Santa Barbara, Solvang, Buellton and Los Olivos Weekend

We haven't posted in a while but I figure I'll start with last weekend and hopefully get to this past weekend tomorrow. Last weekend we ventured about 105 miles North of Los Angeles to Santa Barbara, Solvang, Buellton and Los Olivos for some site seeing and wine tasting.

We headed out on Friday afternoon. Shortly after making our way up the Pacific Coast Highways, Russ and I decided to stop so that we could soak in the last rays of sunshine and watch the surfers across from Neptunes Restaurant. We arrived in Santa Barbara around 7:00 pm and checked into the cute Montecito Inn (no we didn't run into Oprah - - she lives down the road ha ha). After dropping off our bags, we ventured out into the cute town and finally found excellent Indian Food on the main drag. It's surprising how difficult it has been to find Indian food in LA! The next morning, we jumped on the hotel's cute beach cruisers and made our way down to the beach and took a nice ride along the scenic coast. We decided that we'd love to live in Santa Barbara one day, preferably in a big beautiful house on the beach :)

Beautiful little flowers along the beach

Later that afternoon, we met up with the Hill's in Solvang, an adorable Danish town about 25 miles from Santa Barbara. It is always fun when we are with the Hill's! We enjoyed beers and Brats and then it was off to Buellton and Los Olivos. All of these towns are adorable. So much character, cute shops and tons of wine tasting rooms. Unfortunately, we missed the last of the tastings but made up for it at Matt's Tavern. To make the day even more perfect, we ended up being on the receiving end of left over cupcakes from Enjoy Cupcakes ! The owner came out and gave us a whole pan of gourmet cupcakes because she was closing up her shop for the evening -- who doesn't like FREE cupcakes! They were delicious.

Beers & Brats in Solvang

We made our way up to the top of Mount Figueroa where we set up camp and made a fire. We even enjoyed the thoughtful bottle of wine given to us by the Abo's with a special poem asking us to be Godparents on the back of it..ahhhh (I had to take a photo to commemorate the special occassion).

Delicious Washington Wine...In the Santa Ynez Valley of all places - -we miss the Abo's

I love this photo (I wish it were more clear but it's cute)

We parted ways with the Hill's on Sunday and Russ and I hit up Gainey Winery for a tasting and then headed home. We loved the Chardonay and Pinot Grigio but weren't crazy about the Syrah...maybe it was the 80 degree weather? All in all, it was a quick trip that was full of adorable sites. We'd highly recommend it to anyone looking to get out of LA for a quick little getaway. Before you go, be sure to watch Sideways again so you can check out all of the little places in the movie. We watched it afterwards, which was fun too. We hope to do a similar trip in about a month for our 6 year anniversary! We'll see...

xo Ang n Russ

Welcome Baby Talia - Our Precious Neice!

Welcome Baby Talia - -Aunt Angie and Uncle Russ can't wait to meet you in person!

My sister, Heather, and her husband, Dwayne, added a fourth baby to their nest and it's a beautiful baby girl! After three boys, Heather was content with her life and accepted that God had given her all she would ever need - -three healthy and precious boys. While she would have loved a daughter, she was content knowing that all was as it should be...and then He answered her prayers when she was least expecting it. The Tyners found out they were expecting another baby and this one was a girl! Sometimes, the greatest joys come when we least expect them right?

We still can't believe she has Talia! Heather keeps thinking that she's gonna wake up from a dream but it's true, this little blessing is here to stay and isn't she a precious little gem.



Talia Kathleen Tyner

Born: June 16th at 11:14 am


Stats: 8lbs. 5 oz. - 20.5"

Conquering a Mountain!

A long-time goal of Russ' and an ambitious challenge for us both was accomplished this past Memorial Day weekend. We made it to the top of Half Dome at Yosemite National Park and it was truly a remarkable experience!

We arrived Friday afternoon with a good part of the day left and so we drove into Yosemite for a little site-seeing and enjoyed drinks on the Pizza Deck before heading back to Oakhurst. One of the highlights of Oakhurst is that we managed to find the best Mexican food we've ever had! El Cid Restaurant isn't much to look at but they make a killer carne asada burrito and strawberry margaritas. It was the perfect way to fuel up before the big hike.

