Pet section

Today

Somebody has a case of the Mundays.

Hard-boiled

Award for most creative use of the word hard-boiled goes to Netflix. I didn't know it described more than just eggs.

Songs

I thought, I might start posting cute songs I hear and enjoy, and may want copies of. So here's the start, and the beginning of a new series of posts about songs I like. Plus something a bit more, up for discussion/comments.

A lot of my songs I discover while listening to the Coffehouse station on Yahoo Radio.

Brighter than the sun - Colbie Caillat - this one so cute/fun!
Man of the Hour – Norah Jones
Do you love me – Guster
My Own Sinking Ship – Good Old War
Little Lies – Dave Barnes
Hey Mama - Matt Keamey
Faster - Matt Nathanson

I love my library!

Woooo!

Yeay Library!

Surprised

Books!

Best Friday ever! I was way too excited after work at the library. Got my books for the weekend!

Zombies vs Unicorns

Genius! Yes it's a real book.

Death of a Bookstore

Went to our local Borders, to see the sales and such. It was actually really sad. I walked around kind of mourning the place. I remembered all the times we would go there just to hang out. Part of me is also sad pursuing my career as a librarian, I worry about my career choice. I worry about the place of physical books in our future. Currently we're on our way to Barnes & Noble to get me a Nook. It's a way to stay in tune with the times in my book career. Gotta keep up reading, no matter what the format. Also, perhaps becoming more tech savvy is a must for survival in the future.

Goodnight and good luck Borders. Thanks for the memories.

Shady Spot

My hot wheels car has a sweet shady spot :)

Leaning tower

Windows... to my soul!

Husband appreciation blog!

So I love to leave our windows open and get fresh air, but our neighbors smoke and I smell it every time they do. Anyway last night was a nice night, so I decided to leave the windows open and have a fan on. Woke up at about 2 or 2:30 am because the smell of smoke woke me up. Those bastards! I couldn't go back to sleep until about 4:30am or so.

Then bleary eyed, irritable and half awake this morning, I asked my husband if we could get new windows. Our condo's windows are older, I think the seals are worn, and I can smell the neighbor's smoke even with all the windows closed. Our inspector and realtor said they should probably get replaced, so I was really irritable about it this morning.

This afternoon he tells me he called our HOA guy and did research about getting new windows. Also he found out about a light bulb that neutralizes smoke smells. He did some research about resolving this standing issue that's been bugging me forever.

Also, he drove me this morning because with lack of sleep, probably not a good idea for me to drive. He was uber considerate and he listened to me this morning :)

Anyway, I think we'll have to sleep with the windows closed from now on. Also, unfortunately, I think we'll have to leave them closed most of the time :( It's the 2nd time I've been woken up in the middle of the night from the smoke smell, and I was unable to go back to sleep. I smell the smoke a few times every day and that gets annoying. Also maybe get more plants to get "fresh" air in the house. Getting new windows and seals might be good too for keeping the smell out.

Anyway Thank You Husband for listening this morning :) I hope we get those new windows soon.

Hitler rants about Carmageddon

One of the funniest videos I've seen in awhile.

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlLZ4RWyyAw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

First of all...

Google image search of "numbers" #2 pic.

Another stuff my mom says post! Is it sad that every time I see her I want to post about something she said that was pretty much awesome?

This weekend, at lunner.

Mom: Ok, so first of all (points it out on her index finger), it's not a good idea.

(pause for 3 seconds) Ok where was I?

Oh Mom :)

First of all, second comes after first, then third.

Second of all, wait... you need many points if you start a sentence with "first of all".

I think, one day, if I'm lucky, I'll be this awesome at her age.

LOVE YOU MOM! :)

I Want! Macbook Air 11 or iPad?

Image from article "Netbook Feeling the Heat from iPad"

I've been thinking about getting a new device for awhile. Part of me wonders if the stress from work/school is fueling this insatiable will to buy something. I've been stress eating the past week or two - notice no sunday health post. I also think this might be shopping therapy. For awhile I wanted to get an e-reader, the Nook. I played with the color and e-ink versions in the store, and to my surprise, very much preferred the e-ink version. Didn't get it, but still it's on my mind somewhat.

Then I got to thinking about getting a netbook. They installed work spyware on our computers to see how much we browse/surf. I've been so busy at work that I haven't had much time to browse anyway. Mainly I don't like the big brother feel, but if I want to do personal emailing, blogging, research or learning, I don't feel comfortable anymore doing it at the work computer.

