroom it was.<br />
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And perhaps most exciting of all, N and I went home with this:<br />
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Can you guess what it is? Heres a hint: there's a million babies inside. More to come in another post...debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-47804678754857913042012-02-01T22:04:00.000-08:002012-02-01T22:04:35.042-08:00Time to move-move-moveIt's finally time for N and I to say goodbye to our current apartment. We received notice that our rent would be increasing by 10% starting in April, so it's time to leave. This apartment has been the longest I've ever lived in one spot since before high school. When we move out, it will have been an amazing 2 years and 1 month! I think that's pretty darn good for a place we signed a lease for <a href="http://citycountrymouse.blogspot.com/2010/01/only-week-to-go.html" target="_blank">without even laying eyes on it</a>.<br />
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Things I'm going to miss about our current apartment:<br />
<ul>
<li>The light. Our main wall is basically all windows which really opened up the space.</li>
<li>The hardwoord floors. They're nice and clean and new.</li>
<li>The cork flooring in the bathroom. I'd never lived with cork flooring before, but now that I have--if I ever get to build my own bathroom one day, it will definitely have cork flooring. It's easy to clean and isn't cold, hard and clammy like tile.</li>
<li>Paying rent with my credit card. This is a new option the building just started offering a couple months ago, and it is awesome. Besides being able to rack up more rewards points on my card, I was able to do away with those dreaded, inconvenient, why-in-the-world-do-we-still-use-this-stone aged-payment-method practice of writing paper checks.</li>
<li>And...probably most of all...the fact that we could get away with tandem parking our second car in the underground garage without having to pay for it. That is quite<i> </i>the find in Los Angeles. Ah--the beauty of non-assigned parking!</li>
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Things I'm definitely NOT going to miss about our current apartment:<br />
<ul>
<li>The ever-changing management. The building owner/management office changed hands three times while we lived in the building. Each changeover came with a new set of amenities that were taken away and unclear rules on who to make our rent checks out to.</li>
<li>The sealed windows. Yes, we are unable to open our windows, so instead of being able to take advantage of L.A.'s moderate temperatures we have been forced to run air conditioning when it was completely cool outside. The negative side of having tons of windows? It makes your apartment into a greenhouse. Which brings me to my next item:</li>
<li>The ever-unreliable central air conditioning. We were fine 90% of the year, but during those hot spells of summer the air conditioning could never keep up. Management called in a few repairmen who didn't know what they were doing and they just never were able to fix it.</li>
<li>Living in a STUDIO apartment. Yes, N and I have somehow survived living in one room together for over two years (with me using my laptop sitting on the couch and him using his laptop on the kitchen island), but it is time for us to get some desks.</li>
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We signed a lease for a new place just last night. We're moving to Koreatown! More on that later...debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-80403915356133672642012-01-23T21:13:00.000-08:002012-01-23T21:14:24.360-08:00Stewie Jung: A Photo EssayToday marks Stewie's 3rd year arrival anniversary! In honor of such a momentous occasion, I baked special treats packed with all his <b>favorite</b> foods.<br />
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Shredding carrots (one of Stewie's favorite treats).</div>
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"Does this food involve me? I think it does..."<br />
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Cheese (another one of Stewie's faves), carrots and olive oil.</div>
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Combining dry ingredients (flour, whole wheat pancake mix and some baking powder) separately from wet.<br />
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Korean sweet potato, chicken stock and garlic also went into the mix (more of Stewie's faves). A tasty combo, no?</div>
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Stewie, do you want to try some batter before it goes in the oven?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn9vxmyM8_ICFdcTKDIzR5PnpyCFBdw7BVNkqBRdcZPGAWhfS8E_mJcMV44OFbawR4a6qJLKfP-rhnwWV_EO9piyS3a4UgAuRPGwedQ5oBKOnKgQL0X_3iSa4Tw9RMvb_Bbl-cllNmT22O/s1600/IMG_3409009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn9vxmyM8_ICFdcTKDIzR5PnpyCFBdw7BVNkqBRdcZPGAWhfS8E_mJcMV44OFbawR4a6qJLKfP-rhnwWV_EO9piyS3a4UgAuRPGwedQ5oBKOnKgQL0X_3iSa4Tw9RMvb_Bbl-cllNmT22O/s640/IMG_3409009.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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"Yes, I would like to try some!"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRE7KWCMAMZI9ysORK-4rdcSHzDpdkXtFkCNOBM8JY5YqqOZp-o94Pvx5g3Mdo1sjZ3m3S3kLLKk_zSQ2VoQarFc_peffedbBgD-eLXRrluMZlH1cSA43EYika_8Wh_po3UfWrhMAY9MP-/s1600/IMG_3401007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRE7KWCMAMZI9ysORK-4rdcSHzDpdkXtFkCNOBM8JY5YqqOZp-o94Pvx5g3Mdo1sjZ3m3S3kLLKk_zSQ2VoQarFc_peffedbBgD-eLXRrluMZlH1cSA43EYika_8Wh_po3UfWrhMAY9MP-/s640/IMG_3401007.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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"I think there's some on my nose..."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTRsqi_qe2YegpSRsn_1ou0QujetEjYrlHGUyq7O0af49Q8iNQJn24nvjScnhMatneATTxnGXMsa5IRuXrUPm2PSXNpP1DjVG9JQOjbdBm6f4KgXkrh7MIihxqqoMV_8ESQD9BmJUdypc8/s1600/IMG_3403008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTRsqi_qe2YegpSRsn_1ou0QujetEjYrlHGUyq7O0af49Q8iNQJn24nvjScnhMatneATTxnGXMsa5IRuXrUPm2PSXNpP1DjVG9JQOjbdBm6f4KgXkrh7MIihxqqoMV_8ESQD9BmJUdypc8/s640/IMG_3403008.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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"Is it still there?"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm4Xji0BeklnHSfMwptY03BgCk-QyMezDe5TVLrcjVeAK7w-lIGj53BDEhG4lyS7XbJEE_NqY5vbq6hVzZkVhdqSPAgHJblp5-53r6B7jid4Ih2WFfl7O2TkKfZleqgIO_IAsEd0Vy__DS/s1600/IMG_3413010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm4Xji0BeklnHSfMwptY03BgCk-QyMezDe5TVLrcjVeAK7w-lIGj53BDEhG4lyS7XbJEE_NqY5vbq6hVzZkVhdqSPAgHJblp5-53r6B7jid4Ih2WFfl7O2TkKfZleqgIO_IAsEd0Vy__DS/s640/IMG_3413010.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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"Got it!"<br />
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Getting ready to go in the oven...<br />
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Baking...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv-IAnK24_sfN0mjpI_l3trnNLnoMsitughUWOxMEd7Wk45c6s5mOqFHYhG_3_eoFqj7cWFjNP5HHQZkfHXBI8VwAoSrBnY8NOFAslaStAAH5mAD56QiVLRvKR8xaIGVD9strfCqaZKHve/s1600/IMG_3425012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv-IAnK24_sfN0mjpI_l3trnNLnoMsitughUWOxMEd7Wk45c6s5mOqFHYhG_3_eoFqj7cWFjNP5HHQZkfHXBI8VwAoSrBnY8NOFAslaStAAH5mAD56QiVLRvKR8xaIGVD9strfCqaZKHve/s640/IMG_3425012.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The finished product! Stewie, do you want to try it?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFUoMq1bEuEth_2yOMigxcd3YN20zhyphenhyphenZaSv3bDVCMjFaFYcLxSI-wj5lMItdIH4kmTmfu6snvLDM4cRvasQEL_RXoJF5-pqLZQqJ_iWV4GPbZpB0IgiVGJCBO6Rngd1QNWLk6260bWuHYN/s1600/IMG_3432013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFUoMq1bEuEth_2yOMigxcd3YN20zhyphenhyphenZaSv3bDVCMjFaFYcLxSI-wj5lMItdIH4kmTmfu6snvLDM4cRvasQEL_RXoJF5-pqLZQqJ_iWV4GPbZpB0IgiVGJCBO6Rngd1QNWLk6260bWuHYN/s640/IMG_3432013.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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"For me???"</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEkWgNWBzfhvJWz1L63EbvjVXyMTOw37tCXETok2iiu0JqqcS_kT6XuIY4pUlA3r4YAOlPHCK-rwdjStoMv1FB66PSUC-WtLZES5Bn1gAgLKJzpoLIUKQsvQGHGzilmLaNPqL7JuKKZ_rS/s1600/IMG_3434014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEkWgNWBzfhvJWz1L63EbvjVXyMTOw37tCXETok2iiu0JqqcS_kT6XuIY4pUlA3r4YAOlPHCK-rwdjStoMv1FB66PSUC-WtLZES5Bn1gAgLKJzpoLIUKQsvQGHGzilmLaNPqL7JuKKZ_rS/s640/IMG_3434014.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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**GULP**</div>
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"Seconds, please!"<br />
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Stewie loves his new treats!<br />
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This post was inspired by <a href="http://sisinmaru.blog17.fc2.com/" target="_blank">Maru</a>.debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-82930601664608538292012-01-20T18:20:00.000-08:002012-01-20T18:20:49.796-08:002011 holiday recapN, Stewie and I flew to upstate New York, then San Francisco, and finally rented a car and drove back down to LA for the holidays. We were gone for a solid 14 days and had a great time! We baked cookies, bowled, ate, shopped, played board games and exchanged tons of presents. A quick photo/video recap:<br />
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Stewie getting into the holiday spirit at N's parent's place. He makes a cute reindeer, no? That's Minnie in front:<br />
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I also helped N's parent's make <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divinity_fudge" target="_blank">divinity fudge</a> for the first time ever! They have an old family recipe we used--I had never even tasted divinity fudge ever before, so it was pretty fun learning about it. We made chocolate, white chocolate raspberry, peanut butter and maple flavors. Here they are drying on the kitchen table:<br />
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An overly adorable photo of my one-year-old niece Hannah walking with my parents:<br />
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Hannah loves to dance when any kind of beat is playing (this time it's to Sesame Street):<br />
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Here she is giving a kiss ("bbo bbo" in Korean) to my sister:<br />
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Can you say kyoot?</div>debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-81784878073604719552011-12-13T08:43:00.000-08:002011-12-17T17:40:28.161-08:00Quirky Santa BarbaraN and I had a late birthday weekend to launch the beginning of 30th year. Well, it was my 29th birthday, so that's the start of my 30th year, right? I'm trying to get myself into the mindset of "I'm THIRTY years old" so when it really happens, I won't freak out too much. A year of mental preparation should be enough. I think.<br />
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N planned the weekend for us in Santa Barbara. We just can't stay away from that town! Since it was our third time there, he put a lot of effort into finding some quirky, off the beaten path activities for us to do. And it was extra challenging since it was supposed to rain a lot that weekend, which really limited the outdoorsy things we could do. In the end, he pulled it off big time.<br />
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But first, we had to go to Arroyo Burro with Stewie, of course. That beach never ceases to amaze me. I know I already filled previous posts with cute Stewie-on-the-beach photos, but will that stop me from posting more? Nope.<br />
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We went further down the beach than ever before and came across this neat "cave" in the rock. It dead-ended not too far in where I found a pile of empty beer cans and some graffiti. Charming.<br />
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One of the exciting discoveries of the trip was the BEST. BLOODY MARY. EVERRRRRR. Those capital letters do not exaggerate. Take a look:<br />
