Summer 2012 Road Trip Part 3

Photo adventure story continued.

After our short mid-day excursion in Los Angeles we headed south to the Citadel Outlet Mall.

When my friend suggested this particular mall as one of your stops, I had reservations, mainly because of its location. If you're familiar with Los Angeles, you'll know why. But, once I researched it on Google Earth -- to be honest not until we actually drove onto the parking lot -- I felt more at ease.

It turned out to be a good outing, especially after I found a cute pair of sandals. 

After a few hours of shopping bliss, we headed home...that is until my friend had a craving for a Marceline's candy apple from Disneyland.

We still had some adventure in us and before you could say Mickey Mouse, we were turning left at the light and towards Downtown Disney.

 This place can easily transform an adult into a kid again.

 

 My camera battery ran out of juice by this time of the day. After numerous tries, this is the best picture I could get of Tigger and Piglet. I loved this display.

 Disney fireworks. Oooooh. Aaaaah

 My most fave purchase of the day was this limited edition Mickey Mouse tote bag. I happened to be at the right place at the right time.
Thank you to my friend who bought enough Disney pins for her nephews to qualify for the bag. :-)

 And, you can't leave Disney without a Mickey Mouse chocolate chip cookie. Yum!

Downtown Disney is such a lively place at night. Anyone living in the area or if you happen to be vacationing in Orange County and you want to catch a movie, enjoy live entertainment, or just want to hang out with Mickey and friends, this is the place for you.  It rained in the late evening, but stopped just in time for the fireworks show.
So, there it is, my road trip in pictures. Not sure when the next adventure will be considering the new school year starts in a couple of weeks.
Summer vacay is coming to an end.
I hope everyone is having a great summer while it last!
TTFN :-)

Summer 2012 Road Trip Part 2

A few days have gone by and for a minute I had forgotten I needed to continue my RT photo story.  Trying to edit pictures is tough. So many pictures,  so little space. 

Summer2012 Road Trip continues.
Grand Central Station:

With its beautiful wood beams, floor-to-ceiling windows, beautifully tiled floors and circular chandeliers, you feel teeny tiny walking through the station. 

This particular waiting room was closed to the public but managed to lean over the barrier and take some pictures.

This guy was an employee -- couldn't resist taking a picture of his gorgeous hair. After I snapped the picture, I went up to him and told him so. He was very nice.

 

Walking back to the car, we saw an ice cream truck promoting the movie Ice Age and handing out snow cones. The snow cone was a welcome treat in such a hot humid day.

I had to take a picture of these beautiful palm trees lining the Grand Central Station drive way. To me this says,

 (to quote a line from the movie Pretty Woman. Also, I annoyingly kept saying it all day long. Heehee)

"Welcome to Hollywood! What's your dream?"

  Stay tuned for Part 3. :-)

Summer 2012 Road Trip

It was that time of year again...

time to hit the road.

Our destination: Philippe's Original French Dipped Sandwich Shop in Los Angeles.

One of the oldest eateries in LA, located near Olvera Street, China Town and surrounding historical landmarks.

Little did we know our day would end at the happiest place on earth but, first...

we had to endure the insane freeway traffic -- an adventure in itself.

LA freeways are the worst!

Where do all these cars come from and where are they going?

Starbucks coffee, a bagel and a few hours later, we arrived.

 My feet were numb from sitting for so long.

Philippe's has their own parking lot for customers, which made it that much easier and quicker to get our sandwich.

I didn't know what to expect before walking in but, I was pleasantly surprised.

The lunch hour rush was in full swing but the ladies behind the counter were so efficient, we didn't wait very long at all. With plenty of seating throughout the first floor as well as the second. 

After our meal we explored the building. If only these walls could talk. The restaurant walls are decorated with plaques and newspaper articles sharing the history. You can also find a souvenir shop by one of the entrances.

BTW, I had the turkey dipped sandwich. It was delish!

After lunch we crossed the street to Olvera St. to fill our day with Mexican culture.
We were planning to go to ArtWalk after lunch, thank goodness we decided against it. Late in the evening we heard reports about riots in the streets of downtown caused by a group not related to the Artwalk organization.

Walking down the VERY short street, we saw traditional candies and artifacts from Mexico.

We toured an adobe house built in 1818; known to be one of the oldest in LA.

We saw a stuffed burro ready for its photo-op.

After our tour we headed across the street to Union Station.

Gorgeous inside and out. If anyone ever has the opportunity to take the train to LA, I hope Union Station is one of your stops.

continued on the next post. :-)

Exercising Can Be Dangerous

So much for trying to tone up my arms.

My 5lb helper here did a number on my left wrist a few weeks ago.

Already on shaky ground, the World of Weider hand weight pretty much finished it off.

Ouch!

I went from a hand weight to a hand brace. My carpal tunnel flared up and with a swollen wrist, it was impossible to do much of anything for a couple of days.

Thankfully, it's much better now.

As long as I don't have to twist my wrist much, life is peachy.

knitting-wise: I finished the last stitch of my friend's nephew's baby blanket.

I'm dreading weaving the loose ends right now. It was a dream working with this yarn, which resulted in a thick, warm, and very cushion(y) blanket. Love it!

I need to step it up though because the little guy leaves on Friday. 

If interested, project deets are on my Ravelry page. 

I was thinking of top-stitching his name, maybe inside of some sort of a cloud design, to the top band with a contrasting yarn. I welcome any fun ideas.  

A work in progress.

As of late, blogging has definitely taken a backseat to everything.
Summer vacation started last week.
Warm weather. Sewing. Reading blogs. Road Trips.
Let's see what else this summer has in store for me.
What are your summer plans?
Have a great week.

For Baby Brother

My Sunday Night

That is all.
Have a great week!