So we went to Frys. I loved the macbook air 11 inch, so we've been to the apple store twice so far. One day I was convinced I loved the air and would get it. Then next time I liked the iPad better. Decisions decisions.

So anyway, overall it looks like the netbook is winning. Overall functionality better for school/life. Also, I've sorta been in love with netbooks since I saw someone with it quite a few years back, and loved the idea that it fit in her purse if she wanted to bring it with her - especially for work, but for me more for fun :)

I still think of getting an e-reader. Part of me knows this is shopping therapy, but part of me also knows I've been wanting a new laptop for awhile. My current laptop gets hot, heavy, and slow. I'm not terribly patient, and the few times I've taken it to the library or on trips, I find it heavy and a nuisance.

Anyway I just want one, real bad. Husband says sleep on it and wait. I wait a lot, and the feeling often passes, but how great it is it to buy something you really want when you want it and it can be really useful? Considering that, a trip only lasts a week, but a laptop can last a few years. I calculated that my last laptop costing about 1k, in use for 4 years, has cost me $20 a month since I owned it and is reducing its price the longer I use it, you know?

Of course, now I have no trouble on this laptop, and I'm typing now with no issues. Could keep it and be fine. Still... we'll see how I feel.

Part of me uses school as an excuse, like I need to keep up to date with everything to stay clued-in and knowledgeable. We shall see....

Coffee Shirt

More stuff my mom says! I got to thinking about this one after the fact. This was, oh, about a year and a half ago. When it happened, I was a little shocked and incredulous, but now I just laugh. I swear people, this is stuff she really says. It's not embellished, it's for truth.

Setting: Sitting outside with our realtor. Realtor had on a shirt with different shades of brown on it. Now remember, mom isn't the type to give backhanded compliments or be rude or mean. This was her way of complimenting her.

Mom: I like your shirt. It looks like someone spilled coffee on it.

Ahhhhhh love you mom! :)

This image is from Cafe Press Shirt

Happy 4th Mom!

Image from http://blog.ratestogo.com/best-4th-july-fireworks/

Happy 4th of July people!

We had the moms & family over tonight to watch the fireworks go off at the park by our house.

Stuff my mom says :)

Mom in law: Hey, have you heard about them recommending you watch fireworks with 3D glasses? Its supposed to make it a really neat experience.

Mom: Ya, I guess it's like taking LSD.

*Laughter ensues!

Yeay Mom!

Cars

Happy 4th of July weekend everyone!

A cars post.

On our drive, saw a ridiculously tall black SUV with massive tires, that mad me laugh so hard when I saw it. How much is he compensating, really? LOL! Check out the photo!

Went to Toys R Us. Got myself two cute cars & a DeLorean. :)

Vroom! :)

11th Sunday

Weight = 142lbs! I lost 2 more pounds!

Boooo-ya!

So I woke up early, read for homework, then in the afternoons did workouts. I noticed my back/hips started hurting on Wednesday so I eased off my workout and was able to still do well overall - no injuries! I do one minute jogging/running, and 2 mins walking, and do intervals until I can start running for longer periods of time. That works really well.

Food, well, not eating breakfast as much and not as healthy, but still seeing results.

I think that trying to fit in an appropriate workout or study session in the one hour in the morning, doesn't work as it's not enough time. I need the evenings/afternoon to work on things. So I thought, maybe alternate my morning/evening activities.

I can spend 2 days of the week waking up early to do homework, then workout in the evenings. Then spend the other 2 days waking up early to workout, then afternoons studying. Wednesday will be my break/sleep in day where I can choose whatever I feel I need, homework or workout in the evening or just rest/relax. That will work :)

Gotta keep up the workouts! Feeling tired overall but awesome that I'm making progress :)

Stuff Mom Says

I might start a series called "stuff my mom says". She's pretty randomly funny and gets us in stitches sometimes with her off the wall comments. Here's a few.

One time while playing a game with game cards

Sis: What color was it?

Mom: You know, that one that's color triangle.

At lunch today

Mom: Hey, did you guys see that baby over there? He's wearing a helmet like Magneto.

And my favorite, from today, talking about a new restaurant

Me: So that new restaurant, what kind of food does it serve?

Mom: They have breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Really Mom? :) We love you!

