Runyon Canyon

The following pictures are from the Mulholland Scenic Corridor, near Runyon Canyon. 

 I woke up at 5:30 a.m. on a Sunday to go on a hike,  this is very unlike me.  I LOVE to sleep! Runyon Canyon is a popular hiking trail in Los Angeles and has a tiny parking, so if you want to a parking space you need to beat the crowds and arrive extremely early. This hike was not as difficult as I expected, there was only one section that was very challenging because it was up hill and I honestly felt like I was struggling to breathe. I felt like I I had forgotten how to breathe and needed some sort of breathing tutorial! Once I reached the top I felt accomplished and like throwing up a little bit but I survived and the rest felt like a breeze.  

p.s. Sorry for another hiking post, I'll try to mix things up. 

Lately...

I've been going on hikes every Sunday for the last month and half. I was actually working out during the week to be in shape for our Sunday hikes. I was doing this because I didn't want to feel like I was dying  and need a chopper to come and rescue me during our hikes. Summer came along and heated things up, and weekday workouts ended. I have an elliptical in my garage, which is a great work out but with the heat lately there is no way I can work out in there. I need to stay on track with this work out high and find a way to continue to work out in this heat. My best bet would be to wake up early and work out before the mercury rises, but waking up early is probably the hardest part of my day! I need help, suggestions will work too!

TBT: New York

 

 Ever since I've known my husband the only place he's ever wanted to visit was New York city. So the second big vacation my husband and I took as a married couple was to New York city. I had gone to New York prior to getting married with my sister and friends and it was a cool experience but very tiring. I guess as an Angeleno I wasn't used to all the walking. Nobody walks in LA! Anyways, in today's TBT post I wanted to share some pictures of the trip my husband and I made to New York. These photos were taken with a basic Cannon camera.

 

To see previous TBT posts click here.

 

FBF, TBT, & WBW

If you have any sort of social media you're familiar with the hashtags #FBF,  #TBT and #WBW, if you don't you're probably wondering what do those letters stand for? I'll tell you.

FBF = Flashback Friday
TBT = Throwback Thursday
WBW = Way back Wednesday

Essentially, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday people post old pictures that were taken prior to social media being available and providing a glimpse of the past. Do you guys go back in time and share old pictures? I don't, and I have tons of old pictures. I'm not sure why I haven't joined the hashtag bandwagon, I guess I just think Instagram is about the now and as you add pictures to your profile you are creating a diary of your life. Does that make sense? However, the other day I was looking through some old pictures of the travels I have done and I found some cool pictures I thought I could share.

My first throwback/flashback/way back is from a trip to San Francisco my husband and I did in the fall of 2011. On this trip we drove up the 101 freeway and made some stops along the way. When we arrived in San Francisco we roamed the city, went to Sausalito, Muir Woods, Alcatraz and of course checked out the Golden Gate bridge.

 Keep in mind these photographs were taken on a simple camera and a cell phone. Also, don't you just hate when you take a nice picture and wish it was taken with a proper camera or take picture while walking fast trying to catch up??  Most of these pictures were taken under those circumstances. I digress, here we go...

If you live in California this is a must do road trip!

I hope you guys enjoyed this post, I'll be sharing more in the next coming weeks.

Labor Day Weekend

Can you guys believe this past weekend was Labor Day Weekend? This year has flown by! I was caught off guard and had no set plans, however somehow I found myself in San Diego and later at Venice beach. Saturday started with some light shopping and relaxing at home. 

On Sunday we woke up had a quick breakfast and headed south to San Diego. 

With nearly two hours on the road, we found ourselves passing by camp Pendleton, where the soldiers were doing training. 

Our destination was Petco Park for a Padres vs. Dodgers game. I was excited to see one of my ex favorite Dodger player's, Matt Kemp! 

Luckily we did not encounter any traffic and reached San Diego by noon. The weather was perfect, the sun was out and the skies were clear and crisp. Petco Park opened in 2004 and can be considered somewhat of a new stadium. I've been to a few ball parks and I can honestly say it's one of the nicer stadiums. It's so easy to access, it's clean, and in the middle of the city. These are some pictures of the view within and around the park. 

My husband and I try to go to San Diego once a year for the Padres vs. Dodger game. Last year, we took my parents so it was a little bittersweet for me this year. I kept thinking of how the last time I was there was with my dad. I also kept thinking of the road trips to Mexico we would take when we were younger. I tried to enjoy my time there and not  become overwhelmed with emotion. Our day ended with dinner in La Jolla and drove right back home that night.

On Labor Day, we slept in and woke up with a call from my brother in law. He was calling to invite us to Venice Beach. With no hesitation we got up threw on our swim suits and met up with my husband's family. Oh one thing you should know about my husband is, he is an avid handball player. Are you thinking handball?  the sport you played in elementary with a giant ball? Haha! No, he doesn't play that type of handball, it's considered more like American Handball or Street Handball and they use a small blue ball. Now you are probably wondering "why is she talking about handball?" I bring up the sport/game because the whole point we all went to Venice was because my husband, his dad, brother, cousin and some other friends intended to play handball at the beach while the gals and kids played on the beach. So that's exactly what we did.

These are the handball courts at Venice Beach (my husband is not in any of these pictures). 

Monday was a warm day so needless to say, the beach was packed. We soaked up the sun, enjoyed the waves, took a quick walk on the boardwalk and people watched. 

My niece found this huge clam and we were all excited!

The waves were really rough and the poor life guards were on their toes all day. 

In case you guys don't know, Venice Beach is also know as "Muscle Beach, so here are some of the muscles I saw.

With no set plans, this Labor Day weekend was pretty busy.

PS. The Dodgers won. 

PPS. These photos were taken with my iPhone 6.