It's always fun to take pictures of friends. Better still when they pick the happiest place on earth, at least.. the outskirts, a.k.a. downtown Disney. Something I already knew about them before we took pictures: They are cute and quirky, which is clearly evident in their picture choices. =) Something I learned after: They have mad hops! We shot pics for their table numbers as a fun way to personalize their wedding. An example of one:

 

And some other shots sans canvas:

 

I think Jessie's expression was pretty funny when Elton jumped with the "running man" pose.

 

And of course, if we get to play with big letters, we must give a shout out to our alma mater. Go bears!
 
This one was Elton's idea. Lol, cute. Just in case it wasn't clear enough, package = Jessie. :)
 

I just realized, as I was putting up this title, how austere it sounds. It is a far cry from the playful family that I met on Sunday. I walked around a bit before meeting them. Woodbridge is my old stomping ground, I played here a lot as a child.


I also saw some bird nests wedged up against the underside of the bridge.
 

Here is a shot of James looking extremely handsome (and sleepy) in his hat and little vest. Children's clothing is hard to resist in general, they are so cute even I want to buy them, and we don't even have any kids!

 

The laughing attempt to smush her mom's face even closer than they already were.

 
Two year olds are definitely not known for their cooperative nature. When we were taking a group photo Olivia ran away saying, "You can't catch me!" But she did it in such an adorable way I could resist snapping a shot of her mischievous face.
 
Finally we got it done right:
 
But just in case... here was another one.

 

Olivia loves to be chased.

 

When I suggested taking pictures with Carol this past weekend, I did not know that it was going to be so ridiculously hot. High 80s in the middle of April is pretty bizarre. We just packed a lot of water and hoped for the best. Carol gets some definite props for still looking good despite the heat. It also helps to have a lot of shady places to hide out in at UCLA.



It also doesn't hurt to have some interesting architecture.

 

We just got back from Chicago. Tired, but oh so happy. I got a travelin' bug in me that just can't be cured. Chicago is a beautiful city. It is the lovely, unpretentious cousin to big city glitz. We enjoyed our trip a lot, despite the chilly weather. Yes, I know, we are weak, spoiled Californians... our friend met up with us in flip flops while we were shivering in gloves and boots. Very sad.
 
Even a less observant person than I would not be able to miss all the propaganda in Chicago's bid for the Olympics.
 
We ended up staying at an apartment complex on Lake Street, which was lovely. A lot of people there are actual residents, so our apartment felt more like a home-away-from-home than a hotel.

 
The awesome view from our apartment:
 
Granted you can't rival the shot from the lounge at the John Hancock building. What you don't see pictures was the toothsome tiramisu, which vanished very quickly thanks to my husband. :P
 
Our token tourist shot from the bean.
 
The inside is what I always thought a black hole would look like.
 
A definite trip highlight was the food. There's no skirting around the issue, we just ate a lot. Some friends showed us around, so we ate two dinners that first night. He insisted that we haven't tasted a real Polish dog until this place.
 
I admit, it puts Costco's to shame. :P We were also strangely addicted to Garrett's popcorn, the Mix, which is composed of cheddar and caramel. It's a bizarre combination that actually keeps you eating far longer than you otherwise would with one flavor alone. A highlight of the trip was a walking food tour. We walked through the Gold Coast, Old Town, and Lincoln Park neighborhoods sampling food from small, local stores. Who knew Germans were so serious about their tea? Our second stop was at Tea Gschwendner (try saying that!) for some Bossa Nova Oolong.
 
We also crowded inside the kitchen at the Fudge Pot and devoured some pretty good butter toffee. I just don't want to know what goes in it! This is a shot of third generation Fudge Pot owner Dave stirring some, you guessed it, fudge.

 
This is our tour guide Nikki explaining about the different spices from the back of the Spice House.

 

We saw the original Playboy mansion during our walk.
 
And finally, the king of Chicago's tasty but unhealthy specialties? The deep dish pizza.

 

We actually got it.. twice. My favorite place was on our last night at Quartino's, a very lively scene with lots of tasty tapas. This was Tony's best attempt to ignore me, he's gotten rather desensitized to my constant need to photograph what I eat.
 
The veal meatball sliders, caprese, and risotto were extremely tasty.

 

Ok, I think I ranted enough about food for one day. =)

Here are a few pictures from a late night romp around Santa Monica and Venice.
 
We were totally blinded by some headlights while tromping over to Santa Monica Pier. Ricky stuck out his tongue, and this was the result:
 
The pier itself is not as creepy as I thought it would be. It's actually quite well lit.
 
The rising tide almost swept away my camera for this shot:

 
The ferris wheel lights washed the beach with all these funky colors.