Back at UCLA, I attended the most bonfires of my life – during Beat ‘SC Week as we pumped up school spirit for the UCLA vs. USC football game, at retreats with my fraternity (AKPsi), and on random outings with friends when we met up at Dockweiler Beach. There’s something special about gathering around a giant flame, letting it heat one side of your body until you felt like it was going to singe. For the smaller bonfires, you can toast marshmallows and make s’mores. For the larger ones, you can marvel at the height of the flame and join in on a crowd mentality as hundreds of people pack in. Bonfires are such a fun activity to participate in, no matter the scale; it could be as intimate as personal time alone or as lively as participating in a group. Either way, it’s a great way to enjoy a night.
Posts Tagged ‘activities’
365great Day 269: bonfires
365great Day 255: ATVing
I’ve only gone ATVing once and it was in the beautiful hills of Hawaii. That’s hard to beat! We got to zoom around on those things with gorgeous views of the ocean. As a teenager midway through high school, it was basically a dream come true to be hanging out with peers from across the country as we enjoyed an experience like that. I remember grinning so hard that I had a layer of dust on my teeth after all that fun. It was absolutely worth it! Unfortunately, since then I haven’t gotten a chance to ride one again, but I sure hope I do. It’s so freeing to be able to race across all sorts of terrain while enjoying the breeze, the sun, and the bumpiness. I don’t know if I can ever top that memory from when I was sixteen, but I’m sure ATVing anywhere is still great.
365great Day 250: parasailing
When my parents and I were in Cancun, my dad and I went parasailing. It was so amazing to be up in the air like that, floating above the ocean with insane views of the gorgeous waters and coastline. It was very serene, since there wasn’t much to hear except the rustle of the gentle breeze. I hardly felt like we were moving at all and it really just seemed like we were sitting in midair. Everything was so picturesque and perfect that I wouldn’t have wanted to come down were it not for the fact that my feet were getting cold after being still for so long in that harness. It was a lovely experience to share with my dad, whose love of adventure and fun like this shone on his face. I must have gotten that from him, because we were both grinning ear to ear during and after the ride. Not only was it fantastic to try that activity, it was great to share it with my dad.
The “Sk8er Girl” inside
I’m not your average “skater girl,” whatever you think that may be. At the least I can guarantee that when people picture a skater, they’d never come up with me. I don’t resemble Avril Lavigne, I don’t wear skater shoes, and I skate just fine in flip flops and a dress. To me, skating is a really fun way of getting around and improving your balance. I don’t do it to try fancy tricks and I can’t say that I know much about the subculture. All I know is that there’s a certain pleasure in having a board under your feet. It looks and feels really cool too.
My favorite is when I’m breezing along, picking up some speed from a slight decline in my path, but nothing too crazy. I can go down steep hills if I foot-brake along the way, but that does a number on my thighs. When you’re cruising, it’s the best feeling in the world. There’s a gentle breeze as you roll on by enjoying the scenery along the way. I once did spent a Saturday afternoon going from Malibu to Venice and back (about 6 miles each way I think). It was amazing – beautiful weather, easy boarding, and great company. I even got to practice balancing on one foot and streamlining closer to the ground.
While I did manage to get pretty good (well, better than people probably expected), I never handled hills too well. I’m not brave enough to do what it takes to carve down a hill effectively. The one time I tried going down a hill with a friend, he held my hand to steady me, but we both ended up flying from our boards and “Supermanning” down the road on our hips. That scar finally faded after a good four or five years. I may never do the more crazy stuff with my board, but I can certainly hold my own when it comes to the basics. I have a Loaded Board that I absolutely love, partly because you can bounce up and down on it and it will not break. That sort of flexibility offers better maneuverability, though it does present a challenge every time you kick off and might veer more than usual. Still, it’s totally worth it and I wish I had more of a chance to use it these days.
I made sure to take advantage of the opportunity to ride around when I was doing Orientation at UCLA. In fact, I was awarded the Avril Lavigne award:
That’s me, just the skater girl cruising around campus with my fabulous board.
Mini golf time
Back in 2nd grade, I went mini golfing (or putt putt golfing as I called it) and my only recollection was when somehow I found myself on the ground, screaming and crying as blood gushed from my knee. I don’t know how it happened, but it sure hurt and I still have a scar. I’m pretty sure I managed to do it to myself in just about the least dangerous activity there is, but who knows, maybe some kid accidentally whacked me. Whatever the case, I kind of never got around to playing again until a few years ago with Panda and friends and I sucked. Thankfully this time I fared better than expected! I even got a few 2s. 🙂 Good times.
Of course that left me with little time to blog, so you get to enjoy some images from the night. It was a fun jungle theme and I’d never really attempted this kind of thing in the dark so the shadows provided a unique challenge. I nearly lost my ball at one point! Too bad we got kicked out right at closing and couldn’t finish the holes. Fun time though! I’m glad we got to hang out a bit outside of work and the timing was perfect since I didn’t have plans. Now Thursday and Friday are completely different stories… it’s our anniversary coming up!
Homegrown Collective August 2013 projects
Are you ready to see the results of my Homegrown Collective August box?! I sure had a ton of fun with it. 🙂
The Homegrown Collective GREENBOX is $39 per box + $9 shipping (or as discounted as $429 for an entire year, with options in between) and comes with fun and easy projects to live a more sustainable lifestyle. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a referral program you can apply to join.
I started off with the alfalfa sprouts project.
I put in just enough to cover the bottom of the jar.
I then filled with plenty of water to submerge them, though I had some floaters.
The next day, the water had browned and I poured it out. It was hard to get the screen on underneath the lid! It’s a tight fit. I rolled the jar and shook it so the seeds got spread around.
By the third day, they’d sprouted! I was so surprised I actually gasped out loud when I saw it.
On the fourth day they continued to grow and I tried to get the remaining seeds to sprout by giving them more space.
By the fifth day, I noticed that they had orientated themselves upwards even though there was no sun where I kept them. Guess they just knew which way is up!
Just six days in and they were definitely full grown and ready to come out. I let the brown seed covers float up and dumped them out.
I then let them sit out in the sun and the heads went from yellow to green. Ready to eat! I had some but gosh, this was waaay more than I could handle.
Next up was a lovely bath soak to pamper myself!
I put together a few scoops of green tea and some lavender flowers in the muslin bag and mixed them up.
I ran really hot water, put in epsom salts that quickly dissolved, let the tea bag sit in the running water, and then let the bag float around the tub.
After my relaxing soak, I flipped the bag inside out to get the tea out, rinsed the rest off, and let it dry for next time.
Finally, I got around to trying the pomegranate chocolate cups!
It was a slow process ensuring I got the seeds out as whole as possible, but I was rewarded with a nice pile of them.
I don’t have a double boiler, so I melted the chocolate with a bowl in the pot. I boiled the water too much and water got in, but it turned out ok. I nearly forgot to pat dry the seeds before putting them in the cups!
I poured the melted chocolate over the seeds and just about overfilled the cups. I generously sprinkled the salt flakes on top and put it all the in fridge. It came out looking not much different and tasted fantastic, even with my messed up chocolate.
I decided to have some fun with it and make some with my cat-shaped ice cube tray! I accidentally messed up the chocolate again so it didn’t turn out to well, but I’m totally trying again later. Nom!!
So what do you think? Jealous yet? 😉 I loved each of these projects and will definitely be doing them again. I’m also looking forward to the upcoming box!!
If you’re interested in getting it yourself, sign up here!
[This post contains affiliate links. Signing up through them helps support my subscription and I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review. I just purchased this box and wanted to share what I got!]