The Magic Man

My husband the magician! Husband appreciation blog!

Husband is so wonderful. Today he bought and put on new hubcaps on my car. There were 2 front ones missing, so he got a whole new set and put it on!

He also made a delicious surf and turf dinner, with tri-tip and salmon, along with white cheddar mac and cheese, as well as carrots. The food was an 11 out of 10! The salmon was cooked perfectly and the tri-tip was so yum. This was all his idea too. We ate out on the balcony and had a really nice romantic time. All this while I'm procrastinating/doing homework.

Such a fabulous guy! My magic man!

Thank you husband!

Exit Through the Gift Shop

This documentary was great. Loved it.

It's about street art and the artists. I have a new respect for their message and their work. Its about personal expression and art for the people for the sake of art. It's also about the popularity, success and inevitable results of this. I thought the title was fitting and the twist if the story, tale and statement or message was worthy.

Share your art and stay true to it.

Predators

Oh Adrien Brody! Watched Predators today. Pretty awesome. Surprisingly some great plot & twists. A solid good action alien Predator movie :) Oh and, Mr. Brody and Topher Grace were excellent as well. I liked this movie more than, dare I say, all other predator movies and the Aliens movies :) it was just a great take! Try it out sometime.

Oddly Specific

Saw this at Costco. Yes we are at Costco on a Friday night. Party. Anyway, this is oddly specific.

Hungry Hippos

Another animal calendar of the day. I want to draw in word bubbles. So many great possibilities.

"it's Hawaiian shirt day!"
"Can you hear me now?!"
"Han shot first"

The possibilities....

Cause you gotta make a choice: when to do something, and when to let it go

Sometimes I really like quotes, posting movies and others I've read. I should probably start posting them more often, my favorites. Anyway this is one I came across this morning. Was having a rough/not good morning where I felt I needed a re-start or at least, everything felt like it was going wrong. Then I saw this, and felt better. The longer version is below, but it's from The Limey, a movie I've never heard of. We have a movie guy at work who likes to post movie quotes. Thanks movie guy :)

'Cause what I thought I wanted wasn't what I wanted. What I thought I was thinkin' about was something else. I didn't give a toss. It didn't matter, see?.... It meant sod-all in the end, 'cause you gotta make a choice: when to do something, and when to let it go. When it matters, and when it don't. Bide your time.

The Limey 1999
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165854/quotes

How you doin' then? All right, are you? Now look, squire, you're the guv'nor here, I can see that. I'm in your manor now. So there's no need to get your knickers in a twist. Whatever this bollocks is that's going down between you and that slag Valentine, it's got nothing to do with me. I couldn't care less. Alright, mate? Let me explain. When I was in prison - second time - uh, no, telling a lie, third stretch, yeah, third, third - there was this screw what really had it in for me, and that geezer was top of my list. Two years after I got sprung, I sees him in Arnold Park. He's sittin' on a bench feedin' bloody pigeons. There was no-one about, I could've gone up behind him and snapped his fuckin' neck, *wallop!* But I left it. I could've knobbled him, but I didn't. 'Cause what I thought I wanted wasn't what I wanted. What I thought I was thinkin' about was something else. I didn't give a toss. It didn't matter, see? This berk on the bench wasn't worth my time. It meant sod-all in the end, 'cause you gotta make a choice: when to do something, and when to let it go. When it matters, and when it don't. Bide your time. That's what prison teaches you, if nothing else. Bide your time, and everything becomes clear, and you can act accordingly.

10th Sunday

One pound! I lost one pound!

So the exercise does make a big difference. I decided to wake up early every morning to exercise. That worked, but it made me really really tired after work, so I wasn't really able to get any homework done. Plus this was a very very long, complicated and sticky work week, so I was worn out from work anyway, and physically tired. Most days I napped after work and ate out because I was too tired to cook. Wasn't the best for eating week, but the giant breakfasts were good for overall days.

In order to get some better balance with homework and workouts, I decided to wake up early and do homework while my brain was awake and fresh. Then after work, inevitably I'll be tired, but I can go for a walk or go to the gym when I'm tired. I can't necessarily do homework or think when I'm tired. I want to try that and see if I can have some weekend to myself. This weekend I spent most of it doing homework which, I'd like to avoid.

So the workouts are key. The diet is key also but not as much. I think the eating a huge breakfast will help my hunger throughout the day. Waking up early to study and eat breakfast is probably sustainable. Going to try that.

