Mini-golf is big when it's free :)

Saturday started with watching my brother's soccer game. Oh i miss playing :(
After, lunch at the new Panera Bread in town..my first time at one. It was really good, I'll be going back again.

And then....off to Mountasia Family Fun Center in Santa Clarita!!! I have about 9 coupons that get me "plus 3 other friends" a free game of mini-golf :) They expire in September so they'll be seeing me again real soon. I went with my good friend Alain, my brother and 2 of his roomates, Dave and Matt :) I had so much fun with these guys..they were crackin' me up all day.

Excited to be out in the low 90s degree weather.

This is Alain's hole-in-one swing. Great form.

Odd siblings

Hanging around these guys makes me feel short. Well, I am.

Here we have another hole-in-one.

Yes...we kept score.

Family photo op =)

Dave knocked the ball off the green too many times to count. Rough

Alain got another hole-in-one on the last hole.

Alain was the official score announcer...Chris and I tied for first place with 53 points. Dang.

It was so hot out and we were all so sweaty, we headed inside the arcade area for ice cream and I downed a root beer float. I haven't had one of those since elementary school. I forgot how AMAZING they are...quenches thirst and takes care of that sweet tooth. Whoever thought of putting ice cream in soda is a genius...makes me wonder what else it will go well with. Hmmm?

While Chris was focused on his shoot em up game, Alain came from behind with a piece of gum and tried shoving it in his mouth without telling him first. Kinda funny.

I didn't know that they had Guitar Hero in arcade game form! Way cool!

ROUND 4 COMPLETION FACE!!!

Ladies...he's single...and in Law School...eehh???? ;)

It's all about how you ENTER the dance floor

Although I only made 2 baskets....I'm having a grand ol' time :)

Next time I head out there again with "me plus 3 friends" it will be in the evening. And maybe we'll hit up the go-karts, bumper boats, batting cage and laser tag!

free concert

Two of my students (brother and sister) gave me and a bunch more staff a free ticket to the Rihanna concert as a end-of-the-school-year gift. We all went last night to the Staples Center for the show. We didn't have very good seats, but hey it was free. Kesha was the opening act, and she BLOWS! She's so bad, I totally knew she would be.

I drove myself and 3 other coworkers to the concert, and I told them that all I wanted to see was Eminem! He has a new song with Rihanna out right now and I love it! I actually bought Eminem's new CD, "Recovery" and I dig every single song. I've been playing it on a loop practically. Anyways, I had no idea if he would be there or not, but I was like "Hmm, I don't know where he lives, I'm sure it's nearby and he'll come for just the one song." I didn't believe that myself, but it was worth going for the slight chance it would happen. I like Rihanna, I guess. I've never been a big fan. She put on a good show, has a great voice, and has a lot more hits than I thought.
By the end of the night, Rihanna began singing THE SONG....I got on the edge of my seat...all of a sudden, Eminem raises up from underneath the stage and the crowd went BANANAS. Everyone jumped to their seats and screamed their faces off...you could barely hear the song over it. Aw man it was so rad...that made my month! I want to see HIM in concert for sure :)
(That's him on stage with Rihanna)
Red confetti everywhere

Car's 1st road trip

The day after I bought Lucy, I went with Dom and Roxi for a little road trip up north to Santa Barbara. On our way, we stopped at a little farmer's market on the side of the road and bought dried mangos (my fav) and a few other treats. I read about some French festival, Bastille Fest?..at a park in Santa Barbara. Not impressed. It was smaller than I thought it would be, and just not that cool. We had bratwursts for lunch and shared a strawberry and nutella crepe..LOVE crepes :) Dom found some guy's wallet on the ground and luckily he lived about a block away so we walked it over to return it to him. What upstanding citizens we are. After that, we drove down the coast and saw an Art Walk down the boardwalk that we missed. SO BUMMED about that, there was some pretty amazing work on display. We checked out McGrath's campground, too for future campsites we'd want to book.

