Category Archives: Guest Post

A California Fall

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A California Fall–Guest Post!!

You MAY have noticed (Or NOT) that I have been a bit MIA as of late. Well that is in large part due to trying to find work again now that school is back in session, but it is mostly due to my grandpa landing in the hospital suddenly (he is 92) with a brain bleed and needing an emergency surgery to get all the blood drained out. Pics to follow in another post of the end result of that (nothing gross I promise!!)  I am happy to say he is out now, but things won’t be the same as he shouldn’t be driving anymore, so there are still many details to figure out regarding his and my grandmas care from here on out as they are used to doing E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G for themselves. When I had asked the lovely ladies from the  SoCal Lady Bloggers group if anyone would be interested in guest posting for me in my absence, Maribel was the first one to jump at the chance to help me out. 🙂 So a heartfelt THANK YOU goes out to her!! I truly hope I will be able to start catching up on everything I would like to post about sooner rather than later. 🙂 For now though, enjoy this great post by Maribel, from Stroller Adventures, about a season that those in other states most likely would say doesn’t exist in California; BUT if you look carefully, there are many subtle hints that Fall has indeed arrived to sunny California (just don’t try looking in my backyard for clues of it being fall… all of my roses and the jasmine seem to think it must be in the middle of spring as they are blooming like crazy right now! Must post pictures of that! 😉

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I love reading all about Erin and what she does in Los Angeles, so when she mentioned she was looking for guest bloggers I jumped at the opportunity. My name is Maribel and I blog at Stroller Adventures about my adventures in parenting two very inquisitive kids, I also love cooking and experimenting with food and different flavors. Fall is my favorite season of the year.

The calendar says it is Fall…

 

Yet here in California we all know Fall is not officially here, we know we still have a couple of weeks of heat and we can still wear flip-flops along with some shorts.

Fall is different though in many, many ways.

Have you noticed how the sun’s light has changed in the last couple of days?

Have you noticed there is a bit of a temperature change to a cooler, breezier night?

Leaves on trees are turning into different hues of orange, red and brown. Some of them are already falling onto the ground.

We are seeing more and more pumpkin patches pop up and get ready for a new season, a new year of activities where families will visit and search for that perfectly plump pumpkin that will be turned into a ghoulish jack-o lantern come Halloween.

A new season brings new options of foods and comfort meals. Our family has a favorite fall fruit: Pomegranate.

Fall festivals are also fun, all throughout California you can find them. Our favorite one in San Diego is the Julian Apple Days Festival this festival is all things apple! it is the perfect setting for it too. In the mountains of San Diego County you will find Julian a little countryside town that is popular for its apple pies. This celebration takes place on October 6th and 7th at Menghini Winery it features apple displays, music and dancing. There are children’s activities too and apple pies!

 

You can enjoy this wonderful festival from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Admission is $5.00 per adult and children 12 and under are FREE.

There are many more festivals all throughout California, which one is your favorite?

LA Girl In Minnesota… Guest Post from Jamie–> Minnesota Girl In LA

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I had also asked Jamie, over at Minnesota Girl in LA  to write-up a post for me since I am visiting her home state of Minnesota right now! Here is her wonderful post about fun things to do and see if you are ever in the state of 10,000 lakes… Minnesota!! 🙂

Erin asked me to write about my favorite Minnesota places since she’s out visiting there right now.  Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve had to sit down and think about some of my favorite places from the state I grew up in.

I grew up in the Twin Cities area, to be more specific, the southern suburbs.  Think Lakeville, Apple Valley, Eagan, Burnsville area, or south of St. Paul.  
Some of my all-time favorite places in Minnesota were:

  1. Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

Just being able to walk along these gardens during the winter or even the spring time to see what artists would create, or more so, try to pin point what they were thinking was enjoyable for me.  And of course, the iconic Cherry in the Spoon Picture.

 

 

 

 

 

Cherry and the Spoon

  1. Lake Calhoun

I loved to rollerblade, and often, during the summer I would go to one of the popular Minnesota lakes to rollerblade around.  Lake Calhoun became my favorite the year before I decided to move away, but Lake Nokomis was another favorite of mine.

 

  1. Cosetta’s Italian Deli

I love Italian, and one of my favorite restaurants to visit in Downtown St. Paul was Cosetta’s.  It was a very well-known restaurant and deli, and no matter what time of the day it was there was line for their food.  They also had a shop where you could take home some of your favorites.  

