Eating and vacationing...

We had lots of good eats while in Tampa. I took a few pictures with my camera phone but unfortunately, all the pics were taken after I had my frozen cocktails (so yes, they are a little blurry - sorry.)
Tinu, Jessica and I went to Crabby Bill's. It was awesome. Jessica had a Crab Trap and an Ultimate Sunburn. I can't remember what I had...though I did have my first ever conch fritters *yummy. There was a gift shop and Jess & I bought cute, crabby stuff. (Shocking, I know...)


Then ALL of us, yes Langston too, went to PJ's Seafood Restaurant. Again, great food and ambiance. Langston entertained us all with his scary eating of the honeycomb things. Again, these pictures were taken by me with my phone after a banana daquari and a pina colada (I think those were the drinks I had...).

Langston eats real food

Well, by real food, I mean food with utensils and not a bottle. I was so mesmerized with his "feeding" that I just kept clicking my camera as he ate. I've downloaded them all into another Flickr album. Click the picture for the link...(How soon until he can eat Peeps?)

Big Cats

One of the really cool things that we did while we were on vacation in Tampa was to visit a place called the Big Cats Rescue. It was amazing. I think I may have to go everytime I am in Tampa. I would highly recommend it. You get so close to the cats! And to hear the stories of how they came to be rescued is just heartbreaking. (Yes, I teared up many times.) The pictures that I got are not so great but if you click on the lion picture above it will take you to the album. Hopefully, I can get pictures that Tinu and Father took and add to the album.
I bought a few things in the gift shop as everything goes to their non-profit organization. I bought the two cutest key chains pictures below. One is a snow leopard (for my snow leopard, Miska) and one is a lion (for my lion-cut Caj). I also bought a little goodie for my cat-sitter's cats to play with. I would highly recommend visiting there if you are ever in the area.

If you click on the key chain picture, it will take you the their website. It is chock full of info!

Another Bee Paper

I am now all the way in FL and another Bee Newspaper appears. (Remember when I flew into FAT and found the Fresno Bee?) Anyway, I am with the family in Indian Shores, FL. More posts to follow soon...

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Hidden shelf

This post is really for Father...

Blue Man Group

I've been meaning to post this for a while...my friend Susan and I were offered some free tickets to the Blue Man Group in Vegas from someone we work with who had bought them and couldn't go. I am posting the pictures of us with them...though they were taken with camera phone and not too good. The show was merely okay. We can't understand what the fuss is all about. The tickets were $150 each. There is NO WAY we would have paid that for the show. However, I do think that if OT (Ford) were to ever decide to be an entertainer, he should definitely consider being a blue man.

Ocean's 13 in Pasadena

Yesterday, I went to a meeting in Glendale (almost to Burbank). It is normally a 45 minute to 1 1/2 hour drive depending on traffic. I have a shortcut I take to get around the mid-town LA traffic on the 5. So, I take my shortcut and the 10 is closed! Luckily, I had my handy GPS and I went all surface streets. It took a while longer but was the prettiest drive. I drove past USCLA and Glenale College, plus many really pretty parks, lakes, etc.
After the meeting, I met a friend and we drove around and ended up shopping at an outdoor mall in Pasadena (not old town - though we did drive through there too.) Went to Sephora and MAC...Had dinner at a great restaurant where the chef cooks on a grill in front of you. I will have to find out the name. Then we saw Ocean's 13. I would say it was good, not great. It had some funny bits in it. I would watch it again on DVD or cable because of the men...for their characters, of course. Yeah, that's the tickets. :)

UPDATE: There was a road rage shooting on the 10 and it was closed for 8 hours!!

Coming soon...

Strike a Pose!

I am so behind in posting. I have several posts from my last Vegas trip that I will post soon...promise.
In the meantime, thought you might want to see what Caj is up to these days.I think he is feeling better (a little fashion therapy always helps.) He wanted to make sure that you saw the cool skull on his back in crystals so he ...
struck a pose!

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Avila Beach

Had a wonderful late lunch here.
Walked up and down through the shops.
Watched the waves roll in...just beautiful...

Centerfold

Click on pic to see full size.

Langston in Las Vegas

Langston by the pool, Langston in the sun, Jessica playing with Langston in the water, etc, etc. Langston really enjoyed his vacation and he sure knows how to have fun (and he has loves to boogie!)




I must mention that I changed my first diaper. I am not sure that Jessica is going to let it count though as I put the diaper on a little too late and it was on backwards. (Seriously, not my fault - absolutely no directions on diaper!)

Christmas 2006

Just found these pictures on my computer of when the parental units visited my unit for Christmas last year. I put all of these on Shutterfly in case anyone wants to order. The last few pictures are of us on the pier in Santa Monica.

Cal Poly

So we took a driving tour of Cal Poly. I tried taking pictures with my camera phone but most of them were horrible blurs. (An example to your right.) It is too bad because the campus really was very pretty.

Lastly, here is a pic that I found on the web so at least you get some idea of what you missed by horrible picture taking skills while driving in extreme wind...

