oh hi ojai

So I've been wanting to go to Ojai, CA for years... ever since I read about the amazing Ojai Valley Inn & Spa in In Style Magazine a long,  long time ago.

While I haven't made it to my weekend getaway packed with wine and massages surrounded by lush green hills, today I did finally make it to Ojai, for the happens-once-a-year (usually on the hottest day of the year) Ojai Valley Lavender Festival.

Luckily, I was with friends who'd been to the festival before. So we left the San Fernando Valley for the hour or so drive north to the Ojai Valley at 8:30am and arrived just as the festival was opening at 10am. It's not a large event... it takes place in Libbey Park on Ojai Avenue and consists of about 40 booths with local artists and vendors. But once it hits about 11:30 the place is packed.





Since we arrived early, we were able to buy delicious lavender sugar cookies and pound cake before the Island Breeze Macaroons and More booth -- that makes lavender infused baked good just for the festival -- sold out (which they looked close to doing when we passed by again around noon on our way back to the car).  I'm enjoying one of the cookies right now with a cup of hot tea :)

I was also able to be choosy about the bunches of fresh lavender I bought (2 bunches for $9) from the Rivendell Aromatics booth, which was mobbed as we left.

My final lavender purchase of the day was lavender lemonade -- delish! The nice woman at the Lori's Original Lemonade booth even suggested mixing it with vodka to give it a kick. A woman after my own heart :)

At the festival, we also learned that owls are still trendy... at least at the Ojai Raptor Center, where they rehab and release birds of prey... like this real owl and hawk who were just hanging out, staring and being stared at all day.

(Sidenote: While I know they were there to educate people, I could've done without seeing the stuffed and mounted birds [or in some cases, just their big beautiful wings] in the booth :(   )

Once we were done walking the festival in about an hour, we did a little shopping across the street and enjoyed the small town feel a mere hour and a half from cray-cray LA.

It was amazing to see that people in town had already put out their folding lawn chairs along the main boulevard, claiming their spots for the 4th of July parade. And, while they were roped down/together so no one could walk off with them, I got the feeling that, except for all us out-of-towners-from-the-big-city, no one in Ojai would even think of doing such a thing.

We ended our day trip with lunch at a lovely local Italian restaurant, Boccali's, which had amazing cheese bread and pesto, and huge helpings of homemade lasagna and spaghetti with meat sauce and homemade meatballs. But the absolute BEST thing they had was homemade strawberry shortcake! The perfect way to end a day that started with things of my favorite color and ended with my favorite fruit/food on the planet :)  

great day for a parade... the 2014 championship edition

Been a little busy at work since I played hooky on June 16th to go downtown and cheer on my TWO-time Stanley Cup Champion LA Kings, so here's a bunch of the photos I took two weeks ago on an awesome Southern California Monday-Funday :)

Ranger Hater Juanita and Me waiting for the Parade

Jeff Carter (77), Marion Gaborik (12) and Mike Richards (10)

Trevor Lewis (22), Drew Doughty (8) & Alec
Martinez (27) with the Campbell Bowl

Tanner Pearson (70), Tyler Toffoli (73), Martin Jones (31),
Jeff Schultz (55) and Dwigtht King (74)

Jarret Stoll (28), Matt Greene (2), Willie Mitchell (33) and Justin Williams (14)

Conn Smythe Trophy Winner Justin Williams (14)

Jonathan Quick (32), Dustin Brown (23), Anze Kopitar (11) and Lord Stanley's Cup

Jonathan Quick (32), Dustin Brown (23) and Anze Kopitar (11)... with confetti 

KOPI!

QUICKIE! 

The party bus... Alec Martinez (27), Drew Doughty (8) and Trevor Lewis (22)

Team photo with lots of trophies :) 

the morning after... things to save for posterity :)

Thanks to SI.com for this great wrap up of coverage of last night's win, including a 2 minute, 55 second video nicely summarizing what happened over 80 minutes and 28 seconds of play last night.

But here's the most important thing that happened:



Then this happened, which was the BEST thing:



I can't wait for the Kings "Stanley Cup Moments 2014" video series to start rolling out!

stanley cup champions ... again!

Approximately two years ago, I wrote a blog post here about the LA Kings first Stanley Cup Championship. As a long time Kings fan, that was a night I'd waited more than two decades for. It was unbelievable and amazing.

