Concerts in the Park

Well this is me enjoying one of the many free concerts in the park offered around town on Fri. and Sat. nights through the summer. It's not really the hippie fest as this portrays, but it does have that laid back summer vibe. I think it is so neat that there are so many free things like this to do in the summer. The concerts on Sat. rotate between several different parks through out East Sac, and they are all easy to get to even if you want to walk. They are very family friendly so there are lots of children running around playing while the parents hang out. The music varies as well, so far it's been a little bit country and a little bit oldies. Everyone is welcome to bring picnic blankets and coolers with food/drinks, or there are some vendors selling burgers and etc. They basically last from about 5ish to 9ish and then everyone heads home. I haven't been to one on Fri. nights but they are supposed to be just as fun. They are held at a park downtown and seem to be more adult oriented. I think the music is a little more rock concert like as well. Maybe I'll go to that one sometime who knows, I'm ok with the kids running around.

Notice my haircut, too. I went shorter this time and I love it! Super easy and a little bit funky too!

Side note: I'll be coming home in a week! Can't wait to see everyone that I can!

Movie Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull

OK, I have been anticipating the release of this movie for a year now, when I first heard that there would be a fourth. I must say I was not disappointed, however a fifth would certainly be pushing it. Like many children of the 80's Dr. Jones is one of my heroes and isn't so bad to look at either! I of course never saw the first three in theatres since I was less then 10 years old when the last one was released, I do however own the box set which I watch quite often. The fourth one, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull, was an older more mature Dr. Jones yet still had the adventure and excitement of the previous three. I really enjoyed the subtle references to the previous movies and thought that they really incorporated past characters into the plot well. The supernatural theme that is in the past movies was very present in this one as well, a little too much for my taste, but still keeping with the trend. It fit nicely with the time period that the movie is set in so it worked. Harrison Ford was charming as always and Shia LeBeouf was nice eye candy as well. All in all I can't complain. I went in expecting an exciting movie and it delivered.

Visitors from TX

Hello all! After a month I can finally say that I am all settled in my new apartment. It is so convenient to lots of restaurants and shopping, I just have watch out for where I park! Two parking tickets so far, but I am learning.

A few weeks ago I had a nice visit from my sister and her friend Margaret. We had alot of fun exploring Northern California. Our trip to San Francisco was my favorite, I have fallen in love with that city! New York still has my heart followed closely by Austin but I can say that San Francisco is right up there. We were unable to get a tour of Alcatraz which I was disappointed about, but we did get to take a Bay Tour that took us out around the SF Bay, under the Golden Gate and then around Alcatraz. It actually turned out better because we got to hear more of the history of the city and nearby, which we would not have gotten with the Alcatraz tour. Then we had a nice picnic near Pier 39 and Fisherman's Warf, walked through Ghiradelhi Square, and then took a cable car ride down Hyde St. The cable car was fun, Hyde St. is the one that is super steep (almost at a 90degree angle, at least it felt like it anyways), and we felt very cool hanging on to the side of the cable car. We must have been in every tourist's picture as the car went by! After a long day of walking around we then ventured to our car to do some driving around, and around, and around! HaHa! We went in search of the famous Lombard Street aka "the Crookedest Street" and several hours later we found it. Many of the streets were not through streets or they were one way in the other direction, needless to say it was an adventure just driving around. And I can't forget the steep inclines that we met going up and then down each street. It was certainly a good thing that my brakes were intact! Oh how it would have been to be a fly on the wall in that car as we were driving! We finally made it to Lambard St. and made our way down the sharp curves that certainly give the Crookedest Street it's name. We then made our way back to Sacramento. I was surprised to learn that it is only about a 2 1/2 hr drive from here so I will definitely be going back. You really get a sense of the arts and culture that "the city" has. Everyone here refers to SF as "the city" so I have to as well to fit in.

The next day we had a lazy day and slept in then went and walked around the mall for a bit. That night I took the girls to one of my favorite places here, Tower Records. They have a restaurant and movie theatre where the old Tower Records was, and I enjoy it. It doesn't matter when you go to eat there, it is ALWAYS super busy. We then went and saw the new Indiana Jones Movie, see my next post for my review on that.

On Memorial Day we decided last minute to make a drive down to Napa and experience wine country. Again I was surprised to learn that it is not far from here either, only about 1 1/2 drive. Unfortunately alot of the winery tours we were closed for the holiday, which I thought was odd, so we just drove through a couple of them and enjoyed the scenery. We got out and walked around the Mondavi winery, and drove through the Cakebread winery because those are some of the more well known and larger wineries. It was very picturesque everywhere there. The grapes were not on the vines yet but it was still cool to see the rows of the different types of grapes they use. The trip home was yet another workout for my car since instead of going back the way we came, we decided to take an alternate route, through the mountains! I don't think I have ever driven on such winding and narrow roads before in my life!

Oh, I forgot to mention our trip to Davis for the Farmer's Market. I'm not sure if I've mentioned before about Davis, but it is where my school is about 20min. from here. They have this really great Farmer's Market on Wednesdays and Saturdays with live music and then of course booths with fresh fruit and veggies. On Sat. they even have lots of activities set up for children like face painting and others. There are booths set up with prepared food as well from different restaurants in the area, and people just come to hang out and enjoy the free concert.

After all the fun we had it was sad to see them go, but I am really glad I got to spend the week with them. They made it home safely after a 5 hour flight delay and then a 3 hr drive home! Aaah, how miserable! As usual I don't have pictures yet, but I will post as soon as possible!