"I'm not drinking any - - - merlot!"; NorCal, 08.05.11

Our tent is in the middle

Our camping stove!

Iverson and his booties!

It's our annual camping weekend getaway!  Mai, Jason and their friend John hosts an annual camping trip with a bunch of us in Arroyo Seco, a campground in Los Padres National Forest.  This year, there were about at least 22 of us, and we took up about 4-5 campsites.  The campsite costs about $15-$30 a night per site, and there's shower and modern bathrooms as well in the general campground.  Parking is free for 1 per site, 2 per double site, and extra car cost $5.  There's also a primitive campground with no plumbing, and there's a group site as well.  Every year, we always talk about getting the group site, but it's always reserved on weekends way ahead of time.  

Mai and I have been camping one way or another since 2005, we have done the Kern River for a nice white water rafting weekend, we have climbed the Yosemite's Half Dome where we had to have a bear locker - - which means limiting the food items you bring to the campground.  We have done Big Sur, Sequoia, but this Arroyo Seco is a group favorite because of the gorge, which is a 4-mile hike from the parking lot.  At the gorge, we enjoy the lazy sun with our floaties, and just enjoy the day floating about.  It feels so nice to be laying out, getting some sun and to not have Tico digging up sand next to my face for once.

Although Chris, Jason's friend, brought their 4-year old dog Iverson, I am still weary about bringing Tico in a group setting where I may need to baby-sit him all the time.  So off to Whiskers N Tails he goes.  That places takes very good care of our dog, so we are very rest assured that he's in good hands. Two years ago, someone else brought a little dog too.  So this camping place is dog-friendly.    Iverson had a ball in the gorge, he did not want to get out of the water.  That night, he was down for the count.

To get to Arroyo Seco which is on 47600 Arroyo Seco Road, Greenfield, CA; you just take the 101 Freeway North, and exit on Espinoza.  From there, it veers you right to El Camino Real, where you make a left on Elm Street.  You take that street all the way, and make a left on Arroyo Seco.  The campground is at the very end.  There's a country store that's open until 5pm, where you can restock on ice, etc.  Otherwise, you need to trek back 15 miles to the town on the corner of Elm and El Camino Real.  If you need to make a cell phone call, you'd need to do the same thing too.  Arroyo Seco is just north-east of Cambria, which is a popular tourist coastal town off the Pacific Coast Highway.

Besides a handful of people, B and I see these people only this time of the year, so it's nice to catch up with everyone's life.  At nights, we enjoy a campfire, sit, look up at the stars in the sky, eat, drink and talk story.  My favorite highlight of the night is the s'mores.  It's a great sugar-full dessert after lots of carne asada, curry, rice, chicken, hot dog, watermelon, nectarine, chips, margarita, beer, hummus and crackers, and whatever else is brought up in front of me and I can stuff in my mouth.  Which makes me glad that I at least put in an 8+ mile hike in the middle. 

After camping and on the way home, I love to stop by the town of Paso Robles to try out a new winery.  One of the girls got married at this winery called Vina Robles.  So we went to check it out.  It's off of the Highway 46 East, which is on our way to the I-5 Freeway South back to LA anyway.  They offered Estate tasting, which has a red and white collection for $7 plus the glass, or the Reserve tasting, which is $10.  B did the Reserve, and I did the Estate.  They also offered a complimentary tasting of their 3 popular reds. 

B really liked this one Petite Syrah, and the wine lady made us taste another Petite Syrah for comparison, so that B can make an informed decision.  He likes to asks questions and background, etc., since he's a Paul Giamatti wannabe of the movie Sideways.  Me, I like reds.  And I like them to taste like candy, but not too sweet.  I like a grenache blend, but that's as much knowledge as I can pull out of my brain when it comes to wine.  So when B turned around after tasting the 2nd syrah, he asked me eloquently: "what was going through your mind (after tasting this blend)?"  To which I responded: "yum, yum, yum!". 

...Bart Simpson got nothing on me.  I might as well responded "more Duff beer".  I think he was expecting a response somewhere along the lines of: "quaffable, but uh...far from transcendent".  But "yum, yum, yum" is my qualified response as Jack to his Miles.



"First thing, hold the glass up and examine the wine against the light..."