Tonight, on Friday the 13th, those same (for the most part) Kings did it again, becoming the 2014 Stanley Cup Champions.

This year, it was a lot harder. They were down 0-3 in the first round. They won in seven games, becoming only the fourth team in Stanley Cup history to come back and win from that deficit. They won rounds 2 and 3 in seven games too, with round 3 vs 2013 Champs Chicago being a double overtime win, courtesy of defensemen Alec Martinez.

In these Finals vs the New York Rangers, the Kings won Game 1 in OT. They won Game 2 in Double OT. They shut the Rangers out 3-0 in Game 3, and then lost Game 4, 1-2. The Rangers would not go down easily. Tonight, proved that point. Game 5 of the Finals went to Double OT too, with Alec Martinez once again scoring the double OT winner in what was the longest game in LA Kings history.

2012 was, after decades of trying, a remarkably easy playoff run.

2014 was hard!! And it proved you should never give up. And that if you #believe, anything is possible, even winning the most special trophy in all of sports.

Being present in the building for Double OT with that great trophy in the building... that close.. just waiting to be won... was mentally draining.

So rather than pontificate further about how special this win is (trust me, it is). Or how awesome this team is (cuz they are), I'm just going to post some photos and then go have a celebratory cocktail made from my legit Russian vodka I only break out on very special occasions... because being a Kings fan this year was awesome, but totally exhausting :)

Celebrating the double OT winner! (Well, the Kings and the crowd are. Lundqvist is likely not.)

Dad and Me. He's now 2-0 in Stanley Cup Championship games :)

The Conn Smythe Trophy

Conn Smythe Winner as Playoff MVP, Justin Williams, is congratulated by Anze Kopitar (#11)

Here comes The Cup!

The Stanley Cup!

Kings Captain Dustin Brown raises the Cup for the second time in three seasons!

Gaborik raises the Cup!

2014 Stanley Cup Champions!

LUUUUUUUC

Jonathan Quick (#32, center holding his daughter) and Anze Kopitar (#11, background) celebrate with their families on the ice.

one more win to believe in...

Two years ago the LA Kings coasted through the first 3 rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs to face the New Jersey Devils in the Stanley Cup Finals.

They won games 1 and 2 in overtime. Game 3 was a shutout at home. Game 4, the would've-been sweep was an anxiety-ridden mess. Game 5 in NJ was also a loss as the Devils fought for their lives. 

Game 6 was back in LA. In the 1st period, the Devils smashed Rob Scuderi's face into the glass, resulting in a 5-minute major penalty that the Kings scored three goals on. Before the night was over, they would score three more, giving up only one to the Eastern Conference Champs, on their way to their first-ever Stanley Cup Championship in 45 years.

That was June 11, 2012.

The 2013-14 LA Kings spent the first three rounds of the 2014 playoffs making history by coming from 0-3 to win Round 1, and then making more history by winning all three series in Game 7 on the road. Tonight, they shut out the New York Rangers 3-0 in Game 3 of the Finals, to take a 3-0 series lead.

They have now won 15 games this post-season. They need to win one more game to take back hockey's holy grail.

Stanley Cup Finals 2014, Game 4 is this Wednesday night.

This Wednesday is June 11.

#believe


PS: If needed, Game 5 in LA is on Friday the 13th. My superstitious self kinda feels that's when the 16th win will come. It would only be appropriate for such a superstitious sport (and superstitious Kings fans like me, who have tickets to Game 5 ;) #knockonwoodnowhammiesnojinxes #gokingsgo

don't stop believing

When these Stanley Cup playoffs started back in April, I had little hope for anything spectacular to happen for my LA Kings. I love them dearly, but the Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks had dominated them -- and most other teams -- this season and, while you always hope for the best, I didn't want to let myself get too invested.

I felt this was an extremely good strategy once the Kings went down 0-3 to the San Jose Sharks in Round 1.

But then something happened. They did what most thought impossible -- and made history in the process -- by becoming only the 4th team in NHL history to come back from 0-3 to win a playoff series. And this became the new battle cry/hashtag of Kings fans:

Then they did something even more unexpected. They beat the Ducks... again in a hard-fought 7-game series.