Taco Surf in Sunset Beach

I met one of my friends for dinner last week and surprisingly, I was early. So I took this picture and sent it to my friend, Monet, who lives in Las Vegas. She loves this restaurant. The caption on the message was "Aren't you jealous?"
I hope you aren't!!

Sea Lions

We watched these seal lions for quite a while. We would have never even noticed them except for that they were SO loud. (Sound like loud honking of a duck or cow, really unusual.) We realized that we could take some steps to a lower part of the pier, where we were literally 3 to 4 feet from five or six of them napping and getting some rays. Also, we watched two circle around a small fishing boat. They would fully extend their bodies so they could try to look up into the boat. (Looking for food no doubt.) We talked to them and they would look right at us. (Tried to get a picture of this.) I have all the pictures in a flickr photo album at http://www.flickr.com/photos/livinginlbc/sets/72157600178123866/

Lastly, I found this video on youtube so you can hear how they sounded. (Don't listen to the whole thing. A few seconds will suffice as nothing exciting happens in video.)

Live Clams!

We went to the Port San Luis pier near Pismo Beach. It is one of the few piers that you can still drive on. (Though it is falling apart and was SCARY!!) You can pick your own lobster or 2 or 100. They will also cook them for you too. There were hundreds of lobsters that were so cute that I almost felt guilty about my lobster dinner last week in Vegas. (As a side note, it was very windy so the picture of me isn't too flattering! Also, did you know that if you click on the picture, it will open up in a bigger window so you can see it better?)

Madonna Inn

I went on a week long journey for work. We started in Long Beach and drove to Atascadero. Then the next day we drove to SLO (San Luis Obispo) and then the next day to Santa Maria. Finally on the last day, we drove back taking the scenic route along the coast and went through some beautiful oceans and mountains (Santa Barbra, Malibu, Ventura, etc.)
This is a picture of the craziest Inn, the Madonna Inn. My co-worker spent his first honeymoon there. He said that it is world-famous. I've never heard of it before, have you?
And I know it may be dorky, but I couldn't resist taking a picture of the lamps in front of the Madonna Inn.

Don't Go...

I know this picture is really bad quality but I am still learning how to use my newest camera phone (which has many options). Sometimes simpler is better. Anyway, now whenever I am going out of town (which seems to be all the time - I am posting this blog in a hotel room in Atascadero), I have to open up two suitcases so that Caj can sleep in one of them.

Sisters in Paris

We asked some strangers to take a picture of us at the Paris hotel and casino on the Vegas strip while we were waiting for the valet to get our car. This was with my camera phone. Considering that it was after 1am and that Jessica and I were super full after our decadent meal at the VooDoo Lounge - I guess it looks okay.

What happens in Vegas...

...stays in Vegas. Nuff said.

FAT

So as some of you already know, I flew into FAT today!! FAT is the airport code for the Fresno airport. If you are afraid of flying, this would have been the worst. One seat on the left and two in the right. A bus took us to the plane (I didn't even know that they did that at LAX!) and the steps were the smallest that I've EVER taken to get onto a plane (including our corporate jets.)
Sitting behind me was a little girl that SCREAMED the whole flight. She was directly behind me and her screams were so sharp that they were causing pain to my right ear. Finally I asked her parents (who didn't seem to care at all how loud she was screaming in this small plane) if gum would help. It did. She stopped. However, the father took my whole unopened pack of Orbit gum (my fav) and didn't give it back. I meant one or two pieces but whatever, it was worth it to get her to shut up. The flight attendant gave me the thankful eyes. And a few people thanked me when we got off the plane.
Anyway, will keep you posted if anything else exciting happens here. (BTW, I can totally see why K-Fed married Brit to get out of here, ha, ha...)

Surf's Up

Just a quick post to let everyone know that Caj is doing much better. Hopefully, I will be able to take a picture of me injecting him with fluids soon. I think Abby, the future vet, would enjoy helping me if she was here. In the meantime, here is a picture of the new rug I got that Caj & Miska enjoy sitting on and looking out at the sun and birds. Seriously, surf's up dude!

Van Nuys

I had a really long week. Tuesday afternoon, I drove to San Fernando, CA to give a presentation to Service Providers. I spent the night as I had a meeting the next morning at 7am down the street in Van Nuys. I tried taking a picture while I was there (and driving) by randomly sticking my phone out the window. In the first picture, I was trying to take the mountains but they are hard to see as it was getting dark. The second picture, as Father knows, is my special pet project that you can help with here:

After my meeting was over in Van Nuys, I had a meeting back in Orange County and had to take someone to the airport. I understand why people complain about LA traffic now. Good grief...it took forever (though I knew better that to take the 101 to the 405. I wanted the scenic view, which it was, and knew it would take longer.) Then, I made Jessica mad by calling Father in Ohio to tell him it was 80 degrees! Though if he's reading this, it did go down to 73 by the time I was in Orange, if that helps.