Around California

A sampling of our California travels this summer:

Griffith Observatory, 

Los Osos/Morro Bay, 

Manhattan Beach, 

Pasadena,

San Gabriel Mission

Find more photos from Cali here.

California Getaway

Last weekend Z & I took off

to LA & Long Beach.

Z ran a race on Sunday, 

but we got to spend a few days

with good friends 

Matt & Chris, 

rolling through the streets of LA, 

eating delicious food

and hitting the beach.

On my relationship with baseball.

So Z has always enjoyed watching baseball.

While I've never really shared this particular

interest, I thought I'd accompany him to a 

Dodgers game anyway.

Z picked me up from LAX 

after my trip to WA

& I got in a little city-style shopping

(Oh how I miss shopping in Chicago)

while he worked on his

 Holy Week sermons.

Then we just had to eat at 

The Oinkster...

soooo good!

Then off to Dodger Stadium!

The young guys from

The Deadliest Catch

got to throw in the first pitch.

Z knew that I wasn't super thrilled to 

be there, so he decided to get a scorecard.

Neither of us had ever kept score before, 

but he thought it would appeal to 

my librarian self.

And, 

he was right.

I really enjoyed keeping score...

it gave me a purpose during the game

and made things seem to move faster.

I will concede that this game was 

the most enjoyable baseball game that

I can remember.

But don't call me a baseball fan just yet.

The Huntington & Beyond

The Huntington & Beyond, a set on Flickr.

In addition to our coastal adventure, we also spent an day in LA & Pasadena before Matt & Chris had to leave.

We met up with our friend Jen for a delicious Greek lunch where we dined just a few tables away from one Dan Aykroyd & his adorable parents. Then we made our way over to The Huntington Gardens.

Unfortunately we didn't have near enough time to get through all of the gardens covering the sprawling grounds, much less make it into any of the indoor art galleries. But I completely fell in love with the gardens, so Z & I will definitely be going back to spend more time there.

It was a bit chilly, so we stopped by Intelligentsia in Old Pasadena to warm up over coffee & tea. We noticed a cupcake shop nearby and could not resist picking some up. Then we followed the signs to the Rose Bowl (Z loves stadiums.) and had an awesome cake break while watching the sun set over the stadium. Even after the cupcakes, we were hungry, and thankfully we found the Oinkster...so good and so much fun!

Don't forget to click the link under the photos to see the whole set on Flickr!

Chi chi chi le le le vs. USA

Last Saturday we loaded up the car

& drove to The Home Depot Center,

stopping along the way to pick up

our friend Jen.

For this futbol match,

we were a house divided.

Z donned his USA jersey

& I was loyal to my beloved Chile.

Of course, none of the major players

were present from either team,

but it was still a great match.

17 minutes in, and one of Chile's

coaches is already ejected.

Looks like someone lost a contact.

Chi chi chi le le le! Viva Chile!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!

USA answers the Chile goal with a PK.

Pastor(s) USA!

Z made me touch Teal Bunbury

(who scored the US goal).

Jeff Larentowicz chats with fans

& Matt Reis, goalkeeper for

the Revolution.

So the end result was officially a 1-1 draw.

But I maintain that Chile won for 3 reasons:

1. More yellow cards.

2. Coach ejected from the game.

3. Our goal was not from a PK.

Therefore, Chile wins by way of

making the match more interesting.

Viva Chile.