 

  1. My favorite museums included the St. Paul History museum, The Science Museum, and The Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

 

 

  1. Mall of America

The biggest mall in the United States was the Mall of America.  This mall even had an indoor amusement park inside, what isn’t there to love about it?  I use to take the bus after school to just hang out at the mall.  Most likely I was a huge part of the reason why a curfew time of 7pm was given to children under 16 years old of age every Friday and Saturday evening.  

 

  1. St. Anthony Falls

It was just a truly beautiful area along Minneapolis to walk along, and of course see the hydraulic falls in action.

 

  1. Minnehaha Falls and Fort Snelling Area

These places were pretty close to one another although they were usually different visits.  The Minnehaha Falls area is a very beautiful area, and of course I loved driving around the houses in the area because they were a sign of the times, and the houses had a ton of character.  

 

 

 

 

 

Fort Snelling Area

  1. Grand Ave.

This place had some pretty great shops and boutiques to walk through with some great eateries.   You can’t go there without stopping in the Grand Ole Creamery.  Amazing ice cream served up for you.

 

  1. Uptown

Another fun little area with shops and boutiques to walk and browse through.  

   10. The North Shore

During the weekends, if I could, I would love taking the 3 hour drive up north to head to Duluth, MN.  I loved looking out at Lake Superior, and of course driving even further north along the north shore.  This was truly my zen place of Minnesota.  I didn’t get up there often, but anytime I did I was instantly relaxed, and my stress disappeared.  These were just some of my favorite things to do in Minnesota, the place I grew up in.

 

 

 

 

 

North Shore

Guest Post from Mary @ Along Comes Mary!! “Happiness is…. Snoopy (on Ice!)

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Since I’m away from the “office” right now in Minnesota visiting relatives and such, I had asked two of my good friends to do a guest post for me! So here is the 1st one from Mary at Along Comes Mary, so be sure to click on her link and check out her place for some great posts on Gluten-Free recipes and events going on around Southern California!!  Here she posted about a fun summer event that you can go to in SoCal! <3
 
Wanna know a secret? I wish I was an ice skater. Ever since I was young, it has secretly fascinated me. I remember being mesmorized by The Winter Olympics & would judge the skaters & their routines….then, in the middle of wanting to be just like all the girls when I grew up…Tonya Harding & Nancy Kerrigan happened….I was crushed something so horrible would happen, especially between 2 gorgeous, accomplished, talented women!!:-( I think thats when I re-thought my dream sport, but in recent years, I have loved watching it again…& have very badily ice skated here & there! 😉
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, you can imagine my excitement when on one of my afternoon jogs around Knotts Berry Farm with my Mom, that they had just unveiled a new ice show for summer, Happiness is…Snoopy! We went into the Charles M. Schultz Theatre thinking it would be…good. With the Peanuts dressed up & dancing…but we got so much more than we bargained for! This is a full production a la “The Ice Capades”; with a huge cast of professional ice skaters, including 1 couple who blew our minds!! It begins with an amazing western round up, then from there we are treated to Charlie Brown & friends at the beach, on a road trip, hitting up the party scene (even with a great cover of Get The party Started…I love that song), On a rainy day, Lucy looking to draw with her crayons (with the skaters in adorable crayon outfits) and…even….just for the girls…Justin Beagle!!!;-) With the cast doing an adorable number to the Biebs’ Baby, Baby.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you will be headed out to Knotts in Buena Park this Summer, this is truly a must-see & makes Knotts even more of a top destination visit. The theatre is HUGE, easily 3,000 seats. We were lucky to get in the 5th row but keep in mind the seats are just like at any other kind of theatre, so little ones might struggle a bit to see unless they’re on a grown ups lap or maybe bring a booster seat of some kind. It runs afew times each day with the exception of 2 days a week (You can call Knotts to find out & confirm). Its also a great chanch to rest in the very cold a/c if its a hot day out there! It would surprise me if anything in the show scared the kiddos, but you never know; some parts the lights go extra down (In the ‘Stormy’ sequence was one part). Its a very up-beat, happy show with something to see no matter where you are looking, & the solo acts the lead dancers get to do were remarkable!:-)