WHIMSIC ALLEY

Whimsic Alley is a must-do for any nerd at heart living in LA.  Once you walk in the store you are transported into what literally looks like Diagon Alley.  Each little shopfront contains a different fandom from Game of Thrones to Harry Potter to Star Wars.

I absolutely LOVED the hall in the back, which contained art work for sale.

There were some DOPE GoT Art Nouveau pieces.

WEEKEND EATS

Never a shortage of restaurants to try in Los Angeles.

Noshi Sushi.  By far the best value for the quality of sushi.  And the interior decor takes you to 1970's Japan.  This is one of our regular spots.

Lao Tao.  On our multiple attempts to eat at Howlin' Rays, we've always given up on the wait.  There are so many delicious restaurants in the same complex anyway, like Lao Tao-- a super hip restaurant that serves Taiwanese street food.

Myung In Dumplings. This is another one of our go-to's.  This not so flashy hole-in-the-wall serves up the best dumplings.  You can taste the freshness.  And we always order more to take home and eat the next day.  One of their King Dumplings is enough for lunch!

PRESSED ALMOND MILK

I'm seriously obsessed with Pressed Juicery's line of almond milk.  These drinks were my go-to during my month of no-sugar.  The chocolate almond is my favorite, flavored with cacao and sweetened with dates.  You can use the chocolate almond milk to make an OUT OF THIS WORLD banana and peanut butter chocolate smoothie.

ART DAY at AMLA

Our 2nd grade art unit was the most fun I've ever had teaching.  Over the course of 6 weeks the students learned about different artist, their styles, and even created masterpieces themselves.  The culminating project was a museum day where they displayed their selected art works for their families to see.  The kiddos even got to dress up as their favorite artist.  Here are some of my favorite outfits of the day.

Michelangelo

Frida Khalo

Gorgia O'Keefe

We took over the entire cafeteria for our Museum Day.  Each board was representative of one of the artist we studied.  Students stood by their masterpieces as families walked around asking them questions.

Vangogh

Picasso

Warhol

Michelangelo

Khalo

Another O'Keefe and Khalo pair

Me and some of my kiddos. I love them-- even the one in front sucking on her water bottle.

WINTER 2017 SNOWS

RONALD REGAN LIBRARY

This president's day we went to the Ronald Regan Library in Simi Valley.  Why did we go?  Because it was a requirement of Andrew's night classes and they had free presidential activities like photo opts with Lincoln look-alikes and patriotic face painting.  All and all... it was terrifying.

Color your favorite president station.  Duma is all about Teddy.

First Lady Abigail Adams showing girls how to spin cotton.

Oh my, we've come a long way.

One day, they'll be friends too.

I learned that each president has their own library somewhere.  Just can't wait for this one to be built: 

I'll be all over that museum store!

NEW TOP SCORE

You guys, you guys... I love tetris.

LAGUNA BEACH

During Andrew's bike ride to San Diego, he passed by a few quaint beach towns.  We took the long weekend as an opportunity to search out those places once more!  Not really knowing exactly where these cities were, we drove the car in the general direction that Andrew had bikes a few months ago.   Our impromptu journey landed us in Laguna Beach.  

First off, we ate at Nick's.  We loved the slightly battered deviled eggs and blackend halibut sandwich.

After lunch we walked around the beach side streets to get the vibe of the city.  Our conclusion was this: Laguna Beach is nice restaurants and art galleries.  Every other establishment was one or the other. It makes for a nice day trip, but I wouldn't go out of my way to visit here (unless it's for the Pagent of Masters, which we will DEFINATLEY go to).  

The art galleries were great though... and free to walk through!  Our favorite, Vladamir Kush, didn't allow photos.  We loved the subtle metaphors of his work.  It reminded us of a more whimsical Dali.

Another great gallery I would recommend would be The Art of Dr. Suess, which has reproductions of some of Dr. Suess "secret", rarely seen art from when he was a copywriter.  Since a child I've LOVED his books, so this was just a super pleasant surprise to stumble onto.

Andrew standing next to "An Unwise Purchase" and "Woman Riding Piggyback on a Cat"

HIS AND HERS

Or rather, hers and his.

MEET K-DOT

Olivia's new toy...

VALENTINES CAT

Valentine's Day is a big day for any elementary school teacher.  And particularly at my school, it's one of the few times we allow students to bring sweets and candies to share.  I opted to pass out fruit snacks, emoji bracelets, and homemade meme cards. Olivia is a bit of a celebrity in the classroom (I'm always telling them stories about her), so naturally the kiddos were thrilled to get these...