how was your weekend?

Mine was terrific. I had actually intended to post only this blog for today, but my earlier blog was something I had to get out of my system, so we now return to my regularly scheduled blogs of random spazziness.

So I don't drink wine, but I love cooking (okay, technically I love eating, but I'm learning to cook for myself.) What I do instead of pairing wine with dinner is pair a movie with dinner, like doing fish and chips and Boston Cream Pie with The Departed (success!) or making ratatouille wraps after watching Ratatouille. And oh the geekery, my friends and I do a Lord of the Rings marathon once a year, (all three movies in one day) and last year we served up all seven hobbit meals. I know you're judging right now, and I don't even care, the food was that good.

Friday night I watched Chocolat. (Johnny Depp as a guitar-playing gypsy-like-pirate with a ponytail and Irish accent? Can I get another amen?!) And then I cooked this afterwards and OH MY GOD instant chocolate heaven. (My pies didn't look as pretty as the pies in the official recipe picture, so I didn't take any pictures of my own, but I will when I make it again.)

Saturday morning it was cold, grey, drizzly, and I had some friends in town who were visiting. Did I know any good hikes? they asked. Did I know any good hikes?!

Um. For those who don't know me, quick catch-up: I love hiking. So much in fact that (what feels like eons ago) I created a yahoo group that went on monthly hikes all over Southern California. I love hiking and camping and hiking gear and camping gear and somewhere inside me, I'm just sure of it, is a pretty pretty princess dying for a pedicure but most of the time I'd rather just play with swiss army knives.

Anyways. Cold grey drizzly Saturday mornings are perfect for two things: hiking or snuggling. I opted for hiking. Off we went to Switzer Falls, one of my favorite tried but true stomping grounds, which has streams and waterfalls and is just heavenly in the spring time. It was the perfect workout and a good time was had by all. And then, the highlight of my weekend:

The Cat House Twilight Tour.

Three times a year (one in spring, summer, and autumn) an exotic feline breeding compound in Southern California opens up its doors after dark to the public and lets people come view tigers, mountain lions, jaguars, lynxes, snow leopards, white tigers, and all other types of exotic, endangered cats - about three feet away from the cages. The keepers give the cats "enrichment" toys -- usually salt licks, cardboard tubes and cardboard boxes, phone books -- and you get to see 400 pounds of man-eating tiger turn into a kitten in about 8 seconds. I took a bunch of photos, and I will post more over the next few days, but I wanted to leave you with this shot, a sneak peek if you will:


I hope your weekend was awesome too -- and that you kicked off the first official day of summer in style :)

budget suck.

Well, boo. Under Governor Schwarzenegger's proposed budget cuts, over 200 national parks might close in California, and not only does that seriously crimp my verb-ing style, it just downright sucks. Those national parks need all the money they can get, and some financial expert-like people are saying that it could take up to a decade for some of these national parks to recover from the temporary closures.

Here's a partial list of which parks would close in Los Angeles, including my beloved Point Mugu in Malibu, which has one of The.Most.Gorgeous hikes you could dream of:

1. Leo Carrillo State Park.

2. Los Angeles State Historic Park.

3. Los Encinos State Historic Park.

4. Malibu Creek State Park.

5. Malibu Lagoon State Beach.

6. Pio Pico State Historic Park.

7. Point Mugu State Park.

8. Rio de Los Angeles State Park.

9. Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach.

10. Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park.

11. Topanga State Park.

12. Verdugo Mountains.

13. Will Rogers State Historic Park

and the rest of the 220 parks can be found here. A more thorough explanation of the proposal can also be found here.



Boo. :(