We came home right around 6pm Sunday, and started putting away our camping gear and leftover food, clothes, etc.  After straightening the house up, I came across our pile of birthday cards (our birthdays' a month apart) and just lined them up together on top of the entertainment center.  I just noticed that, since we had Tico, most of the cards we get from our friends and family nowadays has some sort of animal theme going on.  These are two of my favorites. 




For me.  Cute hamster with a big beer belly!  So like me...

 

For B.  The inside caption: "hope it's a gas!"



I've been noticing that, as much as this blog was created to discover new places for Tico, we have been excluding him from some of the dog-friendly events lately.  Being a puppy, I get neurotic about his unpredictability.  The good news is, Chris mentioned that Iverson, after the age of 3 (he's over 4 now), he tamed a lot in comparison to his high energy self during the puppy years.  And Iverson was mellow this weekend, but Sydney, Chris' gf, said that he's 'just acting' because of the large crowd.  What a great, well-trained dog.  B and I really needs to step it up beyond Tico's PetSmart training.

Everyone loved Iverson this weekend.  So well-behaved, so quiet, and calm.  I so look forward to Tico behaving well in large crowds.  Hopefully, we can enroll him to boot camp this year.  We planned to do it last year, but in the midst of the new house and wedding planning, we knew we were not in the right mindset to follow-through with the house training after bootcamp.  So we hope to do it later this year.

I just want him to behave well, like when he's around the house, in front of B and I.  We want him to behave that way in front of others, out in public.  When he's in public, especially if it's only the two of us, he's always nervous.  Like he always feels like he needs to protect me.  And he's huge, so his barking and nervousness puts people off, and scares people.  And his nervousness feeds off of their nervousness.  We just want him to be a fun, well-behaved dog, which is how he is at home.

We want Tico to be his normal, fun-loving self, in public.  We want him to be how he is at home, in public.  Like how Iverson was, this weekend.

"...remember that guy?  People love that guy." 

  

"Tito, give me some tissues"; Marina Del Rey, 07.30.11

...because I'm sweating like a hog, dancing it up in front of the stage.

It's Tito Puente Jr. night at the Burton Chase Park, Marina Del Rey's "Summer Concert Series".  The city hosts classical concerts on Thursday nights during the summer, and pop concerts on Saturdays.  So far, they have featured "A Night at the Opera", and Oleta Adams.  Upcoming concerts include some Ravel/Tchaikovsky piano, Aimee Mann and Frankie Avalon.  Burton Chase Park is at the very end of Mindanao Way, in Marina Del Rey.  To get there, take the 90 Freeway, and it will drop you to Mindanao Way.  Just take that across the Lincoln\PCH, and into the marina.  We parked on lot 4, which is about 500 yards from the park.  Parking is $10.  This is a dog-friendly park, and since it's outdoors, the concert itself allows dogs, as long as they are well-behaved and are willing to share the picnic food.

B and I brought some salami, cheese and olives, a couple of bread and mac salad from Guillano's, with an $8 bottle of Sangiovese and a couple of water bottle, we were very happy.  We got there just in time, and squeezed ourselves to the side of the stage, right next to the statue. 

The concert started at 7pm, and where we were seated, we caught a perfect sunset just right behind us.  The building to the left of the sunset is new, I remember when it was still being built when I was kayaking on here 3 years ago with Marina Aquatic Center.  The kayaking is $19 an hour on here, which is not cheap in comparison to what you can get at Sunset Rentals in Huntington Beach, but if you live in West LA, it's pretty convenient.  

Marina Del Rey is an ideal place to live.  Having lived in Mar Vista for years, which is 2-3 miles from here, I used to come here a lot to hang out, go shopping, and an old girlfriend of mine used to live in Mariner's Pointe (which has a great viewing areas for the Christmas boat parade) and Marina Point Apartments, which is across from one of my favorite shopping areas in West LA called Villa Marina Marketplace, where I can get in and out of the Loft, Bath and Body Works and Victoria's Secret, without too many parking spaces\traffic\people to deal with.  DSW, Barnes and Noble, and my old time sushi place which is no more, called Ballona's  were here. 