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Yes, that's a whole crab claw in there. And spicy pickled green beans. I ordered it while we had brunch at <a href="http://www.tupelojunction.com/" target="_blank">Tupelo Junction Cafe</a> on State Street. I loved it so much, in fact, that we went back there for brunch the very next day so I could order it again! I really love Bloody Marys, but whenever I order them I'm always disappointed somehow. They just never taste like how I want them or expect them to...either too heavy on the alcohol, not spicy enough, not savory enough...but this one was PERFECT.<br />
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Oh--and the food was also really good and the prices were seriously reasonable. They call everything "small plates" on the menu but they're totally regular entree-sized. They also had two tiny tables outside so we could bring Stewie with us.<br />
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N also found a little hike in Nojoqui Falls Park about 40 minutes north of the city that we took Stewie to. You drive up a highway and turn off onto a tiny road where you find a very short (less than a mile) trail to a secluded waterfall. It was seriously amazing.<br />
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We also had dinner at <a href="http://coldspringtavern.com/" target="_blank">Cold Springs Tavern</a>, a really-really old restaurant up in the hills. It's been there since 1865 and is a really fascinating place. It felt like we were driving into an abyss since we were so far out from the highway and there were absolutely no other buildings or lights around. I don't have any good photos since it was pitch black up there, but it was definitely a fun experience. The water from the spring tasted great! BEST. WATER. EVERRRRRR. Ha!debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-80868889630596802552011-10-16T20:32:00.000-07:002011-10-16T21:39:12.619-07:00LA Printers FairA couple weekends ago, N and I went to the <a href="http://www.printmuseum.org/printersfair/">LA Printers Fair</a>. I found out about it from <a href="http://blog.craftzine.com/">Craft</a>--a really hit-and-miss blog, but sometimes it digs up hidden gems...like this fair. And the blog isn't even specific to LA (it just covers general craft projects), so I was really lucky to find it there!<br />
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The first thing I saw about this fair was that it was going to be held at the <a href="http://www.printmuseum.org/">International Printing Museum</a>. First off, I had no idea such a museum existed and I thought it was fantastic that it does. Then I was very excited to see that it's located in Carson, less than an hour's drive south of us! I made immediate plans to attend the next day.<br />
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The fair (and the museum!) did not disappoint. The museum had old presses and printers all over the place and a few volunteer guides who showed how they work. I loved watching the old <a href="http://www.apa-letterpress.com/T%20&%20P%20ARTICLES/Press%20&%20Presswork/heidelberg%20wind.html">Heidelberg presses</a>--it's mesmerizing seeing them go. And the final printed pieces look fantastic.<br />
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We walked into one room where people were lined up for...something. I didn't even know what it was for, but I figured I should join in. I eventually figured out that everyone was waiting to have a custom metal slug with their name on it produced on the spot for $1! I got way too excited about it. Watching the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linotype_machine">Linotype machine</a> working was amazing:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uXYRHpWh0kc" width="640"></iframe><br />
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And right after our slugs were produced, they used them to print a little decorative card on a Vandercook Proof Press:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BXU5EmhmsYs" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Here's a close up of the slugs we took home with us. Neat, huh?:<br />
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There were also a bunch of graphic designers/vendors selling their letterpressed cards and calendars. And there were actual old printers for sale! <i>Really</i> old ones (most were missing parts, completely rusted and needed repair) but I had a good time longingly gazing at them. And wondering how they work. And if I'd ever be able to have one of my own...<br />
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Anyway, along with printers there were also a lot of old random metal type pieces for sale, including this set of absolutely tiny Chinese characters which was amazing (click on the photo to zoom in, please):<br />
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The fair was great and I am really, really glad that we went. And to conclude...here's lots more photos!:<br />
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<embed flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=https%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2F106328841750279205638%2Falbumid%2F5660175225645373233%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26authkey%3DGv1sRgCPXZiqGwivDslwE%26hl%3Den_US" height="400" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" src="https://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="600"></embed>debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-65177962692218073532011-10-06T21:31:00.000-07:002011-10-06T21:37:38.733-07:00almost forgot!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stewie's birthday came and went--he's SIX now! We took him to Griffith Park that weekend for his present (I've baked dog treats for him for his bday in the past, but I barely do any cooking anymore [sadly]). He usually loves Griffith Park, but this time we hiked uphill on a trail a bit farther than we've ever gone before and he suddenly sat down and refused to move. But when we turned around to go back downhill, he suddenly had tons of energy to walk again. What a wuss.