We took off early Friday morning to avoid Memorial Day weekend traffic. It was a surprisingly quick 4.5 hour drive mainly because it's a straight shot on I-5 for the majority of the way and, Russ had remembered to download a few episodes of This American Life for us to listen to. Our plan was to spend the night in Oakhurst, a little town outside of Yosemite, on Friday night and start the 20+ mile hike first thing on Saturday morning.

Taken at the beginning of our hike from Glacier Point. The Panorama Trail curves around to the right, across the waterfall (Nevada Falls) in the distance and culminated at the big perch of granite, also known as, Half Dome on the left.

A beautiful butterfly that wanted to go with us.

Stopping at Nevada Falls for cheese, salami and crackers...everything tastes better on a hike.

Nevada Falls

The next morning, we started out strong. The first two+ miles are largely down hill and then it's uphill for a few miles and a beautiful hike along the ridge line where the views are spectacular. The scenery in Yosemite is so beautiful and breathtaking that it almost looks fake, it is truly one of the most majestic places we've yet to see. We ended the day in Little Yosemite Valley, a place for backpackers to camp, and made sure to secure our food in our bear canister. I was originally terrified of bears but realized there is nothing to worry about and we actually found ourselves hoping one would roam into our camp so we could get a closer look.

This little Stellar's Jay was a friend of ours and loved to perch himself next to our tent.

The next morning we headed out for the most exciting part of our adventure....making it to the top of Half Dome! We hiked the 3. 5 miles up hill and used the cables for the last 900 feet to the very top of the Dome. It was a little nerve-wrecking at times but overall, it was a piece of cake!

You can see the cables lining the way to the top of the Dome.

A 45-60 degree climb, yet we manage to take photos :)

We returned to camp, made some dinner, and savored the adventure. We look forward to conquering many more mountains in the years ahead!

The top of the Dome! Standing on the Diving Board...it is very high up 4,737 feet above the valley floor and about 8,900 feel in total elevation.

Brink Family Weekend Extravaganza! Portand, OR

A few pictures from a celebratory weekend in Portland, OR. Mom's surprise 60th birthday at our friend TJ and Dwayne's restaurant, Roux, can you say delicious! With dad's help and a lot of white lies, we managed to surprise the pants off of mom! It was a beautiful celebration for a beautiful woman.

Dad giving a very nice welcome and toast for the big birthday girl! Good work dad.

A delicious and "ginormous" cake to help celebrate the occasion!

Then it was up early the next morning to help celebrate Heather and Dwayne's soon-to-be baby girl "Talia". After 3 boys, we are excited to buy Heather some pink.

It was truly a lovely shower thrown by Crea McKeen Willis and Lisa McKeen. No detail was overlooked from the delicious salad and quiche, to cranberry "pink" champagne, the delicious petits fours and champagne gellato, to the and cacao parting favors and thoughtful "blessing/yarn" circle. It was really a beautiful celebration and LOTS of pink was to be had.

The Hostesses - Crea and Lisa

Grandma Lynn offering her blessing to Heather and baby Talia

Loving the Sun and Family

Russ and I have been pondering how happy we are that we are Angelenos. While we miss our friends in the NW, we are very lucky to live in the land of sunshine, which in "Seattle Language" means lots of visitors. We like to think that everyone really wants to see us, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the sun may have something to do with our ever-inflated aerobed :)

This past week, we were lucky enough to have our "mom" (well, Russ' mom but she's mine too) come to visit. I like to call her "Nancy Pants" and she actually started her visit with MacKenzie (Russ' sister). They arrived via ultra-green mass transit (i.e. the train) early Tuesday and were able to enjoy a couple of fun-filled "girl days". We ate a fantastic lunch at the new-ish Urth cafe and even went to the Ellen Show, which was actually very fun. We were dancing fools and our row almost won t-shirts for our "innovative" dancing abilities :) It would have been even more fun if we would have been guests to show #1000, but settled for show #998 and Michael Douglas. We had a great time and Nancy wins the award for most dedicated visitor yet...she spent at least five hours helping me with a mailing (thanks).

