Valentine's Day

With the significant others left at home due to a "cold virus" or just plain "no more room in the car" reasons, my family and I ventured to Venice Beach for an unusually warm sunny day in Southern California in the middle of winter  to have lunch.  So thankful to have this weather (since my dad sent us photos of his snow packed driveway just a couple of days ago) and to enjoy the company of my family, good food, and beautiful Valentine's Day!

Here's hoping that you guys had a wonderful Heart Day and looking forward to an exciting Tiger Year!

No More Rain

The torrential rainy week is finally over.  The sun was out today although it was a bit chilly.  No more mudslides, floods on streets and broken trees on rooftops and cars.  The change of weather was nice for a little while (maybe a for a day),  but not so nice when the cabin fever settled in.


I guess I'm very spoiled when it comes to weather.  I like it warm and sunny.  Or maybe, just maybe, that I can blame it on my tropical genes that are encoded in my DNA.  Well, well, spoiled or not, sunny days are here again and that makes me soooo happy!

Fall Is Finally Here

Top 10 Signs of Fall

1. When I got out at 7pm last night from an hour's class at the gym, it was already dark.

2. The household was in full swing at 6am (Hayden has church @ 7:45am) and all the lights were on.

3. The heater was in full blast making the house warm and cozy.

4. Finally got out of bed by 6:30am and saw the sun started to peek and greeted us.

5. Beautiful sunny day with a brisk cool wind blowing.  Definitely a "cardigan" kind of day.

6. My niece already has a Halloween costume.

7. It's already 2nd week of the month that ends in "ber."

8. Talks and plans about Thanksgiving.

9. I started to look for my sweaters kept in the basement.

10. The reason for #1, seeing the glimpse of "stuffing your face eating marathon" months.

Something New

I started something new last night.  I joined a "Bikram Yoga" class near my neighborhood.  I signed up for 7 days.  I know some of you are thinking, "another fad."  However, I've heard so many good things about it, so I'm trying it.  My sister actually joined a week ago and was raving about it.  It was actually recommended by during her last doctor visit to help relieve her arthritis.  My first thought was the opposite.  Go figure, little do I know.

Trying something new has always been in "The List" of things to do.  The Bikram yoga class was conducted in a 105 degrees room for 90 minutes.  We did 26 poses, about a minute long each pose for each side and the result for me was a bucketful of sweat and engagement of my muscles that I didn't know existed.  I've done yoga classes in my gym on and off but this one is really different. 

So, if you think you want something new to do, don't mind a roomful of sweaty people, and improve your body in so many different ways, try Bikram Yoga.  This reminds me of Marissa's blog about "Bekkeren," I guess it doesn't hurt to improve ourselves in any way we can. Anything can start with a goal in mind.  My dear friends, I challenge you today to start something new.  You might just like it!

Blazing Heat and Wildfires

This week we reached record heat all over L.A. county and caused devastating wildfires that won't be contained for at least another week.

Whirlwind Weekend

My weekend started last Friday. I drove around 57 miles north of Glendale to meet friends. To my surprise, the traffic wasn't bad at all. I had a wonderful time eating, talking, swimming and holding beautiful babies. I just go "gaga" when I see babies, just adorable babies! It was hard to leave and say goodbye to my friends, but I had another appointment to see my friend for dinner. So I was on my way, another 78 miles east. I thought it will be easy. Guess what, it wasn't! I took the wrong way and went back to Los Angeles instead. It took me 3 hours to finally get to my final destination! My friend was relieved to see me, I was too. I was so exhausted, but it didn't keep me from yapping until midnight. Nothing beats getting together with a girlfriend. The next morning, we went to "The Mission Inn," a historic hotel that has been around since the 1800's for a wonderful breakfast. The ambience was absolute perfection and the food was great. My friend and I decided that we'll have to stay there for a weekend some time. After breakfast, we ended up driving 54 miles north-east to Big Bear Lake. The drive on the winding road up the mountain was a little intense, however the view was worth it. This place was at 7000 feet. I've never seen it during summer time. It's quite different from the times I've been there to go skiing in the winter. After a little bit of exploring, we ended our day with a wonderful dinner of "chicken salad and crab cakes" with an spectacular view of the lake. Then we were off again. After dropping off my friend, I finally trekked home, another 60 or so miles. Before I knew it, it's Sunday!

Happenstance

Going about my business on a beautiful Saturday morning, when I happen to ran across two friends who are practically my neighbors but I never see, "voila!", I got invited to their friend's bachelorette's party that evening, bless their hearts!

Boy, the last time I attended one was my sister's probably 13 years ago at her best friend's house. I didn't know what to expect for this one. It was exciting thinking of what to wear to a night in Hollywood, the anticipation of meeting new friends, and getting the old feeling of "gee, I'm going out tonight!" The evening started with warm hugs, hellos and introductions, wonderful food bought and prepared, delicious margaritas and sangrias and the place full of wonderful energy from single beautiful women except for one, on the way to paint the town red. The night ended with more food, tequila shots, champagne toasts, and hilarious games. This all happened because of a "chance meeting" in a grocery store parking lot! And the rest of the story is for another day, or not, hahaha...

Stuck!

I was on my out to work this morning, got in my car, turned the key, nothing... Engine trying to turn but didn't. Panic started to creep, nobody's home, phone calls to people and as I was talking to my boss, my cell phone died! Running back to the house, charging my phone, thinking, "what else can go wrong?" It sure is funny how life tells you to relax. I took the advice, forget the car, I'm relaxing! I gathered my stuff: laptop, a good book, a water bottle. Here in the backyard, our little oasis, birds chirping, gentle breeze blowing, and a nice sunny day. Being stuck, priceless!

Took The Wrong Road

On my work today I took the 10 Freeway which was a big mistake. It was a parking lot!

As I was driving west, I couldn't help but see how the over pass bridges were vandalized by a lot of awful graffiti. My eyes just couldn't believe it. The last time I drove this way was probably a couple of months ago. How did it become so bad so fast?

I don't understand. How can anyone do such horrible destruction to infrastructures that hard working people pay for? On my way home, I stuck with a much pleasing scenery, the reliable side streets.