One pound :) One silly pound. Back to 144lbs for me, and overall in better shape. Gotta keep it up!

Exercise Fortunes

It's a little sad when the fortune cookie is also telling me I need to exercise.

I've been struggling with losing weight with various diet tracking and attempts at exercise. Although I'm proud to say I've woken up early Monday & Tuesday to do quick morning workouts. Monday did a 40 min walk & today some stairs & weights. It's not exactly running yet, but at least it's something.

I got the fortune while eating only half if my veggie/tofu lunch from Pick Up Stix. Pretty tasty. Go me!

Will keep the fortune taped up somewhere as a regular reminder.

Filler Up - Love Tank

I'm going to start blogging about all the wonderful things the husband does. It's a husband appreciation blog, but also a bit of a love letter and diary. I'd like to remember & keep track of all the great things he does, as a reminder of what a great partner he is in my life. Little things, big things, etc. Its going to sound like bragging, but really its not. Im trying to be more conscientious and appreciative. I might also start blogging about some of the quirky and ridiculous stuff too, but we'll see what he puts up with.

Yesterday we drove all over town in my car. Today without me asking or knowing, he took my car to the gas station, using my preferred gas station, to get a filler up, because he knew I'm not the best at keeping track of my tank & I'd have to use it tomorrow. I tend to run late but also I don't pay attention to the tank. He's just thoughtful and thinks ahead.

Also, another reason for this blog, if you've ever read "The 5 Love Languages" book, I want to keep our marriage love tank full. I recommend the book for all couples. It's a pretty short & easy read, with a good message.

Thank you husband! For being thoughtful & considerate!

9th Sunday

Weight today, 145 lbs. *Sigh. It's annoying at this point. It's one pound more since my last weight-in. *ugh.

Husband's birthday was this week so a lot of eating out and celebrating. We went to Fogo de Chao yesterday for a meat and salad buffet. It was a ton of food and I was as good as possible but we did end up eating a lot. A bit hard to help it. Best part was the fat on their special. Oh favorites were the banana and mushroom. The polenta was great too. I actually said no to a lot of food and stopped myself from eating more.

Yesterday we also had a baby shower with lots of snacks. Before that we ate at Jolibee and a Dimsum place for brunch. That was just yesterday. A few days before that we had The Counter. Today was a big family brunch. I was as good as possible but hard not to over-indulge.

Not to be sunny optimistic, but actually, I weighed myself right after eating the big family brunch and lunch. Looking back and thinking back, I actually think overall, I am doing well comparatively. Only one pound over, and IF that if it varies a pound or two depending on the time of day, I might actually be doing good.

Anyway, I'll keep up the good fight. It' just pretty annoying that it feels like I can't make any progress. Although, truthfully the fact I didn't gain more weight is probably good with everything going on. I have to face that there will always be an occasion or temptation around every single corner every single day. Must keep to the middle path and not overindulge. Also must remember I will gain for whatever I do eat.

It's been uber stressful at work, it's that time of the month, I just started school again and I haven't had much time to exercise. How to fit it all in? *sigh. How am I going to achieve my goals?

Anyway, I think it's time for some serious solutions. I'm going to wake up early every weekday this week and work out in the mornings. I haven't touched my gym membership and it really needs to start earning it's monthly fees. Morning workouts are the only way i'll fit it in - 5:30? I think it will also help with stress relief. I'm sick of this non-progress. Every time I want to sleep in, I'll just think of growing fatter slowly and slowly, or getting thinner, slowly and slowly. Or worst, I'll think of staying the same and never really improving. I really need to ease into it because my calf pain from my strain still flares up, and I don't want to re-injure myself. Ok so one hour in the mornings every weekday - I think I can handle that. Even if I just stay home because of the monthly, I'm sure I can get some stretches or some metabolism burning. Plus maybe some "me" time will be a good way to start off the day. Add some exercises to myfitnesspal, since I don't do any really.

OK, well I have to share. Below is a picture of all the delicious food we had this weekend. I think part of developing a healthy relationship with food/exercise is respecting food and having reverence for it. At least it occurred to me and it could all be BS but I'd like to learn something from this at least. That one pound, it was probably in part due to the below.

Fogo de Chao - dishes. *salivating.

The special at Fogo de Chao. The fat was the tastiest part.