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, way back in July, we went to the <a href="http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/">Hollywood Bowl</a> for the first time ever! It reminded me of Ravinia in Chicago except there was no lawn space since it's up in the hills...just lots and lots of stadium seating. We went to a fun performance--West Side Story was projected on big screens and the LA Philharmonic performed the score to the movie while it was playing. Definitely made the already awesome music that much awesomer. </span>debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-57683095923921196712011-09-26T19:44:00.001-07:002011-09-26T19:51:42.805-07:00wow--it's been two months!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can't believe it's been a whole two months since I last posted, but it's really a testament to how crazy my life has been lately. It's now starting to calm down somewhat, though, so here I am!<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the last couple months, I flew to Chicago for a bridal shower and my ten-year high school reunion, Vegas for a bachelorette, Dallas for a wedding, and Chicago again for another wedding. And after interviewing for several positions over the last few months, I also started a new job. This is the first time I've interviewed for a job while still working one, and I can easily say that it's one of the most stressful things I've ever done...probably about as stressful as moving into a place. Oh, how I despise moving (which is actually next up on my list of things to get done).</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So between doing those things and also viewing tons of apartments (without finding a suitable one yet), N and I managed to go to the <a href="http://www.lacountyfair.com/2011/">LA County Fair</a>. Last year did a lot of summer-y activities but this year we didn't have much time, so I'm glad we got at least one fair in.</span></br><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDPj0S34qRm4hTNdykXucAkbqphhvd0u5illp73DWtuZ7GctrxFiGikt2CH9JWOBibPA4GZYxkv_DAQ2CbqZg97MaCgl_kAt8WmL4jca9goIZl8QhyphenhyphenPlEj2KgO50cFAVrWtlL93mqrK82p/s1600/IMG_2265109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDPj0S34qRm4hTNdykXucAkbqphhvd0u5illp73DWtuZ7GctrxFiGikt2CH9JWOBibPA4GZYxkv_DAQ2CbqZg97MaCgl_kAt8WmL4jca9goIZl8QhyphenhyphenPlEj2KgO50cFAVrWtlL93mqrK82p/s640/IMG_2265109.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, that is me eating a disgustingly large corn dog. It was as gross as it looks. I regret both buying and eating it.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were two reasons I wanted to go to this fair: 1) the food and 2) the pig racing. I had no idea what the pig racing would be like, and it ended up being pretty cute:</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That was a mom pig racing against a few of her piglets. They also raced goats, sheep, and puppies!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And here's the final list of what went into our stomachs that day:</span><br />
<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">that grossly humongous corn dog</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">fried veggies</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">pork chop on a stick (surprisingly tasty)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">roasted corn</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">funnel cake (Interesting fact--no one at the fair had ever heard of "elephant ears," "fried dough," or "fritters"...we asked around for it and no one knew what we were talking about. Maybe they're an east cost/midwest thing?) </span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dippin' Dots</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...and I brought home cotton candy and kettle corn</span></li>
