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Friday, July 26, 2013

I'm going, going, back, back to Cali, Cali

After a 3 hour delay, a wonderful flight on Virgin America,  and some scary turbulence, I am so thrilled to be back out in California!  I have been coming out here annually since I was 6 years old and even lived out here for most of high school.  Last year, since I was pregnant I didn't want to travel quite so far, so we skipped the trip and I missed it.  I usually go straight to the Bay Area, but this year I decided to hang out in the LA area.
First off, let me say, there is nothing like the beautiful light from the sun in California.  The weather is gorgeous, its been about 80 degrees and sunny, most of the time.  I have been here countless times so I don't have any major plans I just kind of wanted to go with the flow and experience SoCal as a grown up.
Our first outing was to Venice Beach.  I remember going as a child and enjoyed swimming and buying little trinkets along the walking path.  It was nice to take my son to see the local artisans,  the skate park and allow him to pick out some trinkets..he's loves tchotchkes!
It was nice experiencing Venice as an adult.  I love the aesthetic there.  The colorful homes, the murals and all of the succulents, they literally are everywhere.  I know that LA is truly in a valley and that there are deserts surrounding the area, but it wasn't until this trip and seeing all of the native cacti and succulents  that it became official in my mind.  We checked out the canal, which I had never seen in person and accidentally interrupted a scene they were filming for Californication.
We ended the day with my favorite fast food burger joint in Cali...In and Out burger!











Thursday, July 18, 2013

How to chose the perfect melon

One thing I love about summer is the large variety of my favorite fruits, like melons.  It took me a while to learn how to pick them, but I have it down now and thought I'd share!


Cantaloupe
Color-should be tan-yellow, avoid the green ones
Firmness-should be slightly soft overall, avoid ones with soft spots
Smell-smell where the stem would have been, it should smell like cantaloupe

Honeydew
Color-Light green-yellow
Firmness-should be slightly soft overall, avoid ones with soft spots
Smell-When you smell at the stem area, it should smell like honeydew

Watermelon
Color-Green, with a yellow spot (that's where it has been lying on the ground during the growing phase)
Firmness-should be firm and sound hollow when you knock on its rind
Smell-I haven't noticed a significant smell

Also, if they're really ripe, they can almost smell like they've gone bad, but will be super sweet.  Once you've chosen your perfect melon its time to cut it up.  Here's my method:


If you go to the store and there aren't any ripe melons, you can still get one and let it ripen on your counter for a few days!

Enjoy!

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Paper overload!

I recently moved my desk and had to temporarily relocate all the crap that has accumulated on it and oh my!   I've always had a paper pile, but its gotten really bad now.  Not only is it in piles, its in bags.  Its on my dining table and the piano and we can't even eat dinner at the table now.  A part of me wants to just throw the bags out.  I haven't looked in them in the last 6 months there can't be anything important in them right?  But the nervous side won't let me, just in case there's something!

This picture doesn't truly do it justice, there's more that I am just too embarrassed to show!  A friend told me a funny story about how her piles were taking over her dining room ( sound familiar) and she had friends coming over and moved her bags to her car...I would totally do that!
I am going to be traveling soon and don't wish to return to this mess, so my goal is to start chipping away at it over the next few days.  Let's see if I can get through it!

How do you handle all the surplus mail, kids artwork and school forms and keep your sanity?

Friday, July 12, 2013

My Baby's at the Beach




The other day we took the baby to the beach for the first time and what a treat it was!  It was warm and sunny, but the water was too cold for me.  I usually don't get in until late July-early August anyway.  We hung out for a few hours and Mena enjoyed playing in the sand.  I uploaded this video on my channel of our excursion.  Enjoy!