things to remember

While I hate Kale (unless in a winter soup) and will never eat sardines - ever - the other 18 of these are good to know and think about while food shopping :)
20 Superfoods for Weight Loss

PS: I'm loving my SELF magazine lately.

things that make me smile... the summer edition

Things I love about Summer... in no particular order (except for #1... my fave food ever :)

1. Strawberries
2. My rose garden in bloom
3. Lazy Sunday mornings on my back patio with a chai and the LA Times
4. Flip flops
5. Summer Movie Blockbuster Club 
6. Bike rides 
7. John Williams at The Hollywood Bowl
8. The Stanley Cup Finals (especially this year ;)
9. Daylight till ~8pm
10. Peaches
11. 4th of July
12. BBQ's
13. Gardening
14. All-day hikes 
15. True Blood
16. Grilled asparagus
17. Vacation
18. Margaritas 
19. The Olympics
20. Big Brother
21. The farmer's market
22. Concerts at the Greek Theatre
23. Movies in the Cemetary
24. Mojitos
25. Dining al fresco on warm nights

summer fundays

Hi all.... long time, no blog. I had to recover from all the hockey insanity. (Sorry about that. I know I got a little Cup Crazy... but can you blame me? ;) Anyhoo, since the amazing event of June 11, 2012 that I still don't quite believe happened, I've been spending time catching up on life... work drama and travels, house and garden stuff, and hanging with friends.

Two weekends ago, I spent the whole weekend pretty much doing nothing but having fun enjoying the wonderment that is Southern California. Living here, I often forget how lucky I am to have a beautiful blue ocean and its beaches and breezes a mere 30-60 minutes on the evil 405 away from me. 

On Saturday, my friend Linda chartered a sailing boat out of Long Beach for her birthday and did we ever have an adventure! The captain almost fell overboard before we left the harbor and lost quite a bit of blood from a gash in her head when she slipped. But let's not focus on the negative :p She survived and we had a gorgeous day out on the ocean, watching sea lions snooze, dodging a sailboat race, and marveling at kite surfers. 

The Queen Mary

Sea lions lounging and a seagull looking for something to claim as "Mine. Mine. Mine."

Sailboats racing away from us amateurs

Wide shot of the sailboat race

Kite surfers... I was totally amazed that none of their kites got tangled up with each other. There were so many of them and they were so colorful!

Then on Sunday, I joined my biking buddy Mike for a trek with his pals down the bike path from Marina del Rey to Manhattan Beach and back -- a good 16+ miles. Super fun and relaxing on what was an absolutely gorgeous day. At one point I just sighed and Mike commented that I must have found my happy, relaxed place :) I did. Sunday Funday bike rides are going to become more of a regular occurrence I do believe... especially on days that look like this:

Looking out at Manhattan Beach Pier and the Pacific Ocean. Ahhh.

things that make me smile: awesome intro videos

I love this video. I have loved it for two months since it debuted at Game 3 of Round 2 of the playoffs vs. the St. Louis Blues. It has slightly evolved during every subsequent playoff round since April and this is my most favorite version of it :-)

great day for a parade

Today was the LA Kings Stanley Cup Victory Parade, an event I never thought I'd ever live to see ;) It was great to see all the players so relaxed and having so much fun after working so hard for the last two months. It was also great to see that really pretty shiny Cup in their hands :)

Here are a few pics from the day:
(The majority are on my Facebook page. If we're friends, go check them out there)

My "money shot" -- Dustin Brown lifts The Stanley Cup, while Anze Kopitar and Jonathan Quick hug it out. Awww.

I was taking pics of Mike Richards, Drew Doughty, Dustin Penner and Jeff Carter and didn't even notice Luuuuuc Robitaille standing right behind them until now :)

President of Business Operations Luuuuuc Robitaille addresses the team and fans 

Team photo with the hardware :)

Today was a celebration for every player who's ever worn a Kings jersey, and all the fans who cheered for them over the last 45 years. It was also for all the personnel who've worked within the Kings organization over the years to mold the team that won that Cup on Monday.

That's why this photo -- taken at the 9-11 Memorial by Kings fan Dave Krasne in New York, and posted today on Twitter with the message, "As a Kings fan in NYC, I couldn't let Mark Bavis or Ace Bailey miss the festivities" -- is so poignant.