</ul><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All in all, a pretty good haul!</span>debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-37290057205656307982011-07-27T08:35:00.000-07:002011-07-27T08:35:46.728-07:00electric bikes!<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And now, continuing our trip through the land of <a href="http://www.groupon.com/">Groupon</a>/<a href="http://www.livingsocial.com/">Living Social</a>/<a href="http://www.buywithme.com/">tons</a> <a href="http://www.bloomspot.com/">of</a> <a href="http://www.screamindailydeals.com/">other</a> <a href="http://deals.entertainment.com/publishers/entertainment/daily_deal_subscribers/presignup">daily</a> <a href="http://deals.ebay.com/">deal</a> <a href="http://www.woot.com/">sites</a>...electric bikes!:</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ8eUnXyffgWQAOBzxUA-xHd6Uy5iezqFZocEZPpseOmXqlXPeuAfdhM1RxspH3Q5oGV-Zja7cTCHVBi_fYFtWzA8shTBMFnmLCeYRqNz1ogaoIXL2Z7AN6XtcB-CfwOnobQaiP-C7Ik6m/s1600/P7020763.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ8eUnXyffgWQAOBzxUA-xHd6Uy5iezqFZocEZPpseOmXqlXPeuAfdhM1RxspH3Q5oGV-Zja7cTCHVBi_fYFtWzA8shTBMFnmLCeYRqNz1ogaoIXL2Z7AN6XtcB-CfwOnobQaiP-C7Ik6m/s640/P7020763.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By the Santa Monica Pier</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This blog is making it seem like I'm buying daily deals nonstop, but I swear I'm not. Well, yes, I do buy them once in awhile. I know everyone says they're a guaranteed waste of money, but I'm finding them to be a great source of local stuff to do that I would never have found out about otherwise. 90% of the deals are for massages and Juvederm and tanning (which really are boring) but sometimes fun stuff comes up. Like this electric bike tour we bought from <a href="http://pedalornot.net/">Pedal or Not</a>. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The tour first piqued my interest since I had heard a lot about electric bikes (mostly positive), but I never thought I'd get a chance to actually try one. Then I saw that Pedal or Not has a solid 5 out of 5 stars from 34 reviews on <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g33052-d1876034-Reviews-Pedal_or_Not_Electric_Bicycle_Tours-Santa_Monica_California.html#REVIEWS">Trip Advisor</a>. It seemed like a guaranteed winner--and it was.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD1gD_W_hRyTf7qU6A0f0lFlciKFC2PBQvjX2cWwF4j6vwvB01I5ea5GF078wOuidHTgengspvH_UnDpNX7PlM-7g2TtKIPQhjmU_Zwt4CpNSlQOl2ISRqOAT622-ShLHaEt7fIq-h5kjG/s1600/P7020764.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD1gD_W_hRyTf7qU6A0f0lFlciKFC2PBQvjX2cWwF4j6vwvB01I5ea5GF078wOuidHTgengspvH_UnDpNX7PlM-7g2TtKIPQhjmU_Zwt4CpNSlQOl2ISRqOAT622-ShLHaEt7fIq-h5kjG/s640/P7020764.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pedal or Not gives "semi-private" tours that are limited to 5 people, but we lucked out and had a </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">real </i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">private tour since no one else was in our time slot! It was just our tour guide and us. The tour began in Santa Monica and we rode down the </span><a href="http://www.labikepaths.com/bike-paths/santa-monica-venice/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">long and winding bike path</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> along the beach to Venice where we wandered among the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice_Canals" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Venice canals</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (we're on a bridge over the canals in the photo above). </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was probably a 7 mile ride roundtrip. Halfway through it, I was definitely depending more on that silver battery pack on the back of the bike than my leg muscles. You twist the handlebar like on a motorcycle to turn the motor on (or at least that's how I see people ride motorcycles on TV), and twisting it more makes you go faster. It is really a strange feeling to speed along on a bike without pedaling. It really took me awhile to convince my body that I was not going to topple over despite the fact that my feet were not moving.</span><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We learned some interesting history about Venice and Santa Monica along the way, of course. And maybe it's still the New Yorker in me, but I was shocked by how polite everyone was. When we'd pass walking pedestrians on the bike path, our guide would say, "on your left, there's 3 people in our party" and most people would actually say "Thank you!" in response. I was surprised, to say the least. I don't think I'll ever really shake off that instant feeling of suspicion/wariness whenever a stranger engages me in public.