Travel Tuesday, California 2016 - The One with Hollywood & Universal Studios

So we decided to drive from Joshua Tree back to L.A. and we would stop to "see the sights" in Hollywood. Unbeknownst to us...they were taping the Hollywood Bowl Christmas parade that night. So the important blocks of Hollywood Blvd were closed, so no Chinese Theater, some Walk of Fame stars were covered. BUT they had some cool movie cars lined up for the parade so we got to see those and Young Miss found some stars she wanted to see.

The one star she was DYING to see - Daniel Radcliffe (aka: Harry Potter) was literally half covered by a set of bleachers. Sigh....

 

 

 We all got our picture taken on the "Casting Couch" at Hollywood & Highland Center

 

 

 

Then it was off to our first surprise for the kids. We were staying across the street from Universal Studios. OH yeah...and we have tickets for a couple days there.... The look on Young Miss' face was priceless! ESPECIALLY when she found out we had snuck her Harry Potter robe and wand along too.

 

 

Our first night there we went to Citywalk for dinner and to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

We took the Universal Studio Tour and enjoyed it!

 

 

 

There were several things filming that day:

Home & Family (Hallmark Channel)

The Voice

They were setting up sets and streets for Hairspray Live to air the coming week

We saw the Waterworld show

 Met the Minions:

 Took in the holiday decorations:

 

 

 

  

We had a good time in Hollywood and Universal Studios.

Monday Musings, volume 3

Good Monday morning! For those of you with the day off for Presidents' Day - enjoy!

I hope you all had a nice weekend. The weather here was PERFECTION! It was sunny and upper 60s all weekend. That is unheard of for mid-February.

Saturday we soaked up sunshine; did a little reading and photo editing. I have been working on some travel photos and bombarding my Instagram with them.

Yesterday, Young Miss turned 13. How it possible that we have an "official" teenager?! We went to see the Lego Batman movie and grilled out a late lunch. Then I took her for a photo shoot (which she was "thrilled" [insert teenage eye roll here] about...but she did great)

 Just being silly!

And now for a little randomness:

*The Oscars are this Sunday. I always watch them BUT I am SO afraid that they will become a political arena and spoil the fun!

*I started reading a Murder She Wrote (yes, like the older TV series) book and am LOVING it! I may have found a new series to read through!

*I will be putting up some of our travel photos I've been working on over at my photography blog this week - stay tuned.

*You can follow my Twitter and/or Instagram (@cubsfan3410)

What did you do this weekend?

Book review - Rome is Where the Heart Is

Publication date: March 9, 2017

Publisher's synopsis:

'I'm fully in love with this story and Alessandro is my new book boyfriend!' Darcy's Book Blog

Can a holiday romance ever have a happy ending? Escape with Kate to the sun-drenched city of Rome where a love affair is just about to begin …

When Kate’s husband Matt dumps her on Friday 13th she decides enough is enough – it’s time for her to have some fun and so she hops on a plane to Rome. A week of grappa and gelato in pavement cafes under azure blue skies will be just what the doctor ordered.

What she doesn’t count on is meeting and falling for sexy policeman Alessandro. But the course of true love doesn’t run smoothly – Alessandro has five meddling sisters, a fearsome mama and a beautiful ex Orazia. They’re all certain that Kate is not the girl for him.

Can Kate and Alessandro’s love last the distance? Or will she return home with the one souvenir she doesn’t want – a broken heart …

Fall in love with the colourful cafes and the cobbled piazzas of Rome and follow Kate’s dreams and her heart in this enchanting escapist read. Perfect for fans of Debbie Johnson and Carol Matthews.


Genre: Chick Lit


My rating:
4 out of 5 stars


My feelings:
I loved this book from the first page. I cheered for Kate all the way and loved all the shenanigans she gets into. I enjoyed the secondary characters too.


Please make sure you pick up this book - it was really fun!

Five on Friday

I am linking up again this week with: Christina, April, and Natasha for another edition of:

This week I am going to share my 5 work outfits from this week. I am NOT a fashionista! I just try to look presentable.

A lot of my clothes come from resale/secondhand shops; someone's "castoffs" and Goodwill. I'm not too proud to wear them!

(Please excuse the bathroom selfies - it's the only full length mirror I have access to)

Monday I wore my loose fitting purple top and black pants and flats.

I also wore a combination of my bracelets and bobble earrings.

Tuesday it was upper 40s so I decided to break out one of my new skirts to wear.

The cardigan is a castoff from a coworker.

I also wore a combination of my "gold" bracelets

Wednesday is another comfy day.

The cardigan is from Goodwill; black pants & loafers I have had forever.

A Charming Charlie bracelet and sparkly earrings that were a gift several years ago.

Thursday I went with a faux wrap shirt (a Goodwill find from a while ago), black pants and flats.

My bracelet is probably from Wal Mart and my earrings from Clothes Mentor.

Friday is "casual day" at work, so that means jeans and a nice top!

After trying on about 6 different shirts this morning, this is what I am wearing.