Jolibee hotdog! And pancit and fried chicken.

Shomai and Pork Spareribs with rice.

Sad realization

So I just realized I've been "living healthy" for 8 weeks. If I was successful and more aggressive in losing weight, one pound a week, I'd be 8 lbs lighter weighing in at 136 lbs.

More motivation to keep me in check. Today I woke up early to do some light exercises before work, but I felt pain & strain on my right calf - former injury. I stretched it as much as i could & changed my workout because of it. I was more strength training vs cardio.

Must remember to take it easy & not go too hard, otherwise prone to injury & halting of exercise.

Anyway this slow & steady turtle pace is frustrating but probably better in the long run. I hope the diet tracker myfitnesspal is really helping. If anything it's making me uber conscious of what I eat.

Anyway, back to work.

8th Sunday

So, review of the past 2 months, wow already?

So I think I've stayed the same with my weight, but my overall habits are improving I believe. I am making healthier choices overall. With menus I choose the healthier options. In shopping and eating I am consistently being "good". I don't eat as much crap, although I still do eat junk food I can't help it. The "crap" food isn't satisfying as usual, but at least I realize it and work towards healthier snacks and sides.

Bad news is my exercise is probably remiss. It's just been too busy with everything. I haven't done any gym time and we haven't gone biking or done anything active in the past 2 weeks. So now that my diet is under some control with the myfitnesspal and overall healthier mindset, I really need to focus on workouts. Although with school starting and life in the way, I'm at a loss for realistic options.

I think it might be good to start off small with the workout frequency. TWO times a week at the gym will be a good start. How i'm going to fit that in I don't know. I was debating doing early morning workouts, so I might do Tues/Thurs mornings at the gym. Maybe one morning workout and one weekend workout? That's probably a realistic reasonable and achievable goal. I'll also work on 15 mins a day walking on work breaks or lunch, and around the neighborhood.

Weekend activity? I love being lazy and I literally spent all day Sunday in my PJs on the couch. Part of my Sunday laziness was also due to a headache, but still it didn't last all day. I thought about adding a weekend workout but will try to keep goals achievable and keep it to the two above for now. That's all I'm going to try for and will recap next week. The exercise is the thing that needs work. The food has been good so far, despite the occasional fried food binges. The workouts are ambitious but a bit realistic and I'll give it a shot.

Overall I believe I've been progressing well, but I haven't weighed myself in awhile in fear of discouragement. Oh well. I've got plenty of stuff to work on and balance. Next week for sure - weight check-in.

7th Sunday

Actually, this past week we spent most of it on vacation with family on a reunion, so lots of food, lots of sitting and chatting, and not a whole lot of exercise. I did manage to take as many walks around the neighborhood as possible, so we did accomplish a lot with that.

One major thing I think I needed was a way to track my exercise. I was looking up apps on my iPhone and found this, the MyFitnessPal app. It is pretty fantastic. It helps you track your food intake and exercise and helps you calculate total calories. Most importantly it breaks down the nutrition of the food you've eaten and tells you if you've reached your limit on vitamins, minerals, cholesterol, etc. I really love using this and it really helps you realize how much you eat even if you don't realize it. At the end of the day it also tracks your progress and lists what your weight would be if you continued on the same path. It's helpful, very helpful and I love it and am using it in my daily trackings.

Back from vacation now and resting, but just bought a bunch of healthy groceries so hoping this week will be a success. Til then :) Tah tah!

6th Sunday

Feeling gross again. Perhaps it was the Del Taco for dinner? Perhaps it is my monthly cycle? Last week was a wash, mainly because it was my "week off" but also because it was that time. One awesome thing is that I survived and I did not take any pain killers but managed to make do the whole week.

One fabulous thing though. We went to a birthday party for a friend at a bar, and a new person I met asked me innocently enough, if I was pregnant. Holy S. I told her I was just fat, and she was like, no and she tried very sweetly to cover up and say nice things, but truth is, she thought I was pregnant. Great.

Well, so that's my week. Today we went for a long bike ride around town and loved it and really enjoyed it. I can see us doing that activity regularly and having fun with it.

So will continue the healthy lifestyle stuff. I want to add taking multivitamins daily as well as exercising 4 times a week one hour at a time. I am hoping the regular exercise won't make me overly hungry. Although the 5 servings of fruits and veggies should help cover that. Overall though I feel my increased activity has been a definitely healthy activity.

