Shenanigans

When we moved to California last year I thought that meant daily sunshine and year around beach weather. I've come to realize that this is not the case. The worst part is, is it's July and this is what the weather looked like everyday last week on my way to work. It's supposed to be happy and sunny in So Cal because Disneyland is here. I always thought it was hard to get out of bed and go to work when it was snowing and cold in Utah, but it's just as hard when it's foggy and cold in California. I'm hoping that 80 + beach weather comes soon. Last week I was also traumitized by experiencing an earthquake at work. I was sitting at my desk when I started to feel really dizzy and my head felt like it was going to explode. For a minute I thought I've been looking at a computer screen way too long today and need to go home, but then I heard someone yell EARTHQUAKE. I don't know if I will ever get used to the constant earthquakes. The next day I got to go home an hour early because there was a brush fire and they were closing down the freeway I take home from work. Good news I beat the fire and got home just in time. It would have been awful if I had to stay in Simi Valley for the night and wear the same clothes to work the next day.

On Friday night Al got called into a surgery and didn't get home until midnight which meant I needed an extra fun Saturday to make up for no Friday night date, the fog, earthquakes, and fires. After Al's long triathlon training on Saturday morning we decided to go to the Dodgers vs. Cubs game.

Don't let this weather fool you. I brightened up the colors in the picture because the sky was so gray.

I always seem to find something way more entertaining than the game and this time it was the little girl below. Some girl behind her was eating ice cream and this little girl stared at her until the last bite was gone.

Her parents kept trying to feed her fresh fruit and crackers, but all she wanted was the ice cream.Al and I were going to buy her one, but I was worried her parents wouldn't like that. She was so cute even though she had a Cubs shirt on.
THINK BLUE I let Al choose what hat he wanted to wear. He told me the Cubs suck as he put that hat on and then the Dodgers lost.
After the game we went to the brand new Cafe Rio in Tustin. I've been craving a pork salad for weeks and it was so delicous. To make things even better every Cafe Rio in California has pebble ice. I don't know what it is, but drinks taste so much better with pebble ice. I miss living so close to them in Utah and Vegas. Please open a Cafe Rio in LA.
I had tickets to the Lilith Fair which started at 2pm, but the only performer I wanted to see was Sarah Mclachlan and she wasn't supposed to come on until 10pm. Al and I went to a movie to waste a couple hours and then we made it to our seats at the Lilith fair at 9:30. I was a little bummed because most cities had better lineups than LA. Some had Heart, Ingrid Michaelson, Sara Bareilles, and Beth Orton, but I wouldn't trade all of those for Sarah. She is my FAVORITE. I have every one of her CDS including both of the remixed ones:)I went to the Lilith Fair when I was 14 or 15 at Wolf Mountain and all I remember was a lot of women. 12 years later it was the same thing except it all made a little more sense. Al and I were definatley the odd ones out (see picture below).

Sarah Mchlachlan was AMAZING and so is her new CD.

The little dot with the silver shirt is Sarah. The Verizon Wireless Ampitheater is HUGE.
and here is a clip of her singing my favorite song Ice Cream.

Fourth Of July

We had a fun filled weekend full of Fourth of July festivities. I had hoped for more beach time, but June gloom apparently still exists in July. On Saturday our beach plans changed to the pool which got cancelled because some little kid decided to use it for their bathroom. We decided to spend our afternoon in Hollywood and had lunch at my favorite restaurant Toast. The red velvet cupcake was delightful.After lunch we went to Beverly Hills to see the Greystone Mansion. There are tons of pathways around the mansion that lead you to gardens, fountains, and benches to enjoy the views. A ton of weddings and parties are held at the mansion. There have also been a lot of movies filmed there like The Big Lebowski, X-Men, Spiderman, Holiday, Austin Powers Goldmember, and Ghostbusters. This is the back of the mansion.

I took a lot of pictures of the grounds, surprise.

Al complaining about me taking more pictures.

