Family Photography

This week my family was up in Cayucos, a small beach town on the Central Coast of California, for a family vacation. We hadn't all been together in about three years, so we were very excited to see each other and have a good, fun and relaxing time.
My sweet mother really wanted actual evidence that we were all in the same spot at the same time, and she wanted to hang this evidence in the house for all to see. No one really considers posing for family photos as fun or relaxing, but if we were going to do "Family Pictures" we might as well do them right. Instead of asking a passerby or relative to do the job, we started searching online for actual photographers. I remembered an old friend from Cal Poly who I heard was still in the photography business in the area - everyone liked his website, and he gave us a great deal, so we went with Jay C. Winter Photography.
Jay came over and okay-ed our outfits (similar colors but Not Matching!) We walked down to the beach and he helped us get comfortable and took a whole bunch of our whole family, just the kids, just the girls/boys, etc...
Our family has never had an expert take our pictures, and it was fun to know that we were going to get some good pictures for my parents to have for a long time to come.
Taking pictures is never the fun part - after our wedding the last thing I wanted to do was take pictures - I was envious of everyone else playing volleyball and horseshoes while eating cheese and drinking wine. But as fun as our wedding was, it's the pictures that help me remember, and it's the pictures that are hanging on our wall.
While it was hard to stop playing frisbee at beach, put down our cookies, get out of the jacuzzi and get ready for  pictures, I'm glad my mom motivated us to take a couple hours out of the day to capture the vacation as a whole! And we were so blessed to know someone nearby to take beautiful and creative photos.
Do you know someone interested and talented in photography? Next time the family is all together, give your photographer friend a chance to exercise their skills and capture your memories better than a local passer-by by might.
Here are some more friend photographers... who do you know and where are they located?
Lauren Ristow - Arizona
Jay Winter - Central Coast, California
Sissel Byington  - Southern Californa

Your Suggestions are Linked!

Jason Glenn - Texas
Daniel Beckham - Orange County, California
Allison Jean - Texas

What Wonders Await the Waddling Ones?

Unfortunately these days I have a full time inside office job. This makes it hard sometimes to be exploring, and easy to be sitting in a cold, dark air conditioned room for eight hours a day eating trays of someone's birthday cake or plates of goldfish crackers lying around. Needless to say, I feel much more waddly than wandery. During my breaks I try to be outside to get some sun and fresh air, but sitting in an office all day is not easy. However, because I'm inside and sitting down for much of the day, I have a great new appreciation for walking. Whereas before Jordi and I might venture out on a nice night or to get ice cream downtown, I now relish and demand these walks daily. Whether I'm by myself or have company, I've discovered how nice it is to walk in the evenings. It's the time after dinner where I can talk with Jordi about our days - or if I'm by myself, I can catch up on phone calls or just relax while walking. It helps you digest,  gets jitters out so you can sleep better, and the best news for those with a companion - you also have a captive audience! :)

Try going for a walk this week after dinner - even a short one. I'm hoping that with enough walking, my waddling will turn back into wandering...

Stay-cation

In our not-so-fabulous economy, the so called "stay-cation", or a vacation close to home, has recently gained more popularity. I can appreciate this living in San Clemente - a small, fun beach town in Southern California - why leave?
Jordi and I got married on Memorial Day Weekend three years ago, and were racking our brains trying to figure out what to do for our anniversary this year. Road trips and camping are affordable, but not always romantic. But we also didn't want to spend $100-$200 a night on a hotel - not to mention gas, food, and everything else that comes along with leaving town.
We were planning on spending the night at our friend's apartment in Laguna since she thought she would be gone, but when her plans fell through, we ended up staying at our own apartment in San Clemente. And we had a really nice, perfect, relaxing and romantic weekend "getaway".
While you may think you could never have a vacation in your everyday surroundings, I found that much of vacation is a state of mind. Also, just making a few changes around the house and adjusting your perspective can shift your focus from "work day" to "vacation". This is the perfect opportunity to go, see, or do all those things in your area you've always wanted to but have never had the chance.
First of all, inform everyone that needs to know that you are going on vacation and won't be available. You don't need to mention that you will actually still be in town.
Clean your house like someone really important is coming over.
Pack your suitcase and get ready to go.
Then go somewhere for the whole day. California is full of towns, beaches or mountains that are easy to spend the entire day enjoying. The idea is to drive under an hour and be able to spend all day walking, eating, exploring somewhere new and spending time together as if on vacation. Get far enough away so that you have to stop and buy lunch, not go home for a sandwich!
For us, this was going to Laguna Beach for the whole day. We had breakfast somewhere we had never been, and walked all up and down the town and beach, stopping at a cheese shop along the way for fresh sandwiches and homemade macarons - amazing! After more walking, we got some of the best gelato in town before heading back to the hotel, I mean home...
For a fancy dinner we got supplies from Gelson's, an upscale super market, and bought fresh lobster they sell for $10 a pound - they come live, but they'll steam and clean them free of charge!
The next morning we had breakfast on our balcony and went through our "marriage packet" - all the questions and issues we had to discuss before we got married, and is good to do every year or so.
After an afternoon at the beach, we went to Massage Envy  - not spending money on gas or a hotel left us resources to splurge for some massages!
In the evening we went surfing at San O, where neither of us have been in years. The waves were super fun, and it was a beautiful evening.
We were starving by the time we got to La Rocco's - a pizza parlor downtown where we've walked by  a dozen times, and always wanted to try.
The rest of the evening was spent going over our new budget for the year - one of those things we never have time to do during the year, so it becomes an anniversary routine - woohoo!
AAAALLLLLL that to say - by purposefully not using our computers, cell phones, or watching TV, and by cleaning the house, eating special things or in special locations, doing everything we've wanted to do but have never done made it feel completely like a vacation. Most of the places we went or things we did were firsts - massages, state beach, new restaurants, lobster dinners - all of these were new experiences and made us feel like we were on vacation. Also, just taking the time to have good converstaions is half of what makes a good and relaxing vacation.

