Happy Birthday, Brandon!!!

Happy 24th, Brandon!!!

I had the whole day planned - we started early, 8am, and headed to Long Beach for a motorcycle swap meet!  The weather wasn't great but the event happens every month so we will go again and next time take the bike!

 

B looking at the bikes....

 

This lot is usually FULL - since the weather wasn't great and not so warm, not many bikes. 

Next time!  And I'll be in my biker gear ;)

Next we headed to the best bbq we've found in LA....

Baby Blues BBQ in Venice!!  So So So So YUMMY!!!!

 

GREAT decor!  

Last time we ate outside.....

 

B studies the menu....

and

SWEET TEA while we wait!!!  Well, for me....B doesn't like tea but I love him anyways :)

 

That's what I call some pepper sauce!!!  Love the bottles and the sauce!!!!!!

And for the star of the show: 

 

YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

Happy Birthday and Leftovers!!!

Then.....onto Venice Beach for freaks and beer!!!

 

He clearly wants his picture taken.....

 

Much better with the beer!

Favorite place is The Waterfront Cafe - Erdinger Weizen Beer - the lemon is delish!  

Even I love it :)

We got home and were about to start a movie when surprise!  I had our neighbors Sean, Michelle, Don, and Charlene come over for cocktails and cake!!  I made the cake all by myself with the help of Betty Crocker ;)  And had a Harry Potter themed party!  

 

That's the Golden Snitch from Harry Potter as the cake topper!

 

I've always wanted to put a ton of candles on a cake!

In this case, 24 for Brandon :)

 

He also got a firebolt!!!  Go Brandon Go!!

 

The party scene

 

And even "Manny-Quinn" enjoyed the festivities!!

Great day!  Now if I could get Brandon off the broom while running through the apartment.... :)

Saturday Hiking

Brandon and I have been hiking the past few weekends!  We have a really neat spot near us called the Big Santa Anita Canyon.  You can learn more about it here:  Big Santa Anita Canyon

It's crazy how different the landscape is in the canyon and you don't even feel like you are in LA!  It's more like the Pacific Northwest as crazy as that sounds!  Lots of moss and even ferns!

Ready to go!

Water!

First waterfall....

Cabins in the woods!  

 

Steps leading down to the water - neat!

 

I thought I was being crafty and "outdoorsy" until B captured this:

And another treacherous crossing....but I was already wet :(

We made it!!!

Really big waterfall - and we're in LA!

 

 

Pretty :)

This was our lunch view!

 

Brandon crossing - he got wet too!  But no video....darn.

 

View of the valley near the top :)

Good day of hiking - the path back was hard!  But we did it :)

On to next weekend!

26th Annual Spanky's Golf Tourny

Since Dad was attending the annual golf tournament in Pooler, GA, I decided - or Minnie Mouse - decided he needed a special good luck charm for the day :)

The Gang

Golf Mickey!

"Shorty" - Dad's nickname :)

Stinkin' cute!

SKUNKED!

While watching a movie last night, Brandon and I started to notice an "odd" odor....we really thought it was our downstairs neighbors having fun with their guest, Mary Jane.  Brandon went into the hallway to sniff around and nothing.  As he came back inside, it started getting worse and then it hit him:  "Is that....skunk???!"  By the time we got all the windows shut, my eyes were watering.  Ack!  They are cute little critters but man, can they smell!  I call them the possum roadkill of the West - you see more dead than alive - and they still stink!

  

Exactly how we felt!  UH!

"blissful" Saturday.

Pictures DO say a thousand words.....

 

YES!

 

A dippin' good time!!!

 

HAPPINESS! :)

And there's a gallon of sweet tea in the trunk!

Chick-fil-a is about 25 miles from our apartment - these people just don't get it out here!  But the drive was fun as we actually saw SNOW in the foothills!  The forecast said a high probability but seriously!

 

Down the street from the apartment....

 

We don't see these types of clouds very much out here! 

  

On the way to Chick-fil-a.....

 

Mt. Baldy is the closest ski resort to us - we may try it out soon!

 

View from Chick-fil-a parking lot - snow AND palm trees!

 

Odd sight, isn't it??

Thanks for the Chick-fil-a gift certificates Mom!  They were used very wisely ;)