Hollywood Sign hike

 (this is the panoramic view at the top (turn-around point) of the Hollywood sign hike)

HOLLYWOOD sign hike:

As I've been trying to get back into the swing of things, I've totally neglected posting all the awesome pictures I've had the privilege to take over the last month. I'll start with a short one to get the ball rolling. I think this hike was back in October; it's a bit touristy but definitely fun to do.

There was a beautiful morning fog over the city. This is Griffith Observatory and Downtown LA:

You climb around the backside of the mountain and see a view of the valley and Forest Lawn Cemetery (which is actually quite a beautiful place to visit).

At the top you can see the Hollywood Reservoir:

I went with my friends Rebecca and Joe:

...and Hillary, and of course Rita.

We got some shade on the way back down:

And the Hollywood sign, of course!

This hike starts at the end of Beachwood Canyon Drive in Hollywood. You park at the Sunset Ranch. There is a lot with an obvious trailhead. But take a look at the map before you go. It can be kind of confusing. You'll follow the trail and take a hairpin Left on Mulholland Hwy, and then a Right on Mt Lee Dr.This paved trail leads to the tower (in the picture above) and behind the sign. I've decided that if I ever want to get arrested, I'll do it by climbing the fence and hanging out on the sign til policeman have to come drag me away. What a great story that would be! :)

Shows, etc. and Black Dub

Black Dub: I Believe in You

This is an incredible song with some pretty incredible musicians that form Daniel Lanois' project, Black Dub. I saw them live...was it two years ago(?) at the Troubadour in LA.

Daniel Lanois is an overwhelmingly talented musician and producer. Brian Blade has this incredible feel to his drumming. I love the bassist's lines, Daryl Johnson. And the singer, Trixie Whitley, has such a unique voice and powerful soulful feel to her singing.

A band called Vanaprasta has been headlining this month at the Satellite (formerly known as Spaceland). The first week, Daniel Lanois made a surprise appearance and played during the set of Rocco DeLuca, a musician he also produced. I regretfully wasn't there that week, but enjoyed the lineup the following week. I'm also hoping to go to the last Monday of this month as well. The lineup looks great!

I also *just now* found out that Rocco Deluca is playing at the Thirsty Crow tonight (my favorite whiskey bar) in Silverlake. Looks like I may have to make some plans tonight!

Keep listening to good music.

*Update: We did go to the Thirsty Crow last night around 9pm and it was packed. But since there was no time listed for the show, we ended up leaving around 10pm because they hadn't even started setting up and it didn't look like he was the first to go on. Too bad, I'll have to see Deluca another time.

Exterior Siding

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my favorite person in the world, my husband Sam!

And what a day for a birthday, 11-11-11! In honor of el mejor senor, I wanted to do a quick update post on the house. We've been working on the siding lately. I'm so proud of how much Sam has done with the house. He is a true handyman and talented laborer. :)

This week we were able to spend a whole day working on the siding. We completed almost the entire final section of siding; we're probably about 95% finished.

Here's the before and after pics (from my cell phone):

BEFORE

 AFTER

And from the back view (this was about an hour before we stopped, so we got about 6 more boards up):

Halloween at Bar Lubitsch

Halloween was a lot of fun this year at Bar Lubitsch. My little drummer boy played with two bands, The Hopelessly Devoted (rockabilly music) and the Dime Store Dollies (20's pop cabaret). We saw plenty of fun costumes, although in Hollywood, it's sometimes hard to tell...

Dancing the night away:

Eitaro Elvis

Skeletor is always scary:

Derek McGentleman

BONES!

The Dime Store Dollies: Meg O and Beth Jean

I did sort of miss passing out candies to the little ones... although there's always next year! :) Everyone was lovely to watch and it was a wonderful way to spend Halloween.

Shots from the road

I drive a lot. It's a good thing I usually enjoy it. I could do without speed limits, however. It's so fun to be out on an open highway. 

Here are a few photos I snapped while in the car (yes sometimes driving, but there's no laws against snapping photos while driving, right...?):

On the way to Arizona in October.

 Love those Arizona skies!

 

Glad to get some rain!

After the rain:

A heavy fog on Silverlake Blvd:

Arizona

In october, Sam and I went to Arizona to celebrate the life of grandpa Chuck. It was nice to see family and watch all the kids play. I got the hipstamatic app and am attempting this post from the blogger app, so we'll see how this turns out. Here are some photos from the trip:

Drink and Be Married

 Sam and I took a bartending course together during the month of August. It was a lot of fun! We decided to put our new-learned skills to use by bartending private parties! 

Here are some photos of our drink list and garnishes for our cousin Nikki's 25th birthday:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Where's Waldo Wilma?!

Hey everyone! Hope you all have a great Halloween.

At the end of last month, I won 4 tickets to the opening night of Mickey's Halloween party at Disneyland. We took our cousins and their son, Kolbe. Here are a few photos from the Fright Night:

 

Awwww, cousins!

 

 

 The Matterhorn in all it's glory:

 

Pirate Kolbe, arrrrr.....

The Haunted Mansion!

And of course, the most amazing fireworks show as usual:

And looking forward to one of my favorite holidays...Christmas!!

Wildwood Park, Thousand Oaks

Wildwood Regional Park is an incredible park with several trails. The address is 928 W Avenida De Los Arboles, Thousand Oaks. I did a quick mile loop one morning before work and had a wonderful time.  There is also a good 3-mile loop in this park and you can see some photos (I was still experimenting with HDR at the time, so some are a bit too saturated) from that hike here: 

http://kristingal.blogspot.com/2010/04/paradise-falls-at-wildwood-park-in.html

Here is the topography map:

  It starts out on the plateaus...

with lovely plants and cactai.

I didn't take this trail, but it leads to the tee-pee and downhill to Paradise falls.

 

This was my favorite view of the morning. I loved the way the hills were silhouetted by the fog and light.

 

The trail starts to decend into the canyon:

And back up the canyon with lovely bouts of cactai:

A stunning panoramic view:

 

 And some beautiful scenes at the end of the trail: