What I did on my Vacation

It's not really a vacation - the hospital likes all administration types to flex off on the holidays. We have to pay nurses, RTs, PTs, etc time and a half, so if you do not directly perform patient care, then we get flexed off. I am not complaining.

On my first free day, Thursday, I took Elli for a little adventure. We drove down to Laguna Beach, which is about a half hour down Pacific Coast Highway from Huntington Beach. We wanted to go on a nice hike - something different for our daily exercise.

Me And My Shadow.

There are many many beautiful trails. But some are closed to dogs, since they can attract bobcats and coyotes. Also, they are graded as easy, medium, and difficult. We stuck to easy and medium, since i was carrying Elli.

That is Catalina Island in the distance. It is 26 miles away, across the Pacific Ocean.

We brought lots of water and a little bowl for Elli to drink from. There were a lot of people and dogs and mountain bikers out enjoying the day. The marine layer was not quite burnt off, which made it better. There is no shade.

We hiked out for 40 minutes and then back. I was dripping sweat.

The trails are nice and wide. They are also packed down, so they aren't slippery- you have to climb a few steep slopes.

Elli was nervous when I put her down to explore. Maybe she could smell coyote pee. She would be a snack for them.

You can't get lost. This shot shows Laguna Canyon Road. If you got disoriented, you could always just walk down there.

Elli got tired, and it was pretty warm, so we turned around at the water tank.

We headed back toward Top of The World Park, to kick back, cool off and enjoy the weather.

Elli had a nice drink in the air conditioned car. She is showing off her super long tongue.

On the way home, we stopped at the new pizza place, Pieology. It costs $8.45, and you can have whatever kinds of sauce, cheeses, meats, and toppings that you want. I got half red and half alfredo, with mozzarella, gorgonzola, and parmesan. Then I got pepperoni, sausage and meatballs. I also added artichoke hearts, olives, mushrooms, sun dried tomato, basil and pineapple.

Here it is. I ate half. If you have a big appetite, you could eat most of it. It was good, and I thought the price was good.

 Doc brought me sunflowers.

On Friday, I went running in Central Park, and saw my Egyptian geese family. I was talking to two ladies there, and I guess that a lot of people know about our little E-Geese flock. Then I just did errands, and walked Elli and the boys, and read my books. I also went to the library, the bank, and WalMart.

On Saturday morning, Doc and I went up to Los Angeles. We stayed at a boutique hotel called the Shelter Hotel. It's all hipster and many of the guests were all costumed up and headed to the huge Anime Show at the LA Convention Center. I went running again. This is what I wore for our first day in LA.

I am wearing an INC cold shoulder top with rhinestone trim at the neckline, and white shorts. I have on Dex Flex comfort sandals. I love them.

Here's a good look at the neckline. I wore an amethyst and moonstone necklace.

On my right arm, I wore a turquoise/abalone ring that Luke, Ashley and Preston got me, and a silver bracelet.

On my left arm, two more silver bracelets, and my little infinity wedding band.


Our first stop was The Last Bookstore, in downtown LA. This wonderful, funky store is a destination. Doc wanted to go, and I was pretty excited, too.

Here I am, kickin' it outside, wearing my bright blue top.

It's two stories tall, with art galleries and a knitting shop on the top floor.

There are chairs and sofas to rest on while you look at all the books. There were a lot of people in there.

This is a view looking down from the second floor.

They had a lot of sculptures and displays made out of old books. They were all cool.

In the Rare Books section, there was an entire art wall.

On the second floor, there was a tunnel made of books. Of course, I had to get my picture taken in there.

And there was a circular hole in one of the walls, which were made of books.  There I am, again.

I ended up buying two books - one on mastering style, and one on Chihuahuas. These are two of my favorite subjects - Duh.

Then we headed down to Santee Alley. This is an outdoor swap meet style place.

First, we stopped at LA Cafe for lunch. I had the falafel wrap with Buzz Chips, and Doc had tuna with provolone and seasoned fries.

Santee Alley was about a mile away. We walked over. We looked in all the vendor shops and had an interesting experience with a counterfeit handbag seller. The police have been cracking down on them, so they are very covert. I did not buy from them.

You get the idea. We did see one lucky little kid ride away on a play motorcycle - I remarked how absolutely stoked the kid must be, and Doc agreed that he would have loved that as a kid.

The only thing I bought was an Urban Decay Naked palette. It was $10, a fantastic price.

Our movements tomorrow are undecided - I originally wanted to go over to Olvera street, but maybe not this time. But we will stop for lunch somewhere cool on the way home. Stay tuned!!

Linking with : www.jolynneshane.com, wwwposhclassymom.com, www.fashionshouldbefun.com, www.highlatitudestyle.com, and www.happinessatmidlife.com.

I'll be back in touch soon!!!