We pulled over at a beach in Ventura on the way home and enjoyed a sunset sky and a fetch playing dog :)This was such a great day! I loved all of it. We ended the evening with Sushi from my fav spot (Blue Fish) and a cuddle or two :)

I LOVE....lucy

Last week was the first week of teaching summer school. I'm teaching art to Kindergarten through the 3rd grade, and the 4th-7th grade is by sign-up only (46 students). I was pretty nervous leading up to this week, because I'm only used to teaching up to the 3rd grade. I've always been a little uncomfortable around the older kids, not sure of how to approach them. What was I so worried about, they're awesome! I'd SO trade jobs with their usual art teacher, any day (I'm taking her place for the first 3 weeks because she's on vacation in Thailand). They are amazing artists, and I don't have to waste class time constantly telling them to sit on their bottoms, don't touch this, quiet down, stay in your seat, the difference between left and right, how to stay in the lines when coloring, how to hold a paintbrush, etc.

The week was SUPER HOT!!! I think it was in the mid 90s..and my car of 10 years has no working air conditioning. I was dying in that car...I'd get out of it after a 5 minute drive and I'd have wet sweat spots on my clothes...yuck. I'd been saving (for not very long) to buy another car and I wanted to wait until the END of the year to have a larger down payment, but the heat got to me. I couldn't take it any longer. BIG THANKS to Dominic, for offering to head over to Carmax to check out their stock. If he hadn't been free, I would never have gone by myself. Well, I knew exactly what I wanted when we walked in, so we didn't browse the cars at all. We spent 5 minutes looking over the car, and about 4 hours going through the car buying process! Oh man, it took so long...but worth it in the end. I was approved, and found out I have GOOD credit! woohoo :) I'm responsible like that.
Ok, so here she is...meet Lucy (Dom's name suggestion). I got a 2008 Chevrolet Trailblazer...WITH air conditioning! I loooooove it. LOVE IT! I've been wanting a larger car for years. It better fits my outdoor loving lifestyle. I'll be able to fit all my camping gear..the dog (and MY future dog)...and my future babies ;) NO, I will NOT be driving around a minivan. Not gonna happen. Anyways, I'm so much happier now with Lucy. Every time I see her, I smile and/or giggle. Cool!

A family picnic...

Two weekends ago, Dominic's family had their annual picnic at a nearby park. Everyone was assigned an item or a dish to bring to provide enough food to eat. Pot Luck style is always the way to go :) It was a really nice day, Sunday, and the turnout was great. I got to meet quite a few members of his family that I haven't met before. I also got to spend time with a few of my favorites who I haven't seen since Easter, I think. They're such great people...and they like me :)

Dom made shish-kabobs..delicious. I made a non-traditional potato salad with a yogurt base, rather than mayo. It had asparagus, bacon, capers and artichoke hearts, too.

Dom's dad handed over his apron to Dom for the day. If the shoe fits...wear it.
I did my part to make sure the sausages and hot dogs didn't burn. I love my picnic blanket in the background. It's been in my family for years.

It's always a pleasure chatting with Dom's sister and brother-in-law.
A mother-daughter moment. A few minutes before, Kimmy told her mom the news...a baby is on the way :) I got a little misty-eyed.
Now for a Rick and Roxi moment.
The after-party nap back at Dom's was the $h*t ;)
No, really....we passed out. I was super tired, full and dehydrated after this and the long night before of preparing the food. Til next year...

to the falls we go

During the middle of last week, Dominic and I went on an afternoon hike to Sturtevant Falls in Santa Anita. We've done part of this hike before, but there are a few different trails to take. It was a really nice day and perfect weather for working up a little sweat.

I LOVE this sign. I really want these words somewhere in my home. The sign "gets" us :) I've got a handsome hiking partner ;)

girlfriends

We made it to the falls pretty easily. The hike is beautiful, and full of shade.

There was a pretty decent size group of people that were just sitting around the falls, enjoying the view. I accidentally slipped on a rock and fell in the creek. The whole left side of my butt and leg was soaked! Haaaaa what a dork.

There's a little "store" by the parking lot that we checked out after the hike, but it was closed. They had these guys right across from it, and up the hill we could see some donkeys...and hear them.

The hike (round trip) was 4 miles I think. We only did part of it, but the whole loop is 9 miles...which I want to go back and do soon.