Papa's 93-The Party

We had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant close by- I have no idea what it was called. I was lucky I made it!! Of course my parents came up with great ideas like making t-shirts and slideshows and then wanted to hand it all off to me. I did the t-shirts but let Dad handle the slideshow since I'm technologically challenged despite my profession. We had a lovely evening and ended it with fun group portraits of the birthday boy and all his fans!!

Papa's 93-Part 1

I love this family tradition of gathering in Michigan for every one of my grandfather's birthdays. Of course it would have been a little easier if Michelle and I hadn't gotten home the Wednesday night before after 3 days on the road from San Diego to Chicago. Her expression here says everything. And since Michelle had moved home that means that her puppy, Millhouse, would also be attending the celebrations. With McKinley and Sadie as well my uncles quickly dubbed the event, "Three Dog Night" and many renditions of Jeremiah were sung. We also got to meet Adam's girlfriend(and now fiance-woo hoo), and marveled how Ben and Leanne were able to juggle law school work and the event. I do think the picture of Craig on Papa's couch clearly illustrates that he makes himself at home there everytime we come. Enjoy!

Tuesday

I'm definitely one of those people who believe in energies and during this point I could feel Michelle's energy from her beach house in La Jolla to my condo in Chicago, and she definitely needed her sister. Some photographers I admire take their camera to their dark moments, their difficult places, I always have trouble doing that. During our drive to Chicago a few weeks later I didn't even take it out of it's case. I just knew that neither one of us wanted documentation of that drive. We were there, we know how it went, and we made it in plenty of time. Here are images from the last time I hung out with Michelle and her puppy Millhouse in La Jolla. The man with the smile is Vahik, the sweet man who makes the best coffee ever!

Temecula

After letting off a ton of steam in the LA area, a little Hermosa, a little Manhattan, a little Hollywood, I headed down the I-5 to visit Michelle and see her amazing new restaurant. We spent an entire day drinking our tushies off in Temecula, a great little wine area just outside of La Jolla. The first winery we went to was disappointing from the start, but the second winery we went to was so amazing we were tittering to the 3rd. Of course we had to fill out stomach's with food in order to get back to the house. I just loved the way the colors hit my sister as she held the glasses of red wine and let her take a few pics of me testing it out. Enjoy the pics!!

Manhattan Beach, CA

My very good girlfriend Julie won a trip for 2 to Manhattan Beach and was begging me to come along. Knowing how low my cash flow was I didn't think I could do it, but we made a deal and all I had to pay was for my plane ticket and incidentals. Lodging was free and with the right crowd, drinks were free too! We had a wonderful time shopping, I introduced Julie to fish tacos, we ate a huge thing of cotton candy and watched the sunset off the peer. Plus, I was only 2 hours away from my sister in San Diego so I was going to head there next. At Wahoo's I got a little obsessed with the decor but also with the different people coming in and out. In workout gear, in no gear, on their cell phones, in bikinis, without most of their clothing...go to love the West Coast! Enjoy!