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></span></div>debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-27877963260120470742011-07-04T20:21:00.000-07:002011-07-04T20:21:55.903-07:00star eco continued<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Almost forgot about this photo:</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdcRo9wpqGzhC1gvoDJpbhouYJUCOjWmP7N0wMdPd0-k3F9PtS9ouDpFMi5mZbSyKZ9oeWf5S0ONOuYiwktxy9Gra5_BJxx3PR80zsdDakrxSyzBOg4z43JxnD3LtKPcSG4MD8vzBSKWhx/s1600/IMG_1494095.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdcRo9wpqGzhC1gvoDJpbhouYJUCOjWmP7N0wMdPd0-k3F9PtS9ouDpFMi5mZbSyKZ9oeWf5S0ONOuYiwktxy9Gra5_BJxx3PR80zsdDakrxSyzBOg4z43JxnD3LtKPcSG4MD8vzBSKWhx/s640/IMG_1494095.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sad and funny-looking...but moreso sad. The original owner of the parrot took care of the bird improperly, and it permanently lost a lot of its feathers. It looks disturbingly like the whole chickens I buy at the grocery store.</div>debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-11854225202499523592011-07-04T19:29:00.000-07:002011-07-04T19:29:08.276-07:00star eco station<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I can't believe I forgot to write about our trip to the <a href="http://www.ecostation.org/ecostation/index.htm">STAR Eco Station</a> back in May! Actually, I'm pretty sure I did write an entry on it, but Blogger lost my draft and I was too frustrated to rewrite it. The time has finally come to recap it, though.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Unsurprisingly, our trip to the Star Eco Station was once again prompted by a <a href="http://www.groupon.com/deals/star-eco-station?utm_campaign=star-eco-station&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&c=title&addx=debbie.yoo@gmail.com&utm_content=los-angeles_feed&user=debbie.yoo@gmail.com&d=deal&divison=los-angeles&s=featured_deal&date=20110226">Groupon</a> deal. When I read up on it, I was surprised to find out that the Station is a wildlife rescue organization based in Culver City (just ~10 miles southwest of us). My first thought was, "I can't believe an exotic animal rescue can function in the middle of a big city!" and then I became immediately skeptical. It seemed like the whole thing was really geared toward kids, but I decided to buy the tickets anyway. Whether we enjoyed it or not, the money would go to a good cause. I also guessed it would make for great photo ops.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Although I'm pretty sure N and I were the only childless people in our tour, it was still worth it. The Station was a surprisingly robust organization with a good number of animals in it--huge boa constrictors, alligators, exotic birds, and even wild cats. They take in a lot of animals that are illegally smuggled through LAX and stopped by the US Fish and Wildlife service. They can't be sent back to their home countries since they have American "germs" on them already, but they're also illegal to own in the US. Those animals are given to rescues like the Star Eco Station.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Station also receives animals from people who can't take care of their animals anymore, and they occasionally find them in boxes left on their doorstep in the mornings. At the end of the tour, we found out that they also adopt out some of these animals (since they are legal to own, of course). N has a soft spot for reptiles, and I've never owned one but have always wanted to, so we put our names down on a wait list for an iguana or small tortoise. If one ever comes up, we'd definitely take it!</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And now for some photos!</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs-SBf78KwO6P27-1sFSa0w6p6PnGboYE6zoGk63GtF4wApdCf8c0TPtk161AUs36Vd6cuoD5RhLH9Nw3FCAVtpCVibuM6CLWlBopfZ3Uv4XIx3Ua8K2yl2b-alFLwbcdCOzd2a2nhSZAD/s1600/IMG_1434035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs-SBf78KwO6P27-1sFSa0w6p6PnGboYE6zoGk63GtF4wApdCf8c0TPtk161AUs36Vd6cuoD5RhLH9Nw3FCAVtpCVibuM6CLWlBopfZ3Uv4XIx3Ua8K2yl2b-alFLwbcdCOzd2a2nhSZAD/s640/IMG_1434035.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijqeC9ogqRcDtjkPo0Y82HUesC94s3mhVrwUVQwA4VkSAwNsMpdtAb-VOshNTzRbMFnG7dNPtlqN3gdkcVpeai5lfxPwnOBYRYsP3bDuznDEtUxJJNzLtJqmExryre4dxCbUacIyIM9lOf/s1600/IMG_1468069.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijqeC9ogqRcDtjkPo0Y82HUesC94s3mhVrwUVQwA4VkSAwNsMpdtAb-VOshNTzRbMFnG7dNPtlqN3gdkcVpeai5lfxPwnOBYRYsP3bDuznDEtUxJJNzLtJqmExryre4dxCbUacIyIM9lOf/s640/IMG_1468069.