My Week in Pics

My first week of vacation and the beginning of summer!

As most of you may already know, last wednesday night, June 23rd, was the beginning of the summer solstice. Back home in Spain it's a big deal (who would have thought: such a pagan rite in such catholic country! Oh, the irony - love it!) and it's celebrated with huge bonfires on the beaches and an assortment of rituals (jumping the fire, walking into the sea, etc).

Pure coincidence had it, that we were to head out to Catalina Island for an overnight camping trip just on that day. As you will see in the pictures, Avalon (the main city on Catalina) is a gorgeous little place and it somehow reminded me a lot of Europe. We went with two friends and two kids and had an amazing time: lot's of walking (cars are extremely restricted on the Island, a cabdriver told us the waiting list is about 30 to 50 years!!!!), we rented tandem bikes, had a bbq (including marshmallows), played tag in the dark armed with flashlights, spent a day at the beach and I event went for a quick swim in the ocean!

View of Avalon from the ferry.

Instead of cars, everybody on the island drives golf carts

a very minty looking house

Dog taking a nap in a golf cart - judging from all the stains on the seats it wasn't the first time ;)

Me, making funny faces on the back of the tandem

Mikki, making funny faces in our tent

Boats on the way to the beach. Who names their boat Huevos (Eggs/ balls, depending on the interpretation)???

Hmmm... iced water with lemon on a hot beach day = perfection

Every summer I face the same issue: finding a summer dress. I either don't like them, or they don't fit. So this time around I decided it was time to sit down and make one. It's a military green knit dress with black trims. I opted for a racerback top and an a-line shape for the skirt. I'll take pics when I wear it!

Then I received the cutest letter from my friend in Japan! I don't know how they do it, but even magazine pages and color swatches look much more special over there.

On saturday I finally finished my latest necklace. It's a one of a kind piece. The pendant is made out of a thick sheet of faux bone, which I then sawed and filed into the shape of a C2 cervical vertebra. To make it more interesting I added a little "spark". Faux bone is a fun material to work with, but it's a lot of work. I'm happy with my result - so worth the infected blister on my finger!

No, I'm not in Germany (yet). This is at a local Biergarten in Silverlake: The Red Lion. Although the name sounds more like an irish pub, they have really good authentic tasting german food. The inside is quite austere, but the outside space is perfect for summer evenings.

Apparently all the soccer/football craze turned this week into an culinary experience, because we watched the Spain-Chile game at Tinto in Hollywood, the day before heading to the the Red Lion. The food was pretty authentic, too. The gazpacho had been made by the owners mother, not the chef! Too bad that it was pretty pricey.

Hope you had a great start into the summer, too.

Have a great week, xx