Summer in a Nutshell...

Okay, so maybe I will just blog quarterly... I cannot believe the summer is basically over. It has gone by at warp speed--actually this entire year has. I have been wondering if time slows down once you have kids. In my mind it seems like it might because you are more focused on each and every moment. Or does it speed up, because you are more focused on each and every moment? I would be curious to hear what my mommy friends think. I hope it slows down...I feel like I am starting to age in dog-years.


In spite of how fast it has gone, this summer has been a lot of fun! Here are some highlights from the Dowdy-Christo summer series (ha-ha). AND, because I have still not figured out how to post pictures on this thing, they are just going to have to be all over the place...oh, well.


June: One of our friends here in LA has a beach house in San Clemente. San Clemente is about halfway between LA and San Diego and it is adorable! It is really a fantastic little beach town. A great getaway from the hustle and bustle of LA. So, our friend was nice enough to host a group of us for the weekend. Good, relaxing times with some great people! 

San Clemente Beach

July: Bryan turned 33! I keep teasing him that he is officially in his mid-thirties. Although, when I am thirty-three, it will still be considered "early thirties." We had a nice little get together with some friends at our favorite German bar in an area of LA called Silver Lake. It is the "hipster" area and I always feel really uncool and out of style when we go out there! Ha ha. We ended the night at a bar called the Cha-Cha lounge, which is probably the coolest bar I have been to in LA so far. The inside is decorated like a tiki lounge, complete with full size huts. The last week of July I was in Vegas for our annual affiliate conference. The department I work in plans, executes and presents a conference for all 200 plus of our television affiliates from all over the country. So for a week we host them, put on presentations and have fun!

Bryan's Birthday at Red Lion in Silver Lake

Giving my presentation in Vegas: "Wah-Wah-Wah-Wah-Wah"

August: A few weeks ago Bryan and I went to the Santa Ynez wine country and stayed in Solvang. Solvang is seriously one of the cutest cities in the U.S. that I have ever seen. The entire town looks like a miniature Denmark. We went to a couple of wineries in Los Olivos (which is the next city over) one of them being the Firestone Winery (as in Andrew Firestone from the bachelor). I tell you this because as we took a tour of the winery, there was this really obnoxious girl who kept asking question after question about the bachelor, Andrew Firestone. Really?! It was quite annoying. Anyway, the trip itself was awesome, some of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen. The wine and eats weren't bad either!

Solvang, CA

Can I interest you in a grape?

Firestone Winery

We were also lucky enough to go the the Creative Arts Emmys again this year. Or as some like to call it "The Shwemmys." I guess they are like the "B-Team" Emmys to some out here, but they are still totally awesome to us! The show is at Nokia Theater and honors things like best guest actor/actress, technical directing, editing, graphics; a lot of behind the scenes stuff. However, there are still tons of stars there. We saw Forrest Whittaker, Neil Patrick Harris, Lilly Tomlin and Robin Williams to name a few. We were actually on the 12th row, so we got to see a lot of these people up close and personal. The Creative Arts Emmys air on E!, but we totally forgot to watch to see if we got any face time! Ha ha. After the show, there is a huge Govenor's Ball at the LA Convention Center right across the street. It is by far the BEST party I have been to, to date. Great dinner, amazing decorations, plus an open bar, which is always nice. Randomly enough, we spent a good portion of the night talking to Fred Willard! He was nominated for best guest actor in Modern Family. He was SO sweet and SO much fun to talk to. Bryan (who knows every obscure movie known to man) happens to be a big fan of a film that Fred Willard was in back in the 70's (so that was our big "in"). It was so obscure I still can't remember what the name of it is; even though he has told me like 100 times now.  I would  have posted pictures...but we got the tickets last minute, so I had to wear the same dress I did last year, so I didn't even take my camera with me! Stupid, I know, I should have just taken it. Oh well. 

The week after next my mom comes to visit! I am so excited to have her come to La-La land. Neither of my parents (or Bryan's) have been able to make it out to LA since we moved here, so we are really looking forward to her visit. Plus she can cook and clean for us for a week! Yes! Just kidding Mom! But...if you just WANT to cook some chicken and dumplings or something like that, we won't argue. Hee hee.


Bryan and I also just booked our one-year anniversary celebration trip to Vancouver, Canada! We were not going to take a vacation this year, but we got a SUPER cheap deal on Expedia so we had to take advantage. Our goal was to get a stamp on our passports for five years in a row, so now we will be that much closer to making that a reality. 
Okay, well maybe I will post something new again in January! Ha ha.