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikEiI0m2UgW0nnb5x1q_2ZfhyT08NWpJBFEF2vvdpNJd2S5SDwF8ERdF6J1MTnUTPC7q-V0rgBd-DUewVfsy8kNcS8Bms97SP7i9iEgii8GXoo4mGXkMJxjEuhi3gVRMcnQdelgTdMInxd/s1600/IMG_1474075.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikEiI0m2UgW0nnb5x1q_2ZfhyT08NWpJBFEF2vvdpNJd2S5SDwF8ERdF6J1MTnUTPC7q-V0rgBd-DUewVfsy8kNcS8Bms97SP7i9iEgii8GXoo4mGXkMJxjEuhi3gVRMcnQdelgTdMInxd/s640/IMG_1474075.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQMWSI3XHUCxpvtMV9XC8ERKjpbbXJ2bVBWiLdxrdo24GfDBUsvceoFljAgdnZd8wZkS984zxTt1ZfVNohWGNW3gkPhppuH1E7lvlbr03HAIyrkAOB23airVoQK7OXQqpBKhNN1IKVdVOr/s1600/IMG_1475076.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQMWSI3XHUCxpvtMV9XC8ERKjpbbXJ2bVBWiLdxrdo24GfDBUsvceoFljAgdnZd8wZkS984zxTt1ZfVNohWGNW3gkPhppuH1E7lvlbr03HAIyrkAOB23airVoQK7OXQqpBKhNN1IKVdVOr/s640/IMG_1475076.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihI00PKWWZuoaKcubrUa-bcDi-5Qw-CEWbkzviKGk0VFCnO2zi15vUQkxUCBGRSMPH7QOiChcY_fsEn9N_JwslTqWsSlsKBbqZDSZin28urDvZQr54Jud4KDmiTq44Eam7alrEKyeZEP75/s1600/IMG_1477078.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihI00PKWWZuoaKcubrUa-bcDi-5Qw-CEWbkzviKGk0VFCnO2zi15vUQkxUCBGRSMPH7QOiChcY_fsEn9N_JwslTqWsSlsKBbqZDSZin28urDvZQr54Jud4KDmiTq44Eam7alrEKyeZEP75/s640/IMG_1477078.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHauqYoCBVpOc5GwWyUw9oh-b_QCVl-ePwn3hyphenhyphenufuhpzajE05rtrXYz97H-TxBwChhOAqvJp-KdIuPfVMuNxduQau2iSGfGHAZZMRKQJN7bSCtiqD-xNYNBvtdbpRC20JLC-EzakISb5rp/s1600/IMG_1488089.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHauqYoCBVpOc5GwWyUw9oh-b_QCVl-ePwn3hyphenhyphenufuhpzajE05rtrXYz97H-TxBwChhOAqvJp-KdIuPfVMuNxduQau2iSGfGHAZZMRKQJN7bSCtiqD-xNYNBvtdbpRC20JLC-EzakISb5rp/s640/IMG_1488089.jpg" width="425" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div>debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-26527417556099263992011-07-01T11:34:00.001-07:002011-07-04T21:45:27.454-07:00LA film fest (again!)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I keep forgetting we've been in LA for over a year now. When it came time for the annual <a href="http://www.lafilmfest.com/">LA Film Fest</a> again, I was pretty surprised...and now I'm having deja vu <a href="http://citycountrymouse.blogspot.com/2010/08/la-film-festival.html">blogging</a> about it.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This year's "haul":</span><br />
<br />
<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.somewherebetweenmovie.com/">Somewhere Between</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> (a documentary following the lives of a few Chinese teenage girls who were adopted by white families in the US)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.movingpicturesnetwork.com/29057/unraveled-documentary-review/">Unraveled</a> (a documentary following Marc Dreier, a high powered lawyer who stole millions of dollars from companies and was only overshadowed by Bernie Madoff)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.naturalselectionthemovie.com/">Natural Selection</a> (a funky indie comedy about a conservative Christian wife who gets tangled up with her husband's no-good son) </span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1549572/">Another Earth</a> (an indie sci-fi movie [that's not really sci-fi] about a girl who tears a family apart after a drunk driving accident and tries to redeem herself)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1459012/">Love Crime</a> (a French movie about living out the <a href="http://www.fortunecity.com/lavendar/poitier/135/killboss.wav">American Dream</a>)</span></li>
</ul><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The two winners of this year (in my own personal competition that follows my own personal tastes) were Somewhere Between and Another Earth. They were both spectacular and definitely worth seeing. I think N really disliked Another Earth, but I'm becoming a huge fan of indie sci-fi films nowadays...and I think I may have gotten him to reconsider.</span></div><div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Somewhere Between, though, was the all-out CHAMPION. I bawled almost the entire movie...and I'm really not that much of a movie-cryer (although I've noticed that as I get older it happens more frequently). I cried within the first 30 seconds of the film in the opening scene! Although the focus of the movie is on a very narrow slice of America, the girls' experiences can be extrapolated to the overall Asian American experience (especially for women). While the girls in the movie can't find their genetic roots, 2nd generation Asian Americans struggle with the idea of the "motherland" and questions of "where are you from?" in a parallel way. What does it mean? How much does it matter? Should I try to find out? Do I belong here?