Weight, well I feel heavy and not feeling great. Goal is to stay the same or reduce my weight, ever so slowly. Below are my regular goals. Must keep this up. Also keeping the larger goal in mind and not give up.

Also alternatively, bought some skin care stuff from Philosophy brand at Macys. I think it will help the overall process. Skin care, personal care, health stuff should be good.

This coming week, family reunion time. Am hoping the family time will be a very increased healthy time and good for the body and soul. Til then :) Tah tah!

Nutrition

1 multivitamin per day

5 servings fruits & veggies

Drink 1 liter of water daily

Exercise

Stand at desk at work as long as possible

Exercise 4 times a week 1 hour each

Mind

Read 2 books this week

Personal care

New skin care products!

Heart

In the right place

Weight per Week

1 - 144 lbs

3 - 143 lbs

5 - 144 lbs

5th Sunday

So, another Sunday checking-in.

First off, am feeling good, almost great. I ate pretty well this week. The 5 servings a day had me focused on eating more healthy stuff. Although I wasn't always healthy, it's an easier focus for me to eat more good than to cut out bad. Naturally by eating more good we naturally margin out the bad.

I weighed myself on Sunday morning and was a bit sad I was 144lbs. Then I thought about it and said "eh, F it". I was doing really well for myself despite the weight. It was nice to not have the weight be the final issue, even in my heart/mind. I still felt really good about myself for all the good work I was doing. I have really been eating healthier and really been more active, even if marginally. I've been feeling better too overall, and for the first time I feel like the journey is more important than the destination so I'm sticking happily to it.

This week, nothing new to try. I'll give myself a week to continue my good eating habits, exercise when I can, slowly and stretching lots, and we'll reassess next week. I find planning helps me in my eating well and exercise, in order to have time for it or be mentally prepared to do things. I also think that since we have family gatherings coming up, and I survived mother's day eating healthy, I can do it with the family stuff too. Gotta keep the "more healthy" stuff in mind, and just keep at it and not give up.

More things regarding a healthy lifestyle. Been reading a lot and I find this exercises my brain and makes me a more interesting and lively person. Read 3 books this week which I will rate and comment on later. We've also been fixing up the house which feels really good in taking care of things that need taking care of. Been weeding stuff out too, which is also healthy in not hanging on to things we don't use. Put some pictures in frames, replaced light bulbs, have other home projects in mind and am feeling very healthy these days. Another weird thing is we wake up naturally early at like 7am on weekends, so it feels like we have more time and longer weekends which is fabulous. We get started on home projects and personal stuff earlier in the day, and it's nice. All this free time off school has helped me re balance and get working on things I didn't have time for before.

Til next time, cheerio!

4th Sunday

Start of week 4. Ok so the whole "strengthening exercises" daily and eating slowly, didn't really work. I definitely failed doing that for week 3. I ended up just eating more and the "strength" exercise didn't really motivate me. I also ended up overthinking the gaining weight thing, and ended up eating more. This week was a wash.

Inevitably I eat more when I start worrying about health and I end up gaining weight. Instead of focusing on NOT eating things, I'm going to refocus on eating good stuff. Forget the 70/30 rule. I'm going for 5 servings of fruits or veggies a day.

I almost thought of adding an exercise program, but I think my diet needs focus first. Also it will help if I only do one thing at a time. We'll see how it goes. I'll do as much "exercise" as possible but no goal.

Also I came up with a rewards system. It won't be based on weight since that has never worked. It'll be based on what I do. IF I am able to eat 5 days of 5 servings of fruits/veggies daily, I'll buy myself some clothes/accessories. Part of my motivation for living healthier is fitting into clothes I currently don't fit into. If I buy something fun for myself every time I achieve something, it's like reinforcing the goal.

Good news is - I've been drinking my water regularly and I am very comfortable with my standing desk. I still get tired and rest, but I am more fidgety and want to stand if I sit too long.

Cheers!

War Dogs

Saw this on the news today and wanted to say how badass dogs are. They're helping the military in missions overseas.

Doggles - from article on Yahoo about combat dogs.
Intense interest surrounds dog who may have participated in bin Laden raid

Also another article showing a dog jumping out of a helicopter. Dude!
War Dog Article

Here's another article about parachuting dogs.
Dog joings troops on parachute jump in Norway.