Beach Trail

Probably the best idea San Clemente ever had was to make the Beach Trail. Before the trail, the town along the coast was not connected at all, and the only way to walk along the beach was during low tide or along the train tracks. The trail connects 'North Beach' at the North San Clemente train station, down past the pier and all the way to 'State Beach' next to the Calafia campgrounds.  The Coastal Trail is 2.3 miles long, with dirt paths and whitewater views the whole way.
So why would I not take advantage of this every day?
Usually when I go running, I try to get over with as quickly as possible, starting and ending my run at the bottom of our stairs. I start by plugging in my ipod earphones to drown out the assortment of loud and obnoxious noises in our neighborhood, including the omnipresent beastly trash trucks, leaf blowers, cars, street sweeping trucks, construction cranes two blocks over, and tractors at the hardware store across the street. It's actually a bit chaotic in our neighborhood, and sometimes I get the feeling my jog has turned in to a dance of dodging moving vehicles. In fact, one time as I crossed the street I got ran into by a car that didn't come to a complete stop.
But still I kept pounding the pavement.
Then our new roommate, Laura, came to live with us, and we decided to go running together in the mornings. She wanted to utilize the bit of time she had to run along the ocean. You mean DRIVE in order to RUN? It was a bit of a foreign concept to me, but I agreed.
We had fantastic mornings getting exercise and chatting along the quiet beach trail, and I noticed I wasn't thinking about getting run over. Also, it only took about two minutes to drive from our house to North Beach, so I found it wasn't too much time "wasted" driving.
When Laura moved out to her own apartment in Laguna Beach, I forgot my motivation to drive to the beach in order to run. Then one especially loud "Busy Town" morning I decided I would give it another try, even without my morning partner.
This time I had no one to talk to, so I brought my ipod. But when I got there and heard the birds chirping and the ocean crashing, realized I wanted to hear the sounds, not drown them out. I spent the whole jog listening to the peaceful morning sounds, and found myself thinking, mentally organizing, and just being peaceful in my head. In Spanish there is word, 'quieta' which means 'still', and connotes calm and quiet. This is the word that comes to my head when I think about running along the beach trail. It's nice exercise, but perhaps even more valuable is the 'quieta' that comes along with it.  Unfortunately, our busy world includes constantly listening to music, watching TV, seeing or hearing advertisements, driving or being around cars, talking or being talked to - and we forget how delicious it feels to simply just be. So yes, I'll run to that ;)

Temecula

I have always been slightly curious about wine tasting in Temecula and this weekend Jordi and I got the opportunity to check it out for ourselves. A good friend of mine recently graduated from her Masters program in San Diego and invited a group of friends to go wine tasting in Temecula.  I think the success of Temecula as a wine tasting region is largely based on it's proximity to San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles and Riverside - over 30 million California residents have only to drive about an hour to get into the pretty hills and vineyards in southwest Riverside County.

However, if you are actually "into" wine, I wouldn't suggest going to Temecula. Although it's proximity to SoCal residents and the beauty of the hills are great, wine tasting itself is a bit overdone and merchandised. On  the other hand, if you like Las Vegas or Disneyland versions of things, then maybe Temecula is for you. As I wandered around the gigantic tasting rooms looking at countryside murals on the wall, racks of retail and the hundreds of people crowded around, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was at "Paso Robles, SLO County" located on the Vegas Strip.
Where was the vintner with his stained hands from field work, pouring his latest and greatest creation to a few people packed inside the shed doubling as a tasting room?
Where were all the middle aged moms (since Tasting Room Attendants are the only jobs in that area) who have been working there for years and know the names of the field worker's kids?
Where are all the Cal Poly Viticulture majors who have memorized every type of grape in every bottled blend, and love to spout it off to you?
Or the tasting rooms which are actually (gasp) empty when you walk in?
That is what I love about wine tasting - getting out into the country, seeing a slow pace and hard work, learning to appreciate every aspect that goes into creating something to be proud of. And this is what you discover as you meet, sip and talk with the people.
It's almost sad to see wine tasting so commercialized. When you take the relationships out of it, basically it's just drinking little tastes of random so-so wine from some guy at the counter that has a million other people he's pouring for and little time to chat. Like a massive bar in the middle of the hills where everyone feels sophisticated as they pay $20 for a tasting.

