Friday, July 23, 2010

To the Sea

(July 16, 2010)

Today has been such an amazing day!

Jack Johnson was playing a show down in Virginia Beach and on my list of things to do (located in the right column of this blog) is an item titled "see Jack Johnson in concert".

An opportunity to check something off my list would not be missed.

We decided to take the day off from work and head down to the beach early to make a day of it before the evening concert.

My husband went searching online for a surf shop where we could rent boards and happened upon a place called Surf and Adventure Company.

Not only did this place carry surfboards, they carried Stand Up Paddle boards!

We were introduced to the SUP (stand up paddle) boards back in December while spending Christmas vacation with my family in Hawaii....so we were pretty excited about getting back on!

Even cooler, we would be paddle-boarding through a National Wildlife Refuge to get to an open bay area.

It.Was.Amazing.


















Surf and Adventure had a docking station behind their shop so we were able to pick up the boards and get right on the waterways.....




























































It seemed like we were paddle-boarding through a jungle in some far-away land....it was surreal.

There were birds, what seemed like millions of dragonflies, fish jumping out of the water....and snakes...

(the light brown/greenish/yellowish stick on right side of photo is some kind of snake)























































We had the entire waterway to ourselves.....


































Once we cleared through the waterways and marsh areas we reached an open bay, however, the water was so choppy I didn't get any photos for fear of dropping the camera into the water.

After about 2 hours of just us and nature...we started paddling back to the shop.























Then it was time for Jack Johnson.

We arrived at the concert fairly early so we could grab good lawn seats.

Jack Johnson has been donating 100% of his concert proceeds to charity and had set up a village green area where the non-profits could set up booths and talk to concert goers about their organizations, etc.

As we walked up to the village green area a concert volunteer told us that G-Love (opening for Jack Johnson) would be doing an intimate performance at the village green as a thank you for checking out the non-profits.

We decided to stay and wait for G-Love to perform.

Just as the volunteer said, G-Love emerged and started playing what is now one of my favorite (stuck in head) songs "Cold Beverages".

Next thing we knew.....Jack Johnson walked up and joined G-Love.

















Jack Johnson was literally 15 feet away from us.

I was STOKED!!!!!!
















It was absolutely amazing to be this up close and personal with Jack and G-Love.

Especially considering I knew we were going to be pretty far away for the actual concert.































ALO, G-Love, Jack and special guest Paula Fuga put on the most amazing concert I'd ever been to.
















It was a beautiful day.

Short video taken from my paddle-board while we were heading back to Surf and Adventure Co.:


Obon Festival 2010

(July 10, 2010)

The Ekoji Temple in Fairfax, Va was host to the 2010 Obon Festival.

The food, the music, the dancing...it was all as spectacular as last year.

This year they also had a special guest performance by The Aloha Boys!

It was fantastic!

For those unfamiliar with Obon....it's essentially a festival or celebration of the life of your passed on loved ones.  It's meant to be a celebration of the life they lived.  You dance for them, you remember them, you pray for them, you're with them.































The Aloha Boys and their hula dancers...
















LOVE kimonos!
















Jasmine dancing for her Baba at her first Obon festival....































Our favorite Taiko group (Nen Daiko)!!!





























































Lit candles for my lost loved ones.....this year...the new candle was for my Gridgery....































I love you Uncle, Papa, Gigi, Ron and Gridgery...I danced all night for you.

Dominion RiverRock 2010

(May 15, 2010)

Richmond hosted it's second Dominion RiverRock festival this weekend.

It.Was.Awesome.

Suicidal kayakers, freestyle mountain bikers (my husband included), air dogs and a filthy 5k mud run rounded out the festival activities.

If you live in the Richmond area, I highly, highly recommend attending this event next year!














































Pre-Filthy 5k Mud Run
















Post-Filthy 5k Mud Run

Another 30 year old in the world

(May 8, 2010)

Another dear friend of ours turned 30 and her husband put on a celebration that will be hard to best....

There were moon bounces, stilts, shaved ice, burgers and dogs and plenty of games and activities for the kids and kids at heart.























And my contribution....

a little dose of Nature's Freaks...


































They were temporary tattoos of course, but bringing props made it feel all the more real!  ; )

































The birthday mom-to-be.....she was absolutely glowing....



























































The Nature's Freaks crew....
























Good food, good friends, temporary tattoos, colored hair spray and sticker piercings....

t'was a GREAT birthday bash!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Meet Kozy...

(April 17, 2010)

It's been about 8 months since I lost my baby boy.

I've been lonely.

I know that sounds ridiculous considering I have wonderful friends, an absolutely amazing husband and a baby girl...but Kea (baby girl) has always been my husbands dog.

Gridgery (my baby boy) was always mine.

The equilibrium in the house has been off since Gridge died.

We always had a dog (each of us) to play with, hug, walk, etc.

It's so, so different with just three of us.

I'd been entertaining the idea of getting another puppy for a few weeks now.

I know in my heart I will never, ever have what I had with Gridge, and that I will never, ever find another Gridge....but I need to love something again.

My husband was apprehensive of getting a new puppy, especially in our brand new house (with carpets still intact).

So we compromised.

I'd like to introduce you to the new addition to our family...

Meet Kozy.


















He's a 3 year old male boxer that needed a good home.

And he's trouble....























but a little trouble is exactly what I need right now.  =)

Cherry Blossoms

(April 3, 2010)

I finally got to see the Cherry Blossoms in D.C. this year!

Each year we've been living in VA I always meant to go but something always came up.

This year....we made it happen.























































































































Got to see my favorite Taiko group while we were there!
















Go Nen Daiko!!!!