Adventures in LA

So the LA Times had an article recently on 11 micro-itineraries to explore the San Fernando Valley. Even though I've lived here much of my life, I realize there's a ton of stuff in LA that I haven't seen. Recently I went to the LA Times Festival of Books for the first time and had a lot of fun. Below are a few of the things I'd like to do. That's one fantastic thing about LA. You can't really get bored and there's always tons of new things to do and explore. Summer is also coming up so, more festivals, farmer's markets and things to see.

Some items suggested by the LA Times article on 11 micro-itineraries to explore the San Fernando Valley
Eat at Burbank Bob's Big Boy, explore North Hollywood and check out the Warner Brother's Studio Tour. Just a few things I need to check-off the list.

Downtown LA Art Walk
On average the 2nd Thursday of every month, it's a chance to walk about downtown LA, see some art, hang out with friends and eat out. Actually someone told me it feels like a real urban downtown city with everyone walking around.

Skirball Cultural Center Museum
The Houdini & Magician's Exhibit going on until September which we should really check out.
Noah's Ark exhibit which sounded really interesting last time I heard about it and looks like a fun and cute kid's thing.

TruckFest
According to the website, this brings together the best of LA's mega hip and tasty Food Trucks, over 200 of the hottest local artists as well as live music and much more.
Union Station Event Dates:
Sunday, May 1st 11am-5pm
Sunday, June 5th 11am-5pm
Sunday, July 3rd 11am-5pm
Sunday, August 7th 11am-5pm
Sunday, September 4th 11am-5pm

Walt Disney Concert Hall
I want to take a free tour of the place and just check it out finally.

Autry Museum
I hear it's a good place to go, so I want to check it out sometime.

Little Ethiopia
I had no idea this was even here, but drove by it on the way to a birthday party. Apparently the food is supposed to be amazing. It looked like a cute little street to walk around or spend an evening, so we'll try it sometime.

The Getty Villa
Haven't been to the Villa since I was a kid and it was the original location of The Getty. I want to check it out and I remember liking it more than the new Getty which we've visited many times.

LACMA & MOCA
Yup, never been and really need to go. Get cultured! Supposedly there's a Tim Burton exhibit coming up end of May to October. That sounds awesome.

La Brea Tar Pits
I think I probably went here as a kid but don't remember a thing. Or maybe I'm confusing memories with movies, but I don't remember this place and would like to visit.

Griffith Observatory and Griffith Park
Haven't seen the Observatory since it reopened. As a kid I got a bit bored by the observatory but might appreciate the park and such now that I'm older.

Hollywood Forever Cemetery and Movies at the Cemetery
The insanity. Watching a movie in a cemetery - how fun! Plus seeing Hollywood Forever cemetery would be interesting too.

Taking the Metro in LA
Park at a station and explore LA via Metro subway. Might need an experienced tour guide for that (hint hint) but it's something we've been wanting to try for awhile.

Da Vinci Museum in Hollywood
Apparently, there's a temporary exhibit of Da Vinci's work in Hollywood. Pretty cool! Only until end of 2011 so we should go this year sometime.


Food Places
A few places I've heard great things about that I really should try while here in LA.

Duke's Malibu - Hawaiian and beach food.
Spago's - Wolfgang Puck's famous starter restaurant.
Neptune's Net - I have been here, just never had the fresh seafood which I want to try.
Fogo de Chao - Something the husband suggested that looks yummy and worth a try. Brazillian meat and sides buffet.


Honorable Mention
DiscoverLosAngeles.com
This is a really cool website. In my research on Little Ethiopia I found a ton of stuff on here. There was an article on "Hidden Gen Neighborhoods" and first area on the list was Eagle Rock! I grew up there and it was just a little low-end town, but has become very hip and cool lately. I'll have to explore the hidden gems, as well as check this website regularly. There are various itineraries, lists of free things to do and upcoming events. This is definitely to add to my regular bookmarks to check for things to do in LA.

This is already a ton of stuff, just in LA area vicinity that I have NOT done yet. We're pretty adventurous and have already done a ton, yet the list seems to keep growing. I thought about adding a Catalina Island visit but that's for another blog post. Perhaps "California to-do" list to add Yosemite, Carmel and other places. I plan on adding to this list regularly. Anyway this is what it is for starters. I'm always up for suggestions and field trips, so share if you have a fun/cool thing in LA that people should check out!