98 square feet: We overfloweth with good times!

Hello everyone! We're out here having more fun than we can even keep up with in our blog! Here are some highlights from the last month:

LOS ANGELES

Having been to the LA area before, we've seen many of the typical tourist type of things (Hollywood sign, Rodeo Drive, Santa Monica Pier, etc). So, this time around, we struck out to knock off a few things we had missed doing in the past.

TV Show Tapings:
The ultimate Hollywood experience! We attended 3 tapings: Two Broke Girls, Chelsea Lately & Are you there vodka, it's me Chelsea? We unfortunately don't have any pics to share because you can't bring in cameras or cell phones (and had to walk through a metal detector for those who are questioning when we started following the rules!), but here are a few thoughts:
1) It's crazy cold inside tv studios!
2) We love Chelsea Handler as a rude & funny comedian - but sitcom acting is not her thing! But it was entertaining watching her try to remember her (maybe) 15 lines in the entire show!
3) Two Broke Girls was hilarious....which wasn't all-together good for us since we didn't have a tv to watch the entire season. Needless to say, we now own a tv....thank you broke girls :) Kind of ironic that we stepped outside of our tight daily budget to watch a show about 2 broke girls!

Hollywood Boulevard:
We strolled along the stars on the Walk of Fame (cool, but should cartoon characters really be able to have a star if they don't even have a heartbeat) as well as the hand/foot prints in front of the Grauman's Chinese Theater (damn did Judy Garland have small feet!).

Stars prints forever in stone

A star!

Malibu, Naples, Long Beach, Hermosa Beach....& all the other "beach" towns:

What can we say, we love the beach and finding cool happy hour spots along the coast is our thing! Here were a few favorites in case you're ever in the area:

1) Barefoot Bar (at Duke's Malibu), Malibu - how can you go wrong when watching dolphins swim by while sipping cocktails?

2) Mai-Tai's & Yardhouse, Long Beach - Long Beach has a very cool little downtown area on the water! Amy loved the signature drink at Mai-Tai's and Tracy was uber-impressed with the countless taps and glass-enclosed keg room of the Yardhouse.
3) Patrick Malloys, Hermosa Beach - A true gem for budget-conscious travelers....4 cocktails and a delicious, hand-made pizza = $19 + tip!

Outside of happy hours :
While driving along Long Beach, we had the joy of watching tons of kite surfers! Perfect video opp!

If you are in the LA/Long Beach area.....a must-see is Naples. A very short drive south of long beach, this community lives up to its name having canals instead of roads in certain neighborhoods. You can even take a ride in a gondola!

Dilana:
A trip to the west coast wouldn't be complete (cough, cough - for Amy) without a Dilana show...or 2 in this case. It was great to see her again and love that we were turned on to the music of David Maldonado in the process....a true god with the guitar! Click here to be amazed!

Dilana in her peace pj's!

SAN DIEGO

While very disappointed with the weather, San Diego and the neighboring coastal communities (Coronado Island, La Jolla, Pacific Beach, etc) didn't let us down. Art seemed to be the theme as we enjoyed a couple art walks on Coronado Island and strolled through the Spanish Village Art Studios in Balboa Park, SD (one of Amy's new favorite spots)! We were also "entertained" by the speed boat competition roaring outside our campground for the week :)

Famous Hotel Del Coronado....HUGE beautiful beach!

View of San Diego from Coronado Island

Spanish Village Art Studios - a creative heaven!

.....with adorable little art studios

This pic is for mom J :)

Lily pond in Balboa Park

LAS VEGAS

"What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas"......sorry, had to say it :) We were only there for a few days, but we did get to visit with Tracy's mom and brother (who were also in town)....do some gambling (T's fave)....watch the Bellagio Fountains (A's fave)....and eat some good food! Tracy also got to check off one of her bucket list items by spontaneously jumping in on an employee flash mob at Johnny Rockets!

Topping off our travels through NV, we stopped in at the Hoover Dam while crossing over the state border.

See Tracy get her groove on!

Watch the Bellagio Fountains dance!