There's a new shopping center in Marina Del Rey called Waterside, which has BCBG, Rainbow Acres, White House/Black Market, and California Pizza Kitchen is on here too.  On the other side by Mother's Beach, has my favorite Cheesecake Factory.  There's also the Chart House, and Marriott's 'Glow' lounge is also nearby.  Also on Admiralty Way is Tony P's, the Warehouse (awesome pot roast and Sunday Brunch), and Fisherman Village on Fiji Way offers El Torito for Taco Tuesdays, Shanghai Reds, etc. There's another sunday brunch place that I enjoyed in MDR that I can't think of the name right now.  And, Aunt Kizzy's recently moved to a larger place near Washington and Lincoln.

I love, love Marina Del Rey.  There's nothing bad that I can say about this place except for the fact that it is too expensive.  Even if you can afford a condo, the HOA alone is $500-$1K.  But unlike South Bay, it's easy to get to, and still can be a family-friendly place.  One of my favorite places in MDR is Brennan's, an Irish pub on Lincoln that hosts two turtle races on Thursday nights.  

Going back to the concert, B and I had a great time.  After stuffing ourselves with our grind, we decided to join the mass of audiences who started dancing in front of the stage.  There were some pretty good dancers, and everyone was just having a great time.  I mean, with the sunset to your right, sitting on a beautifully-maintained park, watching the sailboats go by, and the yachts parked with people partying and listening to the music as well, happy kids, dogs and family around, a bottle of wine and some deli - - - 

-- it can't get any better than this.  

My mom loved the cha-cha, so when Tito played some cha-cha number, I strutted my stuff in front of B, and we were having a great time teaching him to step back and forth.  With the song, we kinda looked like we knew what we were doing.  But it's probably the wine and the dancing.  In no time, I shedded off my sweater, and then my sweatshirt, and was back to my 'fancy' tank blouse.  So if you ever get cold near the marina waterfront, you should just dance your butt off.

Dance until you get warm.

I have seen Henry Mancini's daughter perform here before, and that was amazing.  But Tito got everyone going from the start, belting out Tito Puente songs, such as "Ran Kan Kan", to his last number,which is also made famous by Celia Cruz and Santana called  "Oye Como Va".  It was one of the most fun concerts I've ever been to.  And to top if off, as our favorite local mattress ad radio personality would say, "it's FREEEEEEE!!!"

We could have taken Tico with us tonight, but being a young GSD, he could be unpredictable; so we wanted to enjoy ourselves, as well as we did not want to inconvenience anyone else, in case he started barking or getting restless.  Hopefully next year, we can take him, but we'll see.  In the meantime, it's Redondo Beach Dog Park and Huntington Beach Dog Beach once again for him this past weekend.  I really need to get back into discovering new dog parks/beaches.  There's still a ton for us to check out in the greater LA alone, so I have no excuses whatsoever.

Summer is always crazy since there's so many places that B and I want to go to that's for the two of us alone. 

Such is the Tico-less Tito Puente Jr. night.

           

"Chicken Feet For the Soul"; 07.24.11

@ Yoshinoya by USC after the mixer

Hooters' owl getting down!

B's old co-worker Scott called Thursday because his company has a booth at the Annual LA Mixer, and he has extra tickets for us.  Scott, knowing B sells Herbalife, thought he would appreciate the networking opportunities B can get out of tonight.  So we drove to the Shrine Auditorium by USC.  This place is not for dogs.  There were chambers of commerce for the local cities such as Carson, Huntington Park, even Beverly Hills.  The Camarillo shopping outlet were there, and there's restaurants, sign and advertising companies, etc. 

The ones that stuck to me are the free seminar for Futures, and a Latino Business Community networking event that's coming up next month.  B and I may go to both.  One for me to learn futures trading, and one for him to network in his sales demographic because of our home's location.  The free food are Hooter's wings, a Mexican, Peruvian restaurant, and someone that made couscous with raspberries. 

Couscous.  Food so nice, they named it twice. 

His old coworkers were very happy to see B, and lamented on his weight loss.  I am so proud of him. 

Sales is a hard gig, and as much as B loves people and selling, I am glad that his career at his lab company is going well.  But after business hours, we can concentrate on the Herbalife business on the side, and make the most of this opportunity that B is SO EXTREMELY EXCITED about, and I am very happy for him.  He's lost close to 30 pounds, and he's got a pretty good client base so far.  They are also making great progress.  Some lost 14 pounds, some are losing a few pounds here and there by eating healthier, but to date, B is his own success story.  He's excited to expand a little bit more.  So networking events such as these are crucial to B's business.