And with that win, I started to hope... I got invested. The Kings went up 3-1 against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks. I couldn't believe it! It seemed too easy. But it didn't stay that way for long. The Kings were one win away from the Stanley Cup Finals ... for 3 games (including a nauseating Game 5 double OT loss). That's how much the Blackhawks refused to go away quietly. They kept fighting. They were winning. And we were once again headed to Game 7. I began to talk myself out of my investment... it would be easier to watch the Kings start golfing if I was mentally prepared in advance.

All day today I was prepared for the worst...  even though the players in tonight's Kings lineup had a combined record of 64-2 in Game 7's. (A factoid of hope :)

I could only half-watch the game today... I busied myself with other things in view of the TV because it was too stressful, too close a game to really pay close attention to. Chicago went up by 2 goals early. The Kings got one goal back. Then "Mr. Game 7," Justin Williams, tied it up. 12 seconds later Chicago scored again. Then the Kings tied it again. Then Chicago went up 4-3. Then, the Kings tied it again, 4-4.

Then there was a 4.2 earthquake in Southern California. I took this as a sign... of what I wasn't sure. But when the game went to sudden death overtime three minutes later, I decided to watch from my kitchen, because that's where I'd been for at least two of the Kings four goals. (Yes, I'm totally superstitious when it comes to the Kings. Anyone who knows me should know this by now.)

While I was in there, pacing about, trying not to care, Mr, Game 7 fed a pass to Alec Martinez, who took a shot from just inside the point. That shot flew over Corey Crawford's shoulder and the game was over. The Kings were taking their second trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in three seasons!



With that shot, the LA Kings became the first team in NHL history to win three Game 7's on the road in order to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.

I screamed. I rewound the Tivo to watch it again... closely. I started typing a Facebook status update. My phone started going nuts with texts. My brother, the big game jinx, called from the Chili's in Temecula (where he was watching the game before he joins the San Diego Forestry Service tomorrow) to explain they won because he was able to do Jim Beam rally shots at the bar, and they don't carry Jim Beam at Staples Center, which is why they lose when he's there. (Umm... okaaay.)

Then this happened, and like a good Captain, Brownie did NOT touch the Clarence Campbell Bowl, awarded each year to the Western Conference CHAMPIONS! (That's bad luck for those of you who aren't superstitious. I hope the Rangers touched their trophy.)



The Kings need to win four more games to win hockey's holy grail. So now, we start the insanity all over again on Wednesday at 5pm at Staples Center. Game 1 vs. the mostly hated (at least by everyone I know) New York Rangers. It's the NHL's dream Final: New York vs. Los Angeles. And the Kings finally have home ice advantage. Which means the next Game 7 they win will finally be at home. However, if they'd like to win Games 1 and 2 at home, and then one in New York, and then win that 4th game at home in Game 5, that would be totally acceptable.

They can do it, right? We just have to #believe!

things that make me smile: new pets (sort of)

For the last few weeks I've been awoken multiple mornings by loud, incessant chirping. Every spring, birds build a nest in the tree near my patio, but every time I went out to look for the cause of the incessant chirping, it was empty.

I was totally perplexed... until yesterday, when I finally decided to go cut back my totally overgrown jasmine vines wrapping around and now growing over the top of my patio's pergola posts.

I started cutting away with my pruning shears from the top down and then stopped in my tracks. Some crazy birds built a nest IN the jasmine vines! Now the jasmine has been there for years and some vines have thickened into tiny branches, but it's still not something strong enough I'd trust my kids to. But I guess when you've got the protective personalities of this Mama and Papa bird, maybe the camouflage outranked weight requirements.

Here's a shot of the two very loud babies in the nest today, who were smart enough to basically bury themselves in the bottom of the nest when I was pruning and first saw them yesterday:

And here's a close up shot of the bigger of the two, snapped literally 10 seconds before Mama and Papa bird coordinated a dive-bomb attack towards my head from my roof where they were keeping a watchful eye on the nest. (I told you they were protective!).

I just took a dish of bird seed out there to make peace (I hope...). Based on a quick google search based on how the adults and babies look, and then reading about defensive parental nature, I've decided these are a family of Northern Mockingbirds. If there are any trained bird watchers out there who know for sure, let me know :)