Runyon Canyon Hike

The other great thing about having company is that we are forced to explore places we haven't visited, most notably...restaurants! We tried three new places - Urth Caffe (but I won't go into this one, it is a definite "must" for coffee or lunch), Reservoir in Silverlake (I would recommend) and Church and State in the old Nabisco Loft building downtown (I'd recommend for the cool ambiance and the steak frites but it gets dicey if you order the fish). Both were lovely and had great atmosphere. We aren't huge fans of the food at Church and State...very French, very odd combinations, and pretty expensive for the amount of food you get. It was fun though and we'd go back for a glass of wine and maybe even split the steak frites because this was a delicious dish (hard to mess up and who doesn't love a good steak and potatoes soaked in grease/salt!)

Outside Reservoir

Kenzie, Nancy "Birthday Girl", Russ & Ang

It was a really nice visit and we are very blessed to have such great family. Speaking of family, we also helped my sister move into her own super-cute place in Santa Monica. Hello beach parties and hanging out on the west side! It's uber cute with adorable coved ceilings, crown molding, lots of awesome hardware from Anthropologie and the living room looks just big enough for Russ and I to crash on post a long day at the beach :)

We also had a chance to meet up with our friend Emily down in Hermosa Beach. Unfortunately, we couldn't visit as long as we'd have liked because we had a birthday party back up North but it was great to see her and spend some time catching up.

We finished our weekend off with a game of tennis, of which I kicked Russ' butt! He seems to think it's possible to beat me but let's face it...I'm a machine :)

Ang "the machine" and Russ picnicing post tennis match

Balancing

Since arriving in Los Angeles about a year-and-a-half ago, we have attempted to get out as much as possible and soak in all this city and its surroundings have to offer. When I say "all" I mean, concerts, plays, hiking, exploring other communities etc... If I had to give us a grade on how well we've done, I'd say we deserve a "B." A solid grade but one that can be improved upon.

We have managedto attend more concerts than ever before and have wedged in a few plays and hikes. But, I'd like to do better at quick, weekend camping trips (I should work on overcoming my fear of bears). Last time we went camping, I made Russ pitch a tent in the middle of a desert because I didn't want a bear to eat us.


I credit the frequency of our stellar entertainment to a couple of key factors: being KCRW members and not owning a house. We are huge KCRW listeners and so we decided to become members (besides, they guilt you into joining during their phone-a-thon). One of the perks of our membership is that we can call in during contests and try to win tickets and Russ ALWAYS wins! In fact, we win so often that we had to get separate memberships because the rules state that a member can only win once every 90 days. Winning too often is an excellent problem to have.


I'd also attribute our "go get em" lifestyle to not owning a house. When we lived in Seattle, we were attracted to the real "fixer uppers" and spent every spare moment sanding, cutting, painting, planting, building and cleaning up our home(s). While we desperately miss house projects, we've had to learn to relax and find other ways of connecting. This has been great for our relationship and for our faith. Honestly, for the first few months it was like we were paralyzed on the weekends. We had no idea what life outside of house projects looked like...if not a trip to ReStore (in Seattle) what should we be doing? We've been stretched and have learned to think out of the box, be focused on the present and honestly, the quiet has allowed us time to reflect on the bigger picture of life (a much longer blog entry...to come :)

Our newly remodeled home in Madrona. Everything was redone: deck, siding, painting, walkway, floors, walls, plumbing, staircase, kitchen, bathrooms completely gutted, backyard, fireplace, etc.. It makes me itch just thinking about it - - o.k., I wasn't always the happiest camper every weekend and every evening but am glad we did the projects - "balance" is the title of this post for a reason :)

Russ working on the walkway

Kitchen before

Kitchen after (notice the bowling alley counter - that was sad to leave)

We are slowly testing these waters of non-house projects and are finding ways to involve ourselves in our church, with our friends and of course, we are finding all sorts of time to take advantage of free concerts! Last week it was Dengue Fever (a Cambodian Rock Band) and this week it is Conor Oberst - - woo woo! We also have a couple of bigger hikes planned for the summer - - Catalina Island and Devils Gulch!