Yes, we had a great time with our friends, and I was pleasantly surprised how beautiful the countryside was. Wine tasting in Temecula is a fun event if you are prepared for it - like getting pizza at "New York, New York" or BBQ shrimp from the Blue Bayou at Disneyland. Not exactly the real deal, but if you don't mind paying a wad, you get a fun time with your friends somewhere more exciting than Chili's.

Have you been to Temecula, and what did you think? Have you been wine tasting anywhere else, and what is that like?

Art After Dark

Salt Fine Art

When I was in college, the first Friday of the month my friends and I would head to downtown San Luis Obispo for "Art After Dark", where art galleries would stay open late offering drinks and a chance to look at their art, while we would get to meander in places we normally wouldn't go (AKA fancy galleries).

This week a friend of mine invited us to go to Laguna Beach for their monthly "Art Walk". It's essentially the same thing as in San Luis Obispo, and I forgot how much fun it is! Even luckier for me, my friend who invited us used to work at a gallery in Laguna, so she knew which were good galleries to visit.

The "Art Walk" in Laguna goes from 6-9 p.m. the first Thursday of the month. Art and jewelry galleries use this event as a chance to get their names out and become more familiar to the locals. Locals use the event to socialize and see new art. It's much less intimidating to walk into a gallery when there are lots of people milling about than if you walk in by yourself any other time of the week. Most galleries offer wine or water as you roam about, and some even have cookies and other treats! :)

One of the first galleries we went to ended up being my favorite -  Salt Fine Art, in South Laguna. I never would have stopped off the road on a normal day to visit this place, but it was really fun and I liked the style of art.

Aside from being able to freely visit otherwise intimidating galleries, it's also fun to walk around the busy town with crowds of other people out and about enjoying the night air. In my opinion, we all need something to do to give us an excuse to go outside, walk around town with friends, and run into people we know - and Art Walk is a fun, relaxed and even educational way to do just that!

Swim Lessons

Ole Hanson Beach Club at North Beach,  San Clemente

The small pool is only 2-3 feet deep - a few hours in there can definitely give some back pain

Ole Hanson pool was built in the 1920's as a private beach club and remains a proud fixture of San Clemente. Now the city's only public pool, in between lap swim, aqua aerobics, and swim team practices, it also offers swim lessons to families every summer. The swim lessons are extremely affordable, and most San Clementians learn to swim at this historic little pool.

Unfortunately, cheap swim lessons usually mean crowded conditions and underpaid instructors.... After working there last summer, I promised myself a new job before I would have to deal with lessons again. But last Monday came around and before I knew it, there I was squatting in two feet of tepid water learning names, fixing goggles, and singing 'Wheels on the Bus'.
So far the kids and parents have been pretty well-behaved. (It's generally agreed among instructors that one of the worst part about swim lessons are the parents who don't discipline their kids, show up 10 minutes late, or throw a fit when their child is moved to a lower level - among other things)

So far no crazy parents, just kids being kids...
I always get the few that show up with stuff all over their face and chin:
Me - "Hi Emily! What did you have for lunch?"
Emily - "Pizza!!"
Me - "You don't say....Can't wait to be swimming with the remains."

And no matter how many times I say to keep their hands on the wall, and only jump when I call their name, some little boy always decides it would be a great idea to get out of the pool when I'm not looking and jump in at the other end. And then they're surprised that they sink to the bottom. But when I pull them out of the water, sputtering and half-drowned, they turn around and yell, "Hey Bwian, (cough) did you see me? (cough, cough) I just jumped in by myself!!"
Me - "Yup, which is exactly why you get a time-out." (And don't get any ideas, Brian)

Oh the joys, but the kids are quite endearing despite myself. Like when I say, "Alright, who wants to go on the kick board next?" and the entire class bursts out with MEEE!! MEE! ME MEME! MEME MEE! I'm always quite astounded. I don't think kick boarding is THAT fun, but I'm glad they like it.

Or when I tell them that the whole pool is their favorite ice cream, so they have to make their scoopers (cupped hands) as big as possible so they can scoop as much ice cream as possible. Then I ask what is their favorite ice cream and they respond, BANILLA!!!!

 It's exhausting, but when kids aren't spoiled, they're actually quite funny. And although I'm still looking for other employment, this first session back into teaching has been pretty entertaining.
Although for the record - private lessons are SO much more effective and worth the extra cash, in my opinion. I spend so much class time trying to keep order, making goggles tighter or less tight, trying to comfort the kid clinging to wall repeating "help, help, help, help..." while making sure another kid isn't off trying to kill himself with his fearlessness.

So take it from a veteran and often frazzled city employee -
-Get there on time
-Clean off faces and and rub in sunscreen (I hate it when parents hand me a white, slippery three-year-old)
-Make sure goggles fit, or better yet let them be in the water without them - their eyes will be fine and they won't be so ultra dependent on them.
- And if you can, get private lessons.