(73) Days of Summer

As I sit here, confined to the inside (due to the smoke of the nearby fire and blazing hot temperatures) on my last day of vacation, I can't help but go over the last 73 days of my summer vacation. As most of you already know, I'm a foreigner here in the US, thus forcefully a college student in order to keep a legal status and although this summer we haven't had the opportunity to make a trip back home to Spain, I dare say I have had great summer over all!

Since the very beginning it has been a good mix of personal accomplishments (opening up my etsy store and starting this blog) and relaxation (reading a bunch of books, some short trips, concerts and movies).

Well, to make a long story short, I hereby invite you to take part of my (73) Days of Summer (by the way I loved the movie !!!) through this picture selection I have made for you:

Let's start with the reason of my confinement: the Station Fire in the Angeles National Forest. This is a picture of the humongous cloud of smoke yesterday, when the air quality was still somewhat better than today.

This is at the beginning of summer, when I was setting up my jewelry workshop in our garage. Mikki made the workbench actually "'workable"

This is our friend Yasmina. savoring a breakfast bagel! She came over for a week from Japan. It was an amazing week of "staycation" for us, and we had a blast! Nothing better than having old friends coming over to visit!

One of our highlights this summer was attending this music festival: Epicenter '09.We had a great time, although it was unbearably hot. It made me remember those good old days, when getting to a big gig was an entire mission and soooo exciting ;)

Another great thing about my vacation, was being finally able to have a look around downtown LA during ArtNight! Such an awesome place for people watching and idea collecting!

May I present: stunning Mikki at the XGames: we got to see some ridiculously crazy things, such as the first double front flip on a BMX bike in history!

But I was at home, too. And as a newbie in this blogging world, I was completely hooked to reading a lot of blogs and getting some amazing inspiration. This post

inspired me to make this wall-cat, "Gato". She is a great pet, quiet, clean and doesn't demand any attention whatsoever

Here is another picture of us with Yasmina. Isn't it the best feeling ever, when you see childhood friends and you realize you still love them? Mikki and Yasmina have known each other for about 20 years! Amazing!!!

Summertime = Concert-time! Here is a pic of one of Loyal Enemy's gigs, this one at the Universal City Walk.

At one of our trips to the beach, this pelican decided to stop by and stay with us for a while.

And last, but definitely not least: Mikki with his birthday present! Nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, tops seeing him with such a cute smile on his face!

I hope you enjoyed my photo-trip through memory lane. I have to get going: a nice dinner and a movie with this cute smiling boy await me, to celebrate his birthday and the End of Summer!