Relaxing in Monterey

We just got back from our week long vacation!

You heard me right - 1 whole week!

It was splendid

Fantastic

Amazing

Relaxing

Romantic

Adventurous

Joyous

Much needed!

We packed up the car on Tuesday Night. Woke up very early on Wednesday (July 4th) put the bikes on the car and hit the open road.

We stayed in the cutest Bed & Breakfast in Pacific Grove. We arrived before noon, unpacked and walked up and down the cute downtown of Pacific Grove.

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant that boasted that they had the best clam chowder.

I must say, it was pretty tasty, maybe not the best, but definitely delicious! After lunch (and a beer - hey, we were on vacation and can do whatever we want!) we headed to a cute coffee shop and enjoyed coffee and an eclair.

We decided to head down to Cannery Row, Monterey and ride our bikes around.

The seals were relaxing

We rode our bikes down to Breakwater Cove and saw a Momma Otter with her Baby Otter on her tummy and she was cleaning him! It was the neatest thing!

I learned that Jellies (Not Jelly Fish..they aren't fish) don't swim. They, pretty much, just float with the current. And when you see them making that motion of "Swimming" it is actually them eating!

So In this little harbor there were thousands of Jellies! They get pushed in with the tide and have no way to get out.

If you look at this picture below, there are a bunch in this little cove!

After our bike ride, we headed to the Cannery Brewery and had some drinks and enjoyed some appetizers as well.

The hallway to the bathroom was actually chalk boards and there was chalk, so we tagged the wall! ;-)

In Monterey, fireworks are illegal so they had a laser light show...

We didn't watch it...

We walked down to Lovers point and watched fireworks from the different cities across the bay. 

It was a beautiful night and nice to have some peace and quiet!

On our way back to the B&B Rich made a friend with a cat named Atticus.

And when I say Rich made a friend, I mean that this cat followed us. 

He loved Rich!

On Thursday, we woke up, went for a stroll along the walking path, had lunch with my Dad in Monterey and Kayaked in the Bay.

When we Kayaked, we saw Jellies, Seals, Otters, Dolphins and all kinds of birds!

It was amazing! This was the first time that I have every Kayaked in the Open Ocean before! 

Overall, we had an awesome time in Monterey!

Tune in tomorrow for the wedding we went to after Monterey!

Laguna Love

Yesterday I went to work early, took a short lunch and left early so that Rich and I could drive down to Laguna Beach to visit my long time and best friend, Laura and her handsome Fiance!

 She spent the week in CA with her family and we were fortunate enough to catch them before they headed back to DC!

While we were there, we realized that 10 years ago, this summer, I was invited to go to this beautiful beach house and celebrate fun in the sun with her family!

How time flies!

It was a quick trip, and late one at that, but it was totally worth it and we had a blast!!

Love you two and we can't wait to see you in September!

Heaven on Earth

Rich and I were able to head down to San Clemente for some much needed relaxation and sunshine!

We visited with my grandparents, Aunt & Uncle and Uncle (too)

We had a great time! 

My grandparents have an awesome spot with a killer Ocean View.

You really can't beat it!

 Yummy drinks before noon in the birds nest :-)

Can't go wrong with that! 

 Simply Paradise! 

The whole clan!

Love my family!

A Day in the Life: Education Services Day 8

As an Education Specialist, I also answer email requests.

I came across this gem and couldn't resist sharing

"Message:I bought a new Logitech wireless mouse.  I can't type in the chart name.  also could not type in the name and address in the above section.  I had to use the old mouse and old wireless connector.

What do I do next so I can use the new mouse.  The mouse downloaded the new software.  I also restarted the computer when the new mouse did not work."

Really?

Why on Earth would I be able to help you with your mouse?

And why is it my problem that you can't type anywhere?

Really?

Boyfriend and Girlfriend Arm Pillows

I found this gem on www.groupon.com 

Let me introduce to you the "Boyfriend & Girlfriend Arm Pillow"

What a gentleman!

Wow, he is even wearing a button up shirt?

The girlfriend even has boobs?

This is so lifelike! 

Well she looks happy! Holding his hand and all!

"Microbead- or polyester-filled men’s or women’s torsos and arms embrace whoever snuggles into the Boyfriend or Girlfriend Arm Pillows. The pillow provides a sense of comfort during winter nights or roller-coaster drops, and keeps dreams from being interrupted by snoring or tossing. The machine-washable body pillows can also function as a neck roll or be used to beat back a single bogeyman who emerged from the closet with a dozen dead roses."

photos and description were found at the groupon site

Um, really?

