I don’t consider myself that great with creative stuff in the artistic sense, which is why I never really got into Instagram and other photo-editing tools like it. However, I decided to give it a shot last night and had some fun with it so I might try doing it more. It’s so much effort though!
The original.
And the edited version.
Panda and I went back to Bottega Louie for a second time and I decided to give their famous macaroons a try.
If you get a set of five you get this lovely box.
They come so artfully presented I just had to keep the box, but what to put in it??
And then I took glamour shots of each to post on Foodspotting…
Grand Cru macaroon on Foodspotting
The Grand Cru (I think - not sure what that means and I had to use process of elimination to figure out the flavor).
Strawberry macaroon on Foodspotting
The strawberry.
Matcha macaroon on Foodspotting
The matcha.
Chocolate orange macaroon on Foodspotting
The chocolate orange.
Lemon macaroon on Foodspotting
The lemon.
When Panda and I had the fortune of staying at the Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey for a few days, I was excited to document the experience. Here are some of the highlights from that stay; click on pics for the full size.
A fancy and cool take on the "Do Not Disturb" sign - California Dreamin' (makes me wonder what they have for outside the state).
They've branded their own water!
Whether you like your hot drinks in the room or to go, they've got you covered.
Yum, Ritz-Carlton chocolates.
Sitting enjoying the silky couch and pillow.
A nice fancy iHome alarm clock was playing soothing music when we entered.
They had a nice display of all the things you'd need in the restroom.
Oooh, a fancy glass scale! I was afraid of breaking it when I stepped on - it just seemed so fragile.
Hmmm, now what do you need a phone for while in the restroom?
Should I be surprised that the toilet paper got branded too?
What a beautiful morning and a spectacular view overlooking the marina!
Looking inland towards downtown, you get a pretty great view as well.
They've got an awesome saltwater pool and hot tub. If water can be more slippery than itself, that's what it feels like.
The cleaning people usually leave my pillow and baby panda like this on the bed when they make it.
I couldn't resist going for a quick swim in their pool. It felt so comfortable!
In the morning as you leave, you'll find a newspaper hanging from your door handle.
I like to tease Panda about his photography skills because his pictures usually come out blurry. Here is one such case where he took a picture, which looks kind of cool, but doesn’t exactly show you what it is we were trying to capture… (though now that I look at it from afar you can kind of tell it’s a bird). Click on the pictures for larger views!
This is Panda's idea of a good shot, which is great if you're trying to get branches and not the bird.
This is my idea of a picture in focus. Less artistic but you know what the subject is! 😛
The Wildlife Learning Center in Sylmar had a special day for Bruin alum because the founder was a UCLA grad himself. We got to see lots of cool creatures!
They start so small and light, but then get HUGE!
What a curious fellow. Too bad I couldn't put him in my purse to take home.
We spent all day Friday out working on a Habitat for Humanity house as a company event, which was quite nice. Since it was overcast and a bit drizzly, we were limited to painting and cleaning. Originally we were supposed to help rip off the roof! Oh well, the guys still got to go to another house down the block that needed some demolition work.
One of the first things we enjoyed upon arriving was a wonderful backyard with a lemon tree and avocado tree.
This backyard was strangely reminiscent of China for me.
This picnic table in the yard served as a lunch table as well a commemorative item for the family that will eventually move in here. We all left our mark!
The garage was used as storage for all the supplies to fix up the house.
One Habitat employee and one of my company's engineers work together to get paint into cups.
A bunch of my coworkers begin to paint the side of the house.
These adorable little kittens were grooming themselves outside of a house just down the street from the one we were working on. I wish I could have them!
For some reason they both liked to sniff this pillow and would walk in circles sniffing!
I stumbled upon this hotel chain when looking for a last-minute place to stay back in the fall. It turned out to be the best discovery ever! Not only was it a good deal, it had the most amazing and comfortable bed I had ever slept in. Plus who doesn’t love a place with free internet, breakfast, and gift basket of snacks? I even wrote a rave Yelp review.
It feels like we might be entering a cabin in a mountain somewhere.
We had a nice little kitchen space and they even had a gift basket of free snacks waiting!
I got set up right away to take advantage of the free internet service.
What a glorious bed! It was the softest I'd ever felt and they had amazing down comforters. For extra enjoyment, I had my big blue body pillow with me too. 🙂
Free breakfast included all kinds of fruits, bagels, muffins, hot drinks, juices, and even string cheese! I really enjoyed that string cheese...
Haha, this cougar sleeps just like my cat Missy! Belly up, legs splayed, and head dangling.
Forget Little House on the Prairie! In this modern age it’s Little House on the Tow Truck.
I can't tell if it's a toy house or a real mini house.