One of the many fountains.
The breathtaking view of Beverly Hills and Hollywood. The condo tower on the left is where Cher, Elton John, Lindsay Lohan, Brody Jenner, and Francesca who we had dinner with at Boa lives.
Us
I don't know if it's me getting older or if I just appreciate the flowers in California, but I can't believe how many different types of beautiful flowers I see everyday.
Me and my favorite courtyard.
After the mansion I spotted the world's largest garbage cans. I guess if you live in Beverly Hills you get a way bigger trash can than everyone else. They seriously take up half the street. Later that night we went to the Hollywood Bowl for the 4th of July show. I heard that they have amazing fireworks so without doing research on the performers I bought the tickets. When Al looked at the tickets he started laughing and said "Do you know who Vince Gill is?" He played me some music and I quickly realized that I made a mistake. I hate country music especially twangy country like his. The Hollywood Bowl is amazing. If you look closely at the middle of the far hill you can see the Hollywood sign. I thought that was pretty neat and didn't notice for the first 10 minutes I was there...lol As you can tell we had really close seats.
The other memo I didn't get is that people pack Thanksgiving dinner. People were busting out wine, glasses, cupcakes, thermoses filled with coffee, tea, and who knows what else. Some people further down from us were eating shrimp cocktail. Next time Al and I are bringing a 7 course meal.
The show turned out to be really good. The La Phil performed before Vince and they were fabulous. Vince wasn't my favorite, but Al and I just laughed.
The fireworks were awesome and as you can see they shoot them right over The Hollywood BowlThe longer they went on the smokier it got and the smoke didn't seem to go anywhere.
By the end it looked like the place was on fire(watch the video below). What's a little more smoke in LA?

On Sunday evening we went to Huntington Beach to watch the much talked about firework show. We got way lucky and got a parking spot right off Main St. in the middle of all the festivities. There were so many houses decorated and this was my favorite one.

I couldn't believe how many people were there.
Yay for my favorite beach in SoCal.
People were so festive they decorated their beach cruiser wheels with Crate Paper.

We got to watch the sunset.
It was a little chilly, but luckily both of us wore jackets and brought a blanket.
We had the best seats ever and they were free!!
Almost time for the show.
HAPPY 4th OF JULY

It was a great weekend, but mostly because I got to spend it with Al.

Cabo San Lucas

Our last stop was Cabo San Lucas. I've been dying to go to Cabo since LC went there for spring break on Laguna Beach....lol This was our shortest port which was a little disappointing, but we made the most of it and tried to see as much stuff as we could. We all decided to go to Lovers Beach as a group. We paid $15 a couple to take a glass bottom boat. My first thought was oh that's a great deal and then I saw our boat.....The Sex Machine. Where is the glass bottom was my first question? If you look closely at the faded red part, there was a clouded window at the bottom of that. You could almost see the water through the bottom, NOT. Boarding The Sex Machine
The other half of the group got Jesus Es Mi Senor boat.
Sex Machine Worker
Al on the sex machine pointing to a sign that says shirts and shoes required, bras and panties optional.
The Sex Machine was pretty sweet and they even played good music. Here is a video of Al 4 dancing to Justin Bieber Eenie Meenie.

Pelican Beach where most of our group snorkeled.
Brooke and I with The Splendor in the background.
Lovers Beach!!

This is the window where you can see the Pacific Ocean.

An aerial of Lovers beach where you can see the Sea of Cortez(left) and the Pacific Ocean (right), courtesy of Google.

Walking from the Sea Of Cortez to the Pacific Ocean
One of the prettiest beaches I've ever seen.
I could have spent the entire week in this exact spot.
The waves were so crazy on the Pacific side. Our boat driver told us over and over not to swim on the Pacific side. Once we saw the waves it made sense.
A huge wave crashing behind us that my head is blocking.
Al talked to a bunch of locals and found the best place for authentic tacos. Their Al Pastor and Carne Asada was delicous. Hopefully their meat doesn't come from the same markets as Mazatlan. I loaded my tacos up with cucumbers, cabbage, limes, and pico de gallo. So yummy.
A picture with our restaurant friends.
This hat totally fits his personality :) The biggest igauna ever. He tried to put it on my shoulder which was not happening.Lexi and I trying to find shade.

More impressive street performers. How bad would it suck to paint yourself gold everyday? That can't be good for your skin or hair.

I would rather be gold than green.

One of the many photo opps off the ship they try to get you to buy, but like most people I just took a picture of the picture. Very classy.

One of the funniest things we saw in Cabo was the cross walks. The closer the time got to 0 the faster the stick figure would walk. Watch the video below. We for sure need these in America.

Yay for Cabo!!