Chicken feet!  Good to eat!  I've had B try chicken feet 3 years ago, so I figured we'd do it again Friday night.  So off we went to CBS Seafood in Chinatown.  I have purchased a $25 gift certificate from Restaurant.com for $3, so we got a good deal.  But with a minimum order of $50, we need to bring friends here next time, since $50 buys a T-O-N of food here.  We ate like a pig, including duck, which I am happy B let me eat in front of him, because he would not touch it with a 10-foot pole.  Since it's all indoors, no doggies are allowed in this place.

B and I hardly go out to eat, but when we do, I try to find something through restaurant.com.  Unlike Groupon or Living Social, Restaurant.com does not require you to purchase something up front, except for the $2-$3 of the $25 gift certificates.  And it does not expire.  So the flexibilty is there for you to go whenever you want. 

This weekend is all about B's birthday week.  Saturday, we met up with D, Mike, Mai, Melissa and Nunu to celebrate B's day @ C & O Trattoria, one of B's favorite Italian restaurant because of those addictive garlic and their 8pm "That's Amore!" sing-along.  This place is not dog-friendly, albeit the semi-enclosed outdoor patio thing. 

Exhausted!

The lab to the right loved Tico

What a pretty dog! So sad...

Pretty husky!

Sunday, we took Tico to the Redondo Beach Dog Park for a nice run.  The weather changed off and on throughout the day, so I did not want to take a chance in driving 45 minutes away to Huntington Beach just to find out it will be overcast when we get there.  I saw a couple of "lost dog" signs posted in the park.  Poor dogs.  They were very cute too.  This is why I don't let Tico get out of my sight.  For other people's protection since he's a larger dog that most, and for my own benefit too.  I would go crazy if we lose him.

Picante cream sauce with seafood - so good!

We went out again with Frank and Josie and visited Inka Wasi, a peruvian place that is a lower scale offering from the same owner of El Pollo Inka.  I got this Mariscos Picante that is just heavenly yummy with this spicy cream sauce.  B got a Chaufa, their version of fried rice.  The seasoning is just nothing that I've had.  Frank and Josie enjoyed their Lomo Saltado a lot.  I found them online via Restaurant.com, and got their $25 off coupon again.  It's in Peninsula Center in Palos Verdes, off of Silver Spur and Hawthorne, in a mall, and across from La Salsa, so parking is free.  To get there, you take the Anaheim exit off of the 110 South, and left on Palos Verdes North, left on Crenshaw, and right on Silver Spur.  They have a patio area, and it's a you pay as you order type thing, much like La Salsa.  They do have a patio area, so there's a spot for you to dine with your dog on the other side of the fence, if not; the open food court is just right outside the door.   

I love the weekends.  It's a time to relax, and a time to enjoy spending time with friends, family, and of course, the boys.  As much as the boys drive me crazy and I make them insane, we love hanging out together.  Some parts of the weekend we did some yard\chore\errands, but the rest of the weekend was spent easy-breezy.

Easy like Sunday morning.

"Much Ado About Nothing",HBDB; 07.17.11

Shakespeare by the Sea is one of my favorite LA summertime events.  I look forward to it every time.  The group provides free plays at public parks all around LA.  I started getting into it about 5 years ago.  So far, I have seen "Othello", "Midsummer Night's Dream", "Twelfth Night", "Julius Caesar", and Friday night, we have seen "King Lear".  They are also doing Much Ado About Nothing", but I've already seen it last year by another group.  We may still check it out, but we'll see.  Friday night they had it at Polliwog Park, a dog-friendly park in the city of Manhattan Beach.  It's a large, 18-acre park with gazebos, a basketball court, a pool, a disc golf course, a botanical garden, an ampitheatre (where the play took place), and a huge pond.  The address is 1601 Manhattan Beach Blvd., just take the Rosecrans exit off of the 405 freeway, and make a left on Aviation, and left on Manhattan Beach Blvd.  SBTS is an outdoor event, so dogs are allowed.  Just be sure that they are trained to sit still and be quiet for other's enjoyment consideration.  Being a young dog, we can't fully depend on Tico to do just that for the entire show, so we leave him home for these things for the time being.

