Long, Medium and Close Up

Sherry and I passed this tree on a hike in Bronson Canyon. It was so cool, we had to take pictures. First, from far away.
Then the always useful medium shot.

Last, the close up.

Through the tree, you can see the forest.

More Beerfests???

Not one, but two of our awesome friends e-mailed Noah and I yesterday to inform us of ANOTHER beerfest in Los Angeles. What? More excuses to drink massive amounts of beer? As the tiny blonde one said, "Bring it."

The 1st annual Craft Beer Fest L.A. will be held May 9th, hosted by C.A.B.A.L., perhaps the best acronym ever (it stands for the Los Angeles Craft and Artisanal Beer Appreciation League). According to their site, "A dozen of the state’s best brewers will showcase 26 handcrafted beers while L.A. chefs sling FREE pub grub (gourmet bar nuts, artisan cheese pairings, and vegan snacks). Attendees can try beer treats like ale cupcakes and stout ice cream from the gelato geniuses at Scoops. And a slew of local bands will share the stage with renowned brewers giving tips, and cheese experts lecturing on how to pair beers with food."

Uh, sweet! The event is at the LA Echoplex and is rumored to be taking place from 2-9pm. Of course, the evil beer-hating god Soberus would have Noah and I hosting a baby shower that day, but you know we'll bust our butts to make at least the last three or four hours. Because for $30, why not?

25 Things I Love About LA #1 - The Hollywood Sign

Inspired by Just Another American in Paris' list of things she loves about her city, I decided it would be fun to post up "25 Things I Love About Los Angeles".

#1: The Hollywood Sign.
Maybe it's because I see it pretty much every day when I leave the house, but the sign has become for me what the Golden Gate Bridge or the Transamerica Pyramid were for me growing up in San Francisco. A visual touchstone of sorts. There's also the emotional jolt it gives me, any time I'm feeling frustrated with my real, paying job. I mean, c'mon, can I actually complain that I get to be doing what I (and a million other people) would kill for as a career? Sure, sometimes I have to write crap I don't believe in, but a lot of times I don't. And for that, I'm thankful.
And when you get to drive 10 minutes from your house and then hike up Bronson Canyon, which provides amazing views like this, well color me happy.

The Not Fair Day

Monday afternoon, the Ladies and I all decided to take Tuesday off (easy for those of us who work at home) and have a Fair Day. It's LA County Fair time and I'd never been. The Ladies all raved about the ridiculous array of fried food (s'mores! artichoke hearts! twinkies! oreos!) and the adorable petting zoo bunnies last year, so I was totally psyched.

Tuesday morning dawns beautifully (okay there was a butt load of smog, but it's LA) and after a quick hike in Runyon it was time to hop in Abby's ride and head for Pomona.

We get there and things seem... slow. Dead, actually, might be a more accurate term. But it was a Tuesday and most people have jobs in actual offices, kids are in school, etc... Really only slackers like us have time for the Fair. Still, no warning lights were going off, even when we pulled into the VIP lot and nobody stopped us from parking. For free. Okay, hmmm, but maybe we were just the luckiest Ladies on Earth?

We walk over to the ticket counter at Side Entrance 5, only to find it closed. Now that's weird. Maybe we need to go in the main entrance on weekdays? But, hey guys, doesn't it seem a little quiet in the fairgrounds. And that's when, finally, we see the giant sign posted that says FAIR CLOSED MONDAYS & TUESDAYS.

What?! But didn't you... oh didn't you... okay nobody checked to make sure the fair would be open. Yes, we had all separately been to the fair website THAT MORNING and yet none of us bothered to see if it would actually be open today. Instead we watched informational videos on raising barnyard animals and making your own soda. And in our defense, there is a giant sign on the sight that says LA County Fair - Sept. 5-28th. So you kinda figure it's open that whole time.

And we weren't the only ones. No less than four groups of people showed up within minutes of our arrival, also surprised to find the fair closed, misled by the website's dates. I mostly felt bad for the adorable aging British couple. They were bummed.

As we head out, we're all pretty distraught. What about the fried foods? And the bunnies? And the fried foods????

So we did the second best thing to eating fried foods at the Fair. We went to the closest rhymes with Phili's chain restaurant and ordered up all the fried food four lovely ladies could want. Including but not limited to the above platter of nacho bacon chile french fry thingies. And they were delicious.

But I'm still pissed I didn't get to try a deep fried s'more.