The top and jeans are from Clothes Mentor

My bracelets are from Disney World and Game Day Feels and my necklace was picked up on our travels (made by a blacksmith)

Wishing you all a great Friday and weekend ahead!

Just saying...

WILW

In keeping with my Wednesday post tradition - another What I'm Loving Wednesday is upon us! I hope you will share your WILW post link in the comments.

I am loving:
*That Valentine's Day wasn't a big deal at our house
*Spring training has started
*Going through old photos - wow our kids have grown up!
*Young Miss will be 13 on Sunday
*Random silliness in the last week
*Library books and that I can start an "older" mystery series from all the libraries in our system
*Chicago Fire/This is Us/The Good Place - all wonderful and fun shows
*Blog comments and blog reading
*Reconnecting with high school friends
*Springlike weather the past couple of days - bring on the skirts and dresses again!
*Coffee!!!!


What are you loving this week?

Travel Tuesday - California, 2016 The One with the Presidential Stuff

Happy Tuesday! Happy Valentine's Day!

Today I am posting a little more of our California trip.

You can find my first post here: Joshua Tree

There are two Presidential museums/libraries in California - Nixon (in Yorba Linda) and Reagan (in Simi Valley).

We worked them into our travels. We were thoroughly impressed with the Reagan Museum. We were more impressed with the Nixon gardens than the actual museum.

Reagan Museum Courtyard:

Madam President:

 Mr. President:

 Air Force One - very cool to tour the plane

 This is the view from the pavilion that holds the Reagan transportation - absolutely gorgeous!

This statue is outside in the circle drive.

President Nixon's Library & Museum:

 

 

 Pat Nixon Rose Garden (beautiful spot) President & Mrs. Nixon are buried in the gardens.

 President Nixon's birthplace:

We got to walk through Marine One at each place - pretty cool. No pictures though...

Links to their sites:

President Nixon

President Reagan

Monday Musings, part 2

Happy Monday! I hope you had a good weekend.

I took a couple days of work last week. It was very nice and quite relaxing.

Thursday, Young Miss had a half day of school. So while she was at school, I organized some craft stuff and cleaned off my desk. After I picked her up from school, we went and got manicures. We made a productive stop at Goodwill to drop off and shop.

Friday, I did some scrapbooking while Young Miss was at school. I also went to Kohls to spend my gift cards. The clearance rack gods were smiling on me. She and I rested then went to pick up the boys at the airport.

I worked all day at the library on Saturday.

Sunday was a pretty quiet day. Sunny and windy but almost 50 degrees. We went and had BBQ for a late lunch. I got some reading done and my stack of library books says I have lots more reading to do.

Pitchers and catchers are reporting for spring training today. I am SO excited to see spring (and baseball) in my future.

I have started a little planking and stretching routine in the morning and evening. Here's hoping to look a little more "summer ready" soon!

How was your weekend?

I wish you a great week ahead!

WILW

Happy Wednesday! I'm linking up with RACHEL today for another What I'm Loving Wednesday. I hope your week is going well. I hope you are finding things to love this week.


*Quality time with Young Miss this week
*Good movies (Young Miss & I saw Hidden Figures over the weekend and loved it!)
*A sense of humor
*A book I have been wanting to read for a while being on the library shelf
*Blog reading
*Scrapbooking time the next couple of days


What are you loving this week?

Travel Tuesday - California, 2016 The One with the National Park

I am VERY behind in posting about our vacation in November/December, 2016. We went to California and toured a lot of southern Cali. The weather was cool (jackets required almost every day). And one day at Disneyland was down right COLD! (And we're Midwesterners...)

Our first couple of days we went to Joshua Tree National Park. It is a beautiful park! We covered most of the park in our time there.

Day 1 we had driven by Skull Rock and it was PACKED!!! We had it to ourselves the following morning. Beautiful spot with amazing views.

 The kids near Skull Rock

 This is the formation behind Skull Rock - you can climb up (see photo above) and see for quite a ways

 

 Joshua Trees

 Posing in front of the San Andreas Fault

 San Andreas Fault is out there (sorry for all the sun glare!)

 Cholla Cacti Garden

It is acres and acres of cacti - it is incredibly impressive

We enjoyed the park and would recommend it as a vacation/travel spot.

Stay tuned for more of our trip in upcoming posts.

It's Me! Version 2.1

I thought I would reintroduce myself here and asked for your questions. Here's what I got:


Jen (please visit her blog) asked: If you could visit/or live in any place in the world, where would it be?
WOW! This required some thought! If I could visit anywhere, it would be San Francisco, any of the United States National Park and Italy. My dream place(s) to live are: near a beach in the winter and in the mountains in the summer (vague enough?).

Why I blog:

I started this blog WAAAAY back in 2006 to keep a record of our lives and so my family could keep track of what we were up to and the kids were doing. It is still that but I have added a lot of other things to it. I like that I have to "challenge" myself to come up with something to write when I feel like posting. I like looking back at older posts to see where we've been, what we've done and how much my kids have grown up.