Self Made Walking Tour of Downtown LA

Rich finished his quarter and it was his first weekend off for summer!

We needed something fun to do, so we decided that we would spend the day downtown Los Angeles. 

Neither of us had ever really walked around, so we thought we would take advantage of our free Sunday.

We ended up driving and found a garage for $5 all day parking which worked out perfectly!

We walked through all of the major areas of the city!

I loved walking toward the MOCA.

The picture below is outside the AT&T building. If you look at it closely, it is all of the continents and the way we all stay so connected! It was REALLY neat!

On our way we stopped in the Water Court in California Plaza.

It was almost like we weren't in Los Angeles at all!

I didn't notice this until Rich pointed it out to me...

If you look closely at the building below...the "people cleaning the windows" and "the windows" are not real! They are painted on!!

The windows across the entire building were painted on! 

How neat is that?!

There was a trolley if you didn't want to walk up or down the hill!

It was only like 50 cents, but we decided we would have to come back and ride it!

At the top of the Water Court

Then we stumbled upon the MOCA

We took some silly pictures!

This was the timer on the camera! 

I put it on and ran over to Rich and he pulled me up! 

Too funny!

Past the MOCA is the Disney Concert Hall.

This was the coolest tree!

The Disney Concert Hall

Then we decided to walk over to China Town.

To get there, we needed to cross over the 110 Freeway

We thought this was a really neat vantage point!

Enter: China Town

After China Town, we walked back downtown and walked past City Hall and saw this awesome sign!

It has all different distances to awesome places around the world!

We walked over to a restaurant that I saw in the Sunset magazine, caller Perch for drinks and an appetizer!

We had an awesome day!

We were both bummed though because we were not dressed for the temperature!! 

It was super hot and we were in jeans and walking up and down on all of those hills and just baking int he sun!

Fortunately we put on sunscreen before we got started so we weren't sun burned!

Overall, we were glad we got to do this 'whirlwind' walking tour of Los Angeles. 

There are many more places we want to go back and check out in more depth!

Weekend in the City by the Bay

The husband got an awesome job for the summer and was gone for a week for the training.
He got back on Friday night, and by 'Friday night' I mean Saturday morning at 2am :-(
I didn't mention that we had planned to drive up north for a quick trip to the bay...
Yes...I know, crazy right?!
I slept a bit, woke up, picked him up from the airport, and then went to sleep and we woke up at 6:30 and were out of the house by 7:30 on our way up the 405 to the 5...Yikes!
I drove so he could get some much needed rest!

We got to his parents house, relaxed a bit and had lunch and then one of my greatest friends met us in his hometown. It was soo great to see her! It will be a while until the next visit, so it was a much needed get together!

We drove downtown and stopped in a wine shop, got a few glasses of wine and sat outside.
People watching and wine definitely go together!

My husband is so handsome!

Love this girl!

In the evening we headed over to Rich's friends house for a fun BBQ, beers, games and birthday singing!
It was nice to put names to faces of some of Rich's high school friends!

Sunday we had breakfast with Rich's family and then headed to my hometown to watch my youngest brother play baseball.
After baseball, we went to Blackhawk and had lunch with Rich's parents, friend and my mom.
Blackhawk is where Rich and I had our wedding reception, so it was quite fitting since we just celebrated our year anniversary! :-)

If you are ever in the area, the Blackhawk Plaza is beautiful! I would definitely recommend visiting and even taking a tour of the Auto Museum!
We had lunch at The Little Pear. It was in the best location because we had the waterfall in the background! It was great! And a beautiful day!

Sadly, we didn't take any pictures in front of this fountain during the wedding reception...which was a huge bummer...

Oh well, we got our pictures this weekend! :-)

Isn't it lovely?!

Sadly, we are missing the rest of my family :-(

Cute picture though, anyway!

Here is an overall weekend shot :-) 

(Thank you instagram)

Like I keep saying...I miss the bay!

It is just so beautiful!

Rich and I need to get out s**t together and start finding more beautiful places in LA!

Happy July

This is my 600th post! 

Wow!

Happy 600! 

:-)

Happy July!

I hope that July brings you sunshine and patriotism!

Can you believe it is already July?!
Where has the time gone?!