Shakespeare by the Sea, or SBTS, take donations.  Their actors get paid through these donations, and their program declared that it cost about $7K for each night that they perform, and they will be performing 41 times this summer all over LA.  Their main place is at Point Fermin in San Pedro, but I've seen them perform in Torrance, South Pasadena, and of course, Manhattan Beach.  They also perform down to Laguna Niguel, Altadena, and Whittier, among the 20+ places they go to.       

Friday, I put together what I can find around the kitchen; 4 Guilliano's bread rolls with ham cold cut, and leftover Genoa salami from Guilliano's, and mayo, mustard and spinach for fillers.  I also made a rotini pasta with leftover italian sausage with leftover sundried-tomato cream sauce.  And with a white merlot I purchased from Sutter's Winery in Temecula, as well as a bunch of apricot slices, we had a nice spread to enjoy the play with.  The park has a public restroom a few yards to the right of the ampitheatre.  Parking is all over, we found one just across the street from the park.

B in the red shirt!

We have a case of the lazy Saturdays.  It's carmaggedon weekend, where the 405, one of LA's busiest freeways are going to be shut down, between the 10 and the 101 freeways.  This is a major LA artery; so it will not be pretty to get stuck from the after effect of getting this freeway shut down.  Some of our friends found this as a great excuse to get out of town and take a mini-vacation, but alas, we don't gots no money.  So the boys and I just did some minor yardwork around the house for the most part on Saturday.  Tico was exhausted hanging out in the backyard helping us clean up.



But it's "Office Space" night at the Outdoor Cinema Food Fest (OCFF).  This time, they held it at Grand Hope Park in Downtown LA, right next to FIDM, the fashion school.  While OCFF is dog-friendly, Grand Hope Park is not.  There are ample street parking, but we managed to get a flat parking for $5 a block north of the park.  Porta-potties are not my favorite restroom things, but you gots to do what you gots to do.  B went all out tonight and brought real wine glasses, forks, plates, brought the chicken pasta with the 20-pound-heavy casserole dish, and we even had greens with anchovies and olive oil for sides.  We found a great spot behind the lawn area, and set up our dishes on the cement divider, propped up our chairs, and we were good to go.  I was counting on at least a reliable dessert truck, but no bueno.  They had Buttermilk Truck, which did have the red velvet pancake bites for $5 that did satisfy my sweet tooth craving.  We did not have time to buy wine and got a Heineken instead, but I just realized that the Ralph's and Panini Cafe are just across the street from this place.  Since you can eat al fresco, food trucks, are dog-friendly.  Where they are currently located at, is another story.      

Heineken on a wine glass - so klassy!

Downtown LA Skyline

Grand Hope Park's Clock Tower

Milton and Lumbergh!

Where's my slinging frisbee?

Since the traffic did not turn out as bad as we thought Saturday, the next day we ran out to Huntington Beach Dog Beach for some fun in the sun once again.  Tico was entertained with his frisbee, and the other dogs wanted to play with him and his 'ball'.  B is still weary about Tico always getting into people's water, blankets, and area; so we always want to keep an eye out on Tico every single time.  

"Ticomom, we need to talk about your TPS reports"

"Dude, not interested in 40 subscriptions to Cat Fancy Magazine"

We also stopped by Five Guys burger, since it's in the way.  We have one at a mall closer to our house, but we hardly go there for shopping, so this is fairly convenient for us.  Five Guys does great marketing, and in due time, it will surpass In-N-Out, if not already done so, in popularity in SoCal.  The place has an outdoor patio to tie your dog to the other side of the fence. 

This was a fairly mellow weekend for me and the boys.  We did not do much of a chore work, and we entertained ourselves with the usual Netflix' offering of 'Ice Road Truckers', 'Gone With The Wind', and even the latest release 'The Fighter' is on.  Everybody and their cousins went to see 'Harry Potter' this weekend, but B refused to pay $12-$15 a pop to sit and watch movies unless they have decent reviews first.  Which is why we rely on the solid filmmaking of old-time feel-good movies of the 90's and earlier.  For $11-$16 a month with Netflix, it's not a bad deal.

And yes, Netflix is raising its rates.  Didn't you get the memo?