Who I am:

Wife to the Mr. (married in 1997)

Mom to Young Mr. (born in 1993) and Young Miss (born in 2004)

I am the oldest of five children

Aunt to 4 nephews and a niece

Die hard Chicago Cubs fan (since the day I was born)

A photographer finding my way through the world of booking clients (my photography blog: Photos by Jen)

An avid reader

I enjoy scrapbooking; knitting; crocheting and want to try jewelry making this year

You can find me on Instagram and/or Twitter (cubsfan3410)

My favorite movie is The Wizard of Oz

My favorite color is blue

I love chocolate and caramel

I like exploring new places

I hope you know me a little more! I welcome your questions.

Five on Friday

This week I am going to join a new (to me) link up: Five on Friday with Christina, April, and Natasha

1. My Mr. and Young Mr. are finally shaking their flu bug. I have had a cold this week and seem to be on the mend - hooray!

2. One of my photos from an engagement session was chosen from my gallery for a contest. SUPER excited about that!

3. I am reading Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher. SUPER great read so far!

4. It's Friday and I have a pretty quiet weekend ahead of me.

5. I am having fun on Twitter this week. Lots of tweets in my feed about Disney; movies; music; books and baseball.

Please check out the links to other blogs here and on these ladies' blogs. Thanks and HAPPY FRIDAY!

February is National Heart Health Month

As a cardiac patient, I like advocating for this cause. I also want to remind you that tomorrow (2/3/17) is National Wear Red Day! I hope you will wear red and donate a little something to the American Heart Association. (PS: I would love to see your "red" - feel free to email your picture to me at jenmcgee34@yahoo.com)


My cardiac journey started 4 years ago when my doctor heard an irregular heartbeat at my annual physical. That hearing led to tests and the discovery of an ASD (atrial septum defect-aka: a hole in my heart). That hole was closed in May, 2013. Things are still good.

Got a question?

Hopefully I have an answer!
Ask your question at this post (or here...) - I plan to answer them on my Sunday blog post.

Monday Musings

Hello Monday....I will be honest-I'm not real happy to see you. I worked all weekend so I don't feel like I had a break.

I borrowed stole today's title from Jen, make sure you go check out her blog!

The flu is moving through our house. The boys have had it. Us girls have our fingers crossed it passes us by.

Facebook and Twitter seem to be a little on the downer side these days. I am taking a little break from  Facebook and skimming quickly through Twitter these days. You find me here and on Instagram (cubsfan3410 or photosbyjenmcgee).

I found Kohl's gift cards in my wallet over the weekend. Must be time for a little shopping.

I miss Disney today. 

Winter seems to have decided to hang out here again this week. I could tolerate it if we could see some sunshine!


I am reconnecting with my blog and Bloglovin'. If there's a blog I should be following - let me know!!!

How was your weekend? 

Get to know ME!

Hello my blogging and blog reading friends!


I haven't done this segment for a while. So - here we are! 
Please feel free to post your question(s) for me in the comments section. I'm a pretty open book, so ask away! I will do a post answering them on February 5, so have them posted here by February 4.


Ask away my friends!

Friday Five - Podcasts

I have become a podcast junkie in the last year. I dabble here & there with some and see if they hold my interest. If so, I subscribe and listen away. I use the Apple podcast app to listen.


Here are the 5 I am subscribed to at this time:
*Satellite Sisters - I have been listening to these ladies for about 4 years. I love them and their chatter. They are 5 real sisters who discuss current events; life; politics; you name it. I have laughed and cried with this ladies as long as I have been listening.
*Wait Wait Tell Me Another - I have been tuned into this one almost as long as Sat Sisters. It is a current events quiz show with lots of sarcasm and commentary by the host and guest hosts.
*Best of Friends Podcast - That's right. 3 friends discuss the TV show friends. Each episode is a breakdown and commentary on the TV show. They crack me up! (Please note: there are "adult" discussions and some language used)
*Cubs Talk Podcast - Hello?! Self explanatory...
*Baseball History Podcast - This podcaster passed away a few years ago but I am listening through the archives. He covers a player and baseball park profile; This Week in Baseball History and a baseball term each episode. So cool!


What do you listen to? Any recommendations?

WILW

Happy Wednesday! I'm linking up with Rachel and friends for another installment of What I'm Loving Wednesday. (Please go check out their blogs)

I hope your week is going well! It's been grey and cool here this week so I have been looking hard for "good stuff" and found some.

*Reading time
*Sending out promo stuff to clients and potential clients
*My husband's support
*My kids' giggling
*Going through pictures from our trip
*Coffee
*A kind echocardiogram tech
*Spring is getting closer
*Spring training is 3 weeks away!
*My Twitter feed has been pretty cheery this week-talk of books; Disney; baseball and music
*Oscar nominations are out
*Having lunch with my grandpa and aunt
*This is Us and The Good Place are back on TV

What are you living this week?