Malibu Family Winery - Ang's 30th Birthday

At Dengue Fever at the EchoPlex - Free tickets are best!

Hiking at Lone Pine, California (not too many bears up here)

It seems glaringly obvious now that living a good life is about finding a balance. Nonetheless, I am glad we've had the two extremes of house projects and endless entertainment because, hopefully now it'll be easier to spot the middle - where the balancing takes place.

There is nothing in the world like witnessing the transformation of a dodgy dwelling to a beautiful abode and knowing that your sweat and hard work directly attributed to this change. As well, our favorite date is sitting on the grass at an outdoor music venue, drinking a cold drink, eating good food and listening to great music. Perhaps these dates are all the more rewarding after a hard days work of remodeling.

Babies and Birthdays, oh my!

Shifting gears from one side of the world (SE Asia) to a whole new world...Babies!

We just returned from a whirlwind trip to Seattle where we helped our best friends celebrate some siginificant milestones. JJ's 30th birthday, we hosted a couples cocktail/baby shower for JJ and Piper and I helped with a shower for my dear friend Jenelle (she and Piper's due-dates are only 5 days apart). I know, it was a lot to experience in three short days but it was a blast!

It seems that everywhere we went, there were babies or babies-to-be-born! In fact, our good friend Niki (and Mike) welcomed their newest member of their family, baby Rocco, this past Saturday (Congratulations!!!). Russ and I counted, and between our family members and all of our friends, we know at least a dozen people who are getting ready to experience the joy of all things baby or, who are adding to their brood.

I debriefed the weekend with my mom and recounted the couples cocktail shower with my good friend, Jackie, and apparently, "people are beginning to wonder when Ang and Russ will have kids". It even progressed to, "do they want to have kids?" territory. So, for the record, YES, we want to have kids, but now is not the right time for us. We are over-the-moon-thrilled to be able to support and encourage our friends and family members as they enter/re-enter this new chapter of their lives but this is one area we aren't ready to venture into just yet.
I was reading through one of my favorite websites, http://www.thenest.com/ and it explicitly stated, "even if ten of your friends are having babies, it does not necessarily mean that the time is right for you to have a child". Thank you The Nest!

While the idea of having a baby of our own is very exciting, we have our own set of twins that we are attempting to birth down here in Los Angeles. The names of our babies are "Acting Career and Adventure." I don't mean to say that one can't have these things and have a baby, but I think it would be exceedingly difficult for me to pursue acting full-heartedly and be a good mom. I'll be honest, I am hoping and praying that I book a series regular role on a network television show so that I'll have some sense of order and predictability. This would also create a more stable environment in which to have a child but, only God knows if and when this may happen.

Actors are notoriously self-centered and moms are not (or should not be). I'm a little self-centered...there, I said it. More importantly though, I don't want to be focusing on myself when I should be focusing on my child. I do plan on having some sort of career when we have a child and I'd love this to be in acting but who knows...I don't know what I'm doing next weekend let alone in a couple of years.

Also, I should note that there are always exceptions to every rule. I don't want any of you actresses, who are great moms and who can balance it all, raking me over the coals on this point. My fabulous sister, Heather, manages to be an administrator of a school, have three adorable boys AND she is pregnant with a fourth baby (a girl!!! yeah!!!) and she is a GREAT mom. So, I think it is possible to have a career and kids but I think an acting career is very different than a traditional career. Moreover, L.A. is an expensive city and acting is unpredictable and unstable. I think we need just a little more time to find our stride in both acting and in adventure before taking on yet, another endeavor.

So, cheers to all our "peeps" who are busy making, growing and birthing babies. Russ and I can't wait to join in on the fun for "round two" of the baby adventure. For now, we will relish the role of godparents and auntie/uncle to our nieces and nephews. xoxo

Lots of love!
Ang n Russ