Mark Bavis and Garnet "Ace" Bailey were LA Kings scouts who perished on one of the planes that hit the World Trade Center on 9-11. (The Kings mascot "Bailey" is named after Ace.) There is a rumor that the team is petitioning the NHL to put Mark and Ace's names on the Cup. I hope they succeed.

things that make me smile

This is awesome! I know I've always wanted to blow chocolate milk bubbles in the Stanley Cup while wearing Spider Man PJ's ;)  Dustin Brown's kids are so lucky!

la kings = 2012 stanley cup champions!

I don't really know how to put into words what I'm feeling tonight. I just watched the LA Kings win the Stanley Cup for the first time in their 45-year history, live from Section 206 at Staples Center. I expected to cry at the game when it looked like they'd win. Well, they looked like they'd win in the first period after taking advantage of a 5-minute major penalty and scoring three power play goals. I didn't cry then. I cheered. I didn't cry at the end of the game either. Instead, I started shaking with about 10 minutes left in the game. My hands, my legs... and I'm still not sure my hands have completely stopped shaking. But I didn't cry till I got home and watched my favorite current King, Captain Dustin Brown, lift the Cup, kiss it and hand it off to 35-year-old, first time Champion Willie Mitchell...



Seeing their faces close-up, hearing them speak. So happy! They worked so hard. And they did something truly remarkable. The Kings were a 75-1 long shot to win the Stanley Cup at the beginning of the season. Since then, they fired one coach, and hired another. They struggled to score goals and barely made the playoffs, scraping in as the 8th seed just two games before the end of the regular season. But once they got there, they knocked off the #1, #2 and #3 seeds in the West.

Then they took a 3-0 lead against the Eastern Champions, and one of the best goaltenders -- Martin Broudeur -- to ever play in the NHL. Games 4 and 5, which they lost due to bad luck and stupid mistakes, nearly broke me as a fan. All my doubts -- ingrained over 24 years of disappointment -- about their ability to win came back. I actually thought about selling my tickets tonight -- they were going for $1,200 to $9,999 each on stubhub.com, and I knew I couldn't sit through another three hours of nervous nausea like I'd experienced in Games 4 and 5.

But I also knew if they won tonight and I wasn't there, I'd slit my wrists. So I drove to Staples Center, for the 9th time in the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs, this time with my Dad because if they were going to win, I wanted a family member there with me to experience it. (My little brother had come with me to Game 4.) I was wearing what I wore last Monday when they won 4-0. I ordered the exact same drink and food. And I sat in the exact same seat -- row 7, seat 8. And tonight, I watched my Kings completely eviscerate that future Hall of Fame goaltender... scoring 6 goals (5 with him in net) before it was all over. They came out hard. These were the Kings of Game 3, not the Kings who let nerves get to them in Games 4 and 5. And because of that, these Kings ARE the 2012 Stanley Cup Champions!


Here are some of the sights of Game 6 -- the game when the Kings were finally crowned Champions!

From the awesome pre-game video:

After goals by Dustin Brown, Jeff Carter and Trevor Lewis during the 5-minute major boarding penalty (Rob Scuderi really took one for the team with that hit. So glad he wasn't seriously injured and came back to play. He's really gonna feel that tomorrow, but something tells me he won't care :)

Jeff Carter scores goal #2 for him and #4 for the rest of us :)

Me and Dad during 2nd intermission... kinda grainy cuz I had to pump up the color levels to make us visible under the super-bright florescent lights.

The final stats

Dustin "Pancakes" Penner (who said he'd mix pancake batter in the bowl of the Cup if he won it again ;) passes Lord Stanley's Cup to Jonathan Quick.

Conn Smythe Winner, Stanley Cup Champ and most likely Vezina Trophy Winner Jonathan Quick hoists the Cup!

Drew Doughty celebrates!

The Captain presents the Cup to the Kings elusive owner Phil Anschutz at the bench.

Luuuuuuuuuuc Robitaille finally lifts the Cup as a KING!! (He won it as a player, but had to go to Detroit to do it)

Willie Mitchell with the Cup, surrounded by press, players and their families

The photo I've been waiting 24 years for! (Love that Luc and former King/now special assistant to the coach Bernie Nicholls snuck in there on the right :)

And this just makes me smile.. Dustin Brown with one of his three mini-me sons (photo stolen from the awesome LA Kings twitter feed :)