</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'll go out on a limb and say that these adoptees' struggles/conflicts could be the 2nd gen AsAm experience simmered down to its very concentrated (and, in some ways, very much literalized) core.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Anyway, that was an overly academic stream of thought. Watch the trailer!:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZV1aDkPN1uY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285393823581791341.post-59580906816484740682011-06-05T21:32:00.000-07:002011-06-05T21:32:04.077-07:00Griffith Park<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">One of the great things about our apartment is our proximity to <a href="http://www.laparks.org/dos/parks/griffithpk/index.htm">Griffith Park</a>. It's a humongous park with lots of hills and great trails to hike. We've been a few times, but we really haven't taken advantage of it as much as we should. Dogs are allowed, but not off-leash (sadly). Stewie absolutely LOVES it there. Right when we drive in, he starts sniffing like craziness and scrambles to get out of the car. Parking is always easy and everything is so accessible!</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A selection of photos from our trips there:</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFbwViIp6dGvOxnIiWctGNYzR8CQZbI37OCaUdePbm6yY9f3k0Cbix2VpVmlSbijA1J0_MVgiSzEi4Ura3k3ltFJ-H0vE7Z9nYhfeip6OAC4QOSZoIC-WP4kwtTNiJ6lkgQj-yTGhHZ8j4/s1600/2011.05.28.Ebay_228.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFbwViIp6dGvOxnIiWctGNYzR8CQZbI37OCaUdePbm6yY9f3k0Cbix2VpVmlSbijA1J0_MVgiSzEi4Ura3k3ltFJ-H0vE7Z9nYhfeip6OAC4QOSZoIC-WP4kwtTNiJ6lkgQj-yTGhHZ8j4/s640/2011.05.28.Ebay_228.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGR86vF_mMx1Lyzs3jBEVGe6pIppRvEH7eSdLkQG6jU0ej0gNGXYhxudaJI_7ONHghH6-2WDjnMwvDxVBGUmdQmGeTp4DG7EMpvTVBj7cAmyQKoSXB-7wbY322ucGt0gnW5yEb6Zf3L_OR/s1600/LizardonBranch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGR86vF_mMx1Lyzs3jBEVGe6pIppRvEH7eSdLkQG6jU0ej0gNGXYhxudaJI_7ONHghH6-2WDjnMwvDxVBGUmdQmGeTp4DG7EMpvTVBj7cAmyQKoSXB-7wbY322ucGt0gnW5yEb6Zf3L_OR/s640/LizardonBranch.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrDZyykQStMEX8BHaRphJFfuFadB_INElfsgxC38-J3OqyB4RBLe6Onm7a5vQyr4xV84W2DO_Gaw7IHhPKjAZ8rl8qTAWGXjDRSwlpEP4igsrszUWTCoy96JaSR3sMtIAxsRCcuerOom5e/s1600/2011.05.28.Ebay_229.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrDZyykQStMEX8BHaRphJFfuFadB_INElfsgxC38-J3OqyB4RBLe6Onm7a5vQyr4xV84W2DO_Gaw7IHhPKjAZ8rl8qTAWGXjDRSwlpEP4igsrszUWTCoy96JaSR3sMtIAxsRCcuerOom5e/s640/2011.05.28.Ebay_229.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVfbIXpDYC7_eJ8Fschx3_DBKC79jNQ7GvxfiqF9Pot4n_eVxXw4IH-tOixl5I1fgOZculXzF-P-_xyuH5wCBBmmfyQrspki6aIU7jIWTxAI_Tc4LXzqMNFe34_zTVsN3DWOnVJ6UPSJjz/s1600/2011.05.28.Ebay_230.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVfbIXpDYC7_eJ8Fschx3_DBKC79jNQ7GvxfiqF9Pot4n_eVxXw4IH-tOixl5I1fgOZculXzF-P-_xyuH5wCBBmmfyQrspki6aIU7jIWTxAI_Tc4LXzqMNFe34_zTVsN3DWOnVJ6UPSJjz/s640/2011.05.28.Ebay_230.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPPZgMqYJdcUlV6eQI4gQPs7F_eG3kDQKZt7ytBPCVVpJMqkwZnG1eGKviHLb954onwF0JYhZGjWDCtFB_VpVETBBBnMinU7eDHL8arQNT-PfqZ6Xu9ffoNAftfmcqR6nUot1atHTMwE-E/s1600/2011.05.28.Ebay_232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPPZgMqYJdcUlV6eQI4gQPs7F_eG3kDQKZt7ytBPCVVpJMqkwZnG1eGKviHLb954onwF0JYhZGjWDCtFB_VpVETBBBnMinU7eDHL8arQNT-PfqZ6Xu9ffoNAftfmcqR6nUot1atHTMwE-E/s640/2011.05.28.Ebay_232.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
After every trip, we have to spend lots of time pulling burrs, leaves, twigs, grass seed, and other various foliage out of Stewie's fur:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaCwZtNsQqyoccEwRbqUjFdsYVIap6uN6FPIRwJDN3ivEz0Ox75kBKn_lipsJ5b4UeO1Rpe-Bhh4sjpBNIWwdeGor1vMC95c-jYyviIM5B1HUYc1eUdR85ipVGUjSrmAruZ6ybM-NwsHyY/s1600/2011.05.28.Ebay_231.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaCwZtNsQqyoccEwRbqUjFdsYVIap6uN6FPIRwJDN3ivEz0Ox75kBKn_lipsJ5b4UeO1Rpe-Bhh4sjpBNIWwdeGor1vMC95c-jYyviIM5B1HUYc1eUdR85ipVGUjSrmAruZ6ybM-NwsHyY/s640/2011.05.28.Ebay_231.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146827936654334537noreply@blogger.com0