#PETER ON TOUR - THE SPORTS EDITION

We used Peter's trip as an excuse to sneak in a couple of sports games so that we could give him an "American experience" but also so we could tick some more off our list. First up was an ice hockey match. 

I chose the matches to go to and decided that since I was in LA I should really go see the Anaheim Ducks who are in fact The Mighty Ducks. Yup, I was fully expecting to see Emilio Estevez coaching them and some impressive flying V formations. Unfortunately things have moved on since the nineties and in fact this game is played by fully grown men, not kids. Shame. But they were still pretty impressive. 

The NHL games are definitely entertaining and very full on. It was rather loud and noisy with lots of entertainment slots in the breaks. Every time the home team won there was lots of noise and flashing lights with everyone cheering their heads off. The cheerleaders came out on skates at different points and did their thing too. There were even a few minor fights which we enjoyed!  


Andrew got quite into it in fact, he was screaming his head off. Apparently he really likes hockey and has chosen it as his American sport. I however disagree. I have well and truly become an American football fan, especially after our next sports game.

So the final sports game was an American football game. We've been to a pre-season NFL game so we decided to try a college game as we had been told they were pretty impressive. They weren't wrong. We went to see the University of Southern California, known as the Trojans. It was homecoming week too so it was insanely busy and so much fun.

The build up and entertainment factor at a football game is definitely bigger than the hockey. When we arrived and finally found our seats there was a humongous marching band on the field playing and entertaining with a guy dressed up as a soldier in full costume leading them around. After the fireworks the team took to the field and the game began. 


Half time saw the band take to the field again, but this time it was 1000 strong! It played some impressive tunes and just took our breath away at the sheer size of it. No university game in England really has this much pomp and circumstance! Its insane!


But I have to say that the highlight of the game wasn't winning the match, it was what happened every time they scored a touchdown. Just watch and you'll see!


Yup every time they scored their mascot, Traveler the horse, would charge up and down the field whilst the band played and the crowd chanted! It was truly insane. 

But thats just one of the reasons I love football (said in a slow Southern drawl!). 
H

#PETER ON TOUR - THE LA EDITION

Andrew's eldest brother, Peter, recently came to stay with us for the middle part of his epic trip around America. When he last came in March of this year we didn't manage to get to see too much of LA and our local area, so this time we crammed in everything we possibly could. 

There are two major things in LA we did that I want to show you about. The first is the Huntington Library and gardens. We had never been to Huntington so it was a new experience for us too. Pasadena is a beautiful place (with some lovely shops!) but the library and gardens was amazing. There were lots of buildings spread out across the grounds with different exhibits in them such as European art and books. Then scattered around were different themed gardens such as Chinese or Australian. 

Our personal favourites were the Japanese and Chinese gardens. They were beautiful and so detailed. I think I could have spent all day in there just sitting and admiring it all. 


The second place I want to show you is the Getty Villa in Malibu. We have been to the Getty Center (see this post) before but never to the villa so that was fun. The villa houses the Getty's early collections and was really fascinating. Its a lot smaller than the the Center but we enjoyed our look round. 


So that's the LA edition of what we did. Get ready for the sport's edition next!
H

MACINTOSH MONTHLY

So this is the first Macintosh Monthly post! Hooray! October was a bit of a blur if I'm honest. We spent the first half of the month separated from Mac because we were in England and then the second half of the month was all a but topsy turvy as Andrew had to go back to England again. Poor old Mac didn't know what was going on with all the suitcases being packed and unpacked all the time. 

Still we survived October and more importantly we survived those crazy flash floods that happened. For those of you who weren't aware our area had a crazy amount of rain in the middle of October, all on one night which caused some crazy flash flooding. There's an article on the BBC about it here which just shows you a little bit of the aftermath and a youtube video shows you what it looked like as it was happening. Thankfully where we were it wasn't that deep but there was mud flowing freely down the streets. 

The next day everything was brown and there were still huge mud flows and puddles everywhere. This was one of the streets right next to where we live. 


Obviously Macintosh thought this was brilliant and used it as an excuse to go wading through all the mud and puddles. 


As an owner, who would have to bath him when we got back, I decided he could only go so far so he ended up having these cute little bootie looking mud patches. He's hilarious. 

So that was our major excitement for the month of October. I have to say the mud lasted for ages and we had many muddy walks. Until eventually the Californian sun dried tall out and then it cracked into something strangely beautiful. 


Let's see how November treats Mr Macintosh!
H

LATELY...

There's been lots of things buzzing round my head of late so I'm not going to attempt to theme them I'm simply going to put them out there. 


I've been dreaming about exposed brick interiors. The houses out here are generally not built of brick so I guess I've learnt to appreciate it a little more than I did before. Plus I guess the endless amount of Pinterest inspiration surrounding it doesn't hurt. The bricks just look really amazing. As long as it doesn't make the place cold...


Obviously there's a bear somewhere in my thinking. I love this artwork. Its so beautiful. The mountains, the trees and the bear. Love it. 


Saw this film on the flight home from England. It was amazing, quite sad in places though. But I loved the wardrobe and hair in this. I was slightly Blake Lively obsessed afterwards. Made me regret chopping off my long locks. But still would recommend the film highly. 


The urge to get another beagle is getting stronger and stronger. Images like this certainly don't help in the grand scheme of things. Look at them and how happy they are to be carrying that stick together. Oh I want two beagles!


I bought this novel recently and can't wait to get started. I re-read To Kill a Mockingbird in preparation. I have high expectations of Lee's new one as she writes so well and in such a captivating manner. 


Finally, there's so much in this image that I like. There's a lot of these bits that can be purchased at one of my favourite American stores; Target! Its the best and worst place. Best because you can get everything there and its usually reasonably priced. Plus its a great place to just browse, but that's also its downfall. You never go in and come out with just what you needed. It sucks you into buying more than you needed, always! But I love the cushion in this and the hexagonal tray is fun too. 